Conversation 704: INVENTORY / LEDGER OF FAILURE

Perform a closer inspection of the ledger found in the trash (your official paperwork). Find: 1. serial number 2. forms 3. notes on cases 4. wife's letter 5. toilet smell

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This is a listing of every "entry" in a given game conversation as scraped from the game files. Entries often contain written dialogue, as well as conditional logic governing their appearance to the player. They also link to other entries, sometimes automatically and sometimes through player action. This page is best used to search for a specific word or phrase, as following the links in this format can be difficult. For an experience that better accommodates the branching structure of these conversations, see the corresponding interactive page.

Column definitions:
  • ID: a numerical index for the entry within this conversation.
  • Character: the character speaking or acting.
  • Dialogue: prose containing spoken dialogue and other description.
  • Conditions: logical checks governing this entry appearing or occurring.
  • Links: entries that might follow this one, depending on conditions and player choice. Most links are internal to this conversation, external links to other conversations are marked with the format (conversation ID, entry ID).
ID Character Dialogue Conditions Links
0 None
  • 1
1 None
  • 153
2 Damaged Ledger It's the ledger you found in the trash: a pitiful cabbage of white and yellow papers hanging from plastic board, barely held together by a metal clip. This sad display is made complete by the faint smell of urinal cleaner.
  • 4
  • 320
  • 5
3 Perception (Smell) You know -- like the bits they put into public piss bowls; probably called *Fermi-Discrete* or *Axel* or something. At some point in its journey the ledger has seen the inside of a public toilet.
  • 42
4 You Anything *else*?
  • 6
5 You [Put the ledger away.]
6 Damaged Ledger There's a piece of toilet paper -- or is it cleaning tissue? No, it's toilet paper -- *desperately* sticking to the back of the blue plastic clipboard.
  • 7
7 Damaged Ledger It's a metaphor -- for you.
  • 8
8 Conceptualization Thank you, waterlogged ledger, for spelling it out for us.
  • 56
9 Inland Empire Below the pathetics -- terror. Do not look into its blue heart.
  • 10
10 None
  • 16
  • 15
  • 836
  • 11
  • 357
  • 359
  • 12
  • 13
  • 448
  • 340
  • 40
  • 14
11 You Browse the *white* papers. Variable["inventory.ledger_case_files_inspected"] == false
  • 176
12 You Browse the *yellow* papers.
  • 272
13 You Look at the clipboard.
  • 327
14 You [Put the ledger away.]
15 You Inspect the clip.
  • 796
16 You Inspect the toilet paper. Variable["inventory.ledger_toilet_paper_seen"] and Variable["inventory.ledger_no_toilet_paper"] == false
  • 17
17 Damaged Ledger It's just toilet paper, sticking to the back of the plastic clipboard. You can take it off if you want.
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
18 You (Take it off.)
  • 26
19 You (Leave it there, it's cool.)
  • 23
20 You Maybe it's kitchen tissue? They look exactly the same.
  • 22
21 Perception (Smell) It's not though. It's toilet paper.
  • 18
  • 19
22 Damaged Ledger If you *want* it to be kitchen tissue, it can be kitchen tissue.
  • 21
23 Damaged Ledger
  • 24
  • 25
24 Damaged Ledger Variable["inventory.ledger_maybe_kitchen_tissue"]
  • 31
25 Damaged Ledger (Variable["inventory.ledger_maybe_kitchen_tissue"]) == false
  • 30
26 Damaged Ledger
  • 27
  • 28
27 Damaged Ledger Variable["inventory.ledger_maybe_kitchen_tissue"]
  • 32
28 Damaged Ledger (Variable["inventory.ledger_maybe_kitchen_tissue"]) == false
  • 29
29 Damaged Ledger Still wet, the toilet paper peels off the plastic easily. All you have to do is shake it off your finger and voila! The ledger now looks (marginally) better.
  • 55
30 Damaged Ledger *Way* cool.
  • 33
31 Damaged Ledger Mhm, cool toilet paper... I mean kitchen tissue.
  • 33
32 Damaged Ledger Still wet, the toilet paper -- I mean *kitchen tissue*, sorry -- peels off the plastic easily. All you have to do is shake it off your finger, and voilà, the ledger now looks (marginally) better.
  • 55
33 Damaged Ledger
  • 34
  • 35
34 Damaged Ledger Variable["TASK.style_your_paperwork"]
  • 614
35 Damaged Ledger (Variable["TASK.style_your_paperwork"]) == false
  • 610
36 Damaged Ledger A bunch of sodden papers sag from the clipboard in your hand. It's a sorry sight.
  • 10
37 Conceptualization It says: everyone look at me and my toilet paper covered cop ledger! I don't *care*. My ledger is droopy and it smells like a urinal. Not a new addition, though. So keep that *styling case* open, my friend...
  • 820
38 Conceptualization It says: everyone look at me and my toilet paper covered cop ledger! I don't *care*. My ledger is droopy and it smells like a urinal.
  • 820
39 None
  • 10
40 You Smell the ledger.
  • 41
41 Damaged Ledger The acidic stench of rotting food has rubbed off on the cellulose. It now forms the *base* of the experience. This base surrounded by a faint air of spoiled meat -- the stuff of death itself! -- and then sprinkled liberally with the citrus zest of toilet cleaner.
  • 3
42 Damaged Ledger
  • 43
  • 44
43 Damaged Ledger Variable["inventory.ledger_perception_toilet"]
  • 872
44 Damaged Ledger (Variable["inventory.ledger_perception_toilet"]) == false
  • 622
45 You Which toilet would that be?
  • 46
46 Damaged Ledger
  • 47
  • 48
47 Damaged Ledger Variable["whirling.sense_bathroom_smell_smelled"]
  • 50
48 Damaged Ledger (Variable["whirling.sense_bathroom_smell_smelled"]) == false
  • 49
49 Perception (Smell) *Which*? You're not sure you've smelled this one yet, or worse... you have the nagging feeling you might have missed it.
  • 622
50 Perception (Smell) Remember when I said the smell of the upstairs bathroom was so rank they should have sent a *poet* to describe it?
  • 51
  • 52
51 You Is "sprinkled liberally with the citrus zest of toilet cleaner" a line this poet might have used?
  • 54
52 You Not really.
  • 53
53 Perception (Smell) Maybe you should pay more attention then? Anyway, what your nose is trying tell you is -- the ledger was dropped into a toilet in the Whirling-in-Rags, by you. The toilet cleaner in your room smells exactly the same.
  • 622
54 Perception (Smell) Why yes it is! Among many other things. This cleaning tablet is used by the Whirling-in-Rags -- perhaps that's where the ledger was dropped in the toilet? By you.
  • 622
55 None
  • 10
56 Damaged Ledger
  • 57
  • 58
57 Damaged Ledger Variable["TASK.find_your_paperwork_done"]
  • 9
58 Damaged Ledger (Variable["TASK.find_your_paperwork_done"]) == false
  • 59
  • 60
59 You Hold on, what do you mean a metaphor for *me*?
  • 61
60 You Ignorantly pass through the eighth thousandth sign that it's yours.
  • 646
61 Damaged Ledger FACE THE DESOLATION! This is *your* ledger. You're a COP and it's your official ledger. It's filled out in *your* hand and it *stinks* like you too. And looks like you.
  • 9
62 Damaged Ledger
  • 63
  • 64
63 Damaged Ledger IsKimHere()
  • 70
64 Damaged Ledger (IsKimHere()) == false
  • 73
65 You Shut up, nose. I don't need your help -- I don't need *anyone's* help!
  • 66
66 Perception (Smell) Your nose does not understand what it did wrong.
  • 622
67 Damaged Ledger
  • 68
  • 69
68 Damaged Ledger Variable["yard.trash_ledger_didnt_wanna_talk"]
  • 74
69 Damaged Ledger (Variable["yard.trash_ledger_didnt_wanna_talk"]) == false
  • 73
70 Damaged Ledger
  • 71
  • 72
71 Damaged Ledger Variable["yard.trash_ledger_kim_wasnt_there"]
  • 73
72 Damaged Ledger (Variable["yard.trash_ledger_kim_wasnt_there"]) == false
  • 67
73 None
  • 10
74 Kim Kitsuragi The lieutenant observes you raising and lowering the toilet-water-logged mass under your nose, trying to get a good whiff. A good *analytical* whiff.
  • 107
75 Damaged Ledger
  • 76
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76 Damaged Ledger Variable["yard.trash_concept_apperwork_style_answer"]
  • 98
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77 Damaged Ledger (Variable["yard.trash_concept_apperwork_style_answer"]) == false
  • 653
78 You "I think I didn't want to be a cop anymore."
  • 82
79 You "It must have been cramping my style."
  • 81
80 Composure Easier said than done -- how could this pathetic mess of copy paper and plastic ever become *très disco*?"
  • 94
81 Kim Kitsuragi "Officer, however damaged -- that..." he points to it, "...is still an official piece of paperwork. It probably contains notes on *numerous* ongoing investigations. It could even list undercover operatives. Certainly informants. I suggest integrating it into your *style*. For all our sakes."
  • 80
82 Kim Kitsuragi "I'm sad to hear that." For a moment he doesn't know what to reply.
  • 100
83 You "It has a.. foreboding quality to it. I'm picking up dark vibes. Maybe I *had* to lose it?" Variable["yard.trash_inland_warned"] == true
  • 621
84 You "It has a.. foreboding quality to it. Maybe I *needed* to lose it, for the great bloodletting to begin..." Variable["yard.trash_inland_warned"] == false
  • 85
85 Kim Kitsuragi "You had to lose it for *the bloodletting* to begin? What are you talking about?"
  • 88
  • 90
86 Empathy He's not mad -- that smelly mess of paper in your hand is making him worry about the well being of his own paperwork, that's all.
  • 109
87 You "Yeah, I still don't want to discuss it."
  • 89
88 You "I don't know."
  • 103
89 Kim Kitsuragi "Okay, no problem." He turns away to start organizing his own notes -- leaving you with yours.
  • 86
90 You "I speaketh the tongue."
  • 104
91 Kim Kitsuragi "In any case, we're lucky you found it. Make sure it's all in there. Official notes are... well they're dangerous, they contain confidentialities."
  • 653
92 You "Someone from the Whirling threw it in the trash? I don't know. I'm boring." Variable["plaza.kineema_sylvie_flushed_paperwork"] == false
  • 105
93 Conceptualization What are you talking about? No one's out to get you -- get real man! Upgrade that cop-ledger!
  • 99
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94 Damaged Ledger
  • 95
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95 Damaged Ledger Variable["yard.trash_composure_how_paperwork_style"]
  • 106
96 Damaged Ledger (Variable["yard.trash_composure_how_paperwork_style"]) == false
  • 653
97 Conceptualization I don't know... have you seen how *basic* that thing is? Basic clip, unglamorous toilet-smelling papers. It could've done with some *pizzazzo*! Anyway, go on. Sorry I said anything.
  • 110
98 You I don't know, it seems foreboding to me somehow. Like there's something in there that's out to get me. Variable["yard.trash_inland_warned"]
  • 93
99 You Alright then. Seems like a good idea. (Accept.)
  • 102
100 Empathy He's sorry for you.
  • 91
101 You What I should do is get back to making sense of this thing. (Discard.)
  • 97
102 Conceptualization It is -- look at how basic that thing is! Basic clip, unglamorous toilet-smelling papers. It could do with some *pizzazzo*" Cheer you right up.
  • 110
103 Kim Kitsuragi "I don't know either..." He points to the ruined notes. "You should take stock of those, make sure it's all there. Official notes contain informants' names, undercover operatives even. If some of it has fallen into the hands of the RCM's adversaries, bloodletting may well ensue."
