Portrait
Conversation
1 - If Lo is alive and before the situation with Dr. Amundsen is resolved.
2 - If Dr. Amundsen is dead
3 - After rescuing Hel
4 - After The Survivors quest is started
5 - Completed David's Exploration but not ready to choose a contact
6 - Ready to choose a contact
7 - After The Survivors quest is finished
8 - After choosing him as your contact
9 - After unlocking Oldtown
10 - After the Oldtown Quest is finished
11 - After starting Heart of Midgard quest
Intro
Thank you! As you can see, my recovery's coming along nicely. Wouldn't be here without you.
Did you hear anything?
How do you know Lo?
I met this Ghoul King (After finishing Problems on the Docks)
Glad to Help (End of conversation)
Did you hear anything?
Before rescuing Dr. Amundsen:
They talked about a lot of stuff… mostly just petty things. But they did say there's another prisoner… across town underneath a University building.
They said she was in an old asylum behind the boiler room. Doesn't make a lot of sense, but a lot of things haven't made sense since the accident.
What Accident?
Thanks (End of conversation)
After rescuing Dr. Amundsen:
Lo was talking about getting Hel back, which is probably our best course of action for now. We'll need to go back into hiding, especially after what's happened to… all of us, but we have to compare notes first.
In particular the connection between the Slags, Midgard, and Eclipse. I guess we'll just have to see how deep the rabbit hole goes.
The Slags?
Thanks (End of conversation)
What Accident?
Well, south of the docks right along the lake, there used to be an industrial district. Lo and I used to work at a lab there, top secret.
While we were out one day, something went wrong. None of us are exactly sure what, but we were still close enough to the explosion… well, my arm had to be amputated, let's keep it at that.
Still, I think I got the best end of that deal. If we had been in the lab…
(End of conversation)
The Slags?
Well, south of the docks right along the lake, there used to be an industrial district. Lo and I used to work at a lab there, top secret.
While we were out one day, something went wrong. None of us are exactly sure what, but we were still close enough to the explosion… well, my arm had to be amputated, let's keep it at that.
Still, I think I got the best end of that deal. If we had been in the lab…
(End of conversation)
How do you know Lo?
We go way back. Lo and I worked together for years as scientists.
Something went pretty badly awry and our employer doesn't seem interested in having us around anymore. I have to suspect they're behind those gangers. They knew I used to be a scientist. Nobody knew that.
(End of conversation)
I met this Ghoul King
Really? That's fantastic! And… I suppose I mean that in the "unbelievable," "like a fairy tale," and "great" senses of the word.
I've been searching for… lord, years now, for some sign of intelligent life in the ether. I knew there was something at the Docks.
There's so much I'd like you to do, but we need to focus right now. I'm working with Lo to figure out what our next move should be. You'll be the first to know when we know where we're headed with this thing.
(End of conversation)
Intro (Dr. Amundsen dead)
Man… I just don't know. I always kind of expected her to outlive us all.
She was always so careful, you know. Just sitting in her lab, working on security.
Didn't help much in the end… we need to take out the Third Eye. Which, if I don't miss my guess means understanding Eclipse.
Wheels within wheels… it'd be a fantastic puzzle if it weren't so close to home.
How do you know them?
I met this Ghoul King (After finishing Problems on the Docks)
I'll leave you to your thoughts (End of conversation)
Intro (after rescuing Hel)
Hel's back! That's wonderful news.
With her experience on the ground and, if you don't mind me saying, Lo's and my brilliance, we should have this cracked in no time.
NEEDS SPEECH CHOICES
Intro (starting Survivors quest)
First time:
Well, I think we should go straight to the source: asking the beings of the ether. Some of the creatures people see when they take Eclipse seem to be intelligent, so we just need to make peaceful contact with them and find out who's behind this.
Later times:
Thanks so much for agreeing to help! Have you found something?
How about a plan?
Check out this jar
The Ghoul King (if you've seen him)
Singing Fish (if you've seen them)
Mushroom People (if you've seen them)
Dancing Lights (if you've seen them)
Your role (If you've gotten information from one of the etheric beings)
Not yet
Sounds good/Let me try
Great! Alright, let's get to it.
My analysis so far points towards the Docks. I spent a bit of time there digging around and the workers believe there's some sort of intelligent presence in the lake.
(End of conversation)
How's that work?
Good question, but not one I have a good answer to. My best suggestion is to take some Eclipse and wander around the Docks.
