Mission:The Graveyard Shift - Chapter Three: Hearing Loss
Chapter Three: Hearing Loss
Briefing
Good to see you as always, Character. I said I had a plan, and, well... I couldn't get the resources from the Bureau.
I wish I had better news, but the Bureau is absolutely taxed with a series of other events both domestic and international that have been popping up recently. The go-to Agents - with the know-how to do a deep dive on the background of Raverobber - are deployed overseas right now, and my associate in the Watchdog department is currently on leave for the birth of his second kid; he'd have been my access to using satellites to ping for clusters of their cybernetic electrical fields.
Dubstitch is down for the count while Longbow looks into removing her surgical backpack, so after three strikes we're going to fall back on a tried-and-true method for this situation. All we have to work with is his name, his presumed presence somewhere within the city, and the indelible temperament of the Freakshow...
- No leads, and I only have a name. I think I can guess where this is going.
Mission Acceptance
If you guessed that you're going to have to sweep a few streets with their mohawks while looking for details, you're absolutely right.
By now the Freakshow are widely aware that the video went viral, and if they know Dubstitch just got taken offline, then they'll put together pretty quickly that the friends and family you are indiscriminately pushing into the urgent care system are connected to it.
Freakshow love the pure animalistic expression of freedom through violent anarchy, so without a doubt you'll eventually stumble across one that stays conscious long enough to be impressed. And an impressed Freak usually submits to the alpha status of the victor, and throws someone else under the bus in the process to make themselves feel better. It's a time-honored tradition if the statistics suggest anything; you should see the workups my colleagues have on the Freakshow. For all their anarchy, they have some surprisingly obvious patterns. Regardless, knock a few teeth loose on Talos Island until we get something more substantial. That's about all we can do right now.
Unnecessary Solicitation
I don't envy your task, unless you like showing off in front of crowds. We've got a numbers game to play here, so head over to Talos Island and see what you can shake loose.
Introduce yourself to the Freakshow in Talos Island
Mission Objective(s)
- Introduce yourself to the Freakshow in Talos Island
- Defeat 15 Freakshow
A woozy Freak, laughing while pulling out a broken tooth, honors your beatdown with the information you seek.
Standing victoriously over a crumpled Freak, you finally get the information you were hoping for. The Freak looks up at you with equal parts hatred and reverence, and spits out a cracked tooth.
'That was an epic smackdown, bruh. Do I tip you for that kind of service?'
You grab the Freak by the apparatus and ask him about Raverobber.
'Raverobber? That's what this is about?'
He laughs for a moment then clutches his side in pain. 'The Excelsior's wearing off, man. I'll tell you what you wanna know, but you have to promise me not to wreck his sound system, I call dibs. That system is TIGHT, bro. He's holed up in a warehouse here in Talos, here's the address.'
He hands you a crudely designed flyer for the event.
'He said he wanted to throw a party that would blow the roof straight off the place. And to top it all off, he's not allowing anyone inside who even remotely resembles a cat. Do you have an idea how aweso...'
The Freak has succumbed to his injuries and passed out. You hear sirens in the distance. You're sure the authorities are in cleanup mode and will take care of him for you.
Unnecessary Solicitation
You have the location? Go, quick, before he packs up and moves!
Crash the Unholy Masquerave
Mission Objective(s)
This is definitely the place. It smells like sweat, blood, marshmellows, and eucalyptus balm. The music is so heavy you feel your balance shift.
- Crash the Unholy Masquerave
- Find Evidence
- Put Raverobber on mute
You've put an end to one of the worst-smelling raves this city has ever seen, nad that's saying something. You also found a packet of medical notes that Raverobber somehow acquired.
Enemies
Notable NPCs
- GL0-5T1CC (Freakshow Named Enemies)
- M4Y0R 0F R4V3RT0WN (Freakshow Tank Smasher)
- Raverobber (Elite Boss)
Raverobber had, of all things, a study desk near the rave site. And as you sifted through the piles of paper, two things jumped out at you immediately:
1) These medical notes about cybernetics were obviously copied from a larger source and were too thorough and intelligent to be within the paygrade of a Freakshow dropping fat beats to a zombie party, and
2) If any of these notes are his at all, how in the world does he write so well with all those scythe hands?.
Debriefing
Well, that's unexpected. The Doctor always published his notes online, but Raverobber got his 'hands' on some actual handwritten Journals from Vahzilok himself! Your report suggests Raverobber may have found these notes in the sewers, which aligns nicely with rumors we've been investigating of sections in the Abandoned Network, that we thought might be lab site locations, suddenly going into a kind of sealed lockdown. I guess he was trying to sell the notes back to the Vahzilok and ended up getting humbled.
... That's not something we really considered to be a likely outcome from all this. And now with the knowledge loose, it looks like the factions are congregating around, high-ranking Reapers and Eidolons who have the know-how and the notes to carry on the legacy, and keep them alive.
Watkins stops talking abruptly, with realization spreading across his face.
Hang on a second, let me see the book.
You hand over the notebook to Agent Watkins, who flips through it cautiously but quickly. He makes an expression of surprise, then knits his brow midway through the journal. He looks up at you.
This is a big problem, Character. This page right here just widened this whole operation to a new level of concern.
Watkins points to page 21 with a diagram of various muscles and the circulatory system, and the phrase 'CMRj' underlined three times. The muscles seem to be woven with something fibrous and weblike - this appears to be the original page to the photocopy from our first outing to Newt and Pathogen's showdown!
This phrase 'CMRj' Is the focal point of the latest wave of forum activity. They're tight-lipped about what it exactly does, but they've been fighting like it's the keys to to the kingdom. And now we finally have a clue. Cybernetic Measured Rejuvenation is what It appears to stand for in the details on this page; some kind of deep nano-tech stimulation of the muscles for regeneration to offset invasive implants, and bone marrow invigoration for an absurd white cell production rate to combat infection. All this is woven in intricately throughout a body to make maintenance a hands-free affair with the right power source.
Agent Watkins shudders.
And ghoulishly inhuman for a man trying to destroy death. It makes perfect sense that the Freakshow were trying to implement it without any real understanding, but only got so far as to make faster running bombs and raves where the DJ is integrated into the mixer. It worries me that Raverobber said he was 'Number 4' instead of 'Number 1'. My instant take on that is that he sold copies of the notes to three distinct buyers, so that means we're going to have a lot of work ahead of us, against at least three factions of scientifically enhanced madmen.
I'm very good at what I do, Character, but I might need some time and resources to integrate this new data into our models. Come back in a bit so I can put together a new profile.
Things are really moving. I definitely feel like I can trust you.