  • 653
104 Kim Kitsuragi "Do-eth thou also thorough inventories?" He points to the ruined notes. "You should take stock of those. Official notes contain informants' names, undercover operatives even. If some of it has fallen into the hands of the RCM's adversaries, bloodletting may well ensue."
  • 653
105 Kim Kitsuragi "Boring? Try *dangerous*. You should do a thorough inventory of that -- make sure some has not fallen into the hands of the RCM's enemies: organized crime, or worse... Official notes sometimes contain informants' names, even undercover operatives."
  • 653
106 Conceptualization Challenge accepted. You should be on the lookout for stylistic elements that elevate this cabbage to heights unforeseeable.
  • 75
107 Kim Kitsuragi After a while he can't take it anymore. "Excuse me, I just have to ask again -- *how* did it get in the trash?"
  • 108
108 None
  • 111
  • 78
  • 79
  • 83
  • 84
  • 92
  • 87
109 None
  • 10
110 None
  • 10
111 You "I'm pretty sure I -- or someone else -- dropped it into the toilet in my hostel room bathroom. The tablet's the same." (Tap on your nose.) Variable["inventory.ledger_knows_toileted_upstairs"]
  • 112
112 Kim Kitsuragi "Okay, good." There is a moment's silence. "But *why*?"
  • 78
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  • 92
  • 87
113 Damaged Ledger An aluminium block runs the width of the board, biting down on the paperwork. Its crocodile teeth are the only thing keeping the papers together. A regular pencil, the tip worn down to nothing, has been attached to the clip.
  • 114
  • 115
114 You Run your finger across the aluminium.
  • 117
115 You Enough of the clip. (Back.)
  • 116
116 None
  • 36
117 Damaged Ledger The surface is interrupted by a silvery *sticker*. It's rectangular, sparkling with iridescence. You don't know how you didn't notice it before...
  • 118
118 Perception (Sight) Looks like an official mark, made to be low visibility outside the right circumstances.
  • 119
119 Damaged Ledger
  • 120
  • 121
120 Damaged Ledger Variable["whirling.kim_hologram_mentioned"]
  • 125
121 Damaged Ledger (Variable["whirling.kim_hologram_mentioned"]) == false
  • 122
122 Damaged Ledger
  • 123
  • 124
123 Damaged Ledger IsKimHere()
  • 618
124 Damaged Ledger (IsKimHere()) == false
  • 163
125 Logic It is similar to the RCM watermark on your blazer the lieutenant mentioned. Didn't he say something about the headlights of his motor carriage? That you can read these there?
  • 122
126 You "Lieutenant, is this one of the *hologram watermarks* you mentioned?" (Point to the sticker.) Variable["whirling.kim_hologram_mentioned"]
  • 128
127 You Forget about it for now -- how is the rest of this thing doing?
  • 169
128 Kim Kitsuragi "What?" He is lost in his own notes. It takes a moment for him to see it. "Yes, a halogen watermark used for adding information to RCM property."
  • 129
129 None
  • 130
  • 131
  • 132
130 You "Interesting. What kind of information?"
  • 133
131 You "How can I read it?"
  • 135
132 You "That's all, thank you." (Conclude.)
  • 144
133 Kim Kitsuragi "It depends. Aside from an anti-counterfeiting stamp, mine has my station number and address. The information varies by date of issue."
  • 828
134 None
  • 129
135 Kim Kitsuragi "Any capable light with the right wavelength will do."
  • 147
136 Empathy The lieutenant would rather not have you rummaging around, looking for the lights in his vehicle...
  • 143
137 Damaged Ledger
  • 138
  • 139
138 Damaged Ledger Variable["plaza.kineema_intro_done"] or Variable["plaza.kineema_intro_complete"]
  • 142
139 Damaged Ledger (Variable["plaza.kineema_intro_done"] or Variable["plaza.kineema_intro_complete"]) == false
  • 136
140 You "Before, you mentioned the headlights of your vehicle?"
  • 141
141 Kim Kitsuragi "Yes." There is a pause. "RCM vehicles have headlights tuned especially to reveal halogen watermarks."
  • 848
142 Empathy The lieutenant fears this will lead to fiddling with the delicate, folding headlights on his motor carriage. They're dear to him.
  • 143
143 None
  • 129
144 Kim Kitsuragi "Okay." He returns to his neatly kept notes...
  • 831
145 You "Hey lieutenant. What is this?" (Point to the sticker.) Variable["whirling.kim_hologram_mentioned"] == false
  • 146
146 Kim Kitsuragi "What?" He is lost in his own notes. It takes a moment for him to see it. "That thing? It's a halogen watermark. We use it for adding information to RCM property."
  • 129
147 Damaged Ledger
  • 148
  • 149
148 Damaged Ledger Variable["inventory.ledger_logic_hologram"]
  • 140
149 Damaged Ledger (Variable["inventory.ledger_logic_hologram"]) == false
  • 150
150 You "Like -- for example?"
  • 151
151 Kim Kitsuragi "All RCM vehicles have headlights designed to reveal halogen watermarks. Mine too."
  • 848
152 None
  • 36
153 Damaged Ledger
  • 154
  • 155
154 Damaged Ledger Variable["inventory.ledger_greeting_done"]
  • 160
155 Damaged Ledger (Variable["inventory.ledger_greeting_done"]) == false
  • 2
156 Damaged Ledger
  • 157
  • 158
157 Damaged Ledger Variable["inventory.ledger_no_toilet_paper"]
  • 161
158 Damaged Ledger (Variable["inventory.ledger_no_toilet_paper"]) == false
  • 159
159 Damaged Ledger Oh, and a *cool* piece of toilet paper is stuck to the back.
  • 161
160 Damaged Ledger It's the ledger you found in the trash: a cabbage of papers hanging from the board, barely held together by the clip -- and made complete by the faint smell of urinal cleaner.
  • 647
161 None
  • 10
162 Damaged Ledger In the back you see thin translucent copier paper -- some neon yellow, some bright red -- all covered in boxes, like marching armies. These look like official forms, waiting to be filled out...
  • 244
163 Damaged Ledger
  • 164
  • 165
164 Damaged Ledger Variable["inventory.ledger_logic_hologram"]
  • 619
165 Damaged Ledger (Variable["inventory.ledger_logic_hologram"]) == false
  • 620
166 You What is this?
  • 167
167 Damaged Ledger To be honest: you have little to no idea. You're dumb. And alone.
  • 168
168 Esprit de Corps Somewhere -- not here -- the helpful Lieutenant Kitsuragi is making notes in his blue notebook. He tilts it ever so slightly, a glowing rectangle catches the light. He could advise you with this. The next moment...
  • 152
169 Damaged Ledger Not good. A bunch of sodden papers sags from the clipboard in your hand.
  • 170
170 None
  • 10
171 Logic You should turn them on and get in front of those headlights -- see what happens. There may be information on there, a *halogen watermark* he called it.
  • 172
  • 173
172 You When I get the chance. (Accept.)
  • 175
173 You Not interested, Logic. I don't take orders from anyone. (Decline.)
  • 174
174 Logic Obviously, yes. The papers still sag from the clipboard in your hand. It's a defiant sight. You're a hero.
  • 643
175 Logic It'd be nifty if you found something that way, wouldn't it? The papers still sagging from the clipboard in your hand -- not so nifty.
  • 643
176 Damaged Ledger They're not *exactly* white. They're yellowed in patches by sunlight and alcohol, and covered in dense blue handwriting. Ink escapes into watercolour patterns, reaching its tendrils across entire pages. The paper itself is chequered with faint red lines forming short paragraphs.
  • 177
177 Damaged Ledger Once in a while there's a red stamp that exclaims: CASE FILES; COMMIT TO PAPER. The *CASE FILES* themselves are plenty. You count more than a hundred sodden, crumpled up, earmarked pages falling apart in your hands. They appear to be sufficiently organized and extremely dense, if mostly illegible.
  • 207
178 You (Count the pages.) I have to open an official case. Is there room? Variable["TASK.open_official_case"] == true and Variable["TASK.open_official_case_done"] == false
  • 179
179 Damaged Ledger There is -- for precisely *one* more. Fifteen pages near the end remain untouched by the damage. The chequered grid forms a structure of passages, breaking the case into sub-tasks to accomplish.
  • 180
180 Logic Once all the tasks are accomplished, the case is complete.
  • 205
181 You COMMIT TO PAPER.
  • 183
182 Damaged Ledger The tasks you've completed flow out of the pen in a brash freehand similar to the rest of the letters. The wording comes easily, it's almost robotically simple; a language developed for mental rigour and simplicity:
  • 196
183 Damaged Ledger
  • 184
  • 185
184 Damaged Ledger CheckItem("kind_green_ape_pen") or CheckItem("blue_oblong_pen")
  • 182
185 Damaged Ledger (CheckItem("kind_green_ape_pen") or CheckItem("blue_oblong_pen")) == false
  • 662
186 You "Kim, do you have a pen?" IsKimHere()
  • 187
187 Kim Kitsuragi The lieutenant looks at his blue notebook. *Two* fat, shiny pens hang from the binder, like large calibre bullets on an ammo belt.
  • 188
188 Suggestion It's downright *incriminating*. He has little choice but to give you one, although he really does not want to.
  • 192
189 You "You know you have to give one to me, right? That *is* how human society works, I believe." Variable["inventory.ledger_suggestion_implies_way_to_pen"]
  • 193
190 You "Fine, I'll just use this crappy pencil..."
  • 194
191 You "Can I have one?"
  • 202
192 Kim Kitsuragi He is not really saying anything. Just standing there -- looking at them.
  • 189
  • 191
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193 Kim Kitsuragi Wordless, he pulls one from the loop and hands it to you. The pen is cold, blue, and ready to write.
  • 673
194 Kim Kitsuragi Absolutely motionless at first, then animated slowly, imperceptibly even, the lieutenant begins to browse his notes again. Leaving you to the case files.
  • 195
195 Empathy The threat has passed. He is thankful it has passed, and that he's gotten to keep both pens.
  • 206
196 Damaged Ledger "Inspect victim's body."
  • 233
197 Damaged Ledger "Interview the cafeteria manager."
  • 237
198 You Cross out the ones you've already finished.
  • 199
199 Damaged Ledger A satisfying slash sounds across the paper. *You're done* it seems to say. And *you!* -- and *you!*
  • 200
200 Half Light AND A FUCK YOU TO YOU *TOO*! That last one cuts a slash right through the paper.
  • 214
201 Damaged Ledger Things to be done and things already done -- the composition of reality. This is an extremely useful tool for a detective of the Citizens Militia.
  • 553
202 Kim Kitsuragi "Know that I give this to you..." He pulls one from the loop. "...with *resentment*."
  • 673
203 None
  • 182
204 You (Back to the case files.)
  • 632
205 None
  • 181
  • 204
206 None
  • 634
207 You What is in there -- what are they about?
  • 208
208 Damaged Ledger Work. Strife. Poverty. The Jamrock Quarter. These are handwritten logs of investigations dating back to January '51, this year. The exact number is hard to estimate due to missing pages -- and an *odd* naming convention -- but there are at least twenty, maybe thirty cases. Undertaken, not completed, mind you.
  • 215
209 None
  • 276
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  • 178
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210 You Inspect the handwriting in the files. Variable["yard.trash_interfacing_handwriting"]
  • 230
211 You There was mention of a... *naming convention* here?
  • 212
212 Damaged Ledger Yes. It appears you employ a... shall we say *robust yet literary* system. Each investigation has its case number written on the margins. Yet, still more tellingly, most are accompanied by a *name*.
  • 213
213 Conceptualization A *title* one might say even. One that draws inspiration from snoop fiction and Vespertine cop show staples.