Honestly, it seemed to work fine, but the natives took exception to me. Which is to say they sent some sort of huge sea serpent thing after me and I had to run for my life.
Not a good time, especially when you're trying to make peaceful contact.
Let me try
Not convinced
Sounds crazy/Not convinced
Yeah, can't blame you on that one. "Take a bunch of drugs and wander around on the Docks" isn't so much a plan as the plot for a bad college buddy flick.
(End of conversation)
How about a plan?
Before talking to him about one of the etheric beings:
Well, the best advice I can give is that most of the intelligent activity I've seen is centered around the Docks. It sort of weirds me out, how it's clustered, but it could statistically still be a coincidence.
My only advice is to try some Eclipse and wander around down there. I found some pretty quickly, they just didn't like me much.
(End of conversation)
After talking to him about one of the etheric beings:
You're already doing better than me. Go ahead and keep following the leads you've got.
(End of conversation)
Check out this jar
Huh, I'll be damned. I saw something like this once… years ago, back when we were doing drug testing in… well, what's the Slags now.
I wonder if this chiming sound is some sort of communication…
Well, if these things are intelligent and you can figure out some way to talk to them, that would definitely answer a lot of questions.
The Ghoul King
With Kingly Favor?:
Amazing. The creatures I encountered were… primitive, if I may be so judgmental. He sounds like he's on another level entirely.
It's like something straight out of legend. Still, if he offers you some sort of deal, I can only suggest you take it.
It's not really my choice, but information is worth a lot compared to something ephemeral.
After saving the Missing Artist, having made a deal with the Ghoul King:
Fantastic! He owes you a favor, perhaps now you can ask him what the origin of Eclipse is… or the creatures within it.
If Midgard's involved, he may be able to see their fingerprints.
Tell him what they said
I'll keep trying (End of conversation???)
Singing Fish
Before helping them:
Well, you've gotten a better welcome than me. I met the same guys and they sent a big snake after me, broke three ribs.
I was hoping I could patch things up some day, but I'm glad I went to you first.
After helping them:
So you've learned their language, amazing. Seriously, I couldn't get close enough to have a conversation and they've taught you their language.
Now all that's left is asking the right questions, I suppose. Good luck.
Explain their hatred
Yeah, I'll do that (End of conversation???)
Explain their hatred
Really? I mean… wow. I guess that sort of makes sense… shit.
Well, let me start at the beginning. Back when I worked under Lo at SP1, where the Slags are now, we were testing a lot of chemicals.
It was a secret facility so regulations were pretty lax. At least some of the chemicals ended up being tested on staff volunteers.
One time I started tripping and I mean hard. There was this void, like not even a vacuum, just nothing. And then these little winged lights like butterflies started pouring out of my mouth.
When they moved, there was this music like bells. It was an awesome trip but the test ended up having to be aborted because one of the guard drones apparently went haywire and started attacking the air.
I thought it was just a hallucination… holy fuck.
Well… keep your eyes open for anything about Special Projects. That's the division we were part of. If they're still around, it's possible they have records of what the hell that was.
(End of conversation)
Mushroom People
Before helping them:
Anthropomorphic mushrooms? Really?
Well, I suppose that supports my theory of Eclipse tapping into the collective unconscious. I mean, what druggy hasn't seen those?
NEEDS SPEECH CHOICES
After helping them:
TEXT
Dancing Lights
Little green winged lights? Yeah, I can totally picture what you're talking about.
They sound almost more like a normal drug hallucination than anything intelligent, but if you can find one that you can talk to…
(End of conversation)
Not yet
Yeah, I hate to say it… but this is an art more than a science. Just give it your best shot and I'm sure we'll find something.
(End of conversation)
Your role
Wow… I mean, what the hell? Actually, if Special Projects… fuck, that totally makes sense.
Okay, sorry, let me start from the top.
Back when I worked under Lo in Special Projects, there was a lot of drug testing. That was actually what Lo did, mostly, drug trials and synthesizing new chemicals to trial.
Regulations were…. pretty lax. Most of the test subjects were either bums we paid a few creds and a warm meal or volunteers among the staff. I'm not proud about it.
Anyway, during one trial I remember tripping hard, way harder than Eclipse or anything else I've had. There was this void… not even a vacuum, just nothing.
And I opened my mouth to explain what I was experiencing to the monitor. But these winged lights like butterflies just starting pouring out of my mouth… and when they moved it sounded like bells.
