Sugarcane

The gunship crew are as good as dead in a few seconds. You can't afford to hesitate any longer. You flick the safety switch on the Mark-9. Attempting to stand at this point would be foolish now that your legs have cramped in your huddled position. Bracing yourself against the window is all the stability you need to make the shot.\n \nYou lift the enormous pistol with both hands and fire.\n\n[[Continue...|LOOK_Veil_Gunship]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

It's a standard keypad with hard plastic buttons and a LED display strip.\n\nYou start typing in the passcode.\n\n[["Oculus"|USE_Keypad_Wrong1]]\n[["Binary_Domain"|USE_Keypad_Wrong1]]\n<<if $jackie_locker>>[["Porpentine"|USE_Keypad_Passcode]]<<else>>[[You don't know the passcode - Return|LOOK_Locker_Helipad]]<<endif>>\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

You inch closer to the gap in the boardoom windows. Your suede shoes crunch over the tiny bits of glass that weren't swept outside as you peer over the ledge.\n\nThe dark, seething metropolis of New Caldonis looms below. A blanket of smog shields large swaths of the industrial quarter from the setting sun to your left. The rest of your view is littered with lights of all sizes, hues and intensities. Dull pinpricks of light from the traffic below shuffle by as if on criss-crossed conveyor belts. Several other corporate towers of equal or greater stature than VaniCorp hunch over the bustling streets, breaking up the veneer of smog but also casting incredible shadows across the landscape.\n\nIt's quite a view to take in. You've long prided yourself on your immunity to vertigo but you feel your vision darken and your feet begin to give out beneath you...\n<<if visited('GO_Backwards_Boardroom') eq 0>>\n[[Lean backwards to stop your momentum|GO_Backwards_Boardroom]]<<endif>>\n[[Grab hold of the window frame|USE_WindowFrame_Boardroom]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

You pull the trigger but all you get is a click in return. Jammed? Can't be. You expertly pop the clip from the Mark-9 just like Sgt. Holtz showed you.\n\nThe clip is empty. You can't use the Mark-9 any more.\n\n[[Return|previous()]]

<>\n<<if visited() eq 1>>\n<<set $deaths += 1>>\n<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>It may be the nerves or the fact that you've never fired an automatic weapon of this size before but you decide to relax your finger on the trigger and wait. You think that allowing Veil to close the distance slightly may give you a better odds of tagging him with a bullet.\n\nYou have him in your sights. He won't be able to avoid getting hit. The Heiwa extraction chopper is so close now that you feel the pounding of its engine and main rotor behind you.\n\nVeil lunges forward and spins, throwing a volley of daggers above your head. You fire wildly, missing the assassin by a wide margin and you fall on your back from the recoil.\n\nSirens begin to blare. You turn around and watch in horror at the black smoke pluming from the chopper, riddled with ugly gashes. The cockpit windshield is gone and you can only make out bloody smears where the pilot and co-pilot should be sitting. The landing skids are absent their passengers as well and you hear frantic shouting from inside the chopper as the remaining crew panics at the suden turn of events.\n\nWith a lurch, the Heiwa chopper disappears from view behind VaniCorp tower, as does any hope of you ever escaping from Veil.\n\n''You are dead.''\n\n[[Rewind|previous()]]

The plexiglass windows wrap around the boardroom, offering an oppressive view of downtown New Caldonis.\n\nYou press on the glass with your hand. It's very thick and quite sturdy.\n\n[[Go back|Start_Boardroom]]\n[[Break window with a chair|DO_Break_Window]]\n<><<if $carrying['Mark-9']>>\n[[Shoot window with the Mark-9|DO_Shoot_Window]]\n<<endif>><<endnobr>>\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

<><<set $jackie_locker = true>>\n<<if $mira_locker>><<set $mira_locker = false>><<endif>>\n<<set $inv.push("Assault Rifle")>>\n<<set $carrying["Mark-9"] = false>>\n<<set $carrying["Assault Rifle"] = true>><<endnobr>>The keypad display turns a pleasing lime green hue and the unit returns an encouraging beep.\n\nSomething within the locker clicks softly and the door swings open. You look inside.\n\nEven in the dimming light you can make out the orderly row of jet-black assault rifles lining the interior of the locker. The sight of this bounty takes your breath away.\n\nYou grab the nearest rifle and scoop up a couple spare clips. After some fumbling you correctly recall Sgt. Holtz' rushed tutorial on small arms safety and handling. You slap a fresh clip into the rifle's undercarriage, slide the firing mode switch to semi-automatic and disengage the safety.\n\nJackie comes in through your voice comm.\n\nJackie:\n//"Did it work?"//\n\nYou:\n//"Yes, thank you. I have more firepower than I know what to do with but I have a fighting chance now."//\n\nJackie:\n//"My hope is you don't need to use it."//\n\nYou:\n//"I'll try my best."//\n\nJackie:\n//"Good. It won't be long until the extraction team arrives. How do you plan to stay alive for the next three minutes?"//\n\n<<if $jackie_elevator>>[[Wait for Robek to arrive|CLIMAX_Robek]]<<else>>[[Prepare to fend off Veil on your own|CLIMAX_NoRobek]]<<endif>>\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

<>\n<<if visited() eq 1>>\n<<set $jackie_elevator = true>>\n<<set $jackie_locker = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>You:\n//"Keep working on the elevators. I don't stand much of a chance against Veil on my own."//\n\nJackie:\n//"Will do. I should have them operational soon. A few more minutes..."//\n\nYou turn your attention back to the weapons locker. You'd feel a lot better about yourself if you could somehow force those doors open.\n\n[[You can't get the locker open|CLIMAX_NoRifle]]\n<<if $ammo gte 1>>[[Shoot the door open|USE_Mark9_Locker]]<<else>>[[Shoot the door open|NO_Ammo]]<<endif>>\n<<if visited("GET_Dagger_Sill") gte 1>>[[Use the dagger to pry open door|USE_Dagger_Locker]]<<endif>>\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

<><<if !$carrying['Mark-9']>>\n<<set $inv.push("Mark-9")>>\n<<set $carrying['Mark-9'] = true>>\n<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>You take the over-sized pistol. It's incredibly heavy and unwieldy.\n\nIt is a hero's weapon, festooned with prestigious engravings and augmented with a host of exotic, expensive modifications far above the pay grade of a mere soldier.\n\nYou remember the name of this pistol: the Mark-9. Sgt. Holtz gave this to you days earlier. The sergeant is not here with you now. He's probably out there...you look back towards the double-doors beyond which the cacophony of gunfire and yelling continue unabated.\n\n<<if visited('USE_Phone_Boardroom') eq 0>>[[Examine the table|LOOK_Table_Boardroom]]<<endif>>\n[[Leave the boardroom|GO_Exit_Boardroom]]\n[[Look out the window|GO_Window_Boardroom]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

You:\n//"I have a pistol."//\n\nRobek:\n//"Good. You don't have much time. Mira, I--"//\n\nHis voice is suddenly drowned out by the roar of gunfire. This time it's not coming from your end.\n\nRobek:\n//"--I'm dealing with some things now. I have to go. Call me when you get to the roof."//\n\nThe voice comm clicks and he's gone. You pocket the phone but keep wearing the comm in your ear.\n\n[[Leave the boardroom|GO_Exit_Boardroom]]\n[[Look out the window|GO_Window_Boardroom]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

<<display "ControlBar">>

The last time you sprinted so hard was when you were training at the Academy. Jackie used to compare you to the lab mice in your department, endlessly running in place inside their cage wheels.\n\nYou push off the edge of the roof and stretch your arms out for the rope ladder. You catch a rung with both hands. The momentum carries you through and you feel gravity threatening to separate your arms from their sockets.\n\nBodyguard:\n//"We've got her! Pull up, pull up!"//\n\nOne of the bodyguards on the landing skid calls into the chopper and it immediately begins to pull away from the roof of VaniCorp tower.\n\nYou're cold and tired as you feebly lace your arms across the rung of the rope ladder. As the chopper rights itself and flies towards a new destination you catch a glimpse of the rooftop.\n\n<<if visited("USE_Keypad_Passcode") gte 1>>Veil stands there like a statue at the edge of the VaniCorp roof and watches you fly away. You lock eyes with the killer for as long and as far as you can see.\n\nThis is not over.<<else>>You see Robek bent over, clutching at something on his leg. A dark pool of blood is collecting at his feet. Veil had every reason to catch his prey but Robek Lu - divorcee, ex-cop and former chief of security for Heiwa Industries - sacrificed himself so that you could escape.\n\nVeil stands there like a statue at the edge of the VaniCorp roof and watches you fly away. You lock eyes with the killer for as long and as far as you can see.\n\nThis is not over.<<endif>>\n\n\n[[Your Game Summary|END_Summary]]

Killing Orders: Part One

<<if $i lt $size>>\n<<print $i+1>>. <<print $inv[$i]>><<set $i += 1>><<display "ItemDisplay">><<endif>>

<><<set $mira_locker = true>>\n<<if $jackie_locker>><<set $jackie_locker = false>><<endif>>\n<<set $inv.push("Assault Rifle")>>\n<<set $carrying["Mark-9"] = false>>\n<<set $carrying["Assault Rifle"] = true>><<endnobr>>You give the door a push to get a better view of the locker's contents. Even in the dimming light you can make out the orderly row of jet black assault rifles lining the interior of the locker.\n\nYou grab the nearest rifle and scoop up a couple spare clips. After some fumbling you correctly recall Sgt. Holtz' rushed tutorial on small arms safety and handling. You slap a fresh clip into the rifle's undercarriage, slide the firing mode switch to semi-automatic and disengage the safety.\n\nJackie comes in through your voice comm.\n\nJackie:\n//"What's your status?"//\n\nYou:\n//"I'm armed. There's a weapons cache up here and I managed to get inside."//\n\nJackie:\n//"Those units are usually locked."//\n\nYou:\n//"It was. I used one of Veil's knives to pry it open."//\n\nIt should be imperceptible but you can feel Jackie shaking his head at you back on Earth, a few hundred light years away. You remind yourself that he would be shaking his virtual head. His physical form is in a state of near-coma.\n\nJackie:\n//"You say it so casually. You don't even realize how close you came."//\n\nYou:\n//"I know. Stupid, lucky, resourceful. I've been called a lot of things in the last two weeks."//\n\nJackie:\n//"Let's try not to add 'dead' to the list of descriptors."//\n\nYou:\n//"I'm trying my best."//\n\nJackie:\n//"Good. It won't be long until the extraction team arrives. How do you plan to stay alive for the next three minutes?"//\n\n[[Wait for Robek to arrive|CLIMAX_Robek]]\n[[Ask Jackie about Veil's dagger|DO_HackDagger_No]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

A man is crouched on the sill right outside the mouth of your improvised escape hatch. He is dressed in a white, double-breasted officer's jacket which is set off against a black bodyglove covered in a patchwork of armour plates and straps.\n\nHe is barely looking at you as he's crouched there like a cat not three meters away. A micro-fiber dagger dangles lazily in his left hand, shimmering with a hazy light.\n\nVeil:\n//"Do you know who I am?"//\n\n<<if $carrying["Mark-9"]>>The pistol in your hand is loaded with over-sized, hollow point rounds reinforced with a special alloy tip. A single bullet to center mass would hopelessly shred a man's internal organs or tear off limbs with gruesome ease. Death would be instantaneous at close range.<<else>>You've never met him yet you know exactly what he is. He remains crouched and looking away even as he clearly waits for your response.<<endif>>\n\n''Conversation:''\n[[(Acknowledge)|CON_Veil_Acknowledge]]\n<<if visited("CON_Veil_Shoot1") eq 0>><<if $carrying["Mark-9"]>>\n[[Shoot him with the Mark-9|CON_Veil_Shoot1]]<<endif>><<endif>>\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

<<if $jackie_dagger>>Veil is helpless to stop you as you run full tilt towards the edge of the rooftop. The wind begins to catch at your waistcoat and for a second you fear an errant gust will tip your balance just before you push off the edge of the roof and stretch your arms out for the rope ladder.\n\nYou catch a rung with both hands. The momentum carries you through and you feel gravity threatening to separate your arms from their sockets.\n\nBodyguard:\n//"We've got her! Pull up, pull up!"//\n\nOne of the bodyguards on the landing skid calls into the chopper and it immediately begins to pull away from the roof of VaniCorp tower.\n\nYou're cold and tired as you feebly lace your arms across the rung of the rope ladder. As the chopper rights itself and flies towards a new destination you catch a glimpse of the rooftop.\n\nVeil makes a final back flip and grabs the possessed dagger in mid-air, grasps the handle in both hands and snaps it neatly in two. He discards the blade and immediately begins running towards the chopper. You are already too far to reach, even for him.\n\nHe stands there like a statue and watches you fly away. You lock eyes with the killer for a long and as far as you can see.\n\nThis is not over.\n\n<<else>>You've only taken a few strides when you feel a lancing pain shoot up your leg. You look down to see a blot of crimson on your left thigh where Veil's micro-blade dagger found its mark. It's a grazing slice but the pain quickly envelopes your body as you struggle to keep your pace towards the waiting chopper.\n\nYou push off the edge of the roof and stretch your arms out for the rope ladder. You catch a rung with both hands. The momentum carries you through and you feel gravity threatening to separate your arms from their sockets.\n\nBodyguard:\n//"We've got her! Pull up, pull up!"//\n\nOne of the bodyguards on the landing skid calls into the chopper and it immediately begins to pull away from the roof of VaniCorp tower.\n\nYou're cold and tired as you feebly lace your arms across the rung of the rope ladder. As the chopper rights itself and flies towards a new destination you catch a glimpse of the rooftop.\n\nVeil had every reason to catch his prey but Heiwa's extraction team did a remarkable job of keeping him at bay. He stands there like a statue at the edge of the VaniCorp roof and watches you fly away. You lock eyes with the killer for as long and as far as you can see.\n\nThis is not over.<<endif>>\n\n\n[[Your Game Summary|END_Summary]]

