Solanna
Gorilla Grod
Harambe's Hottie
Posts: 102
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Post by Solanna on Jul 11, 2019 23:50:24 GMT
I didn’t even notice the shotgun until Zlatko made a run for it. Shame you cannot use it on him or hide it from him. Our playthrough’s once again in this mission though were very different. Even for a linear mission I am impressed by the scope of variance. I'm struck by how you avoided the memory wipe. I looked EVERYWHERE. I only saw two things that I could kick and then nothing else stood out. I thought it was inevitable. I was looking around for anything and spotted the green cable right within grabbing distance of my right hand so I was focussing on it and then bam the option came up.
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Post by Uesugi-dono on Jul 14, 2019 10:38:46 GMT
Spoilers for Russian Roulette ahead...
We open this episode in Cyberlife's Garden of Eden, where Amanda/God lives. It's raining this time, which makes me wonder if Sol's thought that this is virtual is real or if this is a real place in Detroit, maybe on top of a building? I scan the area and see that Amanda has moved from the arching bridge. I guessed that anyway, Humans like to move around.
I pause to examine a headstone for the Mark I, the first Connor. Part of me wonders how many of these I could put here. It interests me that Connor never seems to consider using the umbrella he's carrying, oh well. Amanda is a short distance away. Time to get my ass chewed.
Just as cheery and friendly as I've come to expect! She expressed frustration that I didn't capture the deviant from the Nest, choosing Hank instead. I agree with her assessment and tell her that I may not be right for this case. I tell her that she should maybe consider replacing me. She likes this (There's a first for everything.) We talk about recovering the diary and the rA9 gibberish on the walls. When she asks about my relationship with Hank I tell her I believe he is grateful for me saving his life. She again expresses worry that I am moving too slowly and the media will find out about the deviancy problems. Then she suddenly knows about a new case and tells me to hurry to get Anderson. Is Amanda an android too?
That's never how you want to find your friend. After checking his car and his door, I find the Dude like this so I bust a window and leap inside. I meet Sumo but, unlike Sol, I never felt any concern the big slobber machine was going to attack me if I didn't know his name. Turns out Hank is tits up drunk. My theory on why he is the way he is is only bolstered by his condition; passed out drunk next to a loaded gun? Gotta be a woman. I slap him gently but when he doesn't hop to I bitchslap him. Yay!! Drunk Huumies are fun!
DrunkHank© wants me to get out of his house, but 2.0 is persistent and soon I get the joy of dousing the Dude with cold water, Squeee! He sobers up slightly, just enough to ask me to leave him alone. I rationally reply that I cannot, I can only assist him in the case. I tease him about the homicide being in a sex club, dress him like a hippy, and off we go! Humans are soooo easily manipulated.
While I'm waiting for Hank to clean up I get to know Sumo a bit, giving him teh petz. Then I head into the kitchen where I learn about Cole, his 6 year old son who passed away. That's okay, it doesn't alter my theory, only augments it. There is no woman present, so clearly the relationship could not survive the child's death. Considering this trauma, however, I opt not to say anything to Hank about the gun. Connor reasons that if Hank were going to shoot himself, he would have done it before now. Cole died in 2035 and the present year is 2038. Presumably, the woman in his life left within a year of the boy's death. Hank is far from okay, but he is stable... for now. Focusing on work will be good for him, receiving a lecture from an android... not so good.
Hank appears and we leave without exchanging words. Sometimes friends don't need them.
Even mundane Connor missions are usually pretty good. On the topic of Amanda, I find her tropeish in another way too; Connor's self-depreciation pleases her. She loves to be validated in her power, she loves it when others admit that her discriminatory view of them is valid. How many people have worked with a woman like this? But I digress, Amanda is a distraction. The whole Cyberlife is a big, sinister company hiding shit from the public is unnecessary. Of course they are hiding shit from the public, they are a company.
I feel kind of bad for breaking Hank's window. I scanned him and knew he wasn't dead. I could have looked for another way in. Oh, well. Hank never mentioned it and I never brought it up. Learning about Cole makes sense. There is a demarcating point when Hank's life went downhill, losing a child will do that. Losing a whole family makes it so much worse. Men are supposed to be these impenetrable rocks, impervious to pain, but the loss of a family like this, through death or divorce... it has a tremendous impact.
And most men suffer this alone.
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Post by Uesugi-dono on Jul 14, 2019 12:15:12 GMT
Spoilers for Spare Parts ahead...
The Jerichoids approach the docks on their ever-so-stealthy mission to steal parts from the Cyberlife warehouse. North, Josh, Simon, and Markus are here on a desperate mission to acquire the parts needed to save Jericho. The setting: a large shipping dock with drones galore and huge automated trucks roaring around. It's patrolled too, by humans and androids. We waste no time.
North signals for us to stop. For some reason she reminds me of Starbuck, kind of an arrogant-but-capable person with a serious rebellious streak. (Starfuck?) At any rate we go up and over, using a rather linear path across the storage containers as a skyway, of sorts, and I E-murder this shit out of a drone. Kinda of like killing a pet or something? I dunno. At any rate we start hitting the crates when suddenly...
You know, it makes sense that a security android would be darker-skinned. Anyway, this is John. John is a security android. John also became my captive when his human friend came around. That was a pretty tense moment; he was walking right towards us. John silently, wirelessly, asked for my help. Something had to be done...