  • 221
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214 Interfacing You're a swashbuckler with that pen, Harry. And it feels good. Feels like *completion*.
  • 201
215 Damaged Ledger
  • 216
  • 217
216 Damaged Ledger Variable["tc.date_fifty_one"]
  • 218
217 Damaged Ledger (Variable["tc.date_fifty_one"]) == false
  • 209
218 Logic It's the middle of March -- you have attempted two cases a week on average.
  • 296
219 You "Is two cases a week a good case load, lieutenant?" Variable["inventory.ledger_logic_case_a_week"] == true and IsKimHere()
  • 228
220 You How much is that -- two new cases a week? Variable["inventory.ledger_logic_case_a_week"] == true and IsKimHere() == false and Variable["inventory.ledger_asked_kim_about_case_tempo"] == false
  • 241
221 You Oh my, and they're written in capital letters too...
  • 222
222 Damaged Ledger Yes, all caps. One is called THE NEXT WORLD MURAL, another THE SQUARE BULLET HOLE MURDERS. Another yet: THE UNSOLVABLE CASE.
  • 224
223 You I don't wanna... (Back to the case files.)
  • 295
224 You More?
  • 225
225 Damaged Ledger Others appear more light-hearted: THE GUYS ON A COUCH IN AN UNEXPECTED LOCATION and THE MURDER AT THE HOOKAH PARLOUR, even the rare article-free COLLAPSING TENEMENT. Murder features prominently throughout.
  • 226
226 Half Light You like this grimy *murdering*, don't you?
  • 292
227 Electrochemistry Wish there was one in there about a drug den, you love those. Gets the *blood* pumping.
  • 319
228 Kim Kitsuragi "Huh?" He raises his nose from his notes. "Two *complex* cases to undertake is a lot, yes. You *really* have to push yourself. I would not suggest it. Lest you start making mistakes."
  • 229
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229 You "Two cases a week appears to have been my load, lieutenant. I'm not sure I completed them though."
  • 654
230 Damaged Ledger It's *inornate*. Nearly illegible, yet marching in orderly lines.
  • 231
231 Visual Calculus *Pedagogical* somehow. Brash. It must be yours for you to be able to read it. These are the lines of someone who has written by hand *a lot* and has developed a style only they themselves -- or *you yourself* -- can decipher.
  • 232
232 Pain Threshold Written in a rush. In pain. A race to beat your own heart's pulse to some dark finish line.
  • 279
233 Damaged Ledger
  • 234
  • 235
234 Damaged Ledger Variable["TASK.get_the_dead_body_down_from_the_tree"]
  • 236
235 Damaged Ledger (Variable["TASK.get_the_dead_body_down_from_the_tree"]) == false
  • 197
236 Damaged Ledger "Get the body down."
  • 197
237 Conceptualization It's not exactly poetry -- but poetry would be out of place.
  • 198
238 You "I'm sure I made plenty of mistakes."
  • 280
239 You "I burned out all right."
  • 833
240 You "A nice brisk pace. The way I like it."
  • 281
241 Logic A lot? A little? You have no idea, this all depends.
  • 242
242 Inland Empire Does it? It feels like a *lot*. Or maybe even more than a lot. It feels like *too much*.
  • 243
243 None
  • 209
244 Logic ...then *rip* them from the binder, and hand them out. According to type of form.
  • 246
245 Damaged Ledger Three. The topmost are MISCONDUCT FINES, the middle ones are STATION CALLS, and the bottommost are FIELD AUTOPSY FORMS. Each is easy enough to make sense of.
  • 269
246 You What types of forms are there?
  • 245
247 You Enough of these. (Close forms.)
  • 680
248 Damaged Ledger These are quite sinister in tone. They give a date and time for the person to 'appear' at the specified Precinct Police Station. Below the 'call' are the criminal charges you risk by 'not appearing'.
  • 254
249 Damaged Ledger A dozen pages of thin copy paper, bright red in colour. You see the parameters of a deceased human form, waiting to be filled in: age, sex, condition of internal organs...
  • 255
250 Damaged Ledger
  • 251
  • 252
251 Damaged Ledger Variable["yard.need_paperwork_for_autopsy"] and Variable["TASK.perform_field_autopsy_done"] == false
  • 258
252 Damaged Ledger (Variable["yard.need_paperwork_for_autopsy"] and Variable["TASK.perform_field_autopsy_done"] == false) == false
  • 268
253 Rhetoric But they appear... pleasantly vague.
  • 835
254 Perception (Sight) All in a print so small it could be considered downright *cute*.
  • 268
255 Physical Instrument Colour of the irises. Predation marks. Condition of sexual organs.
  • 250
256 You "Kim, look, *field autopsy*."
  • 261
257 You Let it be.
  • 271
258 Damaged Ledger
  • 259
  • 260
259 Damaged Ledger IsKimHere()
  • 256
  • 257
260 Damaged Ledger (IsKimHere()) == false
  • 268
261 Kim Kitsuragi "Good, yes. We can return to the dead body -- by now it smells *exquisite*..." Looks like he would rather concentrate on taking notes for now.
  • 268
262 Damaged Ledger The rest of the stinking cellulose is *much* worse for wear. Being sandwiched between the board and the rest of the paperwork must have spared the fragile copier paper.
  • 686
263 None
  • 264
  • 265
  • 266
  • 247
264 You MISCONDUCT FINE. Variable["inventory.ledger_forms_show_rest_of"]
  • 267
265 You STATION CALL. Variable["inventory.ledger_forms_show_rest_of"]
  • 248
266 You FIELD AUTOPSY. Variable["inventory.ledger_forms_show_rest_of"]
  • 249
267 Damaged Ledger A monetary penalization ranging from 20 to 250 reál. Severe cases allow for 1000 reál, but that requires special paperwork. The details of issuing these fines are spread out over the rest of the fields.
  • 253
268 None
  • 263
269 Conceptualization You don't have to be an intellectual giant to do police-work.
  • 263
270 Authority What delicious power hid within this pathetic mess... you feel better.
  • 262
271 Damaged Ledger The forms feel moist, like the rest. Wavy to touch.
  • 268
272 Damaged Ledger
  • 273
  • 274
273 Damaged Ledger Variable["inventory.ledger_forms_inspected"]
  • 275
274 Damaged Ledger (Variable["inventory.ledger_forms_inspected"]) == false
  • 162
275 Damaged Ledger Thin see-through copier paper -- mostly neon yellow, some bright red -- all covered in boxes like marching armies. These are your official forms, easy enough to make sense of...
  • 263
276 You That's *it*? Variable["inventory.ledger_reaction_more"]
  • 277
277 Damaged Ledger The notebook is *annual*, it says '51 on what remains of its cover -- a molten strap of cardboard. Everything prior to this must have belonged to a previous volume. In short: there was more.
  • 297
278 None
  • 209
279 Interfacing Your hand cramps up merely looking at the scribbles, drawn -- as by some magnet -- to the red chequered margins. Fast, but always *straight*...
  • 282
280 Kim Kitsuragi "That's okay." He nods, then turns back to his own case files. "We all make mistakes."
  • 834
281 Kim Kitsuragi "I prefer a *normal* case load." He turns back to his own case files. "It's a matter of methods."
  • 832
282 Damaged Ledger
  • 283
  • 284
283 Damaged Ledger Variable["inventory.ledger_empathy_handwriting"]
  • 285
  • 286
284 Damaged Ledger (Variable["inventory.ledger_empathy_handwriting"]) == false
  • 630
285 You Who is this person?
  • 287
286 You Return to the case files.
  • 630
287 Pain Threshold Wearing out. Nearly gone. Sometimes he forgets to keep the pen on the paper as he moves his hand and the lines vanish from underneath...
  • 630
288 None
  • 289
289 Damaged Ledger Arson. Petty theft. Spousal abuse -- handwritten logs on investigations dating back to January, ´51 -- stamped CASE FILES, COMMIT TO PAPER. These are the last couple of months of your life.
  • 209
290 None
  • 289
291 You I'm done inspecting these. (Close the case files.)
  • 846
292 Damaged Ledger
  • 293
  • 294
293 Damaged Ledger Variable["inventory.ledger_hl_teenage_murder"]
  • 227
294 Damaged Ledger (Variable["inventory.ledger_hl_teenage_murder"]) == false
  • 626
295 None
  • 289
296 Reaction Speed What do you mean? Is that *all*?
  • 209
297 Pain Threshold Judging by the creases on your forehead and the lines on your cheeks -- too much more. Going back years, decades even....
  • 278
298 You "Kim, my cases appear to employ some kind of... naming convention." IsKimHere() and Variable["inventory.ledger_clicked_naming_convention"] == true
  • 669
299 Kim Kitsuragi "You mean the alphanumeric -- officer, precinct, time of arrival at the scene?"
  • 300
  • 301
300 You "That's the one." (Lie.)
  • 302
301 You "No, I mean a... *non-numeric* one. With titles."
  • 305
302 Kim Kitsuragi "Good. That's a good one..."
  • 303
303 Drama He understands you're *concealing* something, sire.
  • 304
304 Kim Kitsuragi "...but -- do you also use the *titular*?"
  • 306
  • 307
305 Kim Kitsuragi "Oh, you mean the *titular*. Yes, well... So do I. In our defence -- almost everyone in the RCM does."
  • 312
306 You "Okay. Yes. It appears I do."
  • 309
307 You "No. I don't know what you're talking about."
  • 308
308 Kim Kitsuragi "Right. Of course." He returns to his notes, leaving you to yours.
  • 311
309 Kim Kitsuragi "Well... so do I. In our defence, officer, almost everyone in the RCM does."
  • 312
310 None
  • 314
  • 656
311 None
  • 628
312 You "Why is that?"
  • 313
313 Kim Kitsuragi "It's a holdover from the early days of the RCM -- right after the Revolution, when the organization had little idea how to do things. It persists in an *unofficial* capacity. Officers use these titles to refer to their work among themselves."
  • 659
314 You "I seem to have named a case "THE SQUARE BULLET HOLE MURDERS."
  • 315
315 Kim Kitsuragi "Again, in your defence, I seem to have named one..." He peeks into his notes. "THE MAN WITH THE HOLE IN HIS HEAD. That was a real person, his death was real. Still I named it that. To amuse myself."
  • 316
316 Kim Kitsuragi He smiles. "I pray his loved ones never find out."
  • 317
317 You "What happened to him?"
  • 318
318 Kim Kitsuragi "Rail spike through the head. He died. It was a work place accident."
  • 800
319 Visual Calculus No, you don't. You're a human measuring instrument, almost entirely intellectual.
  • 626
320 You I think I got it.
  • 321
321 Damaged Ledger Right, what more do you need? A rubber condom stuck to the back? A graffito that says 'DEFEATED'? I think you catch the drift.
  • 9
322 Damaged Ledger Something rattles inside, ever so lightly. Is there... a hidden compartment?
  • 323
323 Perception (Hearing) And something small inside? Light? Made of paper or cardboard? Or dried flowers perhaps?
  • 438
324 You What did you say the colour was? Variable["inventory.ledger_inland_blue_heart"]
  • 326
325 You Peek inside.
  • 333
326 Damaged Ledger Blue.
  • 773
327 Damaged Ledger It's made of dark blue plastic hard enough to beat someone to submission with. The edges are rounded, however. The U4-sized board feels thick and heavy in your hand. Light shimmers on its wet surface. On the back you see the embossed letters: RCM.
  • 328
328 None
  • 324
  • 329
  • 330
  • 818
329 You Shake the ledger.
  • 322
330 You Back to the rest of this mess. Variable["inventory.ledger_compartment_found"] == false
  • 331
331 Damaged Ledger U4-sized pages hang from the clip screwed to the top of the board.
  • 344
332 None
  • 328
333 Damaged Ledger The plastic shimmers like lapis lazuli, but it is not see-through. You cannot see to its centre...
  • 336
334 Perception (Sight) There's something there. A rectangular shape, like a card. Or a postcard...
  • 817
335 Perception (Sight) There's something there. A rectangular shape, like one of those *postcards* that Annette told you about...