You nod to Veil that you do.\n\nYou think better than to challenge the assassin now. The operators of the Galactic Frontiers Consortium are renowned as much for their efficiency as they are their cruelty.\n\nYou lower the Mark-9 but keep it clasped in both hands in front of your feet. You could be holding the detonator to a bomb with the power to level this tower in seconds for all the good it would do. You know any physical confrontation with Veil would be next to useless. The thought relaxes you somewhat.\n\nVeil acts as if he never took notice of the gun. He clears his throat before carefully returning his blade to a black metal sheath attached to his belt. The hilt clicks as it snaps into place. As this happens the flap of his jacket pulls away to reveal a row of identical sheaths lining his belt, disappearing around his waist and continuing along a utility strap running diagonally up his torso. His uniform would be immaculately kept were it not for the odd specks of blood that have already dried into the fabric of his bright sleeve cuffs.\n\nYou don't know why the assassin hasn't killed you yet. You take this as a very positive turn of events...for now.\n\n''Conversation'':\n[[(Assert)|CON_Veil_Assert]]\n[[(Negotiate)|CON_Veil_Negotiate]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

The boardroom table is a smooth, ostentatious slab of obsidian that spans the length of the room. The surface is spotless save the shrinking circlet of condensation from when you had your head down on your arms during your nap.\n\nYou gently push yourself backwards on the leather swivel chair and peer beneath the table. A small, dark grey messenger bag rests against one of the table legs.\n\nThere's a muffled beep coming from inside the bag.\n\n[[Search the messenger bag|USE_Bag_Boardroom]]\n[[Leave the boardroom|GO_Exit_Boardroom]]\n<<if !$carrying['Mark-9']>>[[Pick up the pistol|GET_Gun_Boardroom]]<<endif>>\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

You run to the helipad terminal and slide your ID badge through the scanner.\n\nThe system boots into a guest account. The main interface fades into view and you have a small menu of options available.\n\nYou can control the rooftop access doors or look up the helipad schedule for today.\n\n<<if visited("USE_Lock_Roof") eq 0>>[[Engage the lock to rooftop access doors|USE_Lock_Roof]]\n[[Look up the helipad schedule|USE_Schedule_Terminal]]\n[[Search the steel locker|LOOK_Locker_Helipad]]\n[[Examine the access doors|LOOK_Access_Helipad]]<<else>>\n[[Look up the helipad schedule|USE_Schedule_Terminal]]\n[[Search the steel locker|LOOK_Locker_Helipad]]\n[[Examine the access doors|LOOK_Access_Helipad]]<<endif>>\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

You don't quite believe that you're arguing with a universally-feared assassin but it seems to be doing the trick of keeping you alive.\n\nYou:\n//"You can't seriously believe that bullshit. Is this the kind of propaganda they brainwashed you with when they drilled those spare parts into your head?"//\n\nYour face flushes with an invigorating blend of both genuine and fabricated anger.\n\nBut you're panicking now. The inevitable approaches and your options for escape are essentially nil.\n \nHe laughs.\n\nVeil:\n//"I like your spirit, Miranda. But you must think my employers to be heartless murderers when they are in fact the very reason you or I even exist on this world."//\n\nYou:\n//"They're butchers alright. Butchers dressed in suits and ties. No compassion."//\n\nVeil:\n//"What an amusing caricature you paint. Tell me: what sort of unfeeling monster gives life to the dying? When my employers found me I was nothing but a broken, wasted lump of flesh, ready to be discarded along with the trash of this world."//\n\nVeil stands now, effortlessly balanced on the concrete sill and stretches out his arms in an almost mock, grandiose pose.\n\n//"They rebuilt me, Miranda. Piece by painstaking piece, they rebuilt me. They did this to restore order, don't you see? They...we... understand the order of things."//\n\n''Conversation:''\n[[(Keep him going just a little longer)|CON_Veil_Mother]]\n[[(Confess)|CON_Veil_Confess1]]\n\n[[Shoot the maniac|CON_Veil_Shoot1]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

-Mira reconnects with Robek\n- finds out he fought his way out of an ambush\n- he's at the bottom of the tower but the elevators are down\n- Jackie can work to reactivate the elevators OR work on hacking the weapons locker for Mira, but not both\n- Jackie also suggests that he can hack into Veil's augmetic systems - Mira needs to have a Veil's micro-blade dagger and she can only get this if she tried to kill Veil after the gunship arrived.\n\n** IF Jackie reactivates the elevators then Robek will save Mira but gets gravely injured in the process\n** IF Jackie unlocks the weapon locker for Mira, the player gets hurt and barely escapes alive.\n** IF Jackie hacks into the dagger's digital imprint, he can sabotage parts of Veil's central nervous system, enabling both Robek and Mira to escape together.\n\n<<set $mira_locker = false>>\n<<set $jackie_locker = false>>\n<<set $jackie_elevator = false>>\n<<set $jackie_dagger = false>>\n<<set $roof_locked = false>>\n-> did Mira lock the rooftop access doors

You're out of options for getting into the weapons locker. You press your face up against the viewport and sigh. All those guns in there for the taking and you're helpless to do anything about it.\n\nYou're snapped out of your reverie by Jackie's voice again. He's back and with a renewed tone of urgency.\n\nJackie:\n//"I've routed power back to the elevators. Robek caught the lift on the 30th floor and he should be getting onto the roof shortly."//\n\nYou:\n//"Okay, I'll get ready to meet him."//\n\nJackie:\n//"No, you should prepare for Veil. Find a defensive position and hold it until the extraction team arrives. I'll do my best to slow him down but right now he may as well be a ghost. He could be anywhere."//\n\n<<if visited("GET_Dagger_Sill") gte 1>>[[Ask Jackie about Veil's dagger|DO_HackDagger_Yes]]\n[[Wait for the extraction team|CLIMAX_Veil_Shootout3]]<<else>>\n[[Wait for the extraction team|CLIMAX_Veil_Shootout3]]<<endif>>\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

You:\n//"Well, I just think you have the wrong person. You're wasting your time chasing me. You should be talking to my lead, Dr. Mendelsson."//\n\nVeil:\n//"I've spoken to the doctor, yes. He was not very forthcoming. And now he's dead."//\n\nYou feel your blood temperature drop another few degrees, made even worse by the chill at this altitude and the wind tugging maliciously at your coat. You swallow hard.\n\nYou:\n//"And you expect to get any further with me, a lowly lab tech?"//\n\n''Conversation:''\n[[(Keep playing dumb)|CON_Veil_Dumb]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

Veil searches you face for the truth. His voice is inhumanly smooth, with each syllable dripping forth heavily like honey collecting in a jar.\n\nVeil:\n//"Resourceful? Of course I did, my dear girl. I expected nothing less from someone as bright as you. No, I expected nothing less because, frankly, you know exactly what I'm capable of."//\n\nHe continues, shifting slightly on his feet as if the squatting posture he's holding is finally beginning to cause discomfort.\n\n//"It's quite simple really. You can give me the formula, right here, right now. All the running, all the hiding and all the disillusionment can end with one, easy gesture."//\n\nYou:\n//"I don't have it."//\n\nVeil:\n//"Or...you can tell me lies, misdirect me and try to stall for time."//\n\nHis face darkens, mirroring the canopy of grey clouds that begin to waft by at that moment, reflecting off the tower’s expansive bank of plexiglass windows.\n\n//"You can do this, Miranda, and I will have the virus anyway. I will find it on your person. My search will be most excruciating and invasive. You will likely not survive the inspection but I will find what I came for. This I can guarantee."//\n\n''Conversation:''\n[[(Keep stalling)|CON_Veil_Stalling]]\n\n<<if visited("CON_Veil_Shoot1") eq 0>><<if $carrying["Mark-9"]>>[[Shoot him|CON_Veil_Shoot1]]<<endif>><<endif>>\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

<>\n<<if visited() eq 1>>\n<<set $cheevo_openLocker = true>>\n<<set $jackie_elevator = true>>\n<<set $mira_locker = true>>\n<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>You've been awkwardly holding Veil's dagger and the Mark-9 in each hand. You give the blade a closer inspection. It's impossibly light yet possesses a solid heft when you wave it around in front of you.\n\nThe blade's oscillation function is disabled and it must be keyed to Veil's digital signature. Although the razor-sharp edge is static right now, you dare not touch it. You tap the flat of the blade with your fingernail. It feels strong enough to lever into the locker door.\n\nYou kneel down and jam the tip of the dagger into the slit of the door frame just below the scanner block. You dig the blade deeper into the gap and then you start tilting the handle to the left.\n\nThe door begins to creak as the micro-fiber dagger pushes against it from the inside. You feel your face reddening as you lean into the handle with your weight. The door complains louder and you whisper a prayer to keep the blade from suddenly snapping in half.\n\nAnd with a final groan of anguish the locker door pops open. You heave a great sight but look down to see the dagger blade is warped and likely unfit for use as a thrown weapon.\n\n[[Continue...|USE_Dagger_Locker2]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

You:\n//"I hid it."//\n\nYou muster what you imagine to be a convincingly smug look as you say this. In actuality your stomach is turning. You struggle to hold eye contact with Veil even as you think of the bauble of nano-organisms tucked away in the concealment pouch of your waistcoat.\n\nEven in the oppressive cold of VaniCorp's exterior scaffolding you can feel a mysterious warmth emanating from the Progenitor Virus.\n\nYou:\n//"You said I was resourceful, didn't you? So did you really think I'd just keep it on me for you to take?"//\n\nVeil's face is a mask that gives away nothing. It is quite impossible to read his face, so far removed from what it must have looked years before the surgery, the genetic enhancements and the robotic implants.\n\n''Conversation:''\n[[(Keep up the lie)|CON_Veil_Bluff2]]\n[[(Confess the truth)|CON_Veil_Confess1]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

<>\n<<set $inv.push("Micro-Fiber Dagger")>>\n<<endnobr>>The nearest dagger continues to vibrate gently even as it is lodged deep into dense concrete. You grasp the handle and pull. It's stuck in there tight.\n\nYou risk leaning forward over the edge, get a better grip on the dagger and pull hard. This time your palm depresses a small button set into the handle as you tighten your grip around it. The vibrations stop and the blade smoothly slides out of the recess.\n\n[[Get out of there|GO_Ladder_Roof]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

<<if visited("GO_Exit_Boardroom") gt 1>>You make for the exit but remember the doors are still locked.\n<<else>>You step cautiously towards the double-doors and try the handle.\n\nIt's locked.\n\nYou twist on the handle a few more times before realizing the lock is engaged on the other side.\n<<endif>>\n<<if visited('DO_Shoot_Window') gte 1>>[[Go to the shattered window|GO_BrokenWindow_Boardroom]]<<else>>[[Look out the window|GO_Window_Boardroom]]<<endif>>\n<<if visited('LOOK_Table_Boardroom') eq 0>>[[Examine the table|LOOK_Table_Boardroom]]<<endif>>\n<<if !$carrying['Mark-9']>>[[Pick up the pistol|GET_Gun_Boardroom]]<<endif>>\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

\n\n\n<<if $roof_locked>>[[Open fire|CLIMAX_Roof_Locked]]<<else>>[[Open fire|CLIMAX_Roof_Unlocked]]<<endif>>\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

You pull out your phone and send a call back request.\n\nRobek picks up on the sixth ring. He sounds out of breath.\n\nRobek:\n//"Mira?"//\n\nYou:\n//"I made it. I'm here, on the roof. Where are you?"//\n\nRobek:\n//"I...I'm on ground level. I'm in the lobby, trying to get the elevators working again."//\n\nHe goes into a violent fit of coughing.\n\n//"I have an ETA on your extraction. A Heiwa chopper should be arriving in ten minutes. Can you hang there until then?"//\n\nMore coughing.\n\nYou:\n//"Are you hurt?"//\n\nRobek:\n//"I ran into some Consortium baggers after I called you. I've been through worse. I'm standing, that's what matters."//\n\nYou:\n//"Robek, the extraction team needs to get here sooner. Veil is still in the building."//\n\nRobek:\n//"Shit. You have to deactivate the fail-safe on these elevators. I can't get to you soon enough unless you do."//\n\nYou:\n//"I'll see what I can do."//\n\nRobek:\n//"I'll start on the stairs and call the lift every few levels. You call me the second you get those elevators going again."//\n\nAnd with an abrupt click he's gone.\n\nNo sooner than you've put your phone away it chimes again. But this time it's not your phone.\n\n[[Continue...|CON_Jackie_Helipad]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