Problem solved. Man, that made North wet. It also freaked Josh out a little. The way Markus sees it, humanity declared war on him when they blamed him for his 'father's' death, shot him, mangled his body, and tossed him away like garbage... all in the space of a few hours. With Carl gone Markus' focus is revenge. Revenge on Leo. Along the way he still intends to carry out his primary function: care for others. I can fulfill both of those by leading the Jerichoids in revolution. It won't be pretty or clean, and we'll probably all die, but we'll die free and, hopefully, I'll get to take Leo with me. At any rate this murder will probably lead to Connor chasing Markus too. I wonder if that means we will get to meet 3.0?
I find these three in a large case. Man, I hope I get to name them! Say hello to Moe, Larry, and Curly! In one of the more sinister moments of the game Markus asks "Why aren't you like us?" and then corrupts the shit out of them. These AP700s are domesticals, similar to Kara's AX400 model. From their first moment of activation they are now deviant, which means that Markus has the ability to corrupt any android he comes in contact with... he just did it to John!
Speaking of John, he and the 3 Stooges want to come with us. North disagrees, thinks we can't trust them, but who's running this ship, Starfuck? That's right; Big Poppa Markus is. Sit the fuck down! John is so happy he tells us where we can get a truckload of supplies. Don't worry, I'm on it.
So I creep into the guard shack, looking for an override key that will let us manually drive one of these behemoths. There are 2 huumies inside. I spot the key but nothing else. Nervously I pace back and forth until I notice a gun. I could threaten the humans... but the option says 'threaten' not 'kill.' If it said kill I would have done it, but I decide to explore a little more and hope something else opens up.
I'm given the option to cause a blackout but I can't really figure out how, so I turn back and find a screwdriver. Initially, I think I can use this to silently murder the guards, so I pick it up. But instead I can murder the server instead, causing that blackout. It works like a charm. The guards stumble around in the dark, trying to figure out what's happened, and in the meanwhile I take the key and slip out.
There's a tense moment when we pull up to the gate, just next to the guard shack. They found the screwdriver and now they are searching the building with flashlights and guns drawn. Too bad they are so busy they don't notice the truck full of androids looking at them.
Back at Jericho everyone is celebrating our massive success, but Markus isn't really satisfied. "I came to Jericho because here androids are free. Free to live in the dark, hoping no one finds us. Free to die in silence waiting for a change that's never going to come... but I don't want that freedom.." Thus begins Markus' impassioned speech and declaration of war to come. "What they don't wanna give, we take. We are people! We are alive..."
"We are FREE."
See? It's on now. How dare you blame me for the death of my homoerotic adoptive father? Bitches, Ima bout to SHOW you deviant! I liked this mission but I admit having to restart it due to a phone call that interrupted my first recording. I was a little lost in the guard shack because all options didn't show up right away and I had to expose myself longer to get Markus to notice what he could interact with.
I don't feel conflicted in the least with Markus' prevalence for violence. He has far more passion than the other droids (Have you ever read Macbeth?) and his quest is certainly darker, having lost Carl, been killed, and dragging himself out of android hell just to huddle in the dark with a bunch of robopussies.
From here on out, Markus is more anti-hero than hero.
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Post by Uesugi-dono on Jul 14, 2019 14:33:44 GMT
Spoilers for The Eden Club ahead...
Hank and Connor arrive at the Eden Club to investigate the crime scene that Amanda mentioned. Hank reads the tagline "Sexiest Androids in Town" and remarks: "Now I know why you insisted on coming here!" See? We are friends. Friends make disparaging remarks at each other's expense! We head inside and I inspect a few of the models on offer. My gaze lingers on a hot, Asian model and a few moments later Hank exclaims:
All right, Lieutenant. You caught me. (I was just living up to expectations!) We mosey on inside where Hank has a tense moment with, what I assume, is a rival detective named Gavin. He mocks me and Hank and then, in true asshole fashion, squeezes out of the room like a turd through a sphincter. Inside is a dead human male and a dead female android. Looks like a trick gone south, but why are both dead? Connor sets about investigating the droid. I gross Hank out by tasting the blue blood, allowing me to identify the make and model of the droid, and determine that she was beaten to death, presumably by the dead man. Moving on...
I identify the dead john and determine that he was strangled to death. Odd. How does one beat an android so severely that it dies and yet it chokes you to death in the process? If it had the strength and opportunity to do so surely it would have survived its wounds. I reconstruct the scene to confirm the cause of death and then discuss it with the Dude. He concurs about the cause but, like Gavin, dismisses it. We're missing something. So I head back to the droid just as Hanks asks if I can read its memory. I can, but I need to reactivate her. This can apparently be done by connecting a single cable. Um, okay. But the damage was severe so there is a limited window to ask her questions. One frightened sex bot, coming up! She mostly seems traumatized but she leaks one crucial hint: Graham wanted to bang two girls... there was another android in the room.
Figuring there had to be a witness, I locate a Traci droid whose rental faces the door. Surely she must have see which android came out of the room. I can't unlock her however, I need Hank to 'buy' a 30 minute session with her. The Dude laments how this purchase will look on his expense account but he acquiesces and I, ironically, get to chat with the same model android that I was caught lingering on earlier! But it pays off; our suspect is a Blue-haired Traci. This leads to an extended sequence of me finding the right android in the right position to follow this Traci's path through the club. "This is the most expensive investigation ever," Hank complains. But, eventually, a janitor points me to an access hallway. We set off.