  • 817
336 Damaged Ledger
  • 337
  • 338
337 Damaged Ledger Variable["plaza.annette_post_cards_explained"]
  • 335
338 Damaged Ledger (Variable["plaza.annette_post_cards_explained"]) == false
  • 334
339 None
  • 328
340 You Open the hidden compartment in the clipboard. Variable["inventory.ledger_compartment_found"]
  • 341
341 Damaged Ledger
  • 342
  • 343
342 Damaged Ledger Variable["inventory.ledger_interfacing_opened_compartment"]
  • 437
343 Damaged Ledger (Variable["inventory.ledger_interfacing_opened_compartment"]) == false
  • 774
344 None
  • 10
345 None
  • 381
346 None
  • 347
  • 348
  • 350
  • 352
  • 372
347 You Horus Debby Berenger?
  • 356
348 You Hram Darjan Binzakin?
  • 369
349 None
  • 10
350 You Those aren't my initials, I'm not *feeling* them.
  • 358
351 Drama Can't you see the *sire* is tired of these... fabrications. *RAC* is clearly what it says on the case files. These are official documents. There is no arguing with *official* documents.
  • 353
  • 380
352 You Wow. I don't know what to say to that.
  • 354
353 You Good. How long does it take to read one of these *Raphaël-stamped* cases? (Persist.)
  • 361
354 Logic I got nothing here either. Logic really isn't the best faculty to have this conversation with, But it's the one you got, so sorry.
  • 362
355 You But what is HDB?
  • 373
356 Logic That... is improbable.
  • 345
357 You Read a case file. Variable["inventory.ledger_case_file_reading_initiated"]
  • 366
358 Logic *Feeling* isn't really the jurisdiction we're in right now.
  • 360
359 You Can I read the case files now? Variable["inventory.ledger_cases_unlocked"]
  • 363
360 Inland Empire Probably for the best. Because HDB feels like *bad news* from yesteryear. Like shit, honcho.
  • 345
361 Logic Fine. It takes about half an hour for you to piece one together, Mr... Raphaël. Which one do you want?
  • 377
362 Inland Empire Yeah, we're staying out of this business for now. HDB is *bad news* from yesteryear. It's shit, honcho.
  • 345
363 Damaged Ledger
  • 364
  • 365
364 Damaged Ledger Variable["inventory.ledger_logic_white_system_for_reading_case_files"]
  • 368
365 Damaged Ledger (Variable["inventory.ledger_logic_white_system_for_reading_case_files"]) == false
  • 370
366 Logic It takes about half an hour to piece one together, using the system you've devised. Which one do you want?
  • 627
367 Logic It takes about half an hour to piece one together, using the system you've devised. Where do you want to start?
  • 379
368 Logic Yes! You can piece them together using the alphanumeric code on the margin. It always begins with HDB41, then date of initialization and time of arrival on the scene. Followed by the title. For example: HDB41120117:00 (THE NEXT WORLD MURAL).
  • 376
  • 383
  • 381
369 Logic Yeah... no.
  • 345
370 Logic It's possible: yes. Easy: no. You need to come up with a small archaeological system to re-order the remains of your past works. At the moment all they do is fall apart in your hands. Some dates and the numeric titular system is all you have.
  • 687
371 Logic Forty one is your precinct.
  • 355
372 You I think what you *meant* to say was RAC -- *Raphaël Ambrosius Costeau*. Variable["whirling.raphael_said"]
  • 374
373 Logic It's safe to say those are the initials of the officer responsible for the case -- *your* initials.
  • 801
374 Logic No, the alphanumeric begins with HDB.
  • 351
375 You And HDB...
  • 382
376 You Wait... HDB41? Weren't those: 'Officer, precinct'? Variable["inventory.ledger_numeric_system_introduced"]
  • 378
377 None
  • 387
378 Logic Why yes. Your precinct number is 41.
  • 375
379 None
  • 387
380 You Actually, I'm ready to admit I'm not Raphaël and go on with my life.
  • 384
381 You How long does it take to read a case?
  • 367
382 Logic Every last alphanumeric in the files begins with it -- and these are *your* case files. It's safe to say H.D.B. are your initials.
  • 801
383 You Wait! What is HDB41? Variable["inventory.ledger_numeric_system_introduced"] == false
  • 371
384 Logic That's comforting to hear. Now, detective. It takes half an hour to piece one of these together -- if you still want to. Here are your options.
  • 377
385 You MURDER AT THE HOOKAH PARLOUR
  • 697
386 None
  • 10
387 None
  • 388
  • 391
  • 389
  • 390
  • 385
  • 393
  • 392
388 You THE NEXT WORLD MURAL
  • 395
389 You THE SQUARE BULLET HOLE MURDERS
  • 696
390 You THE COUCH IN AN UNEXPECTED LOCATION
  • 754
391 You THE UNSOLVABLE CASE
  • 415
392 You I can revisit this. (Put the case files away.)
  • 394
393 You COLLAPSING TENEMENT Variable["inventory.ledger_collapsing_building"]
  • 722
394 Damaged Ledger Not much has changed in the meanwhile -- a bunch of sodden papers still sags from the clipboard.
  • 386
395 Damaged Ledger This one is relatively easy to reconstruct. Overnight on 12/02. a graffito -- nay, a mural! -- appears on an eight story tenement overlooking Central Jamrock. The building is a sparsely inhabited ghost tower, part of a failed real estate development called Grand Couron.
  • 476
396 Damaged Ledger The mural is enormous. Two silhouettes -- a man and a woman -- are kissing. The text cut into their forms reads:
  • 397
397 Damaged Ledger TRUE LOVE IS POSSIBLE ONLY IN THE NEXT WORLD -- FOR NEW PEOPLE IT IS TOO LATE FOR US WREAK HAVOC ON THE MIDDLE CLASS
  • 398
398 Damaged Ledger People call it *that thing* and *that fucking thing*. It’s visible for miles. In two days the station's complaints desk gets clogged with requests to remove *The Bummer*. You and your partner are assigned to the case.
  • 399
399 Damaged Ledger The graffito crew is easy to track down. Only the Belles Lettres have the *literage* of industrial paint to cover the surface. (One of the graffito artists is rumoured to be *rich*.) They take responsibility for the execution, but not the design. The ideologue of the *Next World Mural* -- as the crew calls it -- remains an unknown.
  • 412
  • 413
400 Damaged Ledger The crew agrees to clean up after themselves. However, your partner -- JV -- is against the removal, citing public support for conservation. This leads to a debate in Precinct 41, which then spreads to the streets of Jamrock. Ending in a rare plebiscite -- organized by you and the rest of Row III.
  • 401
401 Damaged Ledger The nine thousand people subjected to the mural’s message -- all of Lakeside (Central Jamrock) and Villalobos, plus half of the Eminent Domain -- participate in the vote. Although the case begins with what appears to be a lot of rumbling on the streets as to how juvenile and stupid the mural is, given a choice between two options...
  • 402
  • 403
402 You A) REMOVE THE MURAL, IT IS WRONG
  • 404
403 You B) KEEP THE MURAL, IT IS RIGHT
  • 404
404 Damaged Ledger A staggering seventy-eight percent of voters choose to keep it. Turns out the opposition were a loud minority. And that love truly is possible in the next world -- for new people. And it is too late for us.
  • 405
  • 406
  • 867
  • 407
405 You All that remains is to wreak havoc on the middle class.
  • 410
406 You The middle class are not to be blamed. It's *human nature*.
  • 409
407 You I must have voted (and possibly even lobbied) to remove the thing because I don't believe in that rubbish one bit.
  • 408
408 Damaged Ledger No one cares what you believe in, man with the smelly toilet ledger. What do you want to tackle next? Or are we done?
  • 411
409 Damaged Ledger Did anyone ask what you believe in, man with the smelly toilet ledger? What do you want to tackle next? Or are we done?
  • 411
410 Damaged Ledger In any case, it appears to have been a rare case of civil activity in the Quarter. And agreement as well. What do you want to tackle next?
  • 411
411 None
  • 387
412 You Wait, do I ever find out who came up with it?
  • 414
413 You Read on.
  • 400
414 Damaged Ledger The case files do not show you finding the author of the design.
  • 413
415 Damaged Ledger AKA LESLIE & BURKE, AKA THE PUBLIC INDECENCY DRUNK & THE PROPERTY DAMAGE DRUNK is a *cursed* case. It has been passed from unsuspecting officer to unsuspecting officer for ten years. On January 29, THE UNSOLVABLE CASE made its way to you. Why you accepted it is unclear. Every officer and indeed most civilians in Jamrock know it's UNSOLVABLE.
  • 416
416 Electrochemistry You were so drunk you didn't remember what it was when you signed on. That, or you were high.
  • 417
417 Damaged Ledger Leslie will always take his pants off when he's drunk. Burke will always trash everything. It's just what they do. It is their nature -- you cannot change the nature of a man. And you can't lock them away, because public indecency and small-scale property damage are not punishable by incarceration.
  • 418
418 Damaged Ledger The only way for Leslie to stop displaying his genitals, and for Burke to stop attacking things, would be for them to *stop drinking alcohol*. Which in their forties, or fifties -- it's hard to tell because of their distorted features -- is a medical improbability.
  • 419
  • 420
419 You Couldn't we just keep them off the streets?
  • 421
420 You Proceed.
  • 423
421 Damaged Ledger You would think that, but you're wrong. Where's the fun in exposing your genitals, or breaking stuff in your own home? No, Leslie and Burke are on the corner of Main Street and Perdition, because that's where the *action* is.
  • 422
422 Logic Can you keep *yourself* off the streets?
  • 420
423 Damaged Ledger Threatening, fines, dragging them to the station, locking them up in the hell holes they live in, locking them up in the station, hypnotherapy -- even trying to get a local gang of *zemlyakis* to take them out (the zemlyakis gave them ethanol so Burke and Leslie would expose and rampage even harder) -- you tried it all. And still the complaints wouldn't stop. As they hadn't stopped for *ten years*.
  • 424
424 Damaged Ledger It's plain to see from the files that you, Satellite-Officer JV, and special consultant TH had more important cases to attend to. You uncover cross-reference to several ongoing investigations, each brought to a standstill every time you drive down Main Street. Because there they are! On the corner of Perdition, and what is Leslie doing?
  • 425
  • 426
425 You Property damage.
  • 428
426 You Public indecency.
  • 427
427 Damaged Ledger Good, you're learning. If the files are to be trusted -- that's all there is to it. That and Burke breaking things. And the fact that they're both drunk. But then again, so are you. The case becomes *considerably* less comic one day, when Burke takes a swing at your ledger.
  • 477
428 Damaged Ledger No, that's Burke. Leslie's *schtick* is flashing his genitals, remember? How will you ever solve THE UNSOLVABLE CASE if you can't even get that straight? Well, turns out it's pretty simple. The case becomes *considerably* less comic one day, when Burke takes a swing at your ledger.
  • 429
429 Damaged Ledger He must have it confused with the *property* he likes to damage. But the joke's on him -- you're also drunk. Drunk out of your mind on Potent Pilsner. You slam the hardened plastic board in his face; then proceed to beat him unconscious with it.
  • 430
430 Damaged Ledger In the process the ledger sustains damage. The compartment within -- reserved for permeable documents -- is jammed shut. You stop your assault on the now unconscious Burke to open it, but are unable to do so. *The officer began to cry*, reports Leslie, who at this point is tending to Burke.