You decide to abandon the dagger on the ground near the rooftop ladder.\n\nJackie's voice pipes back up in your earpiece.\n\nJackie:\n//"Mira, I've picked up a call signal from the helipad's control terminal: the extraction team is approaching. ETA: one minute."//\n\nYou:\n//"What did you do to the dagger?"//\n\nJackie:\n//"It's done. If Veil's as meticulous as I think he is then he'll want to retrieve his weapon before he completes his mission. But that's out of our hands now. Get into cover and wait for that chopper."//\n\nJackie closes the comm channel without saying good-bye. You wonder if those are the last words you'll ever hear from him.\n\nYou look around the helipad facilities for a good defensive position. You pick out a tiny alcove in between the weapons locker and the communications spire. There isn't much cover but it at least gives you clear sight lines on both the rooftop access bays and the ladder.\n\nAnd dash over to the alcove and crouch down into as tiny of a ball as you can manage.\n\n[[Wait for the extraction team|CLIMAX_Veil_Shootout3]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

You pick up the nearest swivel chair, wind up and hurl it at the window with all of your strength.\n\nThe chair makes a dull thump as it impacts and bounces off the window. There's barely a scratch on the glass.\n\n<<if !$carrying['Mark-9']>>[[Pick up the pistol|GET_Gun_Boardroom]]<<else>>[[Shoot out the window|DO_Shoot_Window]]<<endif>>\n<<if visited("Lobby") lt 1>>[[Open the double-doors|GO_Exit_Boardroom]]<<endif>>\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

<>\n<<if visited() eq 1>>\n<<set $ammo -= 2>><<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>The Mark-9 is not an elegant weapon. You curse loudly as your shot goes wide. Veil is still in mid-flight but you know your wild aim has more than tipped him off.\n\nVeil lands atop the gunship and is splayed against the hull like a salamander basking in the sun. One of the flying daggers has already found its mark. The rear cockpit's windshield is gone and you can faintly make out the silhouetted death throes of the co-pilot as he clutches the gaping wound on his neck.\n\nThe lead pilot up front is luckier by a few degrees. The other dagger scythes through the hull as expected and punctures one or both of his legs before exiting the gunship on the other side. His face is fixed in a grimace of agony but he wrestles the controls and maintains the gunship's altitude.\n\nYou tighten your grip and fire again. A white spear of fire dances from the barrel. The kick from the recoil knocks your head back hard against the plexiglass.\n\nYou see black for a moment. Then your sinuses clear, hollow with a hint of iron as if a nose bleed is incoming. Your aim is better this time. The trajectory of the gigantic slug would have taken it square into Veil's left shoulder blade as he lay there flattened against the gunshp. Cyborg or not, it would have left a mark.\n\nVeil slashes out with one arm and cleaves the incoming bullet in two. The resulting pop of the ruptured bullet splatters him and the gunship in a razor-hot shower of corrosive alloy fragments.\n\n[[Fire again|USE_Mark9_Veil2]]\n[[Make your escape|GO_Ladder_Roof]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

<<if visited() eq 1>><<set $roof_locked = true>>You pull up the controls to the rooftop access bays and engage the lock on the doors. Any determined individual who is reasonably equipped should be able to breach it but this will buy you some extra time.<<else>>You've already engaged the lock. It's probably best to leave it that way.<<endif>>\n\n[[Look up the helipad schedule|USE_Schedule_Terminal]]\n[[Search the steel locker|LOOK_Locker_Helipad]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

You run to the steel locker on the far side of the helipad's landing zone. It's of a very sturdy construction, much stronger than what you expected. The frame is reinforced with titanium and the glass viewports look as if they could withstand several rounds from the Mark-9.\n\nPeeping through the viewports, you see something that takes your breath away.\n\nRifles. An entire rack of rifles. You notice some other ordnance as well but there's not enough light to see what it is.\n\nYou try the handle on the door. Locked, of course.\n\nNext to the handle is a keypad and scanner.\n\n[[Use the keypad|USE_Keypad_Locker]]\n[[Scan your ID badge|USE_ID_Locker]]\n<<if $ammo gt 0>>[[Shoot the door open|USE_Mark9_Locker]]<<else>>[[Shoot the door open|NO_Ammo]]<<endif>>\n<<if visited("GET_Dagger_Sill") gte 1>>[[Use the dagger to pry open door|USE_Dagger_Locker]]<<endif>>\n[[Examine the control terminal|LOOK_Terminal_Helipad]]\n[[Examine the access doors|LOOK_Access_Helipad]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

<>\n<<if visited() eq 1>>\n<<set $cheevo_freeRobek = true>>\n<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>You can only look on as Veil marches towards your position near the weapons locker. He does not appear to have seen you yet but he's aware of the Heiwa chopper closing in on the roof. He seems to be winding up to throw one of his daggers.\n\nThere's a crash as the access bay doors on the other end of the helipad flies open, followed by the thunderous report of a high-caliber automatic weapon. The sudden injection of new bullets in the air forces Veil to flip backwards and duck behind a ventilations fan.\n\nA man steps out of the access bay doorway. He's wearing a long beige overcoat over a grey vest and charcoal combat pants. He limps slightly as he steps into the light of the rooftop lamps either from an injury sustained in his leg or because he's wielding the largest gun you have ever seen being carried by a single person. The barrels of this silver montrosity are still spinning, wisping a steady trail of smoke into the night breeze. With a brisk tug, he yanks on a black handle along the side of the cannon and a new section of slugs on the belt feed loads into the chamber. It's Robek.\n\nHe's got a look on his face that combines the best parts of satisfaction, exhaustion and determination. Robek doesn't say a word when he looks in your direction, only giving a slight nod before training his massive gun back in Veil's general direction and spinning up the barrel.\n\nYou watch in amazement as the ventilation fan crumbles into a smouldering pile of dust and pebbles. Yet Veil is nowhere to be seen.\n\nThe Heiwa chopper is almost on top of you now but it's stopped short and is hovering in place about five meters from the edge of the roof.\n\nJackie's voice breaks into your earpiece.\n\nJackie:\n//"I've picked up the communications chatter from the extraction team. They can't get any closer to the helipad for fear of Veil hitting the chopper or getting on board. It's too risky."//\n\nYou steal a glance at the chopper hovering behind you. A rope ladder has been unrolled for you, swaying uninvitingly against the cold night wind. An additional bodyguard has climbed out onto the landing skip and both men have joined Robek in laying down covering fire for you.\n\nYou:\n//"This is fucking crazy."//\n\nJackie:\n//"This is your chance. Get off that roof before it's too late."//\n\nYou:\n//"After I'm gone, can you help Robek?"//\n\nJackie:\n//"No promises. I'm being tailed by a Consortium meta-walker. It won'be long before I need to face him and when that happens... well, I can't multi-task."//\n\nYou begin to protest but he continues.\n\nJackie:\n//"Robek knows what's at risk. He's gotten you this far, now it's up to you to finish the job. We're all counting on you."//\n\nJackie's voice channel clicks sharply and you're left with a low static hum. There are no further words from the meta-walker and you wonder if he's finally met his match somewhere in the Metasphere.\n\nYou look around, trying to track Veil's whereabouts. The assassin is performing an incredible dance of death as he defies the hail of bullets coming from all angles. Chunks of debris are getting kicked into the air all around. You can see him establishing a tidy rhythm to his dodges but the diminishing points of cover has forced him to start diving off the roof's edge before resurfacing a few meters ahead or doubling back in an attempt to disrupt Robek's sluggish aim.\n\nYou stand up and prepare to make a run for the chopper. You take a few steps back for a longer running start to the rope ladder hanging off the side of the chopper.\n\n[[Run for it|CLIMAX_Chopper_Finale2]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

You tuck the Mark-9 through your waistband, sit down on the floor near the broken window and carefully slide to the edge out onto the sill.\n\nThe wind outside whips at your hair and envelopes you in a biting chill that slows your movement to an intolerable pace. If nothing else, the cold does a bit to dull the pain of cutting your hand on the broken window.\n\nYou scoot awkwardly towards the metal ladder. If you can get to the rooftop then there's a chance you can <<if visited("CON_Robek_Advice") gte 1>>call in an extraction.<<else>> find a means of escape.<<endif>>\n\n[[Continue towards the maintenance ladder|GO_Ladder_Sill]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

You:\n//"You don't understand. The security team locked me in here. I'm trapped."//\n\nRobek:\n//"No, Mira, you have to get out. Find a way."//\n\nYou:\n//"Who's Veil?"//\n\nAnother pause. This time you think you hear a deep sucking in of breath.\n\nRobek:\n//"Your guy...the meta-walker you hired to swipe the access codes for you."//\n\nYou:\n//"Yes?"//\n\nRobek:\n//"He attracted a lot of attention. Too much. Genosphere gave the word to Galactic Frontiers and they've taken over the operation. They're all killers, Mira. Veil is the worst of them. You need to get out of there."//\n\nRobke's veneer of stoic professionalism melts away in that moment. You haven't known him for long but you get that he doesn't scare easily. He certainly sounds afraid for you now.\n\n[[Hang up & escape|CON_Robek_Hangup]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

<<if visited("USE_Bag_Boardroom") gt 1>>You have the messenger bag open in front of you.\n<<else>>You grab the bag and place it on the table. The insistent beeping grows louder as you unzip the primary compartment.\n\nInside you find a voice comm unit, a ''phone'', an ''ID badge'' and a glass, amber ''globe'' filled with a luminescent liquid.\n\nThe phone is beeping and both it and the voice comm are flashing red in unison.<<endif>>\n\n[[Examine the ID badge|LOOK_ID_Boardroom]]\n[[Examine the mysterious globe|LOOK_Virus_Boardroom]]\n[[Take all the items and answer the phone|USE_Phone_Boardroom]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

//"I can help him with the elevators."//\n\nYou're caught off guard by Jackie's intrusion into your ear but you're relieved to hear his voice.\n\nYou:\n//"Jackie, you startled me. Do you have a fix on where Veil is?"//\n\nJackie:\n//"No. I watched his dance of death with the gunship before he forcibly reentered the tower on the 149th floor. The power situation in VaniCorp is a mess right now. Most of the biometric sensors are down as are the more traditional surveillance cameras. I'm running blind right now."//\n\nYou:\n//"I don't have much time --"//\n\nJackie:\n//"Ten minutes, yes. I heard. Do what you can, Mira."//\n\nYou force a derisive, exhausted laugh.\n\n<<if visited("USE_Phone_Boardroom") eq 0>>You:\n//"Do what? I'm out in the open up here. Unless you can order up another gunship for me. I assume that was your doing? Then yes, get me some more of those, please."//<<else>>You:\n//"Do what? I'm out in the open up here. Unless you can pull another gunship or two out of your bag of tricks."//<<endif>>\n\nJackie:\n//"I'm all out of gunships."//\n\nYou:\n//"Yeah, I know. I wasn't being serious."//\n\nJackie:\n//"You always were a bit sarcastic."//\n\nYou:\n//"Well this snark is about all I have left to hold onto now."//\n\nJackie:\n//"I have to help Robek with the elevators. This is not a good-bye, Mira. You'll make it through this."//\n\nJackie disconnects, leaving you standing in the middle of the helipad to figure out your next move.\n\n[[Examine the control terminal|LOOK_Terminal_Helipad]]\n[[Search the steel locker|LOOK_Locker_Helipad]]\n[[Examine the access doors|LOOK_Access_Helipad]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

<<if visited() gt 1>>You already know your badge can't grant you access to the weapons locker.\n\n[[Return|previous()]]<<else>>You take out your Genosphere Labs ID badge and run it by the scanner attached to the locker door. The locker beeps but remains locked.\n\nYour earpiece buzzes.\n\n[[Continue...|CON_Jackie_Locker]]<<endif>>\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

In the distance you make out the blinking red lights of the chopper belonging to the Heiwa Industries extraction team. It is substantially larger than the gunship that attempted to pacify Veil.\n\nA figure in full battle armour is standing on each of the landing skids. They're both armed with rifles. A full compliment of bodyguards is likely riding inside the chopper as well.\n\nYou are hunkered down behind the weapons locker, your own rifle at the ready. You want to jump up and wave at the approaching chopper but you know it isn't over yet.\n\nThere is a loud thud as Veil bounds over the top of the ladder, cartwheels through the air and lands gracefully on the opposite end of the helipad. His face is painted in determination and this is also where you see the pockmarks and lacerations from his encounter with the gunship minutes earlier.\n\nVeil strides forward confidently, a micro-fiber dagger flicking into his open palms as he walks. You raise the scope of the rifle to your eye and aim.\n\n[[Open fire|CLIMAX_Roof_Alone]]\n[[Wait for Veil to make his move|CLIMAX_Veil_Wait]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