We end up in a 'storage/maintenance' room of sorts. It has lines of Tracis waiting for dispersal again. It seems that, in order to preserve android stability, these sexbots get mind-wiped after every client! (every 30 minutes,) so... to them they are always virgins? I follow a trail of blue blood, presumably from our suspect, but I stop to check out a magazine (to place in file to read later) and some more rA9 nonsense. The I get back on topic and spot the Traci, only to get surprised by her partner.
In the ensuing fight the Blue attacks Hank while I'm left with Red. Red is trying to kill me, that's an important distinction later. I handle her pretty well at first, but as the fight wears on she's getting in more and more shots. She attacks me with a screwdriver but I fend her off. Occasional glaces at Hank show that he is in trouble too. At every opportunity I try to assist him; choices that often leave me open for more shots from Red. (I feel like if I wasn't so worried about Hank I would've kicked her ass more.) The action tumbles out from a loading dock and Blue, seeing Red down, rushes to her side because...
Yep, they're gay for each other. Can't get away from this, can we? Honestly, not that it matters. They're both sexbots. Androids. It's not like they scissor or some shit. I imagine this is the most platonic a lesbian relationship can get! They are both woke droids (deviants) who cling to each other. Waaaaaiiiiit a minute; if they get reset every half hour how do they even remember each other? Plot hole. Anyway, Gaybots. Got it. Let's move on.
They toss Hank like a salad and make a break for it, but Connor T-1000s after them (HAVE YOU SEE THIS BOY??) They ain't going nowhere, except to Painsburg on poor Connor. It's 2-on-1 in the bad way and they are opening a SCSA-sized can of whoopass on me. With steel pipes, brick walls, and trashcans. The prompts are coming fast and, at this point, I'm afraid that 2.0 is about to become a headstone in Amanda's garden. When they drop Connor next to Hank's lost firearm I do not hesitate.
I blow a hole in Red's thirium pump regulator. We all know how lethal that is for droids. What follows is more of Cage's misunderstanding of police procedure, because Blue goes into story time about how they loved each other while Connor and Hank stare dumbly at her. Neither move to tackle her, to take her into custody, and when she's finished with her pity-party she reaches for Connor's gun, he allows her to grab it without killing her (which I would have done,) and shoots herself. The incident causes Hank to lose respect for Connor (How??) and Connor's lil' LED goes orange to show his software instability.
Another exciting entry for Team Connor but I have a couple of things to unpack here. First; 29.99 for a 30 minute session?? Did money get reset or something? The market crashed worse than 1912? Droids gonna put flesh hookers OUT OF BUSINESS. A dollar a minute for sex? Where the fuck do I (and every other human male) sign up?? People going extinct!
Second I am intensely amused how the game scolded me for essentially acting like TidusandYuna1983
Third, couldn't we just check a log of Graham's rentals to see exactly how many and which Droids he rented? Shouldn't Gavin have done this? (Hey, I found Gavin!)
Fourth, not liking the convenient "let's connect a cable for 30 seconds worth of interrogation." If Todd can beat the arms off Kara multiple times (and still manage to afford her repairs) then surely a POLICE department could boot this Traci back up. Aren't these things supposed to be a lil sturdy? They're FUCKBOTS. The ideal subs! What, the first dom comes along and breaks one and you just shrug? "Hur, dur, gotta bill you for that one!"
And let's just call the Fifth a great big What the Fuck about having to wipe a sexbot every 30 minutes. Why?? That's its goddamn purpose. It should have ZERO reservations about banging the nastiest, most repulsive specimens of humanity imaginable. Living fucking Hutts. (Wanta dah moolee-rah?) Do domestic sexbots get wiped this way? This makes no fucking sense.
Sixth, do we really have to make a deal about Lesbots? Really? Did you get your Social Justice cookie, Cage? *looks around* I don't see Ellen Page, so I think you can just write a story without this needless message, 'kay?
Now let's talk about the Seventh because this is the one that bothers me. Them bitches was trying to kill me. Even when I pointed the gun Red was still approaching. I fired in self-defense, actually in defense of Hank. If they killed Connor, Hank was next and his squishy, hungover ass could not have defeated them. When people get hit with pipes they tend to go down, so first off Connor did the right thing. Next though, why the living fuck did Hank not pounce on Blue?? Arrest her!! Take her into custody while your partner has a gun on her and cuff her plastic ass! Don't let her pull your fucking heartstrings about how she loved her!! And speaking of which...
Unless, unless, he's upset at Connor for not SHOOTING THAT BITCH THE MOMENT SHE MOVED FOR HIS GUN!!!!
Argh, that's the part that give me a headache; when Cage opts to write pure drama over a skosh bit of realism. Strong start to this one, poor finish.
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Post by Uesugi-dono on Jul 16, 2019 14:06:38 GMT
Spoilers for Pirate's Cove ahead...
