Curate of Curiosities

Previously on I Miss The Sunrise, we helped Typelog with their little pet project, only for it to go haywire and nearly kill its manager. In the meantime, Tezkhra had his work open-sourced without his consent. Since there's no longer anything we can do about that, and so Ros gets put back in his pickle jar, because since last episode had significantly less wrecked habitations than before, we can safely assume that the Inquiry is done fixing the effects of the Shine.

This chapter is a quote attributed to Galileo after he was forced to recant Copernicus' theory that the planets revolved around the sun. So that should mean that...we'll end up quarreling over a scientific discovery due to religious motivations? Would this have something to do with that Stardraw thing that Tez was whining about Typelog not using properly?

Unlike the first two episodes and the prologue, we wake up not in our stasis chamber, but rather, in a lab that doesn't seem to be on the Inquiry at all. We are then asked to determine what's wrong with the room. I already know what's wrong, this isn't the Inquiry!

In the next room, we're met with a target value and six buttons. It takes some trial and error, but we find out that each button corresponds to a binary digit, so if you know anything about binary code, this should be simple to figure out.

The one after that is a simple maze, and at the end, we finally catch up with our crewmates.

Of course, we have another corporation, EROS, that has taken interest in the Inquiry project. Unlike with Typelog, they seem to be interested in Ros himself, hence the tests.

But it's been a while--I'm not sure exactly how long, but before we meet up with the newcomers, lets talk to our crewmates, who are all still in the places on the Inquiry where they've always been.

In the Ring-0 hallway, Chac nicked Rami's painkillers. Looks like they've still got some old Earth recipes.

Jessamine wants to know why we're the main character, and for some reason, we can't just tell her about the protein, and Neff wonders why we've only encountered one alien species in this whole entire universe.

Daszk has an inferiority complex, Luke's trying to butter us up to get closer to Marie, Deirdre has a complex over being the only human child in the whole universe, and Mahk is asking the same question I am over how the Sikohlon managed to virtually monopolize the weapons business.

A new episode means new bounties to hunt.

First, the Wall. It's a wall. That slowly pushes you back. Just shoot it till it dies. This was the very first time I had a party member fall in battle, and only because it acts first and carries said party member's weakness.

Next is the Drinker. It's next to invulnerable and is accompanied by four energy fountains, that each attack with a particular element. So how do you defeat it? By attacking the fountains with attacks of their own element to overload them! After the disappointment that was episode 2's boss, it's nice to see a boss that actually requires thought to deal with.

And lastly, the Cryocarrier. Sound familiar to you? It should, because it's a near carbon copy of The Reconstruction's Cryomancer. Like in that game, I don't care to find out what happens if you get caught in the advancing wall of ice. Unlike in that game, it actually poses a bit of a challenge. Losing two party members to this thing was definitely sobering, especially after coasting through the first two episodes.

More of Mahk's daddy issues, and Rami thinks attack drones are people. Maybe it's a side effect of being augmented. On to see what this EROS thing's about.

That...isn't reassuring. So there must be a reason why you're interested in Ros, right? Because I'm sure he had nothing to do with you bumping into the Inquiry with your invisible ship. You think you'd be considerate enough to change course once you started approaching it.

Things are pretty tense among the crew already, since not only has Tezkhra's Stardraw technology been stolen, but also the Sikohlon weapon blueprints. And I take it the wall we just fought has made of with Sikohlon tech as well.

And here's the meat of it, there's a habitation raiding EROS facilities that we need to spy on. Oh, and Kara, a representative of EROS, joins the party, while we're at it.

Just sneak around activating the relays, and be sure to kill all the mobs on the first turn to avoid raising suspicion. Granted, we end up killing nearly every mob around the place, which you would expect to raise more suspicion--and it does, raising it to more than 500/1000 by the time the mission ends.

Along the way, we collected something called carboderm. It coats the outside of spaceships, and is the reason that they can recover health. There's some guy in Habitation Zero who's asking for some, and for giving him what he asks for, he gives us a weapon component we already have more than enough of.

More party chats. Chac tries to think of the positives of the universe blowing up! Luke sets his sights on Kara! Neff discusses AI hallucinations! Mahk's still concerned about the leak, cause his family business is the one and only thing he cares about!

Next briefing. Rami quotes Star Wars to distract from the fact that we need to escort an EROS-owned cargo vessel to their research facility. All of this is to train the AI for EROS' drones. Yeesh, this has gotten really awkward to play.

The goal is to clear out the enemies in the blind zone ahead of the vessel. It's not hard if you can divide the crew into three well-equipped fleets. Okay, quality weapon parts are a bit hard to come by at this point, so you can scratch the "well-equipped" part, but you did pick up the optional party members, did you?