In the distance you make out the blinking red lights of the chopper belonging to the Heiwa Industries extraction team. It is substantially larger than the gunship that attempted to pacify Veil.\n\nA figure in full battle armour is standing on each of the landing skids. They're both armed with rifles. A full compliment of bodyguards is likely riding inside the chopper as well.\n\nYou are hunkered down behind the weapons locker, competely defenseless but ready to move. You want to jump up and wave at the approaching chopper but you know it isn't over yet.\n\nThere is a loud thud as Veil bounds over the top of the ladder, cartwheels through the air and lands gracefully on the opposite end of the helipad. His face is painted in determination and this is also where you see the pockmarks and lacerations from his encounter with the gunship minutes earlier.\n\nVeil strides forward confidently, a micro-fiber dagger flicking into his open palms as he walks.\n\n<<if $roof_locked>>[[Wait|CLIMAX_Unarmed_Wait1]]<<else>>[[Wait|CLIMAX_Unarmed_Wait2]]<<endif>>\n[[Talk him down|CLIMAX_Veil_Talk]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

<>\n<<if visited() eq 1>>\n<<set $jackie_dagger = true>>\n<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>You:\n//"Wait don't go yet."//\n\nJackie:\n//"I'm not leaving. I still need to figure out what I can do to help you get off that roof safely."//\n\nYou:\n//"Do you know anything about the weapons they use at Galactic Frontiers Consortium? I have one of Veil's daggers."//\n\nJackie:\n//"I have an idea. All their stuff is custom-made. I've heard of those micro-fiber daggers but nobody's been lucky enough to see one up close and live to spread the news."//\n\nYou:\n//"What can I do with this?"//\n\nJackie ponders for a moment.\n\nJackie:\n//"Mira, scan the hilt of the dagger with your phone. These things use a short-burst radio signal to communicate with their host. Veil has limited guidance control over them while they're in flight."//\n\nYou:\n//"That's nice but I'm not going to be throwing this at him."//\n\nJackie:\n//"Of course not. Just give it a scan with your phone and I might be able to override a few sub-routines."//\n\n[[Scan the dagger with your phone|DO_HackDagger_Scan]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

In the distance you make out the blinking red lights of the chopper belonging to the Heiwa Industries extraction team. It is substantially larger than the gunship that attempted to pacify Veil.\n\nA figure in full battle armour is standing on each of the landing skids. They're both armed with rifles. A full compliment of bodyguards is likely riding inside the chopper as well.\n\nYou are hunkered down behind the weapons locker, your own rifle at the ready. You want to jump up and wave at the approaching chopper but you know it isn't over yet.\n\nThere is a loud thud as Veil bounds over the top of the ladder, cartwheels through the air and lands gracefully on the opposite end of the helipad. His face is painted in determination and this is also where you see the pockmarks and lacerations from his encounter with the gunship minutes earlier.\n\nVeil strides forward confidently, a micro-fiber dagger flicking into his open palms as he walks. You raise the scope of the rifle to your eye and aim.\n\n<<if $roof_locked>>[[Open fire|CLIMAX_Roof_Locked]]<<else>>[[Open fire|CLIMAX_Roof_Unlocked]]<<endif>>\n[[Wait for Veil to make his move|CLIMAX_Veil_Wait]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

--Let the player undo moves? (on / off)\n--In Sugarcane, this enables the browser's back button.\n--In Jonah, this lets the player click links in previous\n--passages.\n\nUndo: on\n\n--Let the player use bookmarks? (on / off)\n--This enables the Bookmark links in Jonah and Sugarcane\n--(If the player can't undo, bookmarks are always disabled.)\n\nBookmark: on\n\n--Obfuscate the story's HTML source to prevent possible\n--spoilers? (swap / off)\n\nObfuscate: off\n\n--String of letter pairs to use for swap-style obfuscation\n\nObfuscateKey: spqfzcebytjwaurxkgloihmvdn\n\n--Include the jQuery script library? (on / off)\n--Individual scripts may force this on by\n--containing the text 'requires jQuery'.\n\njQuery: off\n\n--Include the Modernizr script library? (on / off)\n--Individual scripts/stylesheets may force this on by\n--containing the text 'requires Modernizr'.\n\nModernizr: off\n

You:\n//"Please tell me you can hack this locker."//\n\nJackie:\n//"I was just about to say: I found a data node that stores all of VaniCorp's emergency passcodes."//\n\nYou:\n//"You're amazing. Let's have it!"//\n\nJackie:\n//"It's not so easy. The node is well guarded. Lots of I.C.E. surrounding it. I'll need to drop everything and run some decrypters on full strength."//\n\nYou:\n//"Okay..."//\n\nJackie:\n//"Mira, this requires my full attention. My rig is running near maximum capacity as it is. If I get you the passcode then I can't work on reactivating the elevators for Robek."//\n\nYou:\n//"I need a way to defend myself from Veil. There's got to be another way."//\n\nJackie:\n//"Give me some options and I'll see what I can do."//\n\n''Conversation:''\n[[(Ask for the passcode)|CON_Jackie_HackLocker]]\n[[(Tell Jackie to reactivate the elevators)|CON_Jackie_HackElevator]]\n\n<<if $ammo gte 1>>[[Shoot the door open|USE_Mark9_Locker]]<<else>>[[Shoot the door open|NO_Ammo]]<<endif>>\n<<if visited("GET_Dagger_Sill") gte 1>>[[Use the dagger to pry open door|USE_Dagger_Locker]]<<endif>>\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

[[Credits|Credits]]

Jackie:\n//"Robek is still making his way up the tower. The last time he checked in with me he was approaching the thirtieth floor."//\n\nYou:\n//"Will he make it up here in time for extraction?"//\n\nJackie:\n//"No. I've told him as much but he is determined to see you safely onto that chopper. You need to prepare for a fight, in case Veil comes looking for you. Find a defensive position and hold it until the extraction team arrives. I'll do my best to slow Veil down but right now he may as well be a ghost. He could be anywhere."//\n\nJackie closes the comm channel without saying good-bye. You wonder if those are the last words you'll ever hear from him.\n\nYou look around the helipad facilities for a good defensive position. You pick out a tiny alcove in between the weapons locker and the communications spire. There isn't much cover but it at least gives you clear angles of fire on both the rooftop access bays and the ladder.\n\nAnd dash over to the alcove, grabbing a few more clips of ammunition from the locker for good measure and hunker down with your rifle at the ready.\n\n[[Wait for the extraction team|CLIMAX_Veil_Shootout2]]\n<<if visited("GET_Dagger_Sill") gte 1>>[[Ask Jackie about Veil's dagger|DO_HackDagger_Yes]]<<endif>>\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

You decide that Veil may avoid the rooftop ladder for fear of a trap so you abandon the tampered dagger on top of the helipad control terminal which is in clear sight of the access bay door.\n\nJackie's voice pipes back up in your earpiece.\n\nJackie:\n//"Mira, I've picked up a call signal from the helipad's control terminal: the extraction team is approaching. ETA: one minute."//\n\nYou:\n//"What did you do to the dagger?"//\n\nJackie:\n//"It's done. If Veil's as meticulous as I think he is then he'll want to retrieve his weapon before he completes his mission. But that's out of our hands now. Get into cover and wait for that chopper."//\n\nJackie closes the comm channel without saying good-bye. You wonder if those are the last words you'll ever hear from him.\n\nYou look around the helipad facilities for a good defensive position. You pick out a tiny alcove in between the weapons locker and the communications spire. There isn't much cover but it at least gives you clear angles of fire on both the rooftop access bays and the ladder.\n\nAnd dash over to the alcove, grabbing a few more clips of ammunition from the locker for good measure and hunker down with your rifle at the ready.\n\n[[Wait for the extraction team|CLIMAX_Veil_Shootout1]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

<>\n<<if visited() eq 1>>\n<<set $cheevo_finishGame = true>>\n<<set $score += 30>>\n<<endif>>\n\n<<if $deaths lte 0>><<if visited() eq 1>>\n<<set $cheevo_noDeaths = true>>\n<<set $score += 10>>\n<<endif>><<endif>>\n\n<<if $cheevo_gunWindow>><<set $score += 10>><<endif>>\n<<if $cheevo_gotBag>><<set $score += 10>><<endif>>\n<<if $cheevo_beatVeil>><<set $score += 10>><<endif>>\n<<if $cheevo_openLocker>><<set $score += 10>><<endif>>\n<<if $cheevo_freeRobek>><<set $score += 10>><<endif>>\n<<if $cheevo_daggerTrap>><<set $score += 10>><<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>You died <<print $deaths>> times.\n\nYour final Score is: <<print $score>>.\n\n<a href="javascript:state.restart()">Restart</a>

You take the globe and hold it up to the light. Despite being the size of your palm it is surprisingly heavy. The globe is filled tight with the amber liquid which glows with a faint, almost comforting, aura.\n\nThis is the ''Progenitor Virus''. The Progenitor Project began as Genosphere Labs' pioneering nanotech solution to the challenge of terraforming the alien landscape of Centaurus.\n\nUnder the guidance of the Galactic Frontiers Consortium it has become a tool for tyranny and a key component of their plans for complete sovereignty on New Caldonis, the sole human colony city on Centaurus.\n\nYou aim to put a stop to this.\n\n[[Continue inspecting the bag|USE_Bag_Boardroom]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

The rope ladder hanging off the chopper feels further away than it actually is. The Heiwa men are still firing at the rooftop. <<if visited("DO_Dagger_Ladder") eq 1 || visited("DO_Dagger_Ladder_NoRifle") eq 1>>You turn around one final time.\n\nVeil is sprinting towards you now, holding the micro-fiber dagger he recovered off the ground. You're frozen in place as he leaps into the air and throws the blade at your head.\n\nThe dagger's blade is whirring at maximum velocity as it whistles through the air. A small, quiet part of your brain suggests that you could try ducking for a 0.001% probability of avoiding an immediate death. But you're motionless, your eyes are transfixed on the blade as it paints a landing zone in between your eyes.\n\nYou quietly resign yourself to death.\n\nIt is ten centimeters from the bridge of your nose when the micro-fiber dagger suddenly curves to the left at a near ninety-degree angle and turns back. Veil is still descending from his jump when his own blade passes right through his upper right bicep.\n\nThere is only a look of quizzical concern on his face as he lands and regards the scorched gash that has been drawn across his arm. His attention refocuses to the dagger as it darts back and nearly decapitates him from behind.\n\nVeil ducks and flips through the air again as gunfire continues to rain down from the chopper and he now has this new rogue projectile to contend with. The dagger has gone into gleeful, murderous auto-pilot.\n\nYou look on in wonder at Veil's death-defying ballet as he narrowly dodges each pass of the dagger while still avoiding the constant assault from the Heiwa gunners.\n\nYou:\n//"Jackie, you're a genius."//\n\nA response doesn't return and you wonder if he's finally met his match somewhere in the Metasphere.\n\nYou start sprinting towards the chopper.<<else>>You start sprinting towards the chopper.<<endif>>\n\n[[Continue...|CLIMAX_Chopper_Finale1]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

The keypad emits a rude beep and returns a message to you on the LED display: \n\n''INVALID PASSCODE''\n\n<<if visited("CON_Jackie_Locker") eq 0>>Your earpiece buzzes.\n\n[[Continue...|CON_Jackie_Locker]]<<else>>[[Return|previous()]]<<endif>>

<>\n<<if visited() eq 1>>\n<<set $inv = []>>\n<<set $carrying = {}>>\n<<set $deaths = 0>>\n<<set $ammo = 6>>\n<<set $cheevo_gunWindow = false>>\n<<set $cheevo_gotBag = false>>\n<<set $cheevo_beatVeil = false>>\n<<set $cheevo_openLocker = false>>\n<<set $cheevo_freeRobek = false>>\n<<set $cheevo_daggerTrap = false>>\n<<set $cheevo_finishGame = false>>\n<<set $cheevo_noDeaths = false>>\n<<set $score = 0>>\n<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>><<if visited() eq 1>>Mira\n\nYou wake up suddenly to the shouts of men barking orders followed by the staccato bark of automatic rifles. You look around.\n\nYou had fallen asleep on the enormous boardroom table. The large double doors of the entrance are closed. The source of the commotion seems to be coming from just outside the boardroom and it's getting louder.\n\nA pistol sits on the table.<<else>>You walk back to the massive boardroom table and consider your next move.<<endif>>\n\n[[Examine the table|LOOK_Table_Boardroom]]\n[[Leave the boardroom|GO_Exit_Boardroom]]\n[[Go to the windows|GO_Window_Boardroom]]\n<<if !$carrying['Mark-9']>>[[Pick up the pistol|GET_Gun_Boardroom]]<<endif>>\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

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<>\n<<if visited() eq 1>>\n<<set $cheevo_gotBag = true>>\n<<endif>>\n\n<<if visited("USE_Phone_Boardroom") lte 1>>\n<<set $inv.push("ID badge", "Progenitor Virus", "Phone")>><<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>You pocket the ID tag and slip the globe<<if visited("LOOK_Virus_Boardroom") gte 1>> containing the Progenitor Virus<<endif>> into a concealment pouch stitched within the lining of your quilted waistcoat.\n\nYou tuck the tiny bud of the voice comm into your right ear and tap the screen of the phone. The beeping stops.\n\nThere is a brief crackle of static before you make out a voice on the other end.\n\n//"Mira, are you there? Please respond."//\n\nConversation:\n[[(Respond)|CON_Robek_Respond]]\n[[(Interrogate)|CON_Robek_Interrogate]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>\n