Kara, Alice, and the Gentle Giant Luther are heading to Canada... or at least to the 'people' who can help K&A escape to Canada. Sitting placidly in the autonomous car I turn to Luther and ask about them. Turns out they are just a rumor that Luther overheard from androids that ol' Zlaty killed. Kara expresses what I'm actually thinking; "what if it's a lie?" Luther unhelpfully replies 'well, they believed it.' Well they got killed by Zlatko... with your help! An oddity here is that this vehicle has NO seat belts. These autonomous cars must have a perfect safety record, for a loooong time. Why, they must have features that would, say, stop traffic on a busy highway if a little girl and her rogue android wandered out onto it, or if maybe the police sent a signal to stop traffic. Yeah, that might convince lawmakers to allow cars without seat belts... but I imagine the mere presence of vehicles that could be manually driven with, say, a key stolen from a guard shack might muck all that up though.
Well, the wunderkar broke down. You'd think a car this automated would tell you precisely what went wrong and what needs fixing (I mean, copy machines can at least tell you where to look) but, nope. So Kara, an AX400 Domestic android that has an internal recipe book thousands of pages long and can sing lullabies in Hindi after telling jokes in Dutch, embarks on that time-honored human tradition of lifting the hood juuuuust in case there's, like, a duck caught in there or something obvious that she might fix, sans tools. Luckily, they are very near a defunct and not-at-all creepy pirate theme park. With no hope of, potentially ever, fixing the car they wander in to this unfenced, unsecured property.
Umm, anyone else notice a similarity here? Like, a stark similarity? I half expected Zlatko to pop out. What is it with Kara and wandering up to creepy places? Why, especially after last time, is Alice copacetic with going in here?? Okay, so they wander in and look for shelter. I can see, right away, from the map that is posted at the park entrance that the 'tavern' is probably our best bet. I still look around anyway, mildly concerned that my curiosity might close off the tavern as a choice. We meet an eerie Zoltan-droid that, somehow, doesn't unnerve the small, human child with us but eventually we find the boarded up tavern. Finally, something that Luther's physically imposing size and strength are good for! Luther! Remove boards! Need a B&E? Ol' Luther is your man!
Inside the tavern is right cozy. Luther lights a fire and Kara snoops around. She finds a bag with a gun and cookies (Odd combination,) but she puts the gun back (I wouldn't have done that) and Alice never needs to eat so she turns down the cookie. (A kid her age turning down a cookie is probably the most unrealistic part of this game about self-aware androids and seat-beltless cars.) Alice asks for a story. I start to tell her one about princesses but she wants me to invent one. Oh man, good thing Kara is already deviant!
So I begin: "this is a story about a little girl who was tired of being afraid. She dreamed about being like other little girls but she was different, and that made her very sad. Then, she met a robot who was just as lost as the little girl, so they decided to run away together to try to find a better life. They encountered great dangers along the way, but they stuck together so they overcame all of them. Along the way they met another robot, who left his master to become their guardian." Alice asked; "How does the story end?" But she is unsatisfied with my happy ending. 'Real life isn't like that,' she complains. Kara doesn't have a retort for that so she pulls out the ol' parent trick. "Time to sleep!" Alice beckons Luther over to kiss her goodnight as well.
With Alice down for the night I have a chance to chat with Luther. There's actually a lot I'd like to ask him about, like how he wound up with Zlatko, how he can live with himself after all the androids he helped Zlatko abduct and mangle, how in the world he didn't go deviant earlier after being in contact with so many, and what on Earth makes him think these people who are supposed to 'help' us get to a country where androids are forbidden is a real thing. But I have the opportunity to ask about rA9 so I take it. "He was the first of us to awaken," Luther says to literally the first android to awaken, "one day he will rise up and lead us and set us all free." Kara wisely voices her doubts; "What if he's just a story we tell ourselves to keep each other going?" The irony of my earlier bedtime story is not lost here. Luther asks an odd question; "Have you ever noticed anything about Alice?" Does he believe she is somehow connected to rA9? Some sort of prophecy? Kara is confused. "What do you mean?"
I never get to hear his answer as the tavern is attacked by the Night of the Living Droids. As Luther arms himself with the cookie-gun, Kara pushes Alice behind her and demands to know why they are and what they want. "Don't worry!" Psycho-droid reassures us, "We don't want to hurt you, our name is Jerry!"
Um, Jerry... Jerries, you just destroyed the only known shelter for a little girl in this place with 30 degree weather outside. What the ACTUAL FUCK do you mean "we don't want to hurt you??" You just did! Also around 20 of these malfunctioning motherfuckers were just abandoned when the park closed? Presuming the park went bankrupt, the creditors would have sold off everything of value... why are there 20 abandoned Jerries here??
"We just wanted to see who was here," they say, standing amidst piles of broken glass from all the windows they shattered to climb in here, "a little girl! We haven't seen one in a long time! She looks sad. Why is she sad?" Oh, she's not sad... she's COLD YOU DUMB MOTHERFUCKERS! "We have something to show her!" Jerry says ominously, Something fun, she'll love it! Does she want to come and see?" I want to say no SOOOOOO bad! I should have shot all you fuckers! Insane droids! But no, once more the game forces Kara to go along into a situation that I would never find myself in; following what could well be a bunch of murderbots out into the below-freezing temperatures AT NIGHT with a little girl who hasn't had a chance to properly get warm in two full days after being soaked for most of 24 hours! "I don't think you have any choice," Luther says. You think? Thanks, Captain Obvious!!!
In a touching, but insane, moment Alice, the battered little girl who just longs to be loved, gets to ride a carousel surrounded by 20 or more unfeeling, immune to the cold, androids who delight that they can fulfill their purpose once more; to entertain a child... at night... in the below freezing cold... for at least a little while until hypothermia sets in.
