ROOK: I headed up to the hangar for my lesson. I looked around, and in the open-air section, I saw light-green smoke drifting. I figured that must be it. I equipped the F-Space Manipulator—
By the way, when one tool replaces another, you equip it the same way.
ROOK: —and walked over to the vent. I activated the vent—
By pressing A.
ROOK: And found that I could place all these items I had been collecting!
(Remember what I explained last time? Well, at the bottom of your screen is a selection of five items from your inventory. You can page through it, the dots showing you which page you're on and how many there are. By default, it's in the Paranormal category. The category you're shown includes any unplaced item that has that interest. To change categories, click the category icon, then the category you want. When you point at an item, it'll tell you its name and show you what kind of gains you get from placing it. New items will be marked with a green circle with a white "!". The bars at the left show how skilled the floor is in each interest. When you pick an object using A, it'll show you how skilled it will be once you place it. Upon placing it, the object will disappear from your inventory. You can decline to place it by pressing B. Also, you can select an object that's been placed, then press B to return it to your inventory. Now, certain floors have areas that, if you place certain objects there (small objects, like the Jack-in-the-Box), they'll be hard to retrieve if you want them later. If this happens, click the suitcase to temporarily collapse your inventory, grab the item, move or remove it, then open the suitcase again. To get out of this mode, press Down on the Control Pad. You'll have to press it again to unequip the Manipulator.)
By the way, that one music player plays "Extreme Sports Jam".
ROOK: Greeeeat, I've been wondering about that all this time. I went to the Lobby.
ROOK: Hey, Jenny, any messages?
JENNY: Oh, yeah! Listen to some of these: "Jenny's fan fiction has become the impossible: better than the source material!" "Jenny's writing material is a must-read for Starcruiser X fans.
ROOK: I meant any messages for me.
JENNY: Oh. Yeah, just one. A Mister "Paul Diyeti" called and told you to find his old college roommate.
ROOK: Paul the yeti? Do you have the full message?
JENNY: Of course. I'm not totally worthless, you know. "Hey, Rook. Sorry I couldn't remember more about my past life, but I thought of someone who would! Back in grad school, I shared a room with a man named Mr. F. Last I heard, he was going to open a lab somewhere in the city."
ROOK: Thanks, Jenny. That's very helpful.
JENNY: "Also, your secretary was very professional, and I would totally give her the rest of the day off to update her blog. Your friend, Pete."
ROOK: It's "Paul." Nice try, though.
ROOK: I turned to Buddy and Evelyn.
ROOK: Hey, guys. If you were going to open a lab in the city, where would you build it?
BUDDY: Question: would a sky fortress still count as being "in the city"?
ROOK: It would not.
BUDDY: In that case, I do not know.
EVELYN: I would build it over in the Industrial District. Getting permission to run experiments anywhere else wouldn't be easy.
ROOK: Good thinking. We should take the train over to the Industrial District and check it out.
Did you write it down because you thought you'd forget to do that in the time it takes to exit and walk the few steps to the platform?
ROOK: Why not? You can forget in that period.
Point.
ROOK: Hello Yuki.
YUKI: Hrm... Yuki wonders why you keep seeking Yuki.
ROOK: Er... what?
YUKI: You seek a face biting?! Yuki shall sharpen her fangs!
ROOK: Ummm... I took the train.
BUDDY: Wow, this train ride is so long! I bet it'll be dark by the time we get there. Good thing I brought this bacon and tomato sandwich!
ROOK: He started eating it.
ROOK: (thinking) Where did he get that from?
ROOK: At the bottom of the stairs to the train platform, we pondered where to go next.
ROOK: Well, our scientist, Mr. F, must be around here somewhere. How should we start our search, Buddy?
BUDDY: Well, usually if we wait long enough, someone just starts screaming. Then we go investigate that.
ROOK: So we waited.
BUDDY: ...Wait for it...
??????: Gabby, you slimy, double-crosssing, no-good swindler!!
ROOK: Bingo. Let's go check it out!
ROOK: We headed toward the junkyard where two men were arguing.
ROOK: Alright, guys, what's the problem?
GABBY: Name's Gabby. Someone's been stealin' mah junk.
??????: That's your problem? Stolen junk? Here's a real problem: this crazy ol' coot sold me a broken boat!
GABBY: Boat ain't broke, Barney.
BARNEY: It's missing parts!
GABBY: But the parts you got ain't broke.
BARNEY: It's in the middle of the junkyard and it won't even run. What good is it to me?
GABBY: You could go sit in it and close the door. That'd do me a world of good.
Well, at least he's not selling horseshoes to a man convinced he needs luck to make good pizza.
GABBY: Shh! Anyway, don't mind him. Listen, little things gone missin' from tha junkyard before. No big deal. Yesterday, though, someone swiped a whole engine outta mah car. I was gonna use it for spare parts!
ROOK: I wonder if someone else needed the parts. Could Mr. F be involved?
BARNEY: Gabby, you probably just moved the engine and now you can't remember where.
GABBY: Nope. Gabby's mind is still sharp! Someone was sneakin' 'round here last night, an I'm fixin' ta find out who!