<>\n<<set $mira_locker = false>>\n<<set $jackie_locker = false>>\n<<set $jackie_elevator = false>>\n<<set $jackie_dagger = false>>\n<<set $roof_locked = false>>\n<<endnobr>>You clamber up the final rung of the ladder and pull yourself over the lip of the rooftop.\n\nYou're standing at the edge of a private helipad facility on the roof of VaniCorp tower. The landing platform occupies most of the rooftop real estate but you see a standing control terminal off to the left. Beyond that you see the rooftop access bay.\n\nOver on the right side corner a communications spire stabs into the night sky, red signal lights blinking near its base. In between the spire and the terminal is what appears to be a large steel locker. The locker doors have glass viewports built into them but you can't see what's inside from here.\n\n<<if visited("LOOK_Gunship_Fall") gte 1>>There isn't much time. Veil is still in the building and is no doubt returning to finish the job.<<else>>From a distance you hear an explosion followed by the muffled bleating of car horns and shouting. The gunship is gone. But Veil...you know the assassin still lives.<<endif>>\n\n<<if visited("USE_Phone_Boardroom") eq 0>>The phone chimes in your pocket.\n\n[[Answer the phone|USE_Robek_Call]]<<else>>[[Call Robek|USE_Phone_Robek]]<<endif>>\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

<>\n<<set $deaths += 1>>\n<<endnobr>>You:\n//"Okay, okay... I don't have the sample on me but I may have left it inside."//\n\nVeil senses the honesty in your voice. Without another word he pivots gracefully on the balls of his feet and glides back into the boardroom.\n\nYou turn awkwardly and watch him through the tinted glass of the window. You watch as he creeps towards the conference table, likely still wary of traps, and ducks down to pick up a messenger bag that was resting against one of the table legs.\n\nEvery fiber of your body is screaming at you to escape but you're transfixed in state of paralysis. //Why did I not bring the Progenitor sample with me? Why did I give it up?//\n\nYour thoughts are silenced soon enough. No sooner does Veil reach into the bag to produce the glowing amber globe of the Progenitor sample that he suddenly spins on his heels and swings his free arm towards you.\n\nA micro-blade dagger, an indistinct orange blur of heat and speed, shatters the plexiglass in front of you and burrows deep into your forehead.\n\n''You are dead.''\n\n[[Return|previous()]]

<>\n<<if visited() eq 1>>\n<<set $deaths += 1>>\n<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>You're unarmed and you have nowhere to run but you've outsmarted the assassin once already. With your hands raised above your shoulders you stand up and call out to Veil.\n\nYou:\n//"Okay, you win. I'll give you what you want."//\n\nVeil:\n//"That time has passed. Now I take what I came for."//\n\nMuch like a bee that has strayed to close to your ear, the buzz of a micro-fiber dagger cannot be heard until it is far too late.\n\nYou choke on a stream of blood as the blade carves an exit through your neck. You see the pavement of the roof angling into view and for a brief moment idly wonder if it is you falling to the ground or just your head.\n\nYour world goes black before you ever find out.\n\n''You are dead.''\n\n[[Rewind|previous()]]

You're about to answer the phone but you stop yourself. You're not actually receiving a call...and you dare not make any sudden motions in front of Veil even to check on your phone. You hesitate.\n\nSuddenly, the chiming stops.\n\n//"Don't answer me, don't acknowledge me. Just keep him talking. Blink once now if you understand."//\n\nJackie Parado. Your old colleague from the Academy and probably the most gifted meta-walker left on Earth. You don't bother to wonder how he lanced through the ironclad comm channels of Heiwa Industries and VaniCorp. Jackie has his ways.\n\nYou blink.\n\nJackie:\n//"Good. I'm watching you from a security drone orbiting the Perseus observation deck. Don't bother looking. I need Veil to think you're on your own. Stay calm. I'll bring help."//\n\nJackie's voice is calm, distant, almost dream-like in the way it reverberates in your inner ear. Fitting, you think, since he's as far away from you as an ally could possibly be.\n\n//"Do whatever you can to stall him. Your life depends on it."//\n\nThere is another chime, louder and more abrupt, and the voice is gone.\n\n[[Keep talking to Veil|CON_Veil_Naive]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

by Clinton Ma

You:\n//"Wait, don't go yet."//\n\nJackie:\n//"I'm not leaving. I still need to figure out what I can do to help you get off that roof safely."//\n\nYou:\n//"What can I do with this dagger?"//\n\nJackie:\n//"Nothing. It's served its purpose already. Although..."//\n\nYou:\n//"Yes?"//\n\nJackie:\n//"The Galactic Frontiers Consortium gets all their armaments custom-made but I know how these daggers are wired up. Give it a scan with your phone: I have an idea."//\n\nYou quickly pull out your phone, flip on the scanner and run the sickly green strobelight across the dagger as you hold it in your other hand.\n\nYou:\n//"How's that?"//\n\nJackie:\n//"Hmm. Bad. I thought I could hack into the dagger's firmware and insert a little surprise but the internal circuitry is badly damaged. Even if I breached the security it wouldn't be able to recognize any new sub-routines that I install."//\n\nYou:\n//"I must have broken it getting the locker open."//\n\nJackie:\n//"That would appear to be the case. But it's a fair trade-off."//\n\n[[Wait for the extraction team|CLIMAX_Veil_Shootout1]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

You peer over the edge, looking for a means of escape. All things considered, you are rather lucky today.\n\nThe windows on each floor of the VaniCorp tower are flush with the building's frame, creating essentially a smooth spire of glass. A sheer drop into emptiness awaits anyone foolish enough to climb out of a window. The architect of this particular structure, however, thought to add a concrete sill that encircles the entire top floor. <<if visited("CON_Robek_Advice") gte 1>>No doubt this was added as foundational support for the rooftop helipad facilities.<<else>>This could be structural support for some special facilities on the rooftop.<<endif>>\n\nYou crouch down to see just how much support it will provide a human being. It is narrow, extending out from the building no more than a half-metre. For added thrills, the top of the sill is not entirely flat, rather it curves slightly downward. Were it a smoother surface than concrete you could easily envision slipping off the sill the moment you step onto it.\n\nCraning your neck out you further, you see a thin maintenance ladder at the far end of the sill to your left. The ladder appears to run up towards the rooftop.\n\nThe wind is howlng and blowing fiercely yet you can tell that the sounds of battle outside the boardroom has died down slightly. Crazy as it seems, it may be wiser to venture out onto the narrow sill than wait around to greet a survivor from the shoot out.\n\n[[Climb out onto the sill|GO_Window_Sill]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

\n\n\n\n\n<html><img src="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2100730/6EyedStudio/interactive_fiction/Progenitors_Folly_p1/splash_title.png"></html>\n\n\n[[''Begin''|Start_Boardroom]]

You shake you head in response to his last statement.\n\nYou:\n//"Courageous? No. It's not courageous to do the right thing. Anyone would do the same in my situation. You --"//\n\nHe cuts you off.\n\nVeil:\n//"Your naivety, Miranda. Your naivety is what concerns me the most."//\n\nThe unnerving, mechanical smile is gone and Veil's eyes narrow into granite-grey slits.\n\n//"Where is the Progenitor sample?"//\n\n''Conversation:''\n<<if visited("USE_Phone_Boardroom") gte 1>>[[(Lie)|CON_Veil_HidTheVirus]]\n[[(Mislead)|CON_Veil_Mislead]]\n[[(Confess)|CON_Veil_Confess1]]<<else>>\n[[(Mislead)|CON_Veil_Mislead]]\n[[(Confess)|CON_Veil_Confess1]]<<endif>>\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

You resist the urge to close your eyes in preparation for the recoil as you squeeze down hard on the trigger.\n\nThe assault rifle roars to life, scattering a wide cone of bullets across the rooftop. Veil casually flattens down on the ground with amazing speed, stands up and resumes his march towards your position.\n\n<<if $jackie_elevator = false>>You begin to wonder if it was wise to draw Jackie's attention away from helping Robek get up to the roof sooner<<else>>Your earpiece vibrates again and you wonder if Jackie has come bearing some good news.\n\nJackie:\n//"Has Robek arrived yet?//\n\nYou:\n//"That would be really great right about now. Where the hell --"//\n\nYou stop yourself as you realize your mistake. Veil also stops and turns to follow your gaze. There's a ruckus coming from the rooftop access bay, like metal against metal.\n\nRobek can't open the door because it's locked. The banging quickly switches to gunfire as a few pinpoints of light punch through the reinforced bay doors. He is armed with impressive weaponry but you fear it may not be enough. to get through in time.\n\nJackie:\n//"Mira, it's too late for me to unlock those doors for Robek."//<<endif>>\n\nYou fire another burst at Veil. You are getting the hang of the rifle but Veil is just incredibly agile and clairvoyant as he flips and pirouettes away from harm, predicting your every move.\n\n<<if $jackie_elevator = false>>Jackie's voice pipes into your earpiece again.\n\nJackie:<<else>>Jackie continues:<<endif>>\n//"I've picked up the communications chatter from the extraction team. They can't get any closer to the helipad for fear of Veil hitting the chopper or getting on board. It's too risky."//\n\nYou steal a glance at the chopper hovering behind you. It's close to the rooftop by aviation standards but you estimate a good five meter gap from the edge. A rope ladder has been unrolled for you, swaying uninvitingly against the cold night wind. An additional bodyguard has climbed out onto the facing landing skid and both men have begun laying down covering fire.\n\nYou:\n//"This is fucking crazy."//\n\nJackie:\n//"This is your chance. Get off that roof before it's too late."//\n\nYou turn back to Veil and let loose a final spray of bullets. The assassin has been held at bay thanks to the withering cover fire provided by the extraction team. Chunks of debris are getting kicked into the air all around Veil. You can see him establishing a tidy rhythm to his dodges but amid the acrobatics he is still getting grazed by the occasional stray bullet.\n\n<<if visited("DO_Dagger_Access") gte 1>>Veil's attention is completely occupied and he fails to notice the micro-fiber dagger you planted near the access bay.<<endif>><<if visited("DO_Dagger_Ladder") gte 1>><<set $cheevo_daggerTrap = true>>Veil pauses a beat when something appears to catch his eye. He's finally noticed the dagger you planted on the ground. Another wave of covering fire threatens to shred the assassin but he expertly cartwheels to safety and snatches up his errant blade in a single motion.<<else>>It's now or never.<<endif>>\n\nYou stand up and prepare to make a run for the chopper. You drop the rifle and take some steps back for a longer running start to the rope ladder hanging off the side of the chopper.\n\n[[Run for it|CLIMAX_Chopper_End]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

You scoot bum-first along the rough cement sill of the tower as quickly as you can.\n\nYou stop suddenly because you hear a voice behind you: toneless, smooth and hollow.\n\n//"Miranda Gellar."//\n\n[[Turn around|CON_Veil_Intro]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

<<if visited() eq 1>>You tap on the terminal's touch panel a few times to pull up a log of scheduled arrivals to the helipad.\n\nSure enough, you see the entry for your scheduled pickup with the extraction team: 06:32 PM. That is a little under 8 minutes from now.<<else>>You've already checked the ETA for your extraction. Looking at it again isn't going to make it happen any sooner.<<endif>>\n\n<<if visited("USE_Lock_Roof") eq 0>>[[Engage the lock to rooftop access doors|USE_Lock_Roof]]\n[[Examine the access doors|LOOK_Access_Helipad]]\n[[Search the steel locker|LOOK_Locker_Helipad]]<<else>>\n[[Examine the access doors|LOOK_Access_Helipad]]\n[[Search the steel locker|LOOK_Locker_Helipad]]<<endif>>\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

Time is of the essence and you're wasting a lot of it sitting on this narrow concrete ledge. You decide to resume your slow shuffle towards the maintenance ladder.\n\n<<if visited("USE_Phone_Boardroom") eq 0>>Remembering your oversight, you quickly slip back through the broken window, into the boardroom and grab the phone, voice comm unit, ID badge and the globe containing the Progenitor Virus from your messenger bag tucked beneath the conference table.<<set $inv.push("Phone", "ID badge", "Progenitor Virus")>><<else>>The high winds tugs maliciously at your coat as hug the windows at your back and try your best not to look down.<<endif>>\n\nYour legs are horribly cramped from sitting on the ledge but you will them to move as you drag yourself the rest of the way to the ladder.<<if visited("LOOK_Gunship_Fall") eq 0>> You suddenly hear shattering of glass and look down to see a shower of broken plexiglass coming off the tower roughly ten stories down. The battered chopper is on fire and spiralling down to the street below but you can't tell if Veil is still on it. You start moving up the ladder.\n\nYou're panting and sweating a bit as you climb the thin maintenance ladder to the roof of VaniCorp tower.<<else>>Your legs are horribly cramped from sitting on the sill but you will them to move as you drag yourself the rest of the way to the ladder.\n\nYou're panting and sweating a bit as you climb the thin ladder to the roof of VaniCorp tower.<<endif>>\n\n[[Step onto the roof|GO_Roof_Tower]]\n<<if visited("USE_Mark9_Veil2") gte 1>><<if visited("GET_Dagger_Sill") eq 0>>[[Take one of the daggers stuck in the concrete|GET_Dagger_Sill]]<<endif>><<endif>>\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