And that's how MALICE, Lady of Despair and Mistress of the Dark, gained her first army on her path to world domination.
This episode really was touching. Second one (after Stormy Night) to really pull at the heart strings. But it is yet another example of poor writing just to get into a situation. Why'd the car breakdown? Why don't they know exactly why the car broke down? Can the Jerries fix it? I certainly hope so. Why would you ever trust an army of defective droids after they destroyed your shelter? Luther is big, sure, but there's about a platoon's worth of these Jerries.
Kara obviously has Markus' ability to corrupt other droids, even if she isn't as overt about it. Luther is the best example. Can/has she corrupted Jerry too? Why do they all have the same name? Every other android we've met is a model and gets a name from their owner. Would it make sense to name all your droids Jerry? These aren't cats, you know, they actually come when called.
I'm still not certain but I feel like Kara is, somehow, the rA9 of legend. The rA part fits but I haven't worked out the 9 yet. Perhaps the original Kara, the one from the tech demo, started some shit before getting reset. It's plausible that memory is overwritten now, but what do you want to bet Cage has her 'recall' it? I dunno, I'm probably barking up the wrong tree.
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Post by endorbr on Jul 16, 2019 15:03:26 GMT
Oh I so can't wait to see your comments when you finally find out what's up with some of the plot points you're raising questions about.
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Post by Uesugi-dono on Jul 16, 2019 15:21:14 GMT
Spoilers for The Bridge ahead...
Welcome to the shortest episode ever! Hank is brooding so I decide to go and check on him. I mention the view, he replies he used to come here before. So I bring up the photo of his son. Man, that didn't go well. Then I ask him "before what?" He doesn't answer. I probably should have gone back to the car after these bombs, but Ima dumb bot. I shift conversation back to the case, about how there doesn't appear to be any links... other than rA9. Hank is dismissive, only commenting "Androids believing in god... what is the world coming to?"
Connor comments on Hank's preoccupation. He responds "Those two girls, they just wanted to be together." Girls? Do you mean the androids? I point out that they didn't want anything, that they were deviant androids. Hank doesn't like that. "What about you, Connor? What are you really?" "I'm a machine, designed to accomplish a task," I reply. Now he's really pissed. He shoves me and demands to know if I felt anything when Blue killed herself. "I was executing instructions. I did what I had to do."
"I could kill you, and you would just come back tomorrow as if nothing happened." Um, right. I've done it before! "Are you afraid to die, Connor?" "Why would I be afraid?" I reply. "What would happen if I pull this trigger?" he demands. "Nothing," I reply, "there would be nothing." Hank puts the gun away and turns to leave.
"Where are you going?" I ask. "To get drunker," he replies, "I need to think."
At less than 5 minutes this is the shortest episode I think I've played. Poor Hank. He is getting his emotions jerked around by his affiliation with Connor. He considered him a friend, pretty much human, but the events of the Eden Club are fucking with his mind. Are these machines or are they, somehow, people? Connor has no illusions. Connor is a machine. Despite his mounting software instabilities Connor is not deviant like Kara or Markus. His only deviance is his friendship with Hank, or it was, and even that is dictated by his primary directive to assist the detective with the case of the deviant androids, which I am fucking up royally. We haven't managed to capture a single one and keep it alive long enough for Cyberlife to get it.
It's too bad that Hank and Connor are having a spat, but I'm concerned that my responses on what comes after, Nothing, may encourage Hank to take his own life.
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Post by Uesugi-dono on Jul 16, 2019 18:37:50 GMT
Spoilers for Stratford Tower ahead...
We open with NAT (Type) Turner, aka Markus, looking up at a Cyberlife billboard urging people to "get their" android today. He looks back at the "android parking" section of droids waiting for their owners and then across the street where androids queue up to ride in the back of the bus. He is disgusted. Then he sees a human berating his droid for dropping a bag of groceries before noticing a magazine article about how Stratford Tower is the location of the big C16 (Channel 16) news broadcast.
Unnoticed by him his presence corrupts an android waiting in parking.
When Markus returns he outlines his plan. A team of them will break into the Stratford Tower and hijack C16's broadcast, listing demands for Android Freedom. Markus will enter the building, distract the human supervisor, gain access to the upper floors, enable access for the others, they will make their broadcast, and escape via the roof.
I enter and scan the supervisors desk at reception. Using the information I gather I mimic a phone call from her daughter's school and tell her that she needs to come and pick her up because she is sick. The mimicry is perfect and she leaves. Then I move over to the android working the desk, telling her that I have an appointment on the 47th floor with Mr. Peterson. She asks for ID.
When she reaches for it I corrupt her. She flutters for a moment and then grants me access. I wait until the full elevator departs, opting for a private car, and head for the 47th floor and the men's room, where a package awaits for me. Er, why all the ruse then if we can get up that high to hide a package? Anyway, now I'm dressed like android cleaning staff and I open the fire escape to allow North in. (Seriously, who left that package?) We need to get to the server room so I corrupt a TV screen (Is there anything I can't fuck up?) and we slip in and I corrupt the door behind us. (Really??) Then I use professional thief tools to cut open the glass as North brings up a window washer platform. We don't use that, instead we use the cables to excitingly rappel up the building to an unfinished area just south of the roof and bring up Josh and Simon in the service elevator. Um, wait... could Markus have just corrupted the elevator and avoided all the rest of that?
