Game 31: Mean Streets - Yosemite Scam

Tex Murphy Journal Entry 9: “It’s difficult not to be a little bit jealous of this Ron Morgan character. I spent today travelling between and investigating his various high priced homes, attempting to find his passcard. I couldn’t find it anywhere in his Yosemite cabin, but I did find the nav codes for two other locations that he owned. I eventually found the card in his San Diego beach house, but retrieving it wasn’t a simple task. Once I’d managed to switch off the alarm system, I then had to figure out how to avoid getting my arm eaten off by piranhas to retrieve the card. There are only two remaining cards to find (since I managed to retrieve Cal Davis' from the ape also), yet I only have one nav code left to explore. Hopefully this Lola Lovetoy chick can help me track down Big Jim Slade. Now there’s a confrontation I look forward to!”

I'd seriously love to have a cabin like this!

Mean Streets is long! I don’t mean that in a bad way, but I have a feeling I’ll be going well over ten gameplay posts before I see this one out. Every time I feel like I must be on the verge of the game’s climax, I uncover a bunch more leads and things open up again. I finished my last post just after having questioned Della Lang, who gave me the navigation code for Ron Morgan’s cabin. I’ve always wanted to go to Yosemite, so I immediately set off for NC 1998. I arrived to find that this was going to be another room investigation, and began at the fireplace in the top left corner. There I found a diploma, a switch on the wall, a moose head, a side chair, and the fireplace itself. I couldn’t do much with the diploma, but looking at the switch revealed that it was for the gas log in the fireplace. I thought I’d look in the fireplace before switching it on, and that turned out to be pretty fortunate. Next to the gas log was a wadded paper, which read: “Professor, in accordance with your instructions, I have moved your computer equipment to your beach house.”

Is Ron Morgan Batman?

Unfortunately I had no idea where this beach house was, but at least I knew why Ron’s computer wasn’t in the cabin. I then turned my attention to the moose head, beneath which I discovered a latch containing $500 in cash! Moving the chair revealed a phillips head screwdriver, which I picked up to go along with my slot screwdriver. I walked over and looked at the TV at the back of the room, discovering a small compartment within which I found a “key to a small lock-box”. I couldn’t help wondering why all these people felt it necessary to hide things in little compartments within every bit of furniture, but put the thought aside to continue exploring. I turned on the TV, and smiled as Star Trek appeared on the screen, meaning I’d discovered another of Ilmari’s references. With that done, I made my way over to Ron’s desk, where there was a chair, a book case, and a trash can. There was a fax machine on the desk and I was told that there was jagged paper “as if someone had hurriedly torn the last message away.” There was also a drawer in the desk, but as usual I didn’t have the key.

(Insert Star Trek music here)

Neither the chair nor the bookcase revealed anything out of the ordinary, so I looked in the trash. There I found another wadded up paper (presumably the fax message) that read: “Dear Ronny, last night was incredible. You’re incredible, but I need my nylon’s back. Yours always, Della.” Clearly Ron was quite the lover, or so Della thought anyway. I found that I could interact with the rug on the right side of the room, and moving it revealed a loose floorboard. Underneath the floorboard was another small compartment, within which I found an emerald and ruby necklace worth $2000, a property deed for 1 acre of land near Bakersfield with NC 1710, and 50 rounds of ammunition. Score! Perhaps the acre of land was where the beach house was? I moved down to the small table in the bottom right corner of the room, on which were placed a newspaper, a magazine and a microwave breakfast. The newspaper was opened to a page describing the death of Carl Linsky, but the magazine was Calculus Monthly. Looking at it caused a message to come up telling me that “each minute skimming articles brings you closer to impending doom”, so I let it go.

Tex really has a talent for valuing precious items

The microwave breakfast was uninteresting, so I moved onto the final section in the room where there was a couch and an end table. Looking at the couch revealed a cushion, underneath which I found a small steel handcuff key. The end table also had a key that “would fit a desk or file cabinet”, which I found in an otherwise empty ashtray. I used this key to open the drawer in the desk, uncovering a photograph and a mortgage book. I had a good chuckle when I looked at the photograph: “A picture of an attractive woman in lingerie. You frantically search for more, but find none.” Putting my disappointment aside, I checked out the mortgage book to find it was a “payment book for a beach house located near San Diego (NC 6470)". So now I knew where Ron’s computer was located, and most likely his passcard! Having fully explored the cabin, I entered the nav codes for both the acre of land and the beach house into my spreadsheet. Scanning the list revealed that the closest unvisited location was the acre of land , so I entered 1710 into my speeder navigation console and went straight there.

We get it! Della and Ron were getting it on!

This ended up being a dead end, with no structures or buildings on the land at all. Since I was reasonably close to Cal Davis’ apartment at this point, I decided it was a good time to go try and get the small box off the ape. As soon as I arrived, I walked over to the cage and tried to move the box. Having the ten foot pole that I’d recently found in Greg Call’s laboratory meant I was able to move the box over and open it without getting killed by the violent ape, inside which I found the orange passcard and $1000 in cash. That meant I now had the yellow, orange, blue, purple and green passcards, with only three more to find. I quickly walked over to Cal’s computer and swiped the card, entering his password when asked to (I knew it was “checkmate” as it was written in code on a note I’d found in the desk drawer earlier). Once I’d gained access to the computer I was able to read through Davis’ experiment log. Rather than type it out, I’ve included all the screenshots below. In short, Cal had been inserting microchips into ape’s brains, finding he could manipulate their movements as a result. He then noticed serious side effects in his subjects, including brain damage and death, so was shocked when he was given instructions to continue his experiments on humans!

 I feel bad for suggesting Cal Davis was an evil man. I guess he was still injecting microchips into ape brains though!