This is your standard-issue Genosphere Labs identification badge. It features a photograph of your face below which a tiny drop of blood is encased in a transparent pane. An encryption chip is also stencilled into the hard plastic.\n\nThe remaining card real estate is occupied by your name and a list of vital statistics:\n\nMiranda Gellar\n-----------\nSex: F\nHair: Dark Brown\nEyes: Green\nHeight: 5'6"\nSecurity Level: 10\n\n[[Continue inspecting the bag|USE_Bag_Boardroom]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

<>\n<<if visited() eq 1>>\n<<set $cheevo_gunWindow = true>>\n<<set $ammo -= 1>>\n<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>You step back from the window and take aim with the Mark-9. Even held in both hands it has the weight of solid lead. You take a deep breath and squeeze down on the trigger.\n\nThe Mark-9 bucks violently, nearly taking you off your feet. The entire window pane in front of you shatters outward as the wind outside rapidly sucks away the debris, spewing thousands of twinkling fragments against the dull glow of the evening stars.\n\nThe sounds of battle beyond the boardroom are now somewhat drowned out by the howling of the wind outside the broken window.\n\nYou've improvised an escape route!\n\n[[Go to the shattered window|GO_BrokenWindow_Boardroom]]\n[[Leave the boardroom through the double-doors|GO_Exit_Boardroom]]\n<<if visited('USE_Phone_Boardroom') eq 0>>[[Examine the boardroom table|LOOK_Table_Boardroom]]<<endif>>\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

The explosion of ammunition lights up the sky seconds later, parting the clouds with strobing sunbeams of death.\n\nThe section of sill where Veil used to be disintegrates in a violent haze of powder. You glimpse the cat-like form of the assassin soaring through the air, closing the gap between him and the gunship.\n\nIt is all rather surreal as time slows to a crawl, allowing you to process every minute detail of the scene before you. Veil's body is dangerously close to the twirling propellor blades but you know he has calibrated his leap perfectly to avoid getting minced while still clearing the maelstrom of high-caliber rounds that now pepper the side of the skyscraper.\n\nHe holds a micro-fiber dagger in each hand and an additional pair are already whizzing towards the gunship's cockpit. Any one of those blades could cut through the craft's hull like it was paper. If the pilots are quick they can scramble out of harm's way. If they are quick...\n\n[[Scramble for the ladder|GO_Ladder_Roof]]\n[[Shoot the bastard|USE_Mark9_Veil]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

You decide to abandon the dagger on the ground near the rooftop ladder.\n\nJackie's voice pipes back up in your earpiece.\n\nJackie:\n//"Mira, I've picked up a call signal from the helipad's control terminal: the extraction team is approaching. ETA: one minute."//\n\nYou:\n//"What did you do to the dagger?"//\n\nJackie:\n//"It's done. If Veil's as meticulous as I think he is then he'll want to retrieve his weapon before he completes his mission. But that's out of our hands now. Get into cover and wait for that chopper."//\n\nJackie closes the comm channel without saying good-bye. You wonder if those are the last words you'll ever hear from him.\n\nYou look around the helipad facilities for a good defensive position. You pick out a tiny alcove in between the weapons locker and the communications spire. There isn't much cover but it at least gives you clear angles of fire on both the rooftop access bays and the ladder.\n\nAnd dash over to the alcove, grabbing a few more clips of ammunition from the locker for good measure and hunker down with your rifle at the ready.\n\n[[Wait for the extraction team|CLIMAX_Veil_Shootout1]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

You switch on your phone's scanner and run its sickly green strobelight across the dagger as you turn it around in your other hand.\n\nJackie:\n//"Okay, that's good. I'll need a moment to breach the security built into the dagger's firmware. You can drop the dagger somewhere in plain sight."//\n\nYou:\n//"Where would I put it?"//\n\nJackie:\n//"I want Veil to notice it. I want him to pick it up."//\n\nYou consider where you want to drop off the dagger.\n\n<<if visited("CLIMAX_NoRifle") gte 1>>\n[[Dump it near the ladder|DO_Dagger_Ladder_NoRifle]]\n[[Dump it near the access bay door|DO_Dagger_Access_NoRifle]]\n[[Wait for the extraction team|CLIMAX_Veil_Shootout3]]<<else>>[[Dump it near the ladder|DO_Dagger_Ladder]]\n[[Dump it near the access bay door|DO_Dagger_Access]]\n[[Wait for the extraction team|CLIMAX_Veil_Shootout1]]\n<<endif>>\n<<display "ControlBar">>

Veil senses something as well. He flashes you a wide smile this time. Skin and metal contort into a form you will not soon forget.\n\nVeil:\n//"Ah yes, what did I tell you about stalling for time?"//\n\nA whirring micro-fiber dagger materializes in his right hand. He then plants his left hand forward to brace himself as he lowers his stance even further.\n\nThis is it. You know you will be dead with his next move.\n \nWhen the gunship banks off the opposite end of the tower, \nit is so close that you are certain the propeller blades \nwill catch on the scaffolding and send the craft careening into the rest of the structure.\n\nIt levels off smoothly and the pilot expertly brings it to bear ten meters away and parallel to where you and Veil are positioned. A voice barks out over the intercom.\n\nPilot:\n"Drop your weapons. Move away from the girl!"\n\nThe gust from the propellors is tremendous and the sound coming off it is deafening. You look over to see that Veil is still smiling, teeth bared. He is enjoying this.\n\nEverything is his plaything: the gunshp, you and the litter of corpses he has undoubtedly left behind outside the VaniCorp boardroom. Nothing has ever prevented this man from completing a mission. For all the humanity that has been crushed and strained from his natural body over the years, Veil still suffers the usual foibles of flesh and blood. One of these foibles is, quite simply, hubris.\n\nVeil switches his stance as fluidly as a dancer, diverting his full attention to the new threat hovering in the air before you. The intercom on the gunship booms again.\n\nPilot:\n//"This is your final warning!"//\n\nBut there is hardly a warning at all. A battery of cannons has already extracted from the side of the gunship and their barrels have all but spun up to full speed.\n\n[[Next...|ACT_Veil_Gunship]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

You put the voice comm bud into your ear and tap the phone.\n\nA man is on the other end. He sounds harried and out of breath.\n\nRobek:\n//"Mira? Mira, it's Robek. Where the hell have you been? I've been calling you for the last half hour."//\n\nRobek Lu. One of the few allies you've remaining since deciding to blow the whistle on the Progenitor Project. You have him to thank for putting you under protective custody at VaniCorp tower. He continues:\n\n//"Listen to me, there isn't much time. The security team is most likely wiped out. The Consortium sent an assassin to get you."//\n\nYou:\n//"I've met him."//\n\nRobek:\n//"Veil got to you? What happened to him? Where are you now?"//\n\nYou try not to let Robek's confusion and panic get you shaken up even more.\n\nYou:\n<<if visited("USE_Phone_Boardroom") eq 0>>//"I don't know what happened to him. We were talking and then a Heiwa gunship pulls up. I think Jackie sent a distress signal for me. Veil is somewhere, I don't know where but he took care of the gunship."//<<else>>//"I don't know what happened to him. We were talking, then Jackie called in a Heiwa gunship for me. Veil is somewhere, I don't know where but he took care of the gunship."//<<endif>>\n\nRobek:\n//"Jesus..."//\n\nYou:\n//"I'm here, on the roof. Where are you?"//\n\nRobek:\n//"I...I'm on ground level. I'm in the lobby, trying to get the elevators working again."//\n\nHe goes into a violent fit of coughing.\n\n//"I have an ETA on your extraction. A Heiwa chopper should be arriving in ten minutes. Can you hang there until then?"//\n\nMore coughing.\n\nYou:\n//"Are you hurt?"//\n\nRobek:\n//"I ran into some Consortium baggers in T-Sector. I've been through worse. I'm standing, that's what matters."//\n\nYou:\n//"Robek, the extraction team needs to get here sooner."//\n\nRobek:\n//"I know. Look, you have to deactivate the fail-safe on these elevators. I can't get to you soon enough unless you do. You slipped Veil once already but I'm not taking any more chances."//\n\nYou:\n//"I'll see what I can do."//\n\nRobek:\n//"I'll start on the stairs and call the lift every few levels. You call me the second you get those elevators going again."//\n\nAnd with an abrupt click he's gone.\n\nNo sooner than you've put your phone away it chimes again. But this time it's not your phone.\n\n[[Continue...|CON_Jackie_Helipad]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

<>\n<<if visited() eq 1>>\n<<set $deaths += 1>>\n<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>You are too dizzy to keep your balance but choose not to steady yourself on something. Leaning backwards does little to keep you from falling since you are too close to the ledge as it is.\n\nYou topple through the opening and plummet to your death.\n\n[[Rewind|previous()]]

<>\n<<if visited() eq 1>>\n<<set $cheevo_openLocker = true>>\n<<set $jackie_locker = true>>\n<<set $jackie_elevator = false>>\n<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>You:\n//"If you can help me get to these rifles then I'll have a fighting chance against Veil."//\n\nJackie:\n//"Okay, I'll get to work on accessing that data node. Robek is on his own now."//\n\nYou:\n//"Tell him I'm sorry."//\n\nJackie:\n//"He's a professional. He'll understand. Mira, I need to concentrate for a few minutes. I'll be back with the passcode."//\n\nYou:\n//"I'm not going anywhere."//\n\nJackie goes silent. You crouch down beside the weapons locker, tense and with your eyes darting between the access bay and the metal ladder from which you came to the roof. And you wait.\n\nYour palms are clammy and you're fidgeting intensely with your waistcoat buttons when Jackie's voice finally startles you to attention.\n\nJackie:\n//"Porpentine."//\n\nYou:\n//"What?"//\n\nJackie:\n//"The passcode to the locker. It's 'Porpentine'."//\n\nYou spin around to face the locker's keypad.\n\n[[Use the keypad|USE_Keypad_Locker]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

<>\n<<set $deaths += 1>>\n<<endnobr>>The pressure of facing down a professional killer finally takes its toll on your psyche. Maybe cooperation is the best policy after all.\n\n<<if visited("USE_Phone_Boardrom") gte 1>>\nYou:\n//"Here, just take it."//\n\nYou dig the amber bauble out of your waistcoat's inner lining and toss it towards Veil. The crouching assassin is smirking, eyes still locked on you, when he snatches the globe out of the air. You envision a world where a coldly logical killer like Veil spares your life, having fulfilled his primary objective.<<else>>You:\n//"You can have it. It's in the boardroom."//\n\nWithout another word he pivots gracefully on the balls of his feet and glides back into the boardroom.\n\nYou turn awkwardly and watch him through the tinted glass of the window. You watch as he creeps towards the conference table, likely still wary of traps, and ducks down to pick up a messenger bag that was resting against one of the table legs. He returns to the ledge outside with the bag, reaches in and pulls out the glowing, amber globe.<<endif>>\n\nYou:\n//"Enjoy your new world order while it lasts."//\n\nVeil:\n//"Thank you, Miranda. We most certainly will."//\n\nAnd with those final words he carefully pockets the Progenitor sample into his jacket before leaping towards you, brandishing a glowing micro-fiber blade in each hand.\n\nYou barely have time to scream. Your world goes black.\n\n''You are dead.''\n\n[[Rewind|previous()]]

Your legs are horribly cramped but you will them to move as you drag yourself the rest of the way to the ladder.\n\nYou're panting and sweating a bit as you climb the thin ladder to the roof of VaniCorp tower.\n\n[[Step onto the roof|GO_Roof_Tower]]\n\n<<display <<"ControlBar">>

You:\n//"No...but I think I know where to get one."//\n\nHis voice flares up with impatience.\n\nRobek:\n//"Good. Get yourself armed and get a move on. You don't have much time. Mira, I--"//\n\nHis voice is suddenly drowned out by the roar of gunfire. This time it's not coming from your end.\n\nRobek:\n//"--I'm dealing with some things now. I have to go. Call me when you get to the roof."//\n\nThe voice comm clicks and he's gone. You pocket the phone but keep wearing the comm in your ear.\n\n[[Leave the boardroom|GO_Exit_Boardroom]]\n[[Pick up the pistol|GET_Gun_Boardroom]]\n[[Go to the windows|GO_Window_Boardroom]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

You pull the trigger on the Mark-9 and get a click in response.\n\nThe clip is empty and you don't have a spare.\n\n[[Return|previous()]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