  • 432
431 Damaged Ledger *He came at us* -- *And at us* -- *I think he was trying to kill Burke-o*. While trying to kill Burke-o, you slowly come around. The permeables' compartment is open. You've smashed it open on poor Burke'o's kneecaps. The good news is, Burke can't walk anymore.
  • 433
432 Half Light Kill them. They broke it.
  • 431
433 Damaged Ledger Can't get out of his apartment. An invalid. With Burke to tend to, Leslie cuts back on the indecent exposure. Maybe he flashes his genitals to Burke, who knows, but both drunks are off the street. The complaints stop, the unsolvable case is solved.
  • 855
434 Damaged Ledger Which is also why the officer responsible (narrowly) escapes a disciplinary hearing. The end. Do you want to read another one?
  • 435
435 None
  • 387
436 Interfacing ...is *not* what you end up doing. You squeeze the plastic to slide it open, but nothing happens. Then you bend it some. Then crack it. The god damn thing is stuck.
  • 439
437 Interfacing Hmm. The two sides of the board appear slightly misaligned. Like a drawer that's come off the slides. If you *bend* the plastic on your knee, slowly...
  • 447
438 Logic Permeables. It's not hidden per se, the compartment is made for permeable materials that would get damaged if something happened to it.
  • 325
439 Half Light A hot flash of rage comes over you. For a moment there -- before it recedes -- you feel as though you might just squeeze a tear of anger out of your duct. Makes you wonder... why?
  • 441
440 Empathy It's unjust, that's why. You can't even *get* to that thing anymore!
  • 843
441 Damaged Ledger
  • 442
  • 443
442 Damaged Ledger Variable["inventory.ledger_half_anger_compartment"]
  • 440
443 Damaged Ledger (Variable["inventory.ledger_half_anger_compartment"]) == false
  • 446
444 None
  • 10
445 Electrochemistry The fucking drunks, it's their fault. You should've drunk the liquor out of that fucker's SKULL...
  • 446
446 Damaged Ledger The ledger quivers in your hand. As it shakes the pages rustle. This pathetic mess suddenly afraid of you for some reason.
  • 444
447 Interfacing ...the slides *snap* back into place. It should be possible to just... you know...
  • 450
448 You Slide the hidden drawer open. Variable["inventory.ledger_compartment_main_reached"] or Variable["inventory.ledger_wc_success"]
  • 459
449 You Fuck no -- put the ledger away. [Leave.]
450 None
  • 779
  • 451
  • 449
451 You Wait... somehow I don't want to.
  • 453
452 Inland Empire That's because you know where this leads to.
  • 454
453 Damaged Ledger What are you waiting for? Just...
  • 452
454 Damaged Ledger
  • 455
  • 456
455 Damaged Ledger Variable["inventory.ledger_inland_ruin_necktie"] and CheckEquipped("neck_tie") and Variable["whirling.necktie_personified"]
  • 457
456 Damaged Ledger (Variable["inventory.ledger_inland_ruin_necktie"] and CheckEquipped("neck_tie") and Variable["whirling.necktie_personified"]) == false
  • 458
457 Horrific Necktie That doesn't sound like it's gonna be *fun*.
  • 458
458 None
  • 450
459 Damaged Ledger Without resistance -- or sound -- the two panels move against each other. The compartment is now open.
  • 550
460 None
  • 461
  • 462
  • 463
  • 464
461 You Pick up the ticket stubs.
  • 478
462 You Pick up the card. (Proceed.) Variable["inventory.ledger_threw_letter_away"] == false
  • 639
463 You Fucking kill yourself you asshole. Variable["inventory.ledger_kill_yourself_seen"] == false
  • 465
464 You Close the permeables' compartment.
  • 472
465 Damaged Ledger The words just... *crossed* your mind somehow.
  • 466
  • 469
466 You Who were they for?
  • 467
467 Damaged Ledger Who do you think?
  • 608
468 None
  • 460
469 You Blink.
  • 471
470 Damaged Ledger You see two ticket stubs and a handmade card.
  • 460
471 None
  • 470
472 Damaged Ledger It's slightly -- ever so slightly -- difficult to breathe once you've done so. The drawer is locked, blue ink drips from the white pages in your hand.
  • 473
473 Half Light Your hand shakes. You're flushed with adrenaline.
  • 474
474 None
  • 10
475 None
  • 460
476 Rhetoric (Cause of failure: rent too high.)
  • 396
477 Damaged Ledger He must have it confused with the *property* he likes to damage. But the joke's on him -- you're drunk out of your mind on Potent Pilsner. You slam the hardened plastic board in his face. Then you proceed to beat him unconscious with it.
  • 430
478 Damaged Ledger Two octopuses are smiling, reaching their tentacles toward each other in the coloured pencil drawings. The tickets permit access to a zoo in Revachol East. The aquarium costs extra -- these let you go there too.
  • 475
479 Damaged Ledger Thin wax paper has been glued to a piece of cardboard. Sounds like leaves rustling when you pick it up -- you see violet flowers, floral patterns, patches of glue.
  • 480
  • 481
  • 482
480 You Smell it first.
  • 485
481 You Open it.
  • 487
482 You Put it back.
  • 483
483 Damaged Ledger Your fingers are sweaty. There is a sweat mark where they held the wax paper. The card lies next to the ticket stubs.
  • 484
484 None
  • 460
485 Damaged Ledger It smells of chewing gum -- apricot flavoured.
  • 635
486 Perception (Smell) A touch of cinnamon, the end of summer. You think the label says: 'Tutti Frutti'.
  • 481
  • 482
487 Damaged Ledger Familiar handwriting lines the inside of the card -- looped, round letters in a woman's hand.
  • 488
488 Visual Calculus A young woman in her twenties. There is care, effort, and a *smile*, you think -- although that is not something you can read from someone's handwriting.
  • 489
489 Damaged Ledger "Harry," it begins -- you're already reading. "I wanted to write you a letter, so you can read it when you wake up. Maybe it will make you happy."
  • 490
490 Volition Throw it away. Please.
  • 500
491 You But it will make me *happy*...
  • 492
492 Damaged Ledger
  • 493
  • 494
493 Damaged Ledger IsExterior()
  • 495
494 Damaged Ledger (IsExterior()) == false
  • 498
495 Damaged Ledger A merciful wind blows in from the Bay of Revachol, dusting the ground at your feet and raising newspapers far away. You feel the card slipping into it...
  • 496
496 Shivers LET GO.
  • 504
497 Shivers Frisson covers your entire body. A feeling of cold. A persistent chill.
  • 507
  • 508
498 Damaged Ledger Outside you hear the wind howl. A sudden gale blows in from Martinaise, flapping street signs and window blinds.
  • 499
499 Shivers COME OUTSIDE.
  • 519
500 Damaged Ledger
  • 501
  • 502
501 Damaged Ledger Variable["inventory.ledger_inland_throw_it_away"]
  • 605
502 Damaged Ledger (Variable["inventory.ledger_inland_throw_it_away"]) == false
  • 606
503 You Keep reading.
  • 505
504 None
  • 506
  • 507
  • 508
505 Damaged Ledger Your hand shakes, holding the card. "Every morning when I step out and you're asleep behind me," it says. "I find a little piece of sadness in me. I carry it in my chest down Voyager Road..."
  • 535
506 You What was that?
  • 497
507 You Throw the card in the wind.
  • 509
508 You Hold on to it. Read the card.
  • 539
509 Electrochemistry No! Don't throw away the baggie! There's dust on the drug baggie! It's not good but at least it's *some* kind of way to be together...
  • 513
510 You What's inside?
  • 511
511 Damaged Ledger Two ticket stubs and a handmade postcard.
  • 460
512 You Throw the card in the wind.
  • 516
513 Damaged Ledger
  • 514
  • 515
514 Damaged Ledger Variable["inventory.ledger_electrochem_minigrip"]
  • 512
  • 508
515 Damaged Ledger (Variable["inventory.ledger_electrochem_minigrip"]) == false
  • 516
516 Damaged Ledger Just like that the wind picks it from your fingers. Cold, they let go, the wax paper rustles, a whisper light and low... Then a sudden gust raises the postcard to the drizzle grey sky above. Away from you...
  • 517
517 Shivers A small piece of paper dances above Martinaise -- above slow waves crashing the shore; and the war torn houses and the new *batiments nouveau* alike; above you, looking up to the grey sky with your hair greasy and wet..
  • 527
518 Damaged Ledger The wind carries the keepsake away from you -- to the southwest, the pale violet dot disappears.
  • 594
519 Damaged Ledger
  • 520
  • 521
520 Damaged Ledger Variable["inventory.ledger_shivers_inside_come_out"]
  • 808
521 Damaged Ledger (Variable["inventory.ledger_shivers_inside_come_out"]) == false
  • 807
522 You What?
  • 524
523 You I'll take this outside. [Leave.]
524 Shivers Far away and outside... the reeds hiss with desperation. Step out.
  • 525
  • 523
525 None
  • 503
526 Shivers And above the distant streets and the 8/81 -- even above the old fish market and the church. Its material existence is lost. This great city will pocket it for you. For your own sake -- forget about it.
  • 530
527 Damaged Ledger
  • 528
  • 529
528 Damaged Ledger Variable["inventory.ledger_shivers_threw_away"]
  • 526
529 Damaged Ledger (Variable["inventory.ledger_shivers_threw_away"]) == false
  • 518
530 Electrochemistry Synapses can be rerouted. The mind takes a new shape.
  • 531
531 Volition Not for yourself -- for the people of Revachol.
  • 532
532 Authority For the eighty thousand under your jurisdiction.
  • 533
533 Esprit de Corps Under Precinct 41, where typewriters fire long into the night, and officers walk the great steps and the bridge. Long after the card has landed in the cold shore waters, its writing dissolved. Material disintegrated.
  • 518
534 None
  • 483
535 Damaged Ledger "Every step I take, it grows. By the time I reach the fuel station it has filled me entirely. I step on the light rail and look back, sparks fall from the bow collector. I know it will be like this until late afternoon, when I get off the 42 -- and walk back to you..."
  • 600
  • 601
536 Damaged Ledger "You, you... Every step I take will get lighter. It almost makes me run! Sometimes I do. I can't believe I met you. I can't believe the happiness I feel with you. You have a vast, vast soul and I will always, always, always come back to it."
  • 604
537 Damaged Ledger "Kisses, kisses, kisses." You feel the air sucked out of your lungs and the blood sucked out of your head. Everything around you gets dark. Small white dots appear...
  • 541
538 You Fall sideways.
539 Damaged Ledger Your hands shake holding on to it. "Every morning, when I step out and you're asleep behind me," it says. "I find a little piece of sadness in me. I carry it in my chest down Voyager road..."
  • 540
540 None
  • 535
541 Conceptualization Sparks fall like snow from the bow collector. A street-car distancing...
  • 811
542 Endurance No! No! Hold on.
  • 543
  • 538
543 You Hold on. Variable["inventory.ledger_endurance_hold_on"]
  • 544
544 Endurance To what? There's nothing...
  • 545
545 Damaged Ledger
  • 546
  • 547
546 Damaged Ledger IsKimHere()
  • 548
547 Damaged Ledger (IsKimHere()) == false
  • 538
548 Kim Kitsuragi "Detective, is everything alright?"
  • 538
549 None
External:
  • (699, 29)
550 Damaged Ledger
  • 551
  • 552
551 Damaged Ledger Variable["inventory.ledger_compartment_main_reached"]
  • 460
552 Damaged Ledger (Variable["inventory.ledger_compartment_main_reached"]) == false
  • 510
553 Damaged Ledger
  • 554
  • 555
554 Damaged Ledger IsKimHere()
  • 674
555 Damaged Ledger (IsKimHere()) == false
  • 579
556 Kim Kitsuragi "Huh? Oh, yes. The name, good. What is it?"
  • 557
557 None
  • 558
  • 560
  • 561
  • 559
  • 562
558 You "THE HANGED MAN."
  • 568
559 You "SHIT ON A STICK."
  • 563
560 You "THE FURIES ARE AT HOME IN THE MIRROR."
  • 566
561 You "THE SETTING SUN."
  • 565
562 You "Actually, I don't have one."
  • 570
563 Kim Kitsuragi "Ha! Yes." He isn't actually laughing. "I have to tell you officer, I don't appreciate *ironic* titles. Other officers will have to use this as reference. If it's 'IDIOT', or 'COCK FINGER'..."