We now know that Cal Davis’ refusal to experiment on humans led to his death, and my assumption that he had been responsible for the chip in Linsky’s brain was incorrect. With the fifth passcard in my possession, I looked at my lead list to find that Brenda Perry was the next lead I hadn’t yet visited. However, closer to my current location was Ron Meat, who Steve Clements told me might be able to help me find Big Jim Slade. I made my way to the one-eyed freak’s home, and questioned him about Slade. “I saw him a week ago throwing money around like it grew on trees. He said he’s been real busy lately, and that means people are getting bumped off. I don’t know where he is now, but if I hear something, I’ll let you know.” That hadn’t been the result I’d been after, but I still had a feeling that the Big Surf Hotel was the key to finding Slade, so wasn’t too concerned. I hopped back in the speeder and travelled to Brenda’s house, only to hit yet another dead end. She answered my questions, but she’d only started at MTC about 6 weeks ago and knew nothing important.

You have to wonder why they put so much effort into describing useless locations.

With Brenda crossed off the list, I decided to check out the Big Surf Hotel. Once again I was merely given a description of what occurred there, but this time it wasn’t a dead end. I spoke to the man at the desk and saw that Big Jim Slade was registered in the book as being in room 305. He’d apparently already left the day before, but I was given the key to check out his room anyway. “There’s a few empty beer bottles, cigarette butts on the floor, and a playboy magazine featuring the girls of freaktown. In the garbage can is a fax that says “Add Lola Lovetoy to your hit list. The boys at MTC think she knows too much.” The initials at the bottom of the fax are “R,K.”” This was proof that Big Jim Slade was being hired by Robert Knott (the leader of Law and Order) to take out anyone that knew too much about MTC and Overlord. It also meant I had another lead to add to my ever-growing list...Lola Lovetoy! That left me with the choice of visiting Lola at 4603 or Ron Morgan’s beach house at 6470. I took the latter, assuming that meeting Lola would most likely add more leads to the list or perhaps even lead to the game’s climax.

Who would put their initials on the bottom of a hit request?

Breaking into the beach house set the alarm off, leaving me with only five minutes to find a way to turn it off. As usual, I chose to ignore the alarm and explore the room as though I had all the time in the world. I walked to the top left corner where I found a computer, a chair, a desk, a bookcase, and a lamp. I couldn’t access the computer without Ron’s passcard, and the chair did nothing, so I looked at the desk. Unsurprisingly there was a locked drawer for which I didn’t have the key, but there was also an answering machine with one recorded message on it: “Ron, this is Della…call me.” That didn’t help my situation, so I checked out the bookshelf. I was informed that “one book, high on the top shelf, is a chess book.” Opening it revealed a memo taped inside the cover that had Ron’s encoded password (“etsaelmat”), which wasn’t hard to decode. Finally I looked at the lamp, where I discovered a can of piranha food. I picked it up and moved onto the fish tank in the bottom left corner of the room. It seemed clear what I would find in it!

Another amazing Ron "Jeremy" Morgan pad!

Looking at the fish tank revealed that there was a Nexus computer passcard sitting half buried on the bottom. I figured trying to get it out would result in my hand, and the majority of my arm, being eaten off by the vicious fish, so I turned my attention to the base of the tank. There was a small door at the bottom, behind which I found a book titled “Learning to Love and Care for Your Piranha”. It seemed to me that the book was just another hint to the player that the fish were not entirely friendly, but before I could hold my breath and attempt to “get” the passcard, I ran out of time. I restored, collected the fish food, and then gave it a shot. “You dump the piranha food in the tank, and they feed ravenously. When they are finished, you are able to reach into the tank and get the card.” I now had the red passcard, and since I also knew the password was “stalemate”, I walked straight over to the computer and logged in. Ron’s personal log didn’t tell me much apart from the fact he’d got himself out of town once he sensed the danger he was in for his involvement with Overlord. So I now had what I needed, but my five minutes to get out of the room were rapidly diminishing once again!

You haven't made it until you have a tank full of piranhas!

I turned my attention to the couch area, where I also found a lamp, a table and a console. The console had three switches, and I hoped one of them would turn the alarm off. The first one simply turned the lamp on and off, the second one opened up a panel containing a small safe which I had no key for, but fortunately for me the third switch did indeed stop the timer from going down any further. Sighing in relief, I set out to explore the remaining sections of the room. The top right section contained a plant, a chair and a lamp, but I didn’t seem to be able do anything with any of it. The bottom right section contained a microwave, a fridge and a freezer. There was nothing interesting in the microwave or the freezer, but I did find a video tape on the top of the fridge that was titled Top Heavy Beach Bimbos From Mars. I eagerly tucked it away in my inventory for a more suitable time. With Ron’s beach house completed, there was only one nav code left on my list to visit. I set my speeder to take me to Lola Lovetoy, feeling like my investigation could soon be wrapping up…

The burglar alarm switch is positioned on the table in the middle of the room and labelled "Burglar Alarm"?

Session Time: 1 hours 30 minutes
Total Time: 13 hours 00 minutes

Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: I've written a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no points will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of me requiring one. Please...try not to spoil any part of the game for me...unless I really obviously need the help...or I specifically request assistance. In this instance, I've not made any requests for assistance. Thanks!

Game 31: Mean Streets - Dead Man's Wrest

Tex Murphy Journal Entry 8: “I spent most of today in science laboratories, but it wasn’t as boring as that sounds. After all, it’s not often you discover a dead body while investigating a lead! Bosworth Clark’s lab was trashed, and he was lying dead on the floor, clearly murdered by a pro. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to recover his passcard, but I did get a couple of leads that may or may not lead to the killer, not to mention a pair of gloves that eventually did lead to a card. I needed them to remove a thorny vine in Greg Call’s lab, and hidden behind it was his purple passcard. That was the third one I’d managed to recover, and it was shortly joined by a fourth. It took a fair bit of...how should I say it...persuasion!!!...to get Sam Jones to hand over his yellow passcard, but he eventually realised that doing so was going to be the least painful option available to him. Four out of eight ain’t bad, but it’s for nothing if I can’t find the rest.”

