Carmen: Alright, <Player's Name>, let's hope this doesn't take long. I don't want to be in this dress longer than I have to.
The Bureau arrives to Sydney, Australia, to follow the lead provided by X about a SOMBRA test subject being somewhere in the city. Assuming they could be present in the annual Australia Shines Gala. Chief Ripley orders Carmen and the player go to the Opera House, but are stopped upon being informed about the death of media mogul Rufus Murlock by his own assistant.
Tropes:
- Asshole Victim: Apart from the fact that he was an ex-SOMBRA agent, Rufus was also an Immoral Journalist who reported lies regarding Warrin and made him lose all respect among his community, turned his back towards Chockas when she saved him from poverty and even banned her livelihood, and mistreated his assistant for no reason.Warrin: So, I wish I could say I'm sorry Rufus died, mate, but truth is, he was a miserable codger..
- Awesome Aussie: Warrin Mundine, an Aboriginal lobbyist with plenty of muscle and guitar skills, appears as a suspect.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: As a result of SOMBRA's experimentation on her, Veronica has turned into a loyal but murderous assassin with the same The Social Darwinist views as any other member of the organization.Veronica: This isn't about me. It's about the preservation of order and establishment of leadership. The weak must die.
- Call-Back: Michelle Zuria reappears as a suspect.
- Continuity Nod: Wolf News is mentioned.
- Cliffhanger: The case ends with the Bureau sailing to an island in the middle of the Indian Ocean where SOMBRA has been overseeing "The Next Level" program with the intent of shutting it down once and for all.
- Destroy the Evidence: The reason why Rufus bought a piece of land and sea and put it off-limits to everyone was because a sunken SOMBRA ship full of incriminating evidence was resting at the bottom of the ocean, including a map that proved SOMBRA had been conducting experiments for more than 30 years.
- Dissonant Serenity: When arresting Veronica, she continues talking in her monotone voice without losing any cool like many other culprits in the series, which even Carmen finds a little creepy.
- Drag Queen: Chockas D.Lux, one of your suspects, is one, and you later learn that the victim was also a drag queen under the name of Cherrie so he could hide from SOMBRA.
- Foreign Queasine: What Carmen thinks about veggiemite, specially because Lars keeps trying to make her eat it.
- French Jerk: Brice LeBeau, a scuba diver and treasure hunter from France with a serious case of It's All About Me and rule-breaking attitude.
- Funetik Aksent: Brice has a very strong French accent as shown during his dialogues where he interchanges "th" for "z".
- Gratuitous French: Brice tends to put French words in the middle his dialogue.
- Hates Wearing Dresses: Carmen is seen wearing a dress at the start of the case due to needing to attend a fancy gala, and shows some discomfort about it.
- Immoral Journalist: Rufus was a media mogul dedicated to writing bigoted propaganda and spreading lies, which led to all drag queen shows in Australia getting cancelled and Warrin being expelled from his community for supposedly selling land to a casino owner when in fact he was just trying to defend it.
- It's All About Me: Brice won't let any rules, laws, or authorities stop him in his quest for scuba diving.Brice: I told you, <Player's Name>, zere was no way zat man was going to keep me from zat ship.I'm Brice LeBeau, ze famous international deep-sea treasure hunter! I do as I want!
- Just Following Orders: Veronica's motive for murdering Rufus in the name of SOMBRA.Veronica: I've been here for months waiting for SOMBRA to give me my commands. I did exactly what I was ordered to do.
- Land Down Under: The only parts of Australia seen in this case are the Sydney Opera House, the Outback, and underwater.
- Meaningful Rename: Veronica Salter used to be named Katherine Vojtka until SOMBRA took her from an Slovakian orphanage to transform her into an assassin.
- Multiple Gunshot Death: The victim was killed by being shot six times in a row.
- Mysterious Past: Despite being such an influential figure in Australia, almost no one knows anything about Rufus' past, with his drag queen identity being a secret to the entire world apart from Chockas. Of course, it doesn't take a long investigation before you find out this was deliberate as he was hiding from SOMBRA.
- Not Proven: The Bureau is forced to let Michelle go after she plants a bomb on the sunken SOMBRA ship due to not having any proof about her intent of detonating it in the first place.
- Playing Both Sides: Carmen accuses Michelle of doing this after you discover she had planted a bomb on a SOMBRA ship.Carmen: I don't get it... You worked for a SOMBRA agent but then you planted a bomb on a SOMBRA ship! Are you working for them or against them?!
- Professional Killer: As it turns out, "The Next Level" program's end goal is creating groups of genetically enhanced and utterly loyal assassins to work for SOMBRA, with one of them even becoming the culprit in this case after SOMBRA sent her to assassinate Rufus for deserting the organization.Marina: SOMBRA has managed to craft the perfect assassins - unfailingly loyal, mentally and physically enhanced.
- Resignations Not Accepted: SOMBRA used a Professional Killer to murder Rufus after he left the organization to become a media mogul.
- Shipshape Shipwreck: One of the crime scenes is a sunken SOMBRA ship that the victim was concealing in his property, which is full of evidence regarding SOMBRA's experiments.
- Shout-Out:
- The victim, Rufus Murlock, is very obviously a parody of Rupert Murdoch.
- Chockas D.Lux resembles Mitzi Del Bra, and when you inform him about the victim's death he responds with "Ding dong! The witch is dead!"
- During the case, he mentions Thelma & Louise and "Texas Chainsaw Mascara".
- The Opera House scene features the Sydney Opera House.
- In the The Shipwreck scene, there is a mermaid resembling Ariel.
- Muriel's Wedding is mentioned, as well as James Bond.
- One of the reporters on the case is named Cooper Anderson.
- Slave to PR: Ingrid loses her cool after a news report claims the Bureau is being too slow catching Rufus' murdered and if the organization should even be trusted.Ingrid: This cannot be! We've got a reputation to uphold! Countries to answer to! We've got-Carmen: Relax, Ingrid! We're on it!
- Spit Take: Chockas does this with her wine after you ask her about Rufus' past as a Drag Queen.
- Tap on the Head: During her interrogation, Veronica claims she was hit in the head after being shot in the arm and thus couldn't see who committed the murder. Later Subverted when you discover she was faking it since she's the killer.
- We Used to Be Friends: Rufus and Chockas were so good friends they even started a drag queen duo together, but in reality Rufus had only decided to work in the industry to hide from SOMBRA and, as soon as he felt safe, ditched Chockas, used his money to become a conservative media mogul, and even used his influence to ban drag queens from the country.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Not only is Veronica the one who, in tears, appears to report the crime, but she also shoots her own arm to make you believe she was a victim rather than the murderer.