  • 577
564 None
  • 557
565 Kim Kitsuragi "Okay. Okay." He nods. "It's a good name, but it has *one* problem -- this case has nothing to do with the setting sun. At all. It has nothing to do with that. So..."
  • 576
566 Kim Kitsuragi "Furies. Yes. Well." It's obvious he doesn't like it. "I don't know. I have to be honest -- I'm not experiencing the *internal strife* that refers to. And also..." He furrows his brow.
  • 567
567 Kim Kitsuragi "Could we make it less *poetic* somehow? Just a normal case name, you know? Think -- what would that be? A good *normal* name?"
  • 838
568 Kim Kitsuragi "Great! That's great. That's actually what *I* was thinking too -- THE HANGED MAN. Good, strong name. We have a very good name for the case now."
  • 569
569 Kim Kitsuragi He flips the pages of his notebook. "I'm going to start calling it THE HANGED MAN. It's good we sorted this out."
  • 676
570 Kim Kitsuragi "Oh... Well, then maybe I can suggest one?"
  • 572
  • 573
  • 571
571 You "Let me guess -- the HANGED MAN?"
  • 581
572 You "No."
  • 575
573 You "Go ahead."
  • 574
574 Kim Kitsuragi "THE HANGED MAN."
  • 583
575 Kim Kitsuragi "Okay then." He returns to his notes, abruptly. "The case doesn't need to have a name."
  • 678
576 Kim Kitsuragi "...something more concrete perhaps? Do you have something *concrete*? Mundane. *Usual*."
  • 837
577 Kim Kitsuragi "They're not going to *get* it. They're going to think: an idiot and a cock finger were on this case. So -- do you have something less *funny*?"
  • 839
578 None
  • 628
579 Esprit de Corps This would also be a good time to finally *name* the case -- if only Lieutenant Kitsuragi were here so you could coordinate. No use naming it without him... maybe at a later time you can come back to this?
  • 578
580 You "Kim, I have a name for this case." (Variable["inventory.ledger_name_case_with_kim_later"] or Variable["inventory.ledger_left_without_naming_angered_kim"]) and IsKimHere() and Variable["TASK.open_official_case_done"] == false
  • 556
581 Kim Kitsuragi "Oh! That's actually what *I* was thinking -- THE HANGED MAN." He nods. "I like that. A good, strong name. We have a very good name for the case now."
  • 582
582 None
  • 569
583 Empathy He really likes that name.
  • 584
  • 585
  • 586
584 You "Solid name."
  • 587
585 You "That's idiotic," (mockingly,) "*the hanged man*. Way too simple."
  • 588
586 You "I'm not *feeling* it."
  • 589
587 Kim Kitsuragi "Thank you," the lieutenant nods. "I think so too. Good and *normal*."
  • 593
588 None
  • 575
589 Kim Kitsuragi "Are you sure? I think it's pretty serviceable..."
  • 590
  • 591
590 You "Okay, let's keep it."
  • 593
591 You "Yeah, not feeling it."
  • 592
592 None
  • 575
593 None
  • 569
594 None
  • 595
  • 596
  • 597
595 You What was in there?
  • 599
596 You Look at the ledger again.
  • 782
597 You Put the ledger away. [Leave.]
  • 781
598 Damaged Ledger The Ledger of (Oblivion Induced) Mental Health is just as shabby as the Damaged Ledger was: a bunch of sodden papers sags from the clipboard in your hand.
  • 10
599 Damaged Ledger No. You should not have thought back at it... Now some of it is on your mind again.
  • 596
  • 597
600 You Keep reading.
  • 536
601 You Stop, put it back...
  • 603
602 None
  • 473
603 Damaged Ledger You jam the compartment shut, it's hard to breathe. The air in your lungs feels sour somehow. The drawer is locked, blue ink drips from the white pages in your hand.
  • 602
604 You Keep reading.
  • 784
605 None
  • 491
  • 503
606 None
  • 503
  • 607
607 You Put it away!
  • 534
608 Pain Threshold You.
  • 468
609 Damaged Ledger
610 Damaged Ledger
  • 611
  • 612
611 Damaged Ledger Variable["inventory.ledger_maybe_kitchen_tissue"]
  • 613
612 Damaged Ledger (Variable["inventory.ledger_maybe_kitchen_tissue"]) == false
  • 38
613 Conceptualization It says: everyone look at me and my *kitchen tissue* covered cop ledger! I don't *care*. My ledger is droopy and it smells like a urinal.
  • 820
614 Damaged Ledger
  • 615
  • 616
615 Damaged Ledger Variable["inventory.ledger_maybe_kitchen_tissue"]
  • 617
616 Damaged Ledger (Variable["inventory.ledger_maybe_kitchen_tissue"]) == false
  • 37
617 Conceptualization It says: everyone look at me and my *kitchen tissue* covered cop ledger! I don't *care*. My ledger is droopy and smells like a urinal. Not a new addition, though. So keep that *styling case* open, my friend...
  • 820
618 None
  • 145
  • 126
619 None
  • 644
  • 127
620 None
  • 166
  • 127
621 Kim Kitsuragi "You had to lose because of *dark vibes*? What are you talking about?"
  • 88
  • 90
622 Damaged Ledger
  • 623
  • 624
623 Damaged Ledger Variable["inventory.ledger_still_not_talking_about_it"]
  • 625
624 Damaged Ledger (Variable["inventory.ledger_still_not_talking_about_it"]) == false
  • 62
625 None
  • 10
626 Damaged Ledger It's going to take an effort to piece these case files together, but it can be done -- later, once you're done inspecting them up close.
  • 655
627 None
  • 387
628 Damaged Ledger Like a fan of gills the chequered papers dry in your hand. The handwriting is extremely dense, if mostly illegible.
  • 209
629 None
  • 628
630 None
  • 209
631 None
  • 628
632 None
  • 628
633 You No matter. I'll just use the pencil...
  • 634
634 Damaged Ledger You start scratching the tasks you've completed onto the paper with a brash freehand uncannily similar to the rest of the letters. The wording comes easily, it's almost robotically simple; a language developed for mental rigour and simplicity:
  • 668
635 Damaged Ledger
  • 636
  • 637
636 Damaged Ledger Variable["inventory.wrapper_no_ledger_hub_reached"]
  • 638
637 Damaged Ledger (Variable["inventory.wrapper_no_ledger_hub_reached"]) == false
  • 486
638 Perception (Smell) *Exactly* like the gum wrapper you found. The same brand of chewing gum...
  • 481
  • 482
639 Damaged Ledger
  • 640
  • 641
640 Damaged Ledger Variable["XP.read_the_damaged_letter"]
  • 642
641 Damaged Ledger (Variable["XP.read_the_damaged_letter"]) == false
  • 788
642 Damaged Ledger You stare at the card, willing your hand to move. It refuses. It's too much. Not again.
  • 475
643 None
  • 10
644 You What can I do?
  • 171
645 None
  • 387
646 Damaged Ledger YOU CAN'T! This is *your* ledger. You're a COP and it's your official ledger. It's filled out in *your* hand and it *stinks* like you too. And looks like you.
  • 9
647 Damaged Ledger
  • 648
  • 649
648 Damaged Ledger Variable["inventory.ledger_toilet_paper_seen"]
  • 156
649 Damaged Ledger (Variable["inventory.ledger_toilet_paper_seen"]) == false
  • 161
650 Interfacing Needless. It looks great. Unlike yours, which is an unholy mass dripping with excrement.
  • 651
651 None
  • 10
652 Kim Kitsuragi "Now, if you'll excuse me..." He reopens his own *pristine* blue notebook. "That thing has filled me with the sudden urge to make sure mine is in *perfect* order."
  • 650
653 Half Light Oh god, that sounds dangerous. Make sure you don't throw it out again.
  • 652
654 Kim Kitsuragi "Two?" He raises both eyebrows. "That's a lot. I didn't mean to say you're making mistakes, by the way. That was presumptuous of me."
  • 238
  • 239
  • 240
655 None
  • 209
656 You Don't mention it.
  • 657
657 Damaged Ledger Your secret is safe with the rotten cabbage of papers in your hand. Writing covers almost all the pages.
  • 658
658 None
  • 209
659 Damaged Ledger
  • 660
  • 661
660 Damaged Ledger Variable["inventory.ledger_cases_unlocked"]
  • 310
661 Damaged Ledger (Variable["inventory.ledger_cases_unlocked"]) == false
  • 658
662 Conceptualization Sadly, the ledger only comes with an old worn-down led pencil. It's unfitting of this monumental event.
  • 663
663 Interfacing The ledger only comes with an old worn-down led pencil. It will *do*, barely... but...
  • 664
664 Damaged Ledger
  • 665
  • 666
665 Damaged Ledger Variable["inventory.ledger_concept_pen"] or Variable["inventory.ledger_interfacing_pen"]
  • 186
  • 633
666 Damaged Ledger (Variable["inventory.ledger_concept_pen"] or Variable["inventory.ledger_interfacing_pen"]) == false
  • 667
667 None
  • 182
668 None
  • 196
669 Damaged Ledger
  • 670
  • 671
670 Damaged Ledger Variable["TASK.open_official_case_done"]
  • 672
671 Damaged Ledger (Variable["TASK.open_official_case_done"]) == false
  • 299
672 Kim Kitsuragi "Yes, how very childish of you," he mumbles. "In your -- and my -- defence, almost everyone in the RCM uses the *titular* system. In addition to the official alphanumeric."
  • 312
673 You With this beauty -- *COMMIT TO PAPER*.
  • 203
674 You "Lieutenant, have you by any chance *named* our case?"
  • 675
675 Kim Kitsuragi "No -- actually. Any ideas?"
  • 557
676 None
  • 209
677 None
  • 209
678 Empathy It actually. Does. You've offended him.
  • 677
679 Damaged Ledger Yes -- all that remains now is to fill those forms and *hand* them to people: fines for wrongdoers, interview requests for bad guys, and field autopsies to *dead* guys.
  • 270
680 Damaged Ledger
  • 681
  • 682
681 Damaged Ledger Variable["inventory.ledger_forms_successfully_exited_once"]
  • 262
682 Damaged Ledger (Variable["inventory.ledger_forms_successfully_exited_once"]) == false
  • 683
683 Damaged Ledger
  • 684
  • 685
684 Damaged Ledger Variable["inventory.ledger_forms_counter"] >=3
  • 679
685 Damaged Ledger (Variable["inventory.ledger_forms_counter"] >=3) == false
  • 262
686 None
  • 10
687 Damaged Ledger
  • 349
688 Damaged Ledger
  • 689
  • 690
689 Damaged Ledger Variable["tc.name_full_harrier"]
  • 691
690 Damaged Ledger (Variable["tc.name_full_harrier"]) == false
  • 692
691 Logic Harrier Du Bois -- H.D.B.
  • 693
692 Logic Harry Du Bois -- H.D.B.
  • 853
693 Damaged Ledger
  • 694
  • 695
694 Damaged Ledger Variable["whirling.raphael_said"]
  • 372
  • 854
695 Damaged Ledger (Variable["whirling.raphael_said"]) == false
  • 645
696 Damaged Ledger It would be *very* interesting to read about these, wouldn't it? I mean -- there seems to be a *square*-shaped entry wound in the victim's forehead. She's been sitting there for weeks. On her rocking chair. With a square hole in her skull, staring at the wall, her mouth agape.