I remember I was so pissed… the test had to be cut short because one of the guard drones went haywire.
But that must be it. Whatever we were testing on me there must have had something to do with Eclipse… maybe an early test or the pure source or something.
Which would have to bring it all back to Special Projects and Midgard. Fuck.
Intro (Quest completed, haven't checked in with Hel yet)
It's almost hard to believe at first, that I may have a hand in all this. It seems so unlikely, but I suppose no one else could have recognized these signs.
It's probably time to check with Hel. This isn't quite her worst case scenario yet, but it's pretty damned close.
Intro (Ready to choose a contact)
Hel's right… my recklessness settling here in Southside put you and Lo at terrible risk. We need to be a lot more careful, especially now that we know Midgard is involved.
All we can do now is try to find something even more powerful than Midgard, harness the forces they've called up to destroy them.
I'll walk that path
Let me think (End of conversation???)
I'll walk that path
Alright, the investigation begins now. With the two of us working together, we'll be unstoppable.
Midgard's unleashed forces they don't understand and can't control, but I think we can do both. If we turn this power against them… it doesn't matter if they "own" the city, they wouldn't last a day.
Intro (after Survivors quest)
I'm just sitting here hoping when the rest of the evidence comes in, it won't all point back to us and our time at Special Projects. It's kind of pathetic, isn't it?
I don't even know what we might have found or what Midgard might want with it, but it'll keep me up at night until we find out.
Good thing Mikhail sells coffee, eh?
(End of conversation)
If you have started his quest but not finished it, and are ready to choose a contact:
Well, if Special Projects is behind this, Hel is certainly right. We need to split up.
I'll investigate things from the etheric side, see what I can figure out.
After choosing him as a contact, prior to the release of the Oldtown quest:
Wow. I'm still kind of reeling from the whole… being the father of an entire civilization thing.
For now, I think we need to let our friends get back under cover. Then we figure out what the hell is going on, for both our sakes.
Intro (after Survivors quest)
Looking forward to working together.
What's next?
Me too (End of conversation)
What's next?
Lo always taught me to start from the beginning. Since Wotan died in the explosion, we can’t ask him. But if there are things that remember me, there must also be things that remember him.
Sure, but where?
Who's Wotan?
Sounds risky
Maybe later (End of conversation???)
Sure, but where?/Something that spoke to him?
I’m not sure how quickly Midgard figured out that the effects of those experiments weren’t just in our heads.
But if they captured or recorded anything, it’d probably have been sent to in the Records facility in Oldtown. Knowing Midgard, they’re still there. If there’s one thing you can count on, it’s Midgard’s inertia.(End of conversation)
Who's Wotan? / Wotan?
You know how Lo used to be my boss? Back then, Wotan was his boss. He ran all of Special Projects… also gave us the code names, if you couldn’t tell by his.
He was younger than I am now and had already revolutionized how Midgard’s drones worked. I… looked up to him a lot. We all did, I think, even when he was being an ass.
I don’t think Midgard needs any help, but I still think the world lost a great scientist that day.
That’s not why I want to find something that spoke to him, though. He headed up the project that… well, it seems to be Eclipse now. If one of those creatures remembers him, it should shed some light on what’s going on.
Something that spoke to him? (Only before unlocking Oldtown)
Let me mull that over (End of conversation???)
Sounds risky
Well, yeah. And I'm not the one doing the heavy lifting… Midgard would know who I was in a moment anyway.
If you're not interested, I don't blame you. That said, I don't have a better plan.
Let's go for it
Give me some time (End of conversation)
Intro (after unlocking Oldtown)
Let me know if you find out anything in Oldtown. Figuring out what Wotan was doing back then should make a huge difference.
Wotan?
Find? Like what? (Only before asking Mim in the Niche about Eclipse)
Like Niflheim? (Only after asking Mim in the Niche about Eclipse)
I found it! (Only after asking Mim in the Niche about Eclipse?)
I'm on it (End of conversation)
Find? Like what?
It seems like what we saw during the experiments, even during the early days… somehow persisted. I can’t say whether we created it or if we revealed something that was already there or…
Well, anyway, I’m sure Wotan tested the proto-Eclipse on himself. That’s just the sort of person he was. If Midgard has anything from those early experiments, it should be in the Oldtown records facility.
If they haven’t remodeled, and I doubt they have, there’s a huge vault beneath the office. That’s where I’d check if you can get past security somehow.