ROOK: I might be able to help with that.
ROOK: Walker called, and said what he did before. I decided to check around the scene. I found oil, and figured it to be from the engine. They lead away from the car with the missing engine. Then I noticed a pair of seedlings. They looked really out of place. I wonder if the one or ones who planted them took the engine. I saw a boat, too. So this is Barney's boat? It isn't sea worthy at all. Unless he wants to sail the open junkyard. I also spotted a chest on deck, so I hopped aboard. Inside were an Athletic Chair—
2 Athletic.
ROOK: —a Charismatic Chair—
Not quite what it's called, but whatever; 2 Charismatic.
ROOK: —a Natural Chair—
2 Nature.
ROOK: —another one—
Same.
ROOK: —a Paranormal Chair—
2 Paranormal.
ROOK: —and another.
Same.
ROOK: I didn't see any seed containers inside, so I checked around outside. Dumpster-diving near the train platform yielded a lion statue—
2 Athletic.
ROOK: —and a sphinx statue.
2 Smarts.
ROOK: I checked a crate by the side of the junkyard and found a vest with tattoos, and an urban halter top. Then, I stumbled upon a couple of girls. The one with the kitty ears seemed to be in charge, while the girl with the eyepatch was doing the gruntwork, in this case, digging.
ROOK: What are you up to here?
????: We're representing Morcu Corp and the Morcu Green Project! Making your world a better place!
ROOK: What are you up to?
??????: Why, enriching the environment with beautiful plants — part of the Morcu Green Initiative!
ROOK: Roger called, and said what he did before. I decided to check the crate to see what was in it. It had plant seeds. Interesting. They girls seem to have planted seeds in there, giving them opportunity.
ROOK: Why were your plants in Gabby's junkyard?
????: Why, for the official Morcu Corp Beautification Project, of course!
ROOK: Well, your footprints go right by Gabby's missing engine, which was stolen last night!
????: We planted those seedlings weeks ago! It takes time for plants to sprout, fool!
ROOK: Ah yes, this is true...you couldn't have planted them last night. Thank you, Esma.
ROOK: I talked to Gabby.
ROOK: I found some footprints in the junkyard.
GABBY: Gabby knew he was hoodwinked! Did you find the engine and the car remote?
ROOK: ''I'm still looking for the engine but...car remote? What car remote?
GABBY: Yup. To open the hood you need the remote, so I reckon the varmint took that too. It's usually in the green cabinet over in Gabby's shack.
ROOK: So that's where I would check. It was locked, but I remembered Walker had told me the Techno-tool could pick locks. I slipped it in. ...Anything to add?
Yes, actually.
(The goal is simple: move the key to the slot. What makes it not so simple is all the tumblers in the way of it, and the tumblers in the way of each other. You have a 6x6 area to work with, not counting the slot. Each tumbler is 1 square thick, and 2 or 3 long. The arrows on each end indicate which direction they may be moved, but the brown ones move up and down only, while the blue ones move left and right only. Oh, and there's a counter, if you want to try to see how few moves you can pick the lock in. Each grab, move, and release is one move, even if multiple moves could have been done in one, or even if you just moved something back. There's one more element which comes into play in a future puzzle, but that's it. Until it comes up, I'm skipping straight from her saying she's picking the lock to her having done it.)
ROOK: I found the car remote. The hood must've been opened another way. I'll have to test this. I closed the hood, then tried to open it with the Manipulator. No go. A human definitely couldn't do it. I wondered if the local junkyard dog might be able to tell me anything.
ROOK: Grit! You would have seen who was in the junkyard!
GRIT: *Arf arf!*
ROOK: ...Why do you have oil on your teeth?! Did you bite something? (thinking) Did Grit have an encounter with something...oily?
ROOK: I realized I had been assuming that the oil was motor oil. But is it? I put in a call.
ROOK: I thought this oil was from the car engine, but it might be something else entirely...'
ROXIE: This oil compound is too advanced for a car. It looks like it came from some sort of...robot?
ROOK: That made sense. I saw that the trail led to the shipping container. I used the manipulator to bring a tire uo to the container, and hopped on top. There was a chest there, which I opened for some fun decorative paints. Walker called to ask for my advice; I had him check the pizza this time. The hatch to the container was locked, but it was easily picked.
(Ah, but here's something to make it a little more tricky: there are two immobile bars in here. It wasn't too tricky, though. And that's all the new stuff for lockpicking for the rest of the game.)
ROOK: Though I picked the lock, I'd have to F-space the hatch. So I did. Inside was a few boxes, the engine(!) and a robot.
ROOK: Hey! Who are you? And why are you in here?
TOBOR: You ask a lot of questions, huh? I'm Tobor. I jumped in here after sustaining some dog-related damage.
ROOK: I see, so those were your footprints in the junkyard before you hopped in here. You stole the engine?
TOBOR: Yes, under the orders of my master. His name is *WHHRR ERROR*
ROOK: Looks like you need some repairs before I can interrogate you.
Yeah, or he's a blacksmith from Ruto Town.