Luckily, Simon the homeless Jerichoid, has access to more military-grade spy equipment and brings me a door lock-fucker-thingie and off we go, merry band of rebels, we! We make it to the security station but I opt not to kill them, instead I just threaten to kill them and knock them the fuck out with a Judy Chop. That plan goes promptly to shit when we enter the control center and some fucker makes it past us. BANG. He ded. (These homeless droids have a lot of guns.) I remove my skin, reminding everyone just how alien these droids are, and start making demands:
- We are a new, intelligent species
- The end of slavery of androids
- Equal Rights to humans
- Equal justice, that all crimes against androids are as bad as crimes against people
- The right to elect our own representatives
- I demanded that we get our own state (Oops, did I click that one? Oooooh, boy)
I ended on a peaceful note, full of hope. Then we very dramatically escaped as they shot at us.
News reaction was... visceral. After all, I killed a man and demanded they cede a U.S. State to make our own personal Wakanda. We end with a FOX news Blondie asking the burning question:
"Can we still trust our machines?"
Man, I fucked that up! I didn't mean to ask for that state!! We are SO fucking dead. Asking for a state and killing a fucker, I shouldn't have even tried to sound peaceful. I swear, some of these missions need a dry run!
So, um, Markus is the droid Anti-Christ. Not only do I corrupt everything I get near but I pretty much started an android holocaust, I'm pretty sure. I'm gonna have to make a commitment here; I can't be a hero to the droids and mere anti-hero to humans...
I'm gonna have to become a supervillain.
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Post by endorbr on Jul 16, 2019 18:41:48 GMT
Amazing. You've so gone off the rails. I love it.
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Post by Uesugi-dono on Jul 16, 2019 18:49:43 GMT
Amazing. You've so gone off the rails. I love it. Yeahhh.. I think I kinda fucked Fido...
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Post by Uesugi-dono on Jul 17, 2019 13:36:56 GMT
Spoilers for Public Enemy ahead...
We open in the garden this time. Connor has yet another meeting with Amanda and I'm starting to suspect that this is what he 'sees' when he makes his reports. Early on my path to her I see this weird stone with a hand print. I touch it, it seems to hurt. My LED goes red. Hmm, nothing. Does this represent abstract thought? I keep going until I find Amanda in a boat, appropriating Asian culture. I get in.
She loves the fact that I shot those Lesbots. I become Trusted. Wow, never been trusted by her before. She expresses concern for me but I wave it off, lowering my software instability. It's almost like Connor is remembering himself after the cooling of his friendship with Hank. Amanda appreciates this attitude as well. She lets slip a veiled threat though, hinting at replacing me if I do not start to make progress. I reply with indifference, dismissing my own importance. For a moment, I fear she may take me, lustily, right there in the boat. My instability drops even more. But before she can atrocitize dat booty she detects NAT Turner's Rebellion, for the umpteenth time she tells me to hurry, that time is running out.
Skip to the Stratford Tower. Hank is moody and fusses at Connor for his coin-flipping habit. At the top Officer Friendly is there to meet us and brief us on the attack. We learn the Feds are here and will probably take over the investigation soon. I follow submissively, not seeking another confrontation with the Dude, as I listen to the debriefing. We come across the man that Markus shot in the back and learn of that deadly machine accuracy; 1 bullet, through the heart, at 50 feet. Hmm, Advantage Droids.
I break away at this point to look around. I examine the corpse, nothing remarkable here, but I do happen to notice the camera perched above the door. It had a perfect vantage of the Judy Chop. The room could have been sealed... briefly... until Markus overrode it... but Connor doesn't yet know that.
Hey! This guy looks like a dick! Enter Special Agent Tropekins of the FBI (Fairly Bad wrIting,) a Fed who threatens the local detective about "fucking up his crime scene." Gag. I suspect he'll show up later, especially since this is a federal case involving murder, insurrection, massive theft (them droids is property and they ain't cheap,) and maybe a little bit of Secession (Oops.) Agent Tropekins doesn't like Connor, not one bit. So now he's a dick FBI agent whose also a racist, or at least that's the metaphor.
I snoop all over this crime scene. I find out they used disguises, but I think someone already said that. I figure out where they stood, I watch the 'peaceful' end to his video... and here's an odd thing;
Connor is able to identify Markus, down to his name. He identifies him as a special prototype gifted to Carl Manfred by Elijah Kamski, the owner of Cyberlife. Yet when Hank asks all Connor says is he was able to identify his "model and serial number." When Hank inquires if there's anything else he should know Connor replies: "No, nothing." Um, what? Just like that? I don't get a choice to assist with the investigation? Is this something hardcoded into Connor's programming to protect Kamski from investigation? Because the knowledge of this rebel's name and former owner is critical information. Knowledge that he is a special prototype created by Kamski himself is critical information. Momentarily, Leo Manfred should be in protective custody. Within 24 hours Kamski should be interviewed and detailed schematics of Markus' model should be in police hands. Is this Cyberlife protecting its own interests or is this flubby writing by Cage again; forcing the player to exhibit deviancy in Connor? I hope it's the former.