Wotan?
Any suggestions?
I'm on it (End of conversation)
Any suggestions?
I’m not really our security specialist, but Hel said something about it having multi-layered defenses. Getting into the building is the first trick. It’s a normal Midgard office, so I’d expect some Internal Security guys checking badges and the like.
Then it’s just figuring okay where the vault is and getting the door open. Okay, maybe not “just,” but I don’t really know how that part works.
(End of conversation)
Like Niflheim?
Niflheim… yes, that does ring a bell. I remember seeing it on a list of subprojects under Project Mimir.
So it was Wotan, then, kicking this all off. I wonder if he knew what he was unleashing… hell, I wonder if we know what he unleashed.
He must have known he was on to something. There's no way we'd be working on Subprojects without even knowing their names otherwise.
If there's any way you can find out more about what's happening now, let me know.
What about Mimir?
I found out more (After asking Mim in the Niche about what's happening now)
I'll see (End of conversation)
What about Mimir?
I bounced between a lot of projects, hitting wherever Wotan thought could use a new vision to grease the wheels. But Mimir was probably the one I spent the most time on, I suppose.
It was a new approach to human memory augmentation. There are implants for memory, drugs, mental exercises, even some genemods have hit the market.
Mimir was trying to bring those approaches together, see if we can create genemods that are activated by the right drugs, implants that are triggered with exercises… trying a lot of new things.
I was under the impression the drug we were testing, Eclipse now, was part of that.
I found it!
I never thought, taking that job, I'd be taking advice from a talking skull. Or, you know, that I'd be on the run from my employer. That part surprises me less, actually… the dangers of working in R&D these days.
Anyway, it looks like Midgard's connection to Eclipse isn't in the past. I had my doubts, of course, but I suppose we can put those to rest.
If Special Projects in knee-deep in this stuff and the skull says Internal Security is using it too… Eclipse goes, if not all the way to the top, at least to corporate headquarters.
Unless Midgard has changed a lot since I worked there, nobody in that tower could understand what they're doing.
We might have to stop them. We might be able to guide them. But, either way, understanding Eclipse will give us a huge leg up.
Concludes Oldtown Quest
If you've earned any titles for completing Conducts this run, you are given them here:
You've earned the following Oldtown Title: "the Iron" (probably others)
(Oldtown Titles are available until the Downtown Quest takes over)(End of conversation)
Intro (after the Oldtown quest)
Well, it sounds like there are more powerful people and things out there than dusty old relics like that skull and I. We… probably don't want to confront them directly, but I can't see a way forward without snooping around a bit more.
Maybe… liberating some more records.
But I don't think Midgard has complete control of the process, at least not yet. There almost has to be something around Midgard HQ, some genius loci that might be able to help us… or at least a echo that's seen into the heart of the beast.
Let's do it
Genius Loci?
Let's stop and think (End of conversation)
Let's do it
Alright! Midgard likes to think they control everything Downtown, but it's never quite worked that way. Don't get me wrong, it's definitely enemy territory, but you should be able to find some allies.
(End of conversation)
Starts Heart of Midgard quest.
Genius Loci?
Sorry, the spirit of a place. It's mostly used in architecture to talk about, you know, the feel of a building. But in this case, I only feel a little silly talking about actual spirits.
I mean, we are going off the advice of a talking skull, after all.
Let's find it
Let's take a breath (End of conversation)
Let's stop and think
Yeah, that's probably for the best. Jumping into Downtown might be our only option, but we know it's madness. Let me know if you come up with a better option.
(End of conversation)
Intro (after starting the Heart of Midgard quest)
Downtown is the center of Midgard's power. Even if they weren't after me… I'm not sure I'd have the guts to go there.
It might be worth getting some outside assistance on this one. Keep an eye out in the ether, of course, but hopefully you can find some folks with different skillsets to help out as well.
Just a thought.
(End of conversation)
Contact
You get David as a contact during the University Quest if you manage to save him. He tells you about Dr. Amundsen and the Boiler Room.
Notes
You get a unique conversation topic with him if you finished Problems on the Docks. May lead to a side quest?
History
Prior to the implementation of Downtown, the intro text after completing the Oldtown quest was:
Before we do anything too rash downtown, we should figure out what the hell they think they're doing. That probably means more hem retrieval from their records, which you seem to be a damn sight better at than I am anyway.
Give me some time and I'll figure out what exactly we need.