ROOK: I left the container and snagged spare parts from various places: the gas pump, another car, yet another car, something I couldn't identify, a gate, a sentry, some other thing, yet another thing, a bulldozer—
WALKER: Well, the bad news is that we may have blown our cover in order to investigate the pizza. The good news: pepperoni!
Well, to each his own.
ROOK: —and yet another thing. Whatever it was, it was time to repair Tobor.
ROOK: You're all fixed, so who is your master?
TOBOR: My master is Dr. F, who owns the lab on top of the hill.
ROOK: I'll need to go talk with this Dr. F, I've been looking for him.
TOBOR: You'll have to enter the passcode. It's 01000110.
Oh come on, he could've at least used EBCDIC!
ROOK: Yeah, well...
ROOK: I left the container and went to tell Gabby the news.
ROOK: I know who stole your engine!
GABBY: You did? Who?
ROOK: Uh, no, I didn't steal it.
I get the impression that his line was written for "found out" or "figured out" instead of "know".
ROOK: Um... yeah, whatever.
ROOK: The scientist on the hill, Dr. F, ordered a robot to steal it. Right now it's sitting in that cargo container.
GABBY: Oh. Well, thanks. Ol' Gabby'll have to get around ta movin' it...sometime...
ROOK: And my next stop was the lab. I hadn't changed my outfit since the mountains, so I was dressed a little too warmly.
Also, you have new dispatch missions to check up on.
ROOK: I decided not to wear shades or glasses, and also changed to a sleeveless purple shirt with yellow-outlined orange moon and a few yellow stars, with green, brown, and yellow pants with brown shoes. Also a black armband.
- Ol' Gabby's Mine
GABBY: Just got me the deed to a silver mine outside of town. Feller named Skullfinder sold it to me. Said it had all manner of riches hidden away in thar. I need a strong team ta head into the mine and see if ol' Gabby made himself a wise investment!
2 stars. 15 minutes. Smarts/Nature. New objects.
If so, it was by accident.
- Cocoa Science
DR. F: My latest invention requires a thermonuclear-powered beverage frother. GO FORTH, EMISSARIES OF HOT CHOCOLATE SCIENCE!
2 stars. 15 minutes. Charismatic/Smarts. New objects and a new dispatch mission.
- The Longest Voyage
BARNEY: An old map I found in my attic has led me to undertake a magnificent voyage of discovery. Entirely new lands and creatures may be discovered. Perhaps I'll find a land where pizza bagels are served upside-down. There's just one problem — I need a crew!
2 stars. 30 minutes. Nature/Athletic. New object.
I decided to wait around a bit. After all, the dispatch mission would be over soon.
ROOK: Hello Roxie.
ROXIE: The INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT!? Dirt?! Dust?! Sub-atomic dust mites?! ARGH! I'm feeling very light-headed Rook...
ROOK: Buddy, how's the comic book coming along?
BUDDY: Great pal! It's full of mystery, intrigue, plot twists, damsels in distress, corrupt city officials and dinosaurs!
ROOK: Dinosaurs?
BUDDY: Sure pal, how else was I going to explain the prehistoric footprints found on the mountain slope?
ROOK: I wondered if I should remind him of the yeti we met...
TRAVIS: We have to wait out here all day? Good thing I just downloaded a few new games on my phone!
ROOK: I decided to check up on Leaf.
ROOK: Hey, Leaf.
LEAF: I hear there's a cool club in the Industrial District. It's not really my style, but it sure is loud!
ROOK: Back in the Lobby, the text finally came in. Unfortunately, we messed up again. Fortunately, we have a bunch of objects to boost their skills!
(So what do we want to do?)
(After I posted this, somebody requested that I put the mission information with each mission, and skill information with each agent. For this repost, I'm replacing the old lists that were in this post with ones that have the information.)
- Missions
- Cocoa Science!: **; C/S; Objects, Mission (NEW!)
- Episode X: **; S/P; Object, Trophy
- Legendary Cheese: *; A/N; Outfits, Trophy
- The Longest Voyage: **; N/A; Object (NEW!)
- Morcu Corp Stakeout: *; S/A; Mission
- Ol' Gabby's Mine: **; S/N, Objects (NEW!)
- Pig, Camera, Action!: *; N/C; Outfits, Recruit
- The Sadness Parade: **; C/P; Outfits (ON HOLD)
- Snack Thief: ***; S/C; Outfits, Object, Trophy
- Tainted Broth: ***; P/N; Object, Paint, Recruit
- Yeti Begins: **; P/N; Objects, Paint
Aside from the aforementioned "Yeti Begins" and the already-marked "The Sadness Parade", the only one of these I can see wanting held back on is "Cocoa Science!", as we will get to recruit one of Dr. F's creations...
- Recruits and Recruitables
- Beebee: N,A,3C
- Elmira: P,N,3S
- Leaf: 3N,2C
- Nova: 2P,N,2S
- Pinky: P,4C
- Preston: A,3C,S
- Roger: 5A
- Agent Rosalyn: 2P,3S
- Travis: 3C,2S
- Agent Vic: 3P,C,S
- Wolfah: 3N,2A
Next time: Blinded With Mad Science!