  • 767
697 Damaged Ledger MURDER -- tam-tam-tam! -- AT THE HOOKAH PARLOUR! was a case originally assigned to an officer called Joseph Mills, who is now dead. Of circumstances completely unconnected to MURDER AT THE HOOKAH PARLOUR.
  • 700
  • 699
698 Damaged Ledger Beaten to death by a throng of Villalobos gang-members when him and his partner J. M. (only initials mentioned) answered a call one night. It's a sad story and it isn't really represented in *your* case files. Stop stalling and get to the MURDER AT THE HOOKAH PARLOUR.
  • 699
699 You Right. On with the murder.
  • 701
700 You Wait -- how?
  • 698
701 Damaged Ledger Joseph Mills was on this case that he just couldn't solve. Was doing it solo. Said it was a real nutcracker. A real brain-twister. Was on it for, like, a month -- the captain got impatient. Shit or get off the pot, Mills.
  • 702
702 Damaged Ledger Mills didn't get off the pot -- not yet. He kept at it for a couple of weeks more, racking his brains, running with every theory, as outlandish as they seemed -- still couldn't solve the MURDER AT THE HOOKAH PARLOUR. Tough case, he said. Toughest he's ever had.
  • 703
  • 704
703 You Wait -- was Joseph Mills a good cop?
  • 705
704 You Go on.
  • 706
705 Damaged Ledger No, he was awful. Awful sense of humour too. The worst jokes you've ever heard. Really rapey. Still -- he'd been on it for *months* now. Said it was THE FINAL CASE. Said it was UNCRACKABLE. That the murderer vanished into THIN AIR. That goddamn hookah parlour was all he talked about.
  • 704
706 Damaged Ledger Okay, so the case is handed to you because Mills isn't getting anywhere. And you look into it. Here's the set-up: A young man is found dead in a hookah parlour. You know, those places where you go and smoke bubblegum-flavoured vapour all day.
  • 714
  • 707
  • 708
707 You Really cool.
  • 709
708 You Really stupid.
  • 710
709 Damaged Ledger Yeah, really lame. So anyway -- young man, in his twenties, found with his skull busted open. Right on the floor of the hookah parlour. In the middle of the day. No one else is in there. Only client that day. In perfect health too, some kind of movie producer.
  • 711
710 Damaged Ledger Yeah. So anyway -- young man, in his twenties, found with his skull busted open. Right on the floor of the hookah parlour. In the middle of the day. No one else is in there. Only client that day. In perfect health too, some kind of movie producer.
  • 711
711 Damaged Ledger No one enters -- no one exits. He's just sucking on his watermelon hookah all morning, all noon, like he usually does. (He's a regular). No calls, nothing. Just sucking on the hookah, until 15.45. Then bam -- he's dead on floor with his skull busted open, blood everywhere. What happened? How can it be?
  • 712
712 Damaged Ledger Mills has no idea. Invisible assassin. Movie deal gone sour. Girl at the counter did it. Nothing fits. Eerie. Man just dropped dead. So you go to the parlour. You see cushions around the table. Table's low, heavy, really sharp edge...
  • 713
713 You He sucked hookah, stood up, passed out, hit his head on the table and died?
  • 716
714 You Can you get high off it?
  • 715
715 Damaged Ledger No, it's soot and water vapour. It doesn't do anything.
  • 707
  • 708
716 Damaged Ledger See! You can't even *read* the thing without solving it. Yeah. It was that. Turns out hookah *does* do something -- it turns off your brain's oxygen supply. And you don't notice it until you get up to go to the bathroom.
  • 720
  • 717
717 You And what was he *doing* there -- for six hours?
  • 718
718 Damaged Ledger Smoking hookah. Didn't you hear? I don't know. Trying to come up with a movie script maybe. Anyway, that was MURDER AT THE HOOKAH PARLOUR, Joseph Mills wasn't a good detective, and about 30 minutes has passed piecing it together. Next?
  • 719
719 None
  • 387
720 You He must have sucked a lot of it.
  • 721
721 Damaged Ledger Yeah, he liked his hookah. Steven was his name.
  • 717
722 Damaged Ledger This one's bad. Not that far from Precinct 41 -- in Central Jamrock -- there is an eight story apartment building with two hundred residents inside. It's the dead of winter, January. Snowing. Someone's beating their wife. It's half past midnight.
  • 723
723 Damaged Ledger You get a complaint -- no one's there to take it. So you do call duty. The beating is taking place on the eighth floor. You take the elevator up. The building's creaking around you. Cold as hell. It's a run down old place. Concrete panels, rats everywhere.
  • 724
724 Damaged Ledger And it's not pretty in the apartment either. By the time you arrive the husband's left. His wife has got her lip busted, face swollen. Eyes shut. Can't leave him, they're a *financial unit*. Enjoying this beautiful life in this beautiful tenement.
  • 725
725 Damaged Ledger So anyway -- you take a leak before you leave.
  • 726
726 You In the apartment I got the call to?
  • 727
727 Damaged Ledger Yes, cops do that. *While* you're taking a piss, you see a big crack in the wall. In the outer wall of the building. You can *feel* the cold air blow in. You take the elevator down, look up -- a big crack runs on the outer wall of the whole building.
  • 728
728 Damaged Ledger Right from the foundation -- up to the eighth floor.
  • 729
729 Visual Calculus Oh god...
  • 732
730 Damaged Ledger That's right. They trained you for this in cop school. Everyone has to pick a civil specialization so they can keep the city running: fire safety, first aid training, and so on. You took *building safety regulation*. And it tells you that this one -- is coming down.
  • 734
731 You The tilt is beyond the point of maximum deviation from the gravity bearing perpendicular. This means that the building is falling -- and will fall no matter what.
  • 730
732 Inland Empire No, no, no, no...
  • 733
733 Half Light Fucking hell.
  • 731
734 Damaged Ledger Maybe not tonight. Maybe not even tomorrow. Maybe not the day after, but it's coming down. In a matter of days. It is physically impossible for it not to. And the two hundred people in there? They are all going down with it. The woman with the busted lip, the husband who beats her, their kids in the other room...
  • 735
735 Damaged Ledger The drunk in the hallway. The girl in the elevator when you were going up. The youths on the stairs, laughing, smoking. The couple next to the apartment -- who made the call. They're all going to die.
  • 736
736 Damaged Ledger But, you see, it's *freezing* outside. And there is no municipal government in Revachol. Nowhere to put these people. Two hundred people can't go to their *aunt's for a couple of days*. And above all -- there is no one to *tell* the building is coming down. No authority but you.
  • 737
  • 738
  • 739
737 You I'm gonna have to knock on every door and explain them how load bearing perpendiculars work?
  • 740
738 You I'm gonna have to go home and do nothing, not think about this ever again.
  • 740
739 You I'm gonna have to find my captain somewhere, first thing tomorrow. Maybe even *tonight*.
  • 740
740 Damaged Ledger Bad, bad thoughts go through your head. So what you do is -- you call your partner. JV (only initials available) is up. He comes immediately. He didn't take building safety, but he believes you. He brings five more officers. Together you knock on *every door* and explain the situation.
  • 756
741 Damaged Ledger Your captain puts them in a half-burned building 10 km South. It's got black mould and no roof, but hey -- it's better than death.
  • 742
742 You And then what?
  • 743
743 Damaged Ledger And then the building doesn't come down. And it still hasn't. That was 52 days ago. BUT THAT IS NOT THE POINT. The point is -- it *will* come down.
  • 745
  • 746
  • 747
  • 749
744 None
  • 387
745 You Am I *absolutely* sure?
  • 748
746 You And when it does, everyone in there will die.
  • 750
747 You If it hasn't, it won't. I was wrong.
  • 750
748 Damaged Ledger 100000000000%
  • 746
  • 747
  • 749
749 You Oh god, I don't know...
  • 750
750 Damaged Ledger At the end of the day -- no one knows. The math says it *must* collapse. And the optics show that it doesn't. It's as if some kind of *evil spirit* is holding the tenement together, like the jaws of a trap. Luring the people back in. One by one. Already they're going... At least 40 of them are living there now.
  • 751
751 Damaged Ledger As we speak. And you can't *keep* them from going back, because they all hate you. They despise you. They think you threw them out of their homes. Every day they despise you more -- and every day, more of them go back.
  • 752
752 You And every day is a day closer to the day the building will fall.
  • 753
753 Damaged Ledger Exactly. These notes have been very clear. Seems you have been thorough with documenting this one. So -- which one of these do you want to read *next*? (Because there is nothing you can do about THE COLLAPSING TENEMENT).
  • 744
754 Damaged Ledger Some assholes brought their couch outside and *hung out* on it. In the middle of the street, on the roof, on the hillside by the motorway. You know -- at an *unexpected location*. They were young and they thought they looked cool on it.
  • 755
  • 757
  • 758
755 You They actually looked like assholes.
  • 761
756 Damaged Ledger The load bearing perpendicular. The maximum deviation. All of it... Some people believe you. Most don't. Some you have to *forcibly* remove. Some even pull guns on you. It takes 20 hours to evacuate the whole building. 200 people stand outside in the cold. Children cry.
  • 741
757 You They looked really cool. Like models.
  • 759
758 You They looked really cool. Like a rock band.
  • 760
759 Damaged Ledger Yes. As you've said here: total assholes. Young people are the worst. So anyway -- you got a complaint about the damn sofa. Or couch. Or whatever it was.
  • 762
760 Damaged Ledger Yes. As you've said here: insufferable rock-and-roll assholes. Young people are the worst. So anyway -- you got a complaint about the damn sofa. Or couch. Or whatever it was.
  • 762
761 Damaged Ledger Insufferable dicks. Young people are the worst. So anyway -- you got a complaint about the damn sofa. Or couch. Or whatever it was.
  • 762
762 Damaged Ledger They were leaving it out in all these *unexpected and whimsical locations* they took it to. Where they also took photos of themselves -- on it. And smoked cigarettes. And drank coffee, because they felt it's *intellectual*.
  • 763
763 Damaged Ledger Cigarette butts, coffee cups, stupid couch. You had to clean it all up. And you *did* -- so congratulations to you. Case solved.
  • 764
764 You Did I ever catch those guys?
  • 765
765 Damaged Ledger No. You didn't have time for that, these notes show that you have what is called *a real god damn job*. You don't have time to be chasing down the couch-assholes. You have a real job to do. What next?
  • 766
766 None
  • 387
767 You But?
  • 768
768 Damaged Ledger That's all you got. From the half hour you've spent piecing it together, all you know is: the entry wound was square-shaped. You never found the bullet. And then -- another body showed up. Also with a square hole in his forehead.
  • 870
769 None
  • 387
770 You A sequence killer?
  • 771
771 Damaged Ledger Who knows? Those pages are missing. What next?
  • 772
772 Inland Empire Don't worry. One day.
  • 871
773 Inland Empire The blue heart. Don't look into it.
  • 332
774 Damaged Ledger
  • 775
  • 776
775 Damaged Ledger Variable["inventory.ledger_white_interfacing_failed_once"]
  • 777
776 Damaged Ledger (Variable["inventory.ledger_white_interfacing_failed_once"]) == false
  • 436
777 Interfacing ...is *STILL* NOT WHAT HAPPENS. Fuck this compartment. You should throw it away.
  • 778
778 Empathy Strange? Why does it make you so angry?
  • 444
779 You Slide the drawer open.
  • 780
780 None
  • 459
781 Damaged Ledger The Ledger of (Oblivion Induced) Mental Health is just as shabby as the Damaged Ledger anyway. A bunch of sodden papers on a clipboard. Better not to waste more time with it.