Previously, on Mean Streets...

I’ll refrain from chit chat here and just get on with it. There is much to get through! My last post ended with me discovering the hidden button that opened the door out of Greg Call’s laboratory. The timer was still going down though, so I was going to have to get a move on. I made my way to the bottom right corner of the room, where another stalagmite, a flat file, and a vine awaited me. I couldn’t find anything to do with the stalagmite this time, but the flat file was actually a large map of California, with navigation code 1700 circled. It was described as “Lost Dutchman diamond mine”, which sounded like a rewarding place to visit. I picked up the map and looked at the vine, which was wrapped around the stalagmite. When I tried to move it I was told that “it’s full of thorns and rips your hands. There’s a shelf cut into the stalagmite, but to move the vine, you’ll need to have protection for your hands.” I imagined I would need to find some gloves and come back to this later. Before going any further, I wanted to test a theory. I walked out of the room through the door and then back in. Yep, the timer was gone, and I was free to explore for as long as I needed.

Oh come on Tex you big pussy! Move the frickin vine!!!

The only remaining accessible part of the room was the top right corner, which contained a desk, a fax, a computer, a circuit box and the robot I’d noticed as soon as I’d entered the room. The desk had a drawer, but as usual, I didn’t have the key for it. I couldn’t operate the computer without the passcard either or do anything with the fax, so I turned my attention to the circuit box. I opened the box with the key found in the chamber, and found it contained two switches. The first switch was a simple light switch, but the second one was an “energy field switch”. I turned off the energy field, which caused the red beams that had previously stopped me accessing the computer system on the left side of the room to disappear. I checked out the robot, but it quickly became apparent that it was there as a reference to Lost in Space and nothing more, calling out “danger, danger” over and over again. All that was left to do was to go see what I could do with the console that was now accessible.

Great! I now have access to the...um...what is this thing again?

The console contained a plutonium unit (aka inertial confinement unit), a control panel and a fusion generator. I wasn’t able to do anything interesting with the unit or the generator, but the control panel contained a switch to turn the inertial confinement unit on and off. I switched it on, and heard a loud humming that increased in volume. Nothing noticeable happened though, no matter how many times I switched it on or off. Perhaps I’ll need to use this at a later point! Right, with Greg Call’s laboratory fully explored, it was time to move onto the next location, which just happened to be another lab. Peter Dull had told me where to find Bosworth Clark’s laboratory out in Death Valley, where he spent his time working with satellites. On arrival I discovered the lab completely trashed, and Clark’s dead body in the middle of the floor!!! Yet another scientist involved in Overlord had been taken out!

It looks like my three year old daughter has been in here...apart from the dead body of course!

I began my exploration, as I normally do, in the top left corner, where there was a cabinet, a power unit, a robot, and a door. I tried opening the cabinet and was told that I should use the door, so I’m not really sure why the game listed the two items separately. I couldn’t do much with the power unit, and while I could turn the robot on and off (causing it to move back and forward), nothing of interest happened. When I tried to open the cabinet door I found it locked, and typically I didn’t have the key. I moved onto the tipped over table in the bottom left, where I found cigarette butts, a match book, a list, and some broken glass. The cigarette butts happened to be the exact same brand (Camel) that I’d found near the rat cages in Cal Davis’ apartment, making me think whoever murdered Cal also took out Bosworth. The matchbook was from the Big Surf hotel, and it even gave me the nav code of 5162. Inside the matchbook I found the handwritten address of Bosworth Clark, so it looks like whomever the murderer was spent some time at the hotel at some point. I put it on the spreadsheet to check out.

I thought you said he was a pro!

The list was titled “Caged Rats”, and apparently contained the names of several top civic, political and business leaders in the state. If I’m right this suggests that many of the state’s leaders are being controlled through the use of microchips inserted into their skulls, which is a scary idea! I picked up the list and the broken glass, although I have no idea what good that might do me. The main console area at the back of the room contained a panel, a computer, the dead scientist, a chair, and a calendar. The panel was made up of a monitor bank and a drawer, and looking at the monitor bank revealed a switch labelled “computer monitors”. I turned the monitors on, but nothing of note happened. I tried to open the drawer, but surprise, surprise, it was locked and I didn’t have the key. It also came as no surprise that I wasn’t able to use the computer because I didn’t have Bosworth’s passcard. Perhaps he had it on him somewhere at the time of his death?

Hey Bosworth! Bosy! Hey come on mate, we're going for a few drinks at the pub. Meet us there?

Looking at Bosworth revealed that he had probably died within the last 18 hours, and there was a thin, steel cord around his throat. This time the murderer made no effort to hide his (or her) tracks. I tried to “move” the body, and in doing so uncovered his wallet and appointment book. Within the wallet I found an ID card confirming that this was the body of Bosworth Clark and $50 cash. Surprisingly the game made a point of telling me that “stealing from a dead man is not a real class act”, although it had no qualms with me doing so at Linsky’s or Davis’ apartments. It seems it’s ok to steal from dead people, as long as their body is not actually present. The appointment book had various notations, with one marked page saying “call Frank Schimming”. Frank had mentioned to me when I questioned him about Bosworth that he’d received a message that someone named Bosworth Clark had called him, but hadn’t got around to returning the call. I didn’t have much idea what Clark might have wanted to talk to Schimming about in particular.

I'm not sure much of what I've done in this game has actually been legal, not to mention "real class".