When was the last time we ran into a horde of Lessers? The prologue? And are they going to show up whenever it's least convenient for us, or whenever a mission doesn't have enough tension? Because clearing out a path for a huge, hard-to-maneuver transport vessel is really tense on its own.

Anyway, the back door to the research facility is open, and the Lessers aren't quite smart enough to follow us there.

Inside, we're introduced to Willis Jameson, one of EROS' chief scientists. Why does he remind me of that techbro weirdo that the guild helped in chapter 3 of The Reconstruction? I'm almost expecting him to have a Lacertian manservant.

Even though the Inquiry has stayed put in every mission we've been on so far, it turned right around once the Lessers showed up. Understandable, it doesn't seem to have much in the way of defenses. But it doesn't matter where it goes, much like Habitation Zero and the Typelog Superhub, the exit will take us right back there.

I think I've found out why this episode is named for a quote about how you can't un-discover science, no matter how hard you try to suppress it. Yet this place looks more "millenial startup" than "research center."

Especially with all these affirmations on the walls, which make me think that the facility has a Starbucks on board.

There's even a pen full of Lessers. Oh, so he does have a Lacertian manservant after all. Hmm, didn't something happen with the last place that held Lessers? And one of them here's looking awfully dark. Kind of like that one Lesser that we fought off twice already.

Oh hey Ivoronus. Didn't think you'd show up after the prologue. Now, what could have led him to decide to leave the Machinatorium and speak with the Inquiry crew in purpose?

Oh, it's to suggest that EROS might not have the best of motives in their scientific research, and that they have an abandoned facility that show us why. I thought it might have something to do with his business being compromised from the leak. Though, while he is aware of it, he claims that the competition that results will be good for them in the long run. Confirmed, capitalism was indeed one of the things suppressed before the Shine.

To no one's suprise, the Lessers are already there to pick the place clean. I think I know what this Lesser horde is most similar to. The Tchiitra! So that must mean that there must be a leader coordinating their movements, and if we kill it, they'll stop attacking us.

Right up ahead, there's an enemy vessel with a failing reactor, let's check it out.

The Black One? He's getting shot at? And he's encouraging the guys shooting at him? Okay, something's not right.

We can either ignore him or atttack his attackers, to which I choose the latter. Best he be dealt with on our terms. So we take out the assailants, but it's already too late for the Black One. But does his ship have those failsafes that prevent ship pilots from dying? I don't know, and I don't really care.

So, the mission. Sweep up all the enemies. Nothing more to it.

Welcome to the Abandoned EROS Databanks, also known as the Designated Loredump Area. Nice to know that all these terminals are still functioning in the who knows how long since it's been abandoned. But I thought you were trying to avoid cliches, Space Lizard?

There are several different user ID numbers attached to the entries, 0001, 1213, 4188, and 98A2.

0001 waxes philosophical about humanity's place in the universe, 1213 makes note of how litttle sentient life there is in space, 98A2 mentions detecting spikes in...something (it's latent energy, is it?), and 4188's entries mention their disillusionment with the EROS project, leading them to abandon the facility to live a quiet life on a surface. Particularly, one that was part of the PLSE project. Hmmm, isn't that the thing that Tezkhra was discussing in...yeah, I think I'm going to bring up the epilogue quite a few times before we finish. Given that the PLSE project involved seeding and purging planets on a regular basis, maybe that's the thing that Ivoronus wanted us to know about? Most of the doors in this place are locked, maybe whatever he's talking about is behind them.

Anyways, one of the terminals, only accesible with a key that we got from defeating the Cryocarrier, contains the coordinates for the surface that 4188 escaped to. Let's pay them a visit.

A desert planet? Weird place to hide in. I guess if I were hiding from an aimless, amoral research organization, I'd pick the most unwelcoming place that I could find. But what would happen if say, the Lessers were to come across it? But then again, they might be after...wait a minute, we've seen them do quite a bit of pillaging, but with no real motive behind it. What's stopping them from ravaging this planet?

THe one thing of interest on this surface is a terminal where you input a password, which is, predictably, the scientist's ID number.

This is 4188, real name Cassidy Turnstone, and her husband Cole. The two of them left Earth as part of the Breach, an exodus from the planet in hopes to escape the breakdown of society. So that means that they could make people immortal, yet couldn't stop climate change.

What's that? Because the two of you have been living on a surface, you've been able to live in comfort while everyone else was recovering from the Shine? Well good news! We're taking you on the Inquiry so you can see the effects of the Shine first-hand!

Between them and the bounties, that's all the side material for this episode. so we'll break off here.