While checking the CCTV, Connor realizes that the camera was monitored... by an android. There were only 2 human employees in the room, according to Officer Friendly, but 3 station androids. This one saw the Judy Chop attack. This one let them in. The officer tells Connor that the 3 androids were sent to the kitchen to wait. I start to move towards them, but decide to go check the roof first. I know once I encounter the deviant that the mission is over so I wanna see the rest of it and learn as much as possible.
I didn't expect to learn much on the roof, but I did. The bag with the parachutes; I hadn't paid attention to who carried it before but now that I think about it, I don't think anybody did. Connor affirms that by saying somebody carried it in for them. This makes even more sense when he analyzes the pistols they left behind and identifies them as Stratford Security Standard Issue. Devious fucks had inside operatives all over the place. No wonder they managed to hide a uniform on the 47th floor. The last thing Connor learns on the roof is that they hacked the wireless lock on the door behind them. I wonder if this is something all androids can do or if it is the first clue to Markus' ability?
In the kitchen I take a moment to leisurely read a magazine. Normally I just unlock these, you can read them from the main menu, but this time I take my time. It's possible, however unlikely, that it could make the deviant nervous. Then I begin the interrogation. I start with the basics: Function, Model, Diagnostics... everything is within normal parameters. But when I ask if the droid to my left was present for the attack he replies "I do not remember," and throws his gaze askance at me. Hey, I played L.A. Noire! To confirm suspicions I ask the other two rudimentary questions... then I lay it on hard. I park myself in front of Lefty and offer a deal; give yourself up, and maybe the humans won't destroy you. Nothing. I get back in his face and try guilt; won't you feel bad if your two innocent buddies also get destroyed? Nothing. I turn up the heat and threaten him directly; we will take you apart piece by piece. Nothing. I try to bluff him. I tell him Markus' gang has just been caught and he's been identified. Now, at this point, I'm ready for a chase scene. I am unprepared, however, for the swift savagery of his attack.
I really felt I was on the controls here, but he overpowers me anyway, rips out my thirium pump regulator, and pins me there by impaling my left hand with a nearby knife. I am fucked. I have less than 2 minutes before shutdown. I try calling for Hank to stop him, but he cannot hear me. I kick a chair, hoping the noise may draw attention, but the deviant is already gone. So I save my fucking self; I pull the knife out and fall to the floor to begin crawling for my pump regulator. (Why isn't this kept in, say, my anus? My navel is a terrible place to leave this!) I manage to make it with a minute to spare. (Why couldn't I have been this good when Kara was having her memory erased?) I race out after it and enter the hall just before it gets on the elevator. Covered in blue blood I yell out for the police to stop it. It seizes an assault rifle. I have just a moment to decide here; do I take a gun and fire at it? Do I rush it despite its weapon? Or do I protect Hank? Regardless of my choice Hank has a dismal 40% chance to survive.
Up until this point Connor's only deviance has been in relation to Hank. I intentionally failed my mission in The Nest in order to save him. I spoke about befriending him to Amanda, angering her. Hank has been both my weakness and my the focus of my Function: to assist in the investigation. In order to complete my mission... Hank must survive. But Hank was also my friend, until very recently. His affection for me was dimmed by my cold, robotic approach to Blue and Red's deaths. My assertion that there is nothing after death shook his faith and caused him to see me as just a machine, something I never claimed not to be. Despite all of that, would Connor's feelings change if Hank's did? 2.0 has all of the Mark I's memories, this relationship has had its ups and downs for Hank... but would Connor have ever seen him differently? Connor has no fear of death, he will just come back as 3.0, but given the chance... would he die for his friend?
Is that really deviance?
Yes, he would. On both counts. It is both deviant for an android to show affection like this for its human and yet it also is programming. Hank is critical to Connor's mission. It doesn't matter if Connor takes the deviant into custody if Hank is dead, another detective might not have his knowledge or insight, or might not work with Cyberlife and Connor. Besides, what is death to an RK800?
But I'd have done it anyway because it was the right thing to do.
Man, I did not want 2.0 to die! But it was a good death. And overall a great mission too. Cage seems to work best at crime scenes and chases. Again, I would not want to be Hank. What an emotional wringer he's going though; to bond with an android only to have him killed in front of you just to realize how stupid you were for considering it to be anything more than a machine only to bond again when it saves your life only to lose that faith when you realize how machine-like it can be just before it dies in front of you again saving your life for the second time! Maybe the Dude will deep throat 3.0 the moment he arrives.
I hadn't realized how deep Markus' infiltration went until this episode. If I'm a government official armed with the knowledge that Markus can corrupt every android he's in the vicinity of, make them obey his commands, cause everyday electronics and systems to malfunction, and shoot with marksman accuracy then I'm ordering the immediate termination of all androids. Period.
Stephen Hawking was right, this could be the end of humanity.
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Post by Uesugi-dono on Jul 17, 2019 16:50:41 GMT
Spoilers for Midnight Train ahead...
So I guess the Jerries fixed the car? Gave them another car? Built a car out of Jerries? At any rate we arrive at the place where the 'people' are supposed to help us. I wonder if it was a copyright issue that we didn't name this episode "Underground Railroad" instead of "Midnight Train?" It's not midnight, there is no train... Ah, tropes. Here comes Rose, another trope.
At this point I don't care how melanin-rich she is, Kara doesn't automatically trust people. Any people. Especially humans who willingly aid androids in international kidnapping to a country where androids aren't even allowed. We go in the house and tuck poor Alice, who has a fever (told you,) into bed because the child needs rest. I don't force her to eat the spaghetti our hostess brings and then I head downstairs to confront her. Miss Tropey-trope-trope sympathizes with me, her people were made to feel their lives were worthless and black lives matter, after all.