The calendar on the wall was uninteresting until I tried moving it, which revealed a compartment. Inside I discovered 50 shares of stocks worth $500, which seemed a likely candidate to be pawned for bribe money. I made my way over to the top right section of the room, where I was able to investigate yet another control panel and some blue prints. The control panel had two switches on them labelled “satellite visual station #1” and “satellite monitor station #2”. Switching them on made images of satellites appear on the monitors, but once again, nothing of note occurred. The blueprints were for a “high-frequency relay satellite”, and I added them to my inventory. The last section in the room to examine was on the right edge, where I came across a sink and a cabinet. As with all sinks in the game thus far, I was able to turn the running water on and off, but with no purpose. The cabinet on the other hand held lots of goodies!

Oooohhh a sandwich! I haven't eaten in days!!!

The first thing I found in the cabinet was a pair of leather work gloves. Clearly these were going to be used to remove the vine from the stalagmite in Greg Call’s lab, so I eagerly picked them up. I also found a cup, which I picked up for no particular reason, and a sandwich. Moving the sandwich revealed, of all things, a file cabinet key! I took it and went straight back to the drawer in the panel at the back of the room, opening it successfully. Inside were “various computer listings of satellite transmission data, none of which make sense to you”. I snatched it up, and with nothing left to do in this lab, I hopped in my speeder and raced (if you can call it that) back to Greg Call’s lab. Since that was in reasonably close proximity to me, I was keen to find out what removing the vine with the gloves might achieve. The answer was a small shelf, and the purple passcard was sitting on it!

"Den lilla passcard sitter på sokkel." på en eller annen måte jeg savnet at du var Norsk L-E!

I grabbed the passcard, and went straight to Call’s computer. Swiping the card, I realised I didn’t know what the password was. Figuring it must be a chess related word, since all the other passwords have been, I tried a few obvious ones. “Knight” worked, and I gained access to one of Greg Call’s personal logs. “It seems that the ultimate purpose of this micro chip I’ve been designing is to control a person’s feelings and emotions by implanting the device within the brain. This must be some sort of weapon which can destroy certain parts of the mind, while leaving other areas intact. A victim could believe that he was fully capable of thought and reason and not even realise that he was under someone’s control...” There was nothing particularly new in the log, but it was interesting to note that victims would have no idea whatsoever that their actions were being controlled. I left the lab and entered the nav code for Sam Jones into the speeder console. I wasn’t too sure who Jones was, but Klaus had described him as “an arrogant old Nazi”, and “a faithful Law and Order Party member.”

It's 2033, but these screens remind me of the Apples we used when I was in year 7.

I clearly wasn’t welcome at Jones’ laboratory, and was forced to shoot many of his security guards before being able to break into the lab and confront him. When asked how I’d got past his security, Tex memorably responds with “I’ve given your security people the rest of their lives off. I’m afraid you’ll have to start taking resumes again.” Unsurprisingly, Jones wasn’t willing to answer any of my questions unless I threatened him. He eventually told me all the same stuff (about MTC and Law and Order creating a device that will help them to take over the world) that Tom Griffith had divulged. By far the most useful thing I got out of him was his yellow passcard and password (“queen”), both of which I was very happy to have in my possession. Leaving the grumpy Sam behind, I got into my speeder and travelled to the diamond mine mentioned on the map in Call’s laboratory. If nothing else, I expected to find some serious booty there to pawn, but that didn’t end up being the case. The place was completely deserted, so I assume the diamonds I found in his lab were the last ones.

Mr. Jones and me tell each other fairy tales

Scanning down my list, it seemed Della Lang was the next person on my list. Lee Chin had informed me that Della was dating Ron Morgan, so she should be able to help me locate him. Della was a funny character, with facial expressions ranging from completely ditsy to bulldog growling angry, the whole time wagging a pencil around. She had nothing of value to tell me though, apart from information about Ron: “Ron and I go out on occasion. If you are looking for him, he has a cabin near Yosemite (NC 1998). If you see him, tell him I still have those handcuffs.” So, Della is a naughty little thing! Nice to know, but it was time to move on again! I’m now off to this cabin in Yosemite, which sure sounds like a nice place to be. I’ll send you a postcard (well a post anyway) in the next day or two. I feel like I’m on the homeward stretch, only because the amount of leads to talk to is finally shrinking. Robert Knott seems to be the one to find, so I’m thinking he must play a role in the final showdown, however it plays out.

I see eighties hair styles come back in force!

Session Time: 1 hours 00 minutes
Total Time: 11 hours 30 minutes

Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: I've written a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no points will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of me requiring one. Please...try not to spoil any part of the game for me...unless I really obviously need the help...or I specifically request assistance. In this instance, I've not made any requests for assistance. Thanks!

Game 31: Mean Streets - Danger Will Robinson!

Tex Murphy Journal Entry 7: “Today was nowhere near as strange as yesterday (no one-eyed or two-headed freaks), but it was just as eventful. I questioned Tom Griffith, the vice president of MTC Corporation, and the guy must have been on crack or something. He told me way more information than he needed to, confirming my belief that MTC and Law and Order have been working together on a dangerous top secret project. Tom wasn’t the only creep I met today though! Out of the three accountants Larry Hammond suggested I visit, only Arnold Dweeb could give me the information I needed. The asking price however was completely insane, and I had to pawn quite a few of the items I’d collected around the traps just to match it. In the scheme of things though, what Dweeb told me could help crack this case. I have the names of fourteen individuals that have been receiving checks from MTC (eight of which were unknown to me previously), and through various means I now have all but two of their nav codes. I now find myself in the laboratory of one of these leads (Greg Call), hoping to get my hands on at least one of the remaining passcards I need.”

