Upon discussion with several contributors in person, it was agreed to go with Hardin's plan, even though it meant some...less enjoyable actions.
'Want' is such a strong word, but if I'm going to get anything out of this place, I'm going to have to look into your archives, and that means getting rid of this computer cold. So, tell me you have a plan.
To any actual computer programmers reading this....I'm so sorry.
Huh. That sounds incredibly annoying, but I'm up for the challenge. Lemme at'em.
Gimme the word.
Lat probably appreciates that the 4 other scribes in the room are now out of the way, but I can't help but feel they might have helped check their own terminals to narrow things down.
Now begins the tedious process of running between random terminals, accessing them, hoping they'll have the virus messages on them, and then heading to the next. There are over a dozen terminals in the room, and you only have a minute to find the 3 messages before the whole thing resets. If you have high science you can permalock the first virus message you find, which makes the rest of the process a lot easier. Lat does not have high Science.
Most of the terminals will just have junk data on them like this. Remember, the process of opening a terminal, checking it and closing it again will take at least 5-6 seconds, and factoring in the travel time in the fiddly alcove-ridden room, checking more than 6-7 terminals in a minute is tough, even after optimising the process.
You'll usually find 1 or 2 of these sarcastic messages before Ibsen will flatly tell you 'The Virus has jumped', and you'll have to talk to him again to restart the process. All in all it took me around 12-15 tries to finally get lucky. Its REALLY annoying and it makes you long for a sidequest where you travel back in time to beat this hacker to death with a lead pipe.
But, eventually:
I've been to hell, it's not that big a deal. So, with that load off you mind, could you tell me what you think about Hardin?
I understand. So, how about that datastore, then? With Ramos' ok, I should be able to find everything I need...
Hmm, so that's why they're undetected despite being in the heart of a warzone. Right, so wheres the stuff on Elders? Lessee....Murder....Theft....The usual stuff....
....'The Chains That Bind'? That sounds like some secret inner thing with a high-faluting name, that might be worth looking into.
I here omit my trip back up a level to Paladin Ramos at the opposite end of the bunker to ask yet more permission to look this up.
...huh. This sounds technical and pointless enough to be useful.
Maybe. McNamara told me he wants me to locate 3 patrols of missing Paladins, and find their special discs.
...huh. Iiiinteresting. Sounds like the lockdown is making matters like these really complicated, isn't it?
Sounds like McNamara's shenanigans are starting to piss you off.
Indeed. But things would be different if you were in charge, of course.
So you'd be roving around taking tech, rather than just doing nothing. Alright. Hey...This 'last elder' guy, what was he like?
Hmm...Thanks. Anyway, I had one last thing to discuss with you, 'The Chain That Binds'. You know it?
Yes, but I wasn't thinking about McNamara's orders from the Super-Elders. I'm talking about the part where orders have to go down the chain. Its given equal importance in the records.
Heh...Indeed we will.
Right, looks like I've done all I can here. I'd better head off if I want toYAH! This storm....This must be the stealth system in full swing. I can barely see to the next hill. I guess it is kinda effective...though it might be a bit of a giveaway to have a sandstorm appear here every night.
Right, so, McNamara wants those mission discs, but if I give them to Hardin, they might be evidence that McNamara went over Hardin's head to send the Paladins on errands for him. I can still pick which horse to back...though which works best for me is still up for debate.
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Not a very exciting update, I'm afraid, but it finally gets us a clear idea of what to do. We can support the paranoid yet flexible McNamara, or oust him in favor of the bolder but more rigid Hardin. The main things to try are:
1a) Go to the nearby Black Mountain, and the slightly further away Repconn HQ (not the Test Site), get the disks, and deliver them to McNamara.
1b) Same, but give them to Hardin.
2) Head off to find that Pressure Cooker we wanted:
a) To somewhere random.
b) To Caesar's Camp, where we should be alright if we leave Boone behind, to get that robot army working.
c) To the Great Khans, where we might be treated with some hostility, or perhaps All The Hostility.
d) To the Crimson Caravan Company, where we can hook up the two lovebirds.
Comments below on what you think we should try.
oh, I forgot to say that the option to blow the entire place up is still available.
ReplyDeleteOh, and there is another point that I wanted to bring up. All this exposure to the plotline around Elijah and Helios has opened up excuses to a) Visit Helios Power Station to investigate what Elijah was looking for, or to b) go looking for Elijah himself, which would lead to a massive aside into a very difficult part of the game. I'm not saying we'd have to do either of those now, or indeed ever, but we now have in-game reasons to explore these things, if desired.
ReplyDeleteLet's go with option 1b. After all, if we put the less paranoid guy in charge, it'll give us more opportunity to stab (shoot, explode) them in the back at a later stage.
ReplyDelete