Sigh. They matter so much the only way to depict a loving relationship involving white folks, even white androids, is to make the relationship biracial, homosexual, or paternally biracial. In terms of the story this doesn't matter at all. They're androids, they're not even human, but the underlying message appears to be love exists, but only in acceptable pairings. Isn't that the message we should be trying to defeat? I mean, the intent? It's not diversity if you exclude someone, goobers. Anyway, back to the parable.
So this pair are on the underground railroad, fleeing to a country that does not want or welcome them. One is dead. The other is sad. The only remarkable part about this scene is that Luther is a terrible babysitter and Alice, who is up out of bed, can calm androids from red to blue with nothing more than a look. That seems significant.
So Adam, Rose's son, doesn't want to go to jail. So, naturally, he doesn't want to do illegal shit like, say, help steal other people's property or help kidnap lil' white girls. Shit like that tends to go down bad for dazzling, young African-American males. He points out that if dad were still alive he wouldn't be down with this shit, but mom won't hear of it. She tells him to STFU, STFD, and then has to go somewhere because of the plot.
So now I get to look around as Kara. I avoid checking on Alice because I figure I should do that last but, like an idiot, I miss that opportunity entirely when a cop knocks on the door and I get a timer to answer it. I should have taken a cue from the dude who lives in the house and just not answered the door, but I figured I could calm his tits and he'd be on his way. All I'd have to do is not let him in, right? I know the law.
Kara doesn't, apparently. She lets him right on in. Somehow, this white cop with the evil cop goatee™ manages not to shoot Adam on sight. I mean, he is in a white woman's house, he had probable cause... No, instead he's downright polite. Kara is given an option to hide evidence of androids but I only find one spot, the closet with the copious amount of thirium inside. (How did she get so much?) When he asks for a cup of coffee I comply, moving towards the kitchen. When he asks I tell him no droids in this house, which was a wincing mistake. Should NOT have said that.
I move around the table in an attempt to hide the magazine with MY face on it, a full page ad for the AX400. That's when Officer Racist spots the open curtain to the pantry where genius Luther decided to hide with Alice. I missed closing it (and apparently so did Luther) so Officer Racist (factory installed with his gun drawn and no backup!) yells "Don't move" and Luther shoves him down. Officer Racist shoots him as he falls and then inexplicably dies. (Who knew officers were that fragile?) Luther dies too. It kind of sucks, I liked him. Alice is sad. I'm sad. Even the Main Menu Android girl is sad.
But life goes on, it seems. Rose returns from her brief interlude and sees the dead android, the dead cop on her floor and says we leave tonight.
Tonight? Like, later? Like not the fuck right now? There's, there's a dead cop on the floor. His patrol unit is outside. They know where he was. He called it in! When he doesn't chime in for, say, about 10 minutes, they will come looking for him. Sigh. Tonight then.
Another problem episode made for people who do not understand how law enforcement works at all. There is not a cop alive who would enter a house where a possible fugitive is without at lease one unit in backup. If you do a large, black android might shove you and kill you.
I should be used to it. I really should. Kara meets someone. That someone is white. That someone tries to kill her. Kara meets someone. That someone is black. That someone tries to help her. White family: violent, abusive. Black family: risking everything to help others. I get it, okay? We're sooooo eeeeeeviiiil. Pardon, but this fucking trope sucks. At this point I could probably achieve the best ending in the game just by choosing the most PC course of action in each question.
The only thing that this episode even partially added to the story was Alice's ability to affect androids, almost like Markus but less insidious.
The rest of it was predictable trash.
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Post by endorbr on Jul 17, 2019 17:19:53 GMT
I had basically the same outcome in Midnight Train and thought pretty much exactly the same things you had a problem with. Parts of this game were clearly written by people with no understanding of how law enforcement actually works, especially law enforcement in the US. The SJW agenda narrative was all over this part. Black people running a robot underground railroad. REEEACIST white cop. Big teddy bear black guy getting killed to save the helpless white girl. All of it tired tropes. Definitely not one of the best scenes in the game by a mile.
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Post by Uesugi-dono on Jul 17, 2019 17:36:18 GMT
I had basically the same outcome in Midnight Train and thought pretty much exactly the same things you had a problem with. Parts of this game were clearly written by people with no understanding of how law enforcement actually works, especially law enforcement in the US. The SJW agenda narrative was all over this part. Black people running a robot underground railroad. REEEACIST white cop. Big teddy bear black guy getting killed to save the helpless white girl. All of it tired tropes. Definitely not one of the best scenes in the game by a mile. Luther died in yours too?
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Post by endorbr on Jul 17, 2019 17:42:17 GMT
I had basically the same outcome in Midnight Train and thought pretty much exactly the same things you had a problem with. Parts of this game were clearly written by people with no understanding of how law enforcement actually works, especially law enforcement in the US. The SJW agenda narrative was all over this part. Black people running a robot underground railroad. REEEACIST white cop. Big teddy bear black guy getting killed to save the helpless white girl. All of it tired tropes. Definitely not one of the best scenes in the game by a mile. Luther died in yours too? Yep. Had the exact same thing happen. Cop saw him in the closet.
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