I consider the amount of people trying to kill me as a sure sign I'm on the right track

As you’ll see if you check out the spreadsheet snippet at the end of my previous post, the next lead I needed to check out was Tom Griffith. I’d only recently heard anything about Tom, yet his position as Vice President and General Manager of MTC Corporation marked him as a pretty important figure in proceedings. As I attempted to enter his house, I was attacked by goons and forced into a gunfight identical to the ones I’d faced earlier. The tactics I used were also identical, and I was able to get through the two screens without wasting too much ammo and with little loss of health. I’d kind of hoped that the difficulty of these sections would increase as the game goes on, but it appears I’m going to be forced to relive the same shootout over and over, with only an occasional change of background scenery to liven things up. I knocked on Tom’s door repeatedly until the clearly irritated and freaked out VP finally let me in. The questioning began!

You're also a slimebag, and I too feel there are some big changes in your future!

At first it appeared as though Tom was going to be pretty tight-lipped, but once he realised I already knew quite a bit, he lost all his inhibitions and began to rant. As soon as I mentioned the word Overlord, Tom had the following to say: “How did you find out about Overlord? I guess it doesn’t matter, because it’s almost operational. Through microchips and satellite monitoring stations, we can watch anyone, anywhere in the world. Overlord will greatly enhance government security. Everyone will benefit through this new control device, except those who are deemed a threat.” I then questioned him about Law and Order, and another rant ensued: “The Law and Order party is becoming more powerful every day and has followers throughout government and business. They’re working with us to develop a device which will revolutionize the surveillance industry. Then we will put it to work against the enemies of this country. All decent citizens will benefit from our work. There are those who think the device is dangerous, but we’ll soon change their minds about that.”

Not so cocky now are you!

Well, as if there was ever any doubt, I now knew from the horse’s mouth that MTC Corporation and Law and Order were working together on project Overlord. This certainty was all I got out of Tom though, so I left the highly agitated guy and made my way to the Oakland Coliseum. It was there my informant Lee Chin had organised for me to meet up with accountant Arnold Dweeb. He was described as looking like an A,#1  weenie (whatever that is), and “the type of accountant my parents warned me about.” I wasn’t quite sure what that meant, but I soon found out! Arnold wouldn’t answer a single question without significant payment, and he acted like he had something important to say on every topic. I was already starting to get a little low on funds (around $2700), so I had little choice but to save my game, ask him a few questions, then restore and ask him a few more. The majority of the information he gave me was completely useless, yet cost me an arm and a leg to get. For example, it cost me $1000 to bribe Arnold to tell me about J. Saint Gideon, and all he had to say for it was “He was president of Gideon Enterprises at one time. I heard him tell Schimming he’d get even with him someday.” I’d heard that from several other sources, so this information was worth nothing to me now.

...to shoot first next time!

Overall I spent $13800 to get every piece of information out of Mr. Dweeb, but at the end of the day there was only one thing he told me that was worthwhile. That came when I asked about MTC Corp. I offered my entire $2700 for the information, but he still said it wasn’t enough. I exited the coliseum back to my speeder and checked out my inventory. To this point I hadn’t pawned any of my items, but I was going to have to if I wanted to find out what Dweeb knew that was so important. I pawned the antique lamp, the galium arsenide bars, and various other bits and pieces, taking my total cash over the $7000 mark. It took $3000 of it to find out about MTC, but it was worth it: “Here is a list of people who have received checks from MTC. I’ve also included some of the navigational codes to help you find them. Don’t tell anyone where you got this list!: Carl Linsky, Ron Morgan, Jorge Valdez (NC 4931), Brenda Perry (NC 4577), Greg Call, Cal Davis (NC 3720), Big Jim Slade, Tom Griffith (NC 4590), John Klauss, Bosworth Clark, Sandra Larsen (NC 4599), Della Lang (NC 2111), Sam Jones, and Larry Hammond.”

Not as humble either

That was no less than fourteen leads, although only eight of them were new to me. Out of the eight new ones, Arnold had only given me three nav codes, meaning I still needed to find out the other five. I asked him about all of the leads separately, but didn’t manage to get what I needed. I therefore left the coliseum and contacted Vanessa. She wasn’t able to help with any of the five names, so I spent the next period of time trying to bribe Lee Chin to share what she knew. It cost me $2200, but I eventually received five faxes with information regarding the whereabouts of the remaining five leads. 1. “Ron Morgan has a girl friend named Della Lang. She knows where to find him.” 2. “I don’t know where Clark is, but I have a lead. Talk to Peter Dull, the insurance agent. He wrote an insurance policy for Bosworth Clark and he may be able to help you locate him.” 3. “I don’t know where Jones is, but John Klaus could help you locate him.” 4. “I don’t know where to find Slade, but Police Detective Steve Clements might be able to help you.” 5. “Talk to Steve Clements about Greg Call. He can give you some important facts you might need.”

These threats are starting to arrive more regularly

All of this went into the spreadsheet, and I set off to see the next lead, Jerome Milbourne, the last of the accountants for MTC Corporation that Larry Hammond suggested I go see.  Since Dweeb had given me all the information I needed, I kind of figured Milbourne would be a dead end, and he was. In fact, he wasn’t even home, and a neighbour informed me he was currently on a long vacation. The next closest lead was Peter Dull, the insurance agent that had given me very little the first time I paid him a visit. This time I asked him about Bosworth Clark and was rewarded with the following: “Yes, I’ve written several insurance policies for Dr. Clark. He’s quite eccentric. His laboratory is in Death Valley. He works with satellites and says the reception is much better in the desert. Try NC 9932.” Having got what I needed out of Dull, I moved onto Steve Clements, whose office was literally round the corner. Regarding Big Jim Slade, he had this to say: “Slade’s a dangerous man. He’d from Detroit, and when he’s in town, there’s always trouble brewing. We’ve never been able to pin anything on him, but I’m sure he’s a hired gun whose killed a number of people. If you’re looking for him, good luck. He’s likely to find you before you find him. A guy named Ron Meat might be able to help you, though.” Well I just happened to know Ron Meat, and would have to pay him another visit some time soon.