<>\n<<set $size = $inv.length>>\n<<endnobr>>\n''INVENTORY''\n\n<<if $inv.length eq 0>><>You have nothing.<<endnobr>>\n-----------------------<<else>>You have <<print $size>> item<<if $inv.length gt 1>>s:\n-----------------------<<else>>:\n-----------------------\n<<endif>><<endif>>\n<<set $i = 0>><<display "ItemDisplay">>\n\n<<if $carrying['Mark-9']>>You have <<print $ammo>> rounds remaining.<<endif>>\n-----------------------\n\n''STATS''\nYou died <<print $deaths>> times.\n\n''Achievements:''\n\n<<if $cheevo_gunWindow>>''Improvised Escape Route''<<else>>''Locked''<<endif>>\n<<if $cheevo_gotBag>>''Careful Whistleblower''<<else>>''Locked''<<endif>>\n<<if $cheevo_beatVeil>>''Escaped the Clutches of Veil''<<else>>''Locked''<<endif>>\n<<if $cheevo_openLocker>>''Armed & Dangerous''<<else>>''Locked''<<endif>>\n<<if $cheevo_freeRobek>>''Robek's Arrival''<<else>>''Locked''<<endif>>\n<<if $cheevo_daggerTrap>>''Booby Trap''<<else>>''Locked''<<endif>>\n<<if $cheevo_finishGame>>''Great Escape''<<else>>''Locked''<<endif>>\n<<if $cheevo_noDeaths>>''Death Defying''<<else>>''Locked''<<endif>>\n\n[[Return...|previous()]]

You resist the urge to close your eyes in preparation for the recoil as you squeeze down hard on the trigger.\n\nThe assault rifle roars to life, scattering a wide cone of bullets across the rooftop. Veil casually flattens down on the ground with amazing speed, stands up and resumes his march towards your position.\n\nYour earpiece vibrates again and you wonder if Jackie has come bearing some good news.\n\nJackie:\n//"I want to verify that Robek will not be joining you in time. You'll need to get onto that chopper without his help."//\n\nYou:\n//"That wouldn't be a problem if I wasn't so afraid to stop shooting."//\n\nYou fire another burst at Veil. You are getting the hang of the rifle but Veil is just incredibly agile and clairvoyant as he flips and pirouettes away from harm, predicting your every move.\n\nJackie:\n//"I've picked up the communications chatter from the extraction team. They can't get any closer to the helipad for fear of Veil hitting the chopper or getting on board. It's too risky."//\n\nYou steal a glance at the chopper hovering behind you. It's close to the rooftop by aviation standards but you estimate a good five meter gap from the edge. A rope ladder has been unrolled for you, swaying uninvitingly against the cold night wind. An additional bodyguard has climbed out onto the facing landing skid and both men have begun laying down covering fire.\n\nYou:\n//"This is fucking crazy."//\n\nJackie:\n//"This is your chance. Get off that roof before it's too late."//\n\nYou turn back to Veil and let loose a final spray of bullets. The assassin has been held at bay thanks to the withering cover fire provided by the extraction team. Chunks of debris are getting kicked into the air all around Veil. You can see him establishing a tidy rhythm to his dodges but amid the acrobatics he is still getting grazed by the occasional stray bullet.\n\n<<if visited("DO_Dagger_Access") gte 1>>Veil's attention is completely occupied and he fails to notice the micro-fiber dagger you planted near the access bay.<<endif>><<if visited("DO_Dagger_Ladder") gte 1>><<set $cheevo_daggerTrap = true>>Veil pauses a beat when something appears to catch his eye. He's finally noticed the dagger you planted on the ground. Another wave of covering fire threatens to shred the assassin but he expertly cartwheels to safety and snatches up his errant blade in a single motion.<<else>>It's now or never.<<endif>>\n\nYou stand up and prepare to make a run for the chopper. You drop the rifle and take some steps back for a longer running start to the rope ladder hanging off the side of the chopper.\n\n[[Run for it|CLIMAX_Chopper_End]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

You pull the trigger but all you get is a click in return. Jammed? You expertly pop the clip from the Mark-9 just like Sgt. Holtz showed you.\n\nThe clip is empty.\n\n[[Return|previous()]]

You:\n//"I'm not afraid of you."//\n\nVeil finally turns to face you, the slightest hint of a smile playing across his lips. But it might be your imagination. The assassin's entire lower jaw is a barbaric titanium graft with the barest attention spent towards aesthetics. To call the resulting rictus a smile is being generous.\n\nVeil:\n//"That is good, Miranda. Fear is unbecoming of a young lady of your stature and upbringing."//\n<<if visited("USE_Phone_Boardroom") gte 1>>\nYour phone begins to chime but it's like an echo coming in from a great distance. The ear bud.<<endif>>\n\nVeil:\n//"And you have shown such courage and resourcefulness since all of this began."//\n<<if visited("USE_Phone_Boardroom") gte 1>>\nThe chiming continues, insisting but never getting any louder above the distant echo.\n\n[[Answer the call|CON_Veil_Jackie01]]<<else>>\n[[Keep talking|CON_Veil_Naive]]<<endif>>\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

<>\n<<if visited() eq 1>>\n<<set $cheevo_openLocker = true>>\n<<set $inv.push("Assault Rifle")>>\n<<set $carrying["Mark-9"] = false>>\n<<set $carrying["Assault Rifle"] = true>>\n<<set $ammo -= 1>>\n<<endif>>\n<<set $mira_locker = true>>\n<<if $jackie_locker>><<set $jackie_locker = false>><<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>You point the barrel of the Mark-9 at the locker door handle and pull the trigger. The handle shatters instantly, spraying the ground with scorched metal and leaving in its wake a smouldering black hole.\n\nYou give the door a swift kick and it bangs open. Even in the dimming light you can make out the orderly row of jet black assault rifles lining the interior of the locker. The sight of this bounty takes your breath away.\n\nYou grab the nearest rifle and scoop up a couple spare clips. After some fumbling you correctly recall Sgt. Holtz' rushed tutorial on small arms safety and handling. You slap a fresh clip into the rifle's undercarriage, slide the firing mode switch to semi-automatic and disengage the safety.\n\nJackie comes in through your voice comm.\n\nJackie:\n//"I see the direct approach worked out for you."//\n\nYou:\n//"I love what you do, Jackie, but I'm in a real time crunch today. Can't afford having you get lost in the Metasphere."//\n\nJackie:\n//"I'm hardly lost --"//\n\nYou:\n//"You know what I mean."//\n\nJackie is quiet now and for a fraction of a second you worry that he's run into trouble inside the Metasphere. It's likelier, however, you just bruised his ego a touch.\n\nJackie:\n//"It won't be long until the extraction team arrives. How do you plan to stay alive for the next three minutes?"//\n\nYou:\n//"Visualize myself getting off this roof."//\n\n[[Wait for Robek to arrive|CLIMAX_Robek]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

You think you can convince this hired killer to see things your way.\n\nYou:\n//"Whatever they're paying you to bring me back, it's not worth it. The power they'll have at their finger tips will make you obsolete. They'll get rid of you as soon as they have what they want."//\n\nVeil laughs. It is the mocking, empty chuckle of a synthetic, reconstituted organism.\n\nVeil:\n//"So I should simply let you go?"//\n\nYou:\n//"Once this gets out it, it will send New Caldonis into political and economic ruin. Why would you want that?"//\n\nVeil:\n//"You misunderstand the gravity of your situation. Firstly, my services - and by extension my loyalty - are not bought with mere currency. Secondly, you gravely overestimate your importance in this arrangement."//\n\nYour heart begins to beat rapidly as you realize your ploy to dissuade Veil is falling flat on its face. <<if visited("USE_Phone_Boardroom") gte 1>>Suddenly your phone begins to chime but it's like an echo coming in from a great distance. The ear bud...<<endif>>\n\nVeil:\n//"I am here for the Progenitor sample. That is the sole reason for my being here at all and sharing this wonderful view with you. Whether or not you remain alive is entirely inconsequential..."//\n\n<<if visited("USE_Phone_Boardroom") gte 1>>The chiming continues, insisting but never getting any louder above the distant echo.\n\n[[Answer the call|CON_Veil_Jackie01]]<<else>>''Conversation:''\n[[(Bluff)|CON_Veil_Bluff1]]<<endif>>\n\n<<if visited("CON_Veil_Shoot1") eq 0>><<if $carrying["Mark-9"]>>[[Shoot him|CON_Veil_Shoot1]]<<endif>><<endif>>\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

<>\n<<if visited() eq 1>>\n<<set $cheevo_freeRobek = true>>\n<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>You resist the urge to close your eyes in preparation for the recoil as you squeeze down hard on the trigger.\n\nThe assault rifle roars to life, scattering a wide cone of bullets across the rooftop. Veil casually flattens down on the ground with amazing speed, stands up and resumes his march towards your position.\n\nYou fire another burst at Veil. You are getting the hang of the rifle but he is just incredibly agile and clairvoyant as he flips and pirouettes away from harm at the last second.\n\n<<if visited("USE_Keypad_Passcode") gte 1>>You begin to wonder if it was wise to draw Jackie's attention away from helping Robek get up to the roof sooner<<else>>There's a crash as the access bay doors on the other end of the helipad flies open, followed by the thunderous applause of a high-caliber automatic weapon. The sudden injection of new bullets in the air forces Veil to flip backwards and duck behind a ventilations fan.\n\nA man steps out of the access bay doorway. He's wearing a long beige overcoat over a grey vest and charcoal combat pants. He limps slightly as he steps into the light of the rooftop lamps either from an injury sustained in his leg or because he's wielding the largest gun you have ever seen being carried by a single person. The barrels of this silver montrosity are still spinning, wisping a steady trail of smoke into the night breeze. With a brisk tug, he yanks on a black handle along the side of the cannon and a new section of slugs on the belt feed loads into the chamber. It's Robek.\n\nHe's got a look on his face that combines the best parts of satisfaction, exhaustion and determination. Robek doesn't say a word when he looks in your direction, only giving a slight nod before training his massive gun back in Veil's general direction and spinning up the barrel.\n\nYou watch in amazement as the ventilation fan crumbles into a smouldering pile of dust and pebbles. Yet Veil is nowhere to be seen.<<endif>>\n\nThe Heiwa chopper is almost on top of you now but it's stopped short and is hovering in place about five meters from the edge of the roof.\n\nJackie's voice breaks into your earpiece.\n\nJackie:\n//"I've picked up the communications chatter from the extraction team. They can't get any closer to the helipad for fear of Veil hitting the chopper or getting on board. It's too risky."//\n\n<<if visited("USE_Keypad_Passcode") gte 1>>You steal a glance at the chopper hovering behind you. A rope ladder has been unrolled for you, swaying uninvitingly against the cold night wind. An additional bodyguard has climbed out onto the landing skip and both men are laying out covering fire for you. <<else>>You steal a glance at the chopper hovering behind you. A rope ladder has been unrolled for you, swaying uninvitingly against the cold night wind. An additional bodyguard has climbed out onto the landing skip and both men have joined Robek in laying down covering fire for you.<<endif>>\n\nYou:\n//"This is fucking crazy."//\n\nJackie:\n//"This is your chance. Get off that roof before it's too late."//\n\n<<if visited("USE_Keypad_Passcode") gte 1>>You swear through gritted teeth and realize the loss of Robek's covering fire were he on the roof with you now<<else>>You:\n//"After I'm gone, can you help Robek?"//\n\nJackie:\n//"No promises. I'm being tailed by a Consortium meta-walker. It won'be long before I need to face him and when that happens... well, I can't multi-task."//\n\nYou begin to protest but he continues.\n\nJackie:\n//"Robek knows what's at risk. He's gotten you this far, now it's up to you to finish the job. We're all counting on you."//<<endif>>\n\nJackie's voice channel clicks sharply and you're left with a low static hum. There are no further words from the meta-walker and you wonder if he's finally met his match somewhere in the Metasphere.\n\nYou turn back to Veil and let loose a final spray of bullets. The assassin is performing an incredible dance of death as he defies the hail of bullets coming from all angles. Chunks of debris are getting kicked into the air all around. <<if visited("USE_Keypad_Passcode") gte 1>>Chunks of debris are getting kicked into the air all around Veil. You can see him establishing a tidy rhythm to his dodges but amid the acrobatics he is still getting grazed by the occasional stray bullet.<<else>>You can see him establishing a tidy rhythm to his dodges but the diminishing points of cover has forced him to start diving off the roof's edge before resurfacing a few meters ahead or doubling back in an attempt to disrupt Robek's sluggish aim.<<endif>>\n\nYou stand up and prepare to make a run for the chopper. You drop the rifle and take some steps back for a longer running start to the rope ladder hanging off the side of the chopper.\n\n[[Run for it|CLIMAX_Chopper_Finale2]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

<<if visited() eq 1>>You hurry over to the rooftop access bay. It's a large steel door that is standing ajar. You peer in through the gap to see a plain, brightly lit stairwell that leads down a flight of stairs to a pair of emergency doors on the top floor of VaniCorp tower.\n\nYou push the bay doors closed. You don't see a mechanical lock and there is no scanner or keypad to indicate that it could be locked here.<<else>>You are standing in front of the rooftop access bay again.<<endif>>\n\n<<if visited("USE_Lock_Roof") gte 1>>The doors are closed. You give one of the handles a tug. It's locked.\n\n[[Examine the control terminal|LOOK_Terminal_Helipad]]\n[[Search the steel locker|LOOK_Locker_Helipad]]<<else>>[[Examine the control terminal|LOOK_Terminal_Helipad]]\n[[Search the steel locker|LOOK_Locker_Helipad]]<<endif>>\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

You're wasting time with this conversation.\n\nYou:\n//"Okay, I need to go."//\n\nRobek:\n//"Wait, do you have a weapon?"//\n\n''Conversation:''\n<<if $carrying['Mark-9']>>[[(Yes)|CON_Robek_GunYes]]<<else>>[[(No)|CON_Robek_GunNo]]<<endif>>\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