  • 899
782 Damaged Ledger The Ledger of (Oblivion Induced) Mental Health is just as shabby as the Damaged Ledger was: a bunch of sodden papers sags from the clipboard in your hand.
  • 896
783 None
  • 10
784 Damaged Ledger
  • 785
  • 786
785 Damaged Ledger IsKimHere()
  • 787
786 Damaged Ledger (IsKimHere()) == false
  • 537
787 Damaged Ledger "Kisses, kisses, kisses." You feel the air sucked out of your lungs and the blood sucked out of your head. Everything around you gets dark. Small white dots appear...
  • 541
788 Damaged Ledger
  • 789
  • 790
789 Damaged Ledger Variable["plaza.tribunal_kim_warning_failure"]
  • 791
790 Damaged Ledger (Variable["plaza.tribunal_kim_warning_failure"]) == false
  • 812
791 Damaged Ledger No, you don't -- not without official police backup. It's simply impossible to open it. Your hands refuse to move.
  • 792
792 Esprit de Corps Somewhere in a station lazareth lieutenant-detective Kitsuragi turns on the side and says: ouch. The wounds are agonizing.
  • 793
793 Inland Empire Hmm... it's as if there is an automatic *self-defence* structure in your hand, keeping you from mind-fucking yourself with letters from past lovers.
  • 794
794 Hand/Eye Coordination It's me. I'm keeping his hand from moving. We're not doing that anymore. We're not reading those words. People have died. He needs to work, not ache his heart for something that will never return.
  • 475
795 You Nod and return to the case notes.
  • 288
796 Damaged Ledger
  • 797
  • 798
797 Damaged Ledger Variable["TASK.watermark_stand_in_front_done"]
  • 799
798 Damaged Ledger (Variable["TASK.watermark_stand_in_front_done"]) == false
  • 113
799 Damaged Ledger An aluminium block runs the width of the board, biting down on the paperwork. Its crocodile teeth are the only thing keeping the papers together. On it, the perforated watermark counting the achievements of the person you used to be.
  • 116
800 None
  • 209
801 Damaged Ledger
  • 802
  • 803
802 Damaged Ledger Variable["tc.harry"]
  • 804
803 Damaged Ledger (Variable["tc.harry"]) == false
  • 346
804 Damaged Ledger
  • 805
  • 806
805 Damaged Ledger Variable["tc.du_bois"] or Variable["tc.name_full_harrier"]
  • 688
806 Damaged Ledger (Variable["tc.du_bois"] or Variable["tc.name_full_harrier"]) == false
  • 346
807 None
  • 525
  • 523
808 None
  • 522
  • 525
  • 523
809 Tutorial Agent The Ledger of Oblivion is a special item that can be used both as an INTERACTABLE and a TOOL equipped in your hand for skill bonuses. Find it under the TOOLS tab in your INVENTORY.
  • 783
810 Tutorial Agent The Ledger of Oblivion is a special item that can be used both as an INTERACTABLE and a TOOL equipped in your hand for skill bonuses. Find it under the TOOLS tab in your INVENTORY.
811 Damaged Ledger You feel the ledger slip from your hand.
  • 542
812 Damaged Ledger
  • 813
  • 814
813 Damaged Ledger Variable["TASK.enter_cavern_done"] == true and Variable["TASK.return_to_whirling_done"] == false
  • 816
814 Damaged Ledger (Variable["TASK.enter_cavern_done"] == true and Variable["TASK.return_to_whirling_done"] == false) == false
  • 888
815 None
  • 460
816 Kim Kitsuragi The lieutenant clears his throat. "I don't think this is the time to be going through personal affects," he says. "Let's move on."
  • 815
817 Pain Threshold There's pain in there, if you want some. That much you know.
  • 339
818 You How would I open it? (Conclude.) Variable["inventory.ledger_compartment_found"] == true
  • 819
819 Damaged Ledger With your hands? U4-sized pages hang from the clip screwed to the top of the board.
  • 344
820 Damaged Ledger
  • 821
  • 822
821 Damaged Ledger Variable["inventory.ledger_concept_commented_keeping_toilet_paper"]
  • 824
822 Damaged Ledger (Variable["inventory.ledger_concept_commented_keeping_toilet_paper"]) == false
  • 39
823 Half Light This stinking tissue will show everyone what a bum you are. How little you give a shit. This toilet paper will PUNISH the world.
  • 39
824 Damaged Ledger
  • 825
  • 826
825 Damaged Ledger Variable["inventory.ledger_maybe_kitchen_tissue"]
  • 823
826 Damaged Ledger (Variable["inventory.ledger_maybe_kitchen_tissue"]) == false
  • 827
827 Half Light This toilet paper will show everyone what a bum you are. How little you give a shit. This toilet paper will PUNISH the world.
  • 39
828 Logic Maybe yours will have how many cases you've solved?
  • 849
829 Half Light Your kill count. Yours will surely have your kill count.
  • 134
830 None
  • 10
831 Damaged Ledger ...while a bunch of sodden papers sag from the clipboard in your hand. It's a sorry sight.
  • 830
832 Endurance Not you. You are an *eternal machine*.
  • 631
833 Kim Kitsuragi "That's okay." He nods, then turns back to his own case files. "We all do, sooner or later."
  • 832
834 Esprit de Corps God knows I've made my share... he tries not to think of them.
  • 631
835 Suggestion A tool for manipulation. Give the lowest amount and people will be ingratiated to you.
  • 268
836 You Browse the case files again. Variable["inventory.ledger_case_files_inspected"]
  • 289
837 Inland Empire Usual is boring. We don't do that.
  • 564
838 Conceptualization Yes-yes, you know what that normal name is -- but it's so plain... *anything* else, please.
  • 564
839 Damaged Ledger
  • 840
  • 841
840 Damaged Ledger Variable["whirling.necktie_personified"] and CheckEquipped("neck_tie")
  • 842
841 Damaged Ledger (Variable["whirling.necktie_personified"] and CheckEquipped("neck_tie")) == false
  • 564
842 Horrific Necktie Fun is *outlawed* with this guy. What a narc.
  • 564
843 Damaged Ledger
  • 844
  • 845
844 Damaged Ledger Variable["XP.ledger_unsolvable_case"]
  • 445
845 Damaged Ledger (Variable["XP.ledger_unsolvable_case"]) == false
  • 446
846 Damaged Ledger You don't exactly *close* them, so much as *distance* yourself from the smelly papers. They're a little further from your nose now.
  • 847
847 None
  • 10
848 Interfacing This means you can read the watermarks, if you just turn the lights on.
  • 850
849 Esprit de Corps How many years you've been on the force, he's thinking. It'll have that.
  • 829
850 Damaged Ledger
  • 851
  • 852
851 Damaged Ledger Variable["inventory.shittyboolean"]
  • 143
852 Damaged Ledger (Variable["inventory.shittyboolean"]) == false
  • 137
853 Inland Empire Still feels like there's *something* missing from that...
  • 693
854 You Fine, then. I give up on Raphaël... Variable["whirling.raphael_said"]
  • 384
855 Damaged Ledger
  • 856
  • 857
856 Damaged Ledger Variable["inventory.ledger_open_to_getting_raphel_thought"]
  • 863
857 Damaged Ledger (Variable["inventory.ledger_open_to_getting_raphel_thought"]) == false
  • 434
858 Logic Does that sound like a Raphaël Something Costeau to you, sir?
  • 859
859 None
  • 860
  • 861
860 You One last time -- YES.
  • 862
861 You Okay, you're right, it doesn't.
  • 866
862 Logic Fine, then -- then you've earned it
  • 435
863 Damaged Ledger
  • 864
  • 865
864 Damaged Ledger IsTHCCookingOrFixed("detective_costeau")
  • 434
865 Damaged Ledger (IsTHCCookingOrFixed("detective_costeau")) == false
  • 869
866 Logic Dammit, take it anyway. Since you so obviously *want* to be a detective Costeau.
  • 435
867 You I like it, but can't we wreak havoc on *other nations* instead?
  • 868
868 Damaged Ledger Did someone ask what you believe in, man with the smelly toilet ledger? What do you want to tackle next? Or are we done?
  • 411
869 Damaged Ledger Which is also why the officer responsible (narrowly) escapes a disciplinary hearing. The end.
  • 858
870 Electrochemistry Toxicology showed the entry wound was laced with an incredibly potent psychoactive substance called HUV4-Nil. No street name.
  • 770
871 Conceptualization One day you may still catch the man with the square gun.
  • 769
872 Damaged Ledger
  • 873
  • 874
873 Damaged Ledger Variable["plaza.kineema_sylvie_flushed_paperwork"]
  • 875
  • 65
874 Damaged Ledger (Variable["plaza.kineema_sylvie_flushed_paperwork"]) == false
  • 45
  • 65
875 You I know, I know. Sylvie already told me I dunked it in the toilet. Variable["plaza.kineema_sylvie_flushed_paperwork"]
  • 876
876 Perception (Smell) If you knew it was dunked in the toilet before getting chucked into the trash, why're you sniffing it?
  • 877
  • 881
  • 878
877 You The option to sniff was there, so...
  • 879
878 You Maybe, uh -- maybe it's my fetish? Maybe? Ever think of that, nose?
  • 880
879 Perception (Smell) ... so you wanted to get in on the trash-toilet stink collab? Find out what happens when those two get *funky* together? Okay, pal.
  • 885
880 Perception (Smell) Garbage-toilet stink is not your fetish and you know it. Your nose does *not* fucking like this.
  • 885
881 You I'm a police man. This is police work. I'm just following the leads, you know?
  • 882
882 Perception (Smell) Torturing your own nose -- for no reason! -- is not *conducive* to case-cracking, bud.
  • 885
883 You This is getting weird and hostile. Sorry, nose -- let's just move on.
  • 887
884 You Are you angry with me, nose?
  • 886
885 None
  • 883
  • 884
886 Perception (Smell) Yeah, turns out your nose doesn't like self-indulgent literal-shit huffing. *Quelle fuckin' surprise*. Come on, no more -- the ledger is going back down, away from your nose now.
  • 622
887 Perception (Smell) Your nose is somewhere between grateful and resentful.
  • 622
888 Damaged Ledger
  • 889
  • 890
889 Damaged Ledger CheckItem("union_membership_card") == true or CheckItem("union_membership_card_other") == true
  • 479
890 Damaged Ledger (CheckItem("union_membership_card") == true or CheckItem("union_membership_card_other") == true) == false
  • 893
891 Damaged Ledger You feel that thing in the back of your head? That little voice, that quiet scream? You already felt this was a bad idea, but especially right now it's even worse. Try as you might, you can't read it now.
  • 892
892 Volition You've got *business* to deal with first. Talk to the Union boss first, at least... I can't stop you for long, but there's just enough of an excuse now.
  • 815
893 Damaged Ledger
  • 894
  • 895
894 Damaged Ledger Variable["XP.find_a_way_inside_harbour"] == false
  • 479
895 Damaged Ledger (Variable["XP.find_a_way_inside_harbour"] == false) == false
  • 891
896 Damaged Ledger
  • 897
  • 898
897 Damaged Ledger Variable["tc.turn_off_tutorial_node"]
  • 783
898 Damaged Ledger (Variable["tc.turn_off_tutorial_node"]) == false
  • 809
899 Damaged Ledger
  • 900
  • 901
900 Damaged Ledger Variable["tc.turn_off_tutorial_node"]
901 Damaged Ledger (Variable["tc.turn_off_tutorial_node"]) == false
  • 810