Who would have thought with a name like Big Jim Slade

I then asked Clements about Greg Call, to which he replied: “You’re not too popular around here. The Chief has told us we’re not supposed to give out information on this case to anyone, and your name was specifically mentioned. I’m taking a big risk even talking to you. This Professor Call commits suicide in his apartment at NC 4753. Shoots himself with a .38. Looks open and shut. But I’m starting to get suspicious about all the suicides and before we got there, a couple of goons from the Law and Order Party had gone through the house pretty thoroughly.” I was filling up the spreadsheet with navigation codes to visit again, and Greg Call’s apartment just happened to be next on the list. As soon as I arrived at 4753 and exited my speeder, I found myself in yet another shootout. Once again the background was different, but everything else was exactly the same. I was pretty good at taking out the bad guys without getting hit by now, and my ammo was still sitting at around 300.

These screenshots probably make the shooting sections look quite good. They're not!

I thought I’d be able to investigate Greg’s apartment now that he was dead, but instead I was just given a message describing what occurred there. “I search the place carefully but there isn’t much to see. I move the dresser in the bedroom and a map falls to the floor. The map is of an area of California near Mt. Shasta and the navigation code 8911 is circled. If the Law and Order boys had found this they would have taken it. Maybe this is where the laboratory is located, and I can beat them to the punch.” Flying off to the laboratory seemed to be the best thing to do, but I had a few stops to make on the way. First was Jorge Valdez’s house, which turned out to be a dead end. He apparently answered my questions, but clearly had no involvement with anything going on. Next was John Klaus, who Lee Chin had told me would know where to find Sam Jones. He did: “He’s an arrogant old Nazi who works in Las Vegas. Use NC 0021. Be careful... he’s a faithful Law and Order Party member and he’s not going to be cooperative with you.”

Since I'm jumping all over the place, I thought seeing the up to date spreadsheet of leads might be helpful.

As you can see from the above image, the closest nav code from my current location that I hadn’t yet visited was 8911, the circled location on the map discovered in Greg Call’s house. After a long journey, I finally found myself with another opportunity to investigate a room. The most eye catching aspects of Call’s laboratory were the red beams restricting access to a computer system and a robot that looked very similar to the robot in the Lost in Space TV series. As usual, I began my exploration in the top left corner of the room, where I found a cabinet, a control panel, a pole, and a danger sign. I was able to open the cabinet, but only because I had the 3-1 oil that I previously collected from Linsky’s lab. I felt very fortunate that I’d picked up every item that I’d come across so far in the game, as many of them (the oil included) seemed unlikely to have a use. I imagine any player that didn’t pick up the oil at the time would probably have forgotten about it altogether by the time they needed it. Perhaps the game would have said “if only you’d picked up the oil you found in Linsky’s lab!” or something like that? Regardless, there wasn’t anything game critical in the cabinet. Just a sack of diamonds worth $3000 for pawning (which I badly needed)!

Danger Will Robinson!

The control panel was labelled Voltage Regulation Control Panel, and I was able to switch it off. Unfortunately, this “shut down the inertial confinement unit, releasing deadly nerve gas into the room.” I was given 5 minutes to deactivate the door locks and escape, but that didn’t seem enough time to thoroughly explore the room. I ignored the timer and continued looking around. I was very excited when I looked at the pole, since it was described as “a long metal pole measuring 10 feet.” I distinctly recalled being told that “it seems obvious that you couldn’t reach the box with a nine foot pole” when trying get the small box out of the ape cage in Cal Davis’ apartment. Well now I had a ten foot pole! I’d been concerned that I’d missed something earlier in the game which had stopped me getting the box, which I knew contained Davis’ passcard, so it was great to know I was on track. I wasn’t able to reach the danger sign, so I moved onto the odd looking case at the bottom of the room.

Sometimes size really does count!

I’d had to leave my computer temporarily at this point, so by the time I got back the timer had reached 0 and I received a game over message. I restored and re-entered the lab, collecting the diamonds and metal pole on my way back to the case. At least now I didn’t have to worry about rushing since I hadn't set the alarm off. This section of the room contained a chamber and a stalagmite. The chamber was called a “protective containment system” and was designed for working with toxic chemicals. There were two mechanical arms inside that could be controlled from outside the case, and the description made a point of mentioning that one of the rubber seals on the case was damaged. The reason for this was made perfectly clear moments later! Inside the chamber I could see a vial and a key, so of course I tried to pick them up with the mechanical arms. My inexperience caused me to knock the vial over (note that I was merely told this information and wasn’t actually guiding the arms), which again released deadly fumes into the room (presumably through the damaged rubber seal). Once again I had five minutes to open the door and escape!!!

At least they know their stalagmites from their stalactites

I turned my attention to the key, and found that it was a small circuit box key. I tried picking it up with the mechanical arms and had success this time, adding it to my inventory. I then tried interacting with the stalagmite, eventually discovering that I could move it, revealing a button in the process. Pushing the button opened the door to the room, meaning I could leave whenever I wanted to! Speaking of leaving, I’ve gone well above my usual word count cut-off, so better stop here. I still haven’t once come to a point in the game where I haven’t known what to do next. I keep thinking that at some point I will need to revisit certain locations and re-question people more thoroughly, but I see no reason to do that while I continue to open up new avenues. Readers are suggesting that I should finish the game reasonably soon, but I don’t see how that could be the case. I’m a long way off having all eight passcards and passwords, so unless I find a bunch of them in one place, I figure there’s still a bit of fun to be had yet.

Tex seems to know what keys are for, just by looking at them

Session Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Total Time: 10 hours 30 minutes

Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: I've written a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no points will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of me requiring one. Please...try not to spoil any part of the game for me...unless I really obviously need the help...or I specifically request assistance. In this instance, I've not made any requests for assistance. Thanks!

Game 31: Mean Streets - Answers from the Polycephalic

Tex Murphy Journal Entry 6: “There are some real freaks in this part of the world these days! I spent most of my day questioning people, trying to figure exactly what project Overlord is all about and how I can stop it. I didn’t find any answers until I met Ron Meat, a Cyclops, and Larry Hammond, a freak with two heads! It was Larry that finally gave me the answers I was after, and I now know that the key to stopping MTC Corporation lies with the eight passcards and passwords that their employees use(d) to access their Nexus terminals. I’ve already got my hands on Linsky’s blue passcard and Klaus’ green one, but getting my hands on the other six is likely to be challenging. On the positive side, I seem to be on a roll, so let’s hope this success continues tomorrow and beyond.”

This wasn't far away from making sense! Funny though!

I have to assume that anyone reading this particular post has already read my previous Mean Streets ramblings. If you haven’t, then I’d recommend heading back to the Introduction post and starting from there. I wouldn’t say that Mean Streets gets all that complicated to play, but I imagine the amount of flying around I’ve been doing along with the sheer volume of plot information that’s being revealed over time would be pretty difficult to fathom in this format. I hope there’s some enjoyment for those readers that haven’t played the game previously and can only say that I’m doing my best to keep it all together! Right, this session began with a trip to the San Francisco Chronicle building, where I met up with Wanda Peck. Once again, Tex wasn’t particularly flattering in his description of the clearly besotted Wanda: “I’ve always thought Wanda was good looking in a way – far away.” I’m not sure that makes sense, but I laughed at its intent nonetheless.

Hey, is Wanda the same actress that plays Sylvia?! Hmmm...

Wanda didn’t have a lot to say about my leads, but once I began asking her about the various corporations, her knowledge came to the fore. “MTC really stands for Management Through Control. The Management Training Center is just a front for a project called Overlord. The Overlord project was developed 50 years ago in England. Scientists began work on a mental ability booster. The experiment involved increasing a person’s mental capacity by connecting his brain directly to a computer. Several scientists tried the experiment on themselves, and at first it worked. By stimulating untapped areas of the mind, they increased their IQs by 15-25%. But they also found they were extremely susceptible to suggestion. Commands given through the computer would be followed without question. The experimentation became more and more radical. Many of the scientists developed severe cases of psychosis. Some committed suicide, and others died under mysterious circumstances.”

Wanda gets serious when she talks about MTC

As helpful as Wanda was being, she seemed very reluctant to talk about Law and Order. “Information on these boys is gonna cost you. I’m taking a big risk saying anything bad about them.” I offered Wanda cash for the info and we eventually agreed on $800. “They’re a pretty bunch of fascists! They started out as a small band of trouble makers about 5 years ago, but they’ve cultivated a steady following since. A year ago Robert Knott became the president, and now the party is focussing their rage against the mutants. When a murder or robbery is committed, it’s immediately blamed on the mutants. The scariest part is that they’re becoming a powerful political force. They’ve got friends in the Legislature, Mayor’s Office and Police Force. You need to talk to Larry Hammond. Look for Ron Meat to find Larry.” There was the lead I needed! I asked Wanda about Larry, and found out that he was a “brilliant computer specialist who has done work for MTC Corp.”

Yes, Wanda really looks like she didn't want to say anything bad about Law and Order

Since I wasn’t able to get an NC off Wanda for this Ron Meat, I went to my sources. Vanessa wasn’t able to help me, but Lee Chin clearly knew something. It once again took $800 to get her to talk, at which point I received a fax telling me that “Ron Meat hangs out near Coit Tower. Use NC 4525. He’s a little unpredictable, so watch yourself.” I entered the NC into my spreadsheet, but figured that Frank Schimming’s location was much closer. I’d been looking forward to visiting Gideon Enterprises for a while, so I set my speeder to 4650 and took off. Mr. Schimming certainly wasn’t happy to see me, but I began questioning him regardless. He seemed reluctant to tell me anything about certain employees, such as John Klaus and Cal Davis, stating that he couldn’t possibly know all the employees of the company. He also claimed to know nothing about Overlord, although his angry answer suggested otherwise. Basically, I got nothing out of him, yet bribing him didn’t work and threatening him resulted in me getting my ass kicked by security.

Not even one that died a few days ago?

As soon as I departed Gideon Enterprises, I received a fax telling me to “get off this case or you’ll be sorry!” All that little threat did was make me know I was on the right track, so I pushed ahead and made my way over to see Peter Dull, Linsky’s insurance agency. The description of Peter suggested that “even looking at him could put you to sleep” and I won’t argue. I questioned him about everything, and while he did confirm what I already knew about Linsky’s insurance policy (that it was for 1,000,000 dollars and was made null and void once he committed suicide), he gave me nothing else of interest. I left, and made my way to the beach where Aaron Sternwood apparently hung out. Aaron was the guy that found Cal Davis dying after having ingested cyanide, and I hoped he could give me something that would help recover Cal’s passcard.

Prepare to pay up, cause I'm all over this case!

“This could be the world’s first beach for ugly people. A skinny guy walks by with so many varicose veins, he could double as a road map.” I really hadn’t expected Mean Streets to be so quirky and to contain so much Al Lowe style humour, yet the descriptions contain more comedy the further I play, and the characters are becoming more cartoonish.  Aaron Sternwood looked ridiculous, grinning like a mad man and sucking on a beer in his unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt. Unfortunately, while Aaron did confirm my belief that the passcard I needed was contained in the small metal box that was currently sitting next to the ape in the cage, he didn't give me any hints as to how I might get it. “When I found him in his lab, he had his hands around his neck and he mumbled “checkmate”. Cal kept a computer passcard in a small box near the ape cage.” That was disappointing, but there were plenty of names left on my to visit list. Now that these detours were done with, I was going to pay this Ron Meat a visit, with the hope of getting the location of Larry Hammond out of him.

An optimist through and through!

Lee Chin had warned me that Ron Meat was unpredictable, but she gave me no warning about how damn ugly he would be. “He has radiation burns over most of his face, but he has a nice eye. Too bad he doesn’t have another one to match.” Ron Meat looks like a Cyclops from Greek mythology! I asked him how he was, and the answer wasn’t overly good. “Me? Not too good lately. I need to get my eye checked. I probably need a monocle.” Boom tish! I got past his ugliness for long enough to ask him some questions, to which I received two interesting responses. When asked about Law and Order, he responded with: “Those SOB’s have threatened me several times. They think I look like one of those freaks. I’ve heard they’re planning something big, and I know it is going to happen soon.” So if Ron Meat isn’t “one of those freaks”, then what the hell do they look like!? He seemed unwilling to tell me where Larry Hammond could be found until I threatened to punch him in his one eye. “You’ll find him in Freak Town at the old warehouse at NC 4935.”

I think I'd prefer to not be able to see my reflection

That address just happened to be right next door, so I travelled the short distance to this “Freak Town”. “This is where most of the unfortunate individuals live who suffered severe damage from nuclear radiation. Many of their offspring suffered genetic damage resulting in some rather grotesque mutations. Most were treated as outcasts and were forced into this community, away from those not affected.” Seems to me that Ron Meat was living in denial! He must be a mutant! Anyway, I found Larry and his brother Darrell. They just happened to be the same person!!! As horrible as Larry appeared, he was extremely helpful, particularly when questioned about MTC. “About a year ago, Tom Griffith, the Vice President of MTC Corporation, hired me to design a computer for the Overlord project.” I hadn’t heard the name Tom Griffith before! That seemed a bit strange given his position, but I added him to the list to track down and question.

Actually, would you mind Darrell? I'd really like to speak to Larry alone.

Larry continued: “They also wanted eight access terminals. A colleague of mine, Cal Davis, told me that he had been hired by the MTC Corporation to do research on controlling human behaviour through direct brain stimulation. When I started asking questions, they told me it was none of my business. When I read that Davis had been killed, I decided to go into hiding. If you’re looking for a way to stop project Overlord, you’ll have to get to the main computer, and destroy the satellite. To gain access to the destruct sequence, you’ll need all eight passcards and passwords. Each scientist involved with the project has one. My grey passcard was stolen by members of the Law and Order party. My password is “king”. To get the rest of the passwords and cards, you’ll have to find each of the scientists working on the project. Once you gather all the cards, you’ll need to find the main computer to use them. I don’t know where the main computer is, and other than Cal Davis, I don’t know any of the names of the remaining 6 scientists who worked on the project.”

What makes you say that? Did he seem uncomfortable around you? Can't understand why!

Larry finished by telling me to start with “the accounting people at Gideon; Jerome Milbourne, Ed Bradley, Arnold Dweeb. They might have names of the people that received checks from MTC.” This was a lot to take in, but I finally felt like I had a real objective rather than just stacks of names. I continued to question Larry, and he continued to give me the answers I needed! “I designed the Nexus system. There is a main computer and eight access terminals. But I also built a fail safe into the system. To stop the Overlord project, you will need all eight passcards and passwords. You must then find the location of the main Nexus computer. Insert the passcards into the main computer and you can initiate the self destruct sequence. This will destroy all data and the relay satellite as well.” Sounds like fun! I asked Larry about Jerome Milbourne, Ed Bradley and Arnold Dweeb, but the only one I could get a nav code for was Bradley (NC 7312).

I wonder how may times Darrell's heard this joke!?

Since I hadn’t received the nav codes for Jerome Milbourne or Arnold Dweeb, not to mention Tom Griffith, I once again called on my informants. Vanessa was able to help me out with Jerome, sending me a fax stating that “Jerome Milbourne lives in San Francisco at NC 4623”, but she couldn’t assist with the other two. As usual, Lee Chin could, but it took quite a bit of cash to get the info out of her. For $500 she told me that “Arnold Dweeb has agreed to meet you at the Oakland Coliseum near the 50 yard line. Use NC 4610”, and for $800 that “Tom Griffith has a home in San Francisco at NC 4590”. I put all the codes into my spreadsheet and found that Ed Bradley’s home was the closest to my current location. I travelled straight over there to question the accountant, only to find that he was a dead end. He had nothing to do with the accounting between the Gideon and MTC Corp., so couldn’t really tell me much. He did say that I should speak to Arnold Dweeb though, who of course I already had on my list.

Actually, Ed Bradley would have been 92 in 2033, so he could have lived that long. He didn't though.

There are some games where I feel ready to stop for a while after a one to two hour session. This of course works great for the blog, because I can spend some time writing a post before getting back to the game refreshed. Manhunter 2 was a bit like that. I really enjoyed the game, but it always felt like a bit of a struggle. I had a difficult time figuring out what was going on, and often needed to spend some time away contemplating the latest information and to put all the pieces together in my head (writing the posts actually helped me make sense of it all). Then there are other games that I just don’t want to stop playing. Games where a four to six hour session is a real possibility! Mean Streets is like that! There’s always something interesting just around the corner to discover and I have that “just one more location” thing going through my head every time I try to pull myself away. This doesn’t mean it’s a great game of course, but it sure is addictive. I’m cranking out posts every couple of days at the moment. Not because I feel inspired to write. I just can’t play Mean Streets until my posts are up to date! On that note, I'm done here...

The list of leads is growing, but that's just fine with me!

Session Time: 2 hours 00 minutes
Total Time: 8 hours 00 minutes

Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: I've written a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no points will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of me requiring one. Please...try not to spoil any part of the game for me...unless I really obviously need the help...or I specifically request assistance. In this instance, I've not made any requests for assistance. Thanks!