//"Get off your ass. Move!"// you tell yourself. But you can't help but watch the scene play out before you. You can't help but watch your would-be assassin meet his end.\n\nVeil springs up onto the gunship's nose, crouching low on both feet and dives back towards the tower. The hind rotor just misses his outstretched feet as the gunship lazily spins down towards the busy thoroughfare below. You hope to see the assassin fall well short of the building and plummet to his death but the momentum behind his dive is incredible.\n\nVeil slams into the plexiglass ten stories below like a cannonball. More shattered glass glitters against the city lights. A second later, a fireball erupts on the six-lane road far below where the unmanned gunshp ends its descent.\n\n[[Head to the roof|GO_Roof_PostBattle]]\n<<if visited("GET_Dagger_Sill") eq 0>>[[Take one of the daggers stuck in the concrete|GET_Dagger_Sill]]<<endif>>\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

Words and design by Clinton Ma\n\nStylesheet "Squillions" by Leon Arnott\n\nTitle font by TracerTong\n\nTesting by Balraj Basi, Ryan Donaldson & Max Hui\n\nSpecial Thanks...\n----------------\nAnna Anthropy\nChris Klimas\nPorpentine\nEmmanuel Turner\n\n\n\ncontact: clinton[dot]ma at gmail[dot]com\n\n[[Return|previous()]]

You shoot out your left hand, grabbing for anything that will keep you from toppling through the gaping window opening.\n\nYou grab hold of the window frame and yell as some remaining glass on the frame cuts into your palm.\n\nBalance regained, you straighten up and assess the damage to your hand. A ragged, crimson gash bisects your palm and a think trickle of blood begins to creep down your forearm.\n\n[[Examine the window ledge|LOOK_Window_Ledge]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

You know better than to plead with an assassin. But you do it anyway if only for the precious few seconds it could possibly add to your lifespan.\n\nMaybe it's the fatigue that suddenly grips your shoulders or the chill of the wind that threatens to freeze your fingers closed around the grip of the Mark-9. Veil was right about the running and the hiding. You feel so very tired.\n \nYou:\n//"Why are you doing this? Can't you see how this virus sets us back? Total control only gets you so far."//\n\nVeil gently wags a gloved finger.\n\nVeil:\n//"Order, Miranda. We are re-establishing order."//\n\nYou:\n//"This is slavery!"//\n\nVeil:\n//"This is the order of the world, child. This is the order that all of humanity craves but can never quite accomplish or give voice to... that is, until something larger than any single man, woman or child imposes it upon them."//\n\n''Conversation'':\n[[(Taunt)|CON_Veil_Taunt]]\n\n<<if visited("CON_Veil_Shoot1") eq 0>>[[Shoot this delusional windbag|CON_Veil_Shoot1]]<<endif>>\n<<if visited("CON_Veil_Giveup") eq 0>>[[Give him the Progenitor Virus|CON_Veil_Giveup]]<<endif>>\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

You decide that Veil may avoid the rooftop ladder for fear of a trap so you abandon the tampered dagger on top of the helipad control terminal which is in clear sight of the access bay door.\n\nJackie's voice pipes back up in your earpiece.\n\nJackie:\n//"Mira, I've picked up a call signal from the helipad's control terminal: the extraction team is approaching. ETA: one minute."//\n\nYou:\n//"What did you do to the dagger?"//\n\nJackie:\n//"It's done. If Veil's as meticulous as I think he is then he'll want to retrieve his weapon before he completes his mission. But that's out of our hands now. Get into cover and wait for that chopper."//\n\nJackie closes the comm channel without saying good-bye. You wonder if those are the last words you'll ever hear from him.\n\nYou look around the helipad facilities for a good defensive position. You pick out a tiny alcove in between the weapons locker and the communications spire. There isn't much cover but it at least gives you clear sight lines on both the rooftop access bays and the ladder.\n\nAnd dash over to the alcove and crouch down into as tiny of a ball as you can manage.\n\n[[Wait for the extraction team|CLIMAX_Veil_Shootout3]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

<>\n<<set $deaths += 1>>\n<<endnobr>>You respond to the assassin by raising the Mark-9 and squeezing off a few slugs into his chest. Except the shots are never fired.\n\nThe micro-fiber dagger had already spun into the tip of the Mark-9, scissoring the barrel in half like a hot bandsaw through a dinner roll. You watch in horror as the searing blade shears through the husk of the ruined pistol and continues its path between the knuckle of your hand, effortlessly through the bone and hard tissue of your forearm before finally coming to rest an inch from the elbow joint.\n\nYou don't notice the Mark-9 as it fragments and falls off the sill into nothingness. You only stare at the dark, red caricature of an open banana peel that used to be your arm as it geysers blood against the plexiglass, onto your face and waistcoat.\n\nThere is no pain as you look up to see Veil leaping off his perch towards you, a fresh micro-blade in each hand. There is no fear, only certainty. Your vision goes black.\n\n''You are dead.''\n\n[[Rewind|previous()]]

You don't wait to hear another word.\n\nYou:\n//"What the hell is going on?"//\n\nAs if on cue, you hear the sharp pop of a frag grenade as it explodes, shredding furniture and who knows what else. The walls rattle slightly from the shockwave.\n\nYou:\n//"Men are being slaughtered in the room right next door to me."//\n\nThere is a prolonged pause on the other end as if he's hearing and registering the explosion on a time delay.\n\nRobek:\n//"It's happening already. Mira: you're in danger. They've sent ''Veil'' to find you. Get out of there NOW."//\n\n''Conversation:''\n[[(Advice)|CON_Robek_Advice]]\n[[(Refuse)|CON_Robek_Refuse]]\n[[(Hang up)|CON_Robek_Hangup]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

You can only look on as Veil marches towards your position near the weapons locker. He does not appear to have seen you yet but he's aware of the Heiwa chopper closing in on the roof. He seems to be winding up to throw one of his daggers.\n\nYour earpiece vibrates again and you wonder if Jackie has come bearing some good news.\n\nJackie:\n//"Has Robek arrived yet?//\n\nYou:\n//"That would be really great right about now. Where the hell --"//\n\nYou stop yourself as you realize your mistake. Veil also stops and turns to follow some noise coming from the rooftop access bay, like metal against metal.\n\nRobek can't open the door because it's locked. The banging quickly switches to gunfire as a few pinpoints of light shout out from the reinforced bay doors. He is armed with impressive weaponry but you fear it may not be enough. to get through in time.\n\nJackie:\n//"Mira, it's too late for me to unlock those doors."//\n\nYou:\n//"What can I do?"//\n\nJackie:\n//"I've picked up the communications chatter from the extraction team. They can't get any closer to the helipad for fear of Veil hitting the chopper or getting on board. It's too risky."//\n\nYou steal a glance at the chopper hovering behind you. It's close to the rooftop by aviation standards but you estimate a good five meter gap from the edge. A rope ladder has been unrolled for you, swaying uninvitingly against the cold night wind. An additional bodyguard has climbed out onto the landing skip and both men have begun laying down covering fire for you.\n\nYou:\n//"This is fucking crazy."//\n\nJackie:\n//"This is your chance. Get off that roof before it's too late."//\n\nYou turn back to look at Veil. The assassin has been held at bay thanks to the withering cover fire provided by the extraction team. Chunks of debris are getting kicked into the air all around Veil. You can see him establishing a tidy rhythm to his dodges but admid the acrobatics he is still getting grazed by the occasional stray bullet.\n\n<<if visited("DO_Dagger_Access") gte 1>>Veil's attention is completely occupied and he fails to notice the micro-fiber dagger you planted near the access bay.<<endif>><<if visited("DO_Dagger_Ladder_NoRifle") gte 1>><<set $cheevo_daggerTrap = true>>Veil pauses a beat when something appears to catch his eye. He's finally noticed the dagger you planted on the ground. Another wave of covering fire threatens to shred the assassin but he expertly cartwheels to safety and snatches up his errant blade in a single motion.<<else>>It's now or never.<<endif>>\n\nYou stand up and prepare to make a run for the chopper. You take several steps back for a longer running start to the rope ladder hanging off the side of the chopper.\n\n[[Run for it|CLIMAX_Chopper_End]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

Your mind is racing with questions but you can barely think with the constant racket of the skirmish being waged outside.\n\nYou:\n//"I'm in the VaniCorp tower but I'm trapped. I think I may be locked in this room...near the top probably."//\n\nThe voice over the comm raises in urgency and crackles with static.\n\nRobek:\n//"You need to find a way out. Get yourself a weapon and find a way up to the rooftop. Your best chance is to wait for extraction."//\n\nYou:\n//"Extraction? In how long?"//\n\nRobek:\n//"It could be a minute, it could be five. It doesn't matter, you just need to buy yourself some time. Get to the roof and wait for the chopper. Or wait for me: I'm coming."//\n\n[[(Hang up)|CON_Robek_Hangup]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

<>\n<<if visited() eq 1>>\n<<set $ammo -= 1>><<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>The sleeves of Veil's jacket are now burned away by the explosion of bullet shards, exposing in their place the stark paleness of his arms and the network of circuitry and pulmonary tubes that service his augmented body.\n\nSeveral fragments tore into his face. Nasty, grey burn marks cover a visage that may have one point been considered handsome. Veil frowns at you, eyes narrowed, before fanning out his arm again to release a volley of daggers whistling towards you.\n\nYou suspect the gunship's pilot is bleeding out and struggling to maintain both consciousness and control of his craft. The gunship suddenly jerks downward and lilts away from the tower just as Veil looses his daggers. It is enough to jink their flight path. Two of the micro-fiber blades strike the sill below your feet. Like darts into packing foam they sink effortlessly into the concrete until their hilts are half buried through.\n\nYou scream and nearly lose your grip on the Mark-9 as the third dagger goes high and smashes the window above. Black glass crackles and buzzes through the air like a storm of angry flies. Your hands are cut a dozen times over as you hold them against the back of your head for protection.\n\n[[Fire again|USE_Mark9_Veil3]]\n<<if visited("GET_Dagger_Sill") eq 0>>[[Take one of the daggers stuck in the concrete|GET_Dagger_Sill]]\n[[Make your escape|GO_Ladder_Roof]]<<else>>[[Make your escape|GO_Ladder_Roof]]<<endif>>\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

<>\n<<if visited() eq 1>>\n<<set $ammo -= 2>>\n<<set $cheevo_beatVeil = true>>\n<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>Ignoring the pain of a dozen cuts you pull up the sights on the Mark-9 once again and prepare to fire.\n\nThe gunship is in the process of righting itself after the turbulence when the assassin gingerly slides down the slope of the canopy and straddles the nose as if riding a see-saw.\n\nIt's a comical pose while it lasts. Veil punches through the cockpit's front shielding like a child pushing open the doors of a dollhouse and, in one fluid motion, palms the wounded pilot's face.\n\nYou squeeze the trigger.\n\nThe Mark-9 spits out another giant round. A miss. You quickly recenter your aim, hopelessly dreaming of saving the pilot from his impending death.\n\nVeil has pulled the pilot's twitching body forward across \nthe cockpit's bulkhead now. The pilot's visor is completely \nshattered at this point and the assassin's hand has disappared into the darkness of the helmet. Almost as dark are the thick rivulets of blood that pour out ceaselessly from the inky depths of the helmet.\n\nYou fire again through your own tears and the bullet spangs off the nose of the gunship this time. The pilot finally stops twitching. Still grasping the dead man's face, Veil lifts the corpse clear from the cockpit and releases it into the open air. You watch the body fall away into the darkness of the colony city's twinkling dusk.\n\nVeil's right hand is a dripping red, claw of gore. The gunship is already spiralling downward when he looks back over to your perch on the VaniCorp tower.\n\n[[Watch Veil go down with the gunship|LOOK_Gunship_Fall]]\n[[Take one of the daggers stuck in the concrete|GET_Dagger_Sill]]\n[[Get out of there|GO_Ladder_Roof]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

You:\n//"They just needed a tool. They were lucky to find one in you."//\n\nVeil:\n//"Everything must have a purpose in this life, Miranda. Your mother understood this when she was alive, before her research became disruptive."//\n\nYour world tilts on its axis for a second. You nearly slip off the ledge from being so taken aback but quickly regain your balance.\n\nYou:\n//"What would you possibly know about my mother?"//\n\nThe adrenaline is really rushing through your body now but rather than clouding your judgment it is making your thoughts cycle several times faster. You're actually curious to hear what the assassin has to say now where before you were simply fixated on prolonging your life one second at a time.\n\nVeil:\n//"I know more about your mother than you'll ever allow yourself to realize."//\n\nHe lowers himself again, this time into a tightly coiled crouch, like a panther lying in wait.\n\n//"These limbs, these artificial muscle fibers and the synthetic blood that now pumps through my veins are all the by-products of your mother's pioneering work. Without your mother, I would be nothing."//\n<<if visited("USE_Phone_Boardroom") gte 1>>\nRight then the voice comm tickles your ear and you hear the voice of your guardian angel:\n\nJackie:\n//"You did good, Mira. I think I found help. Now... get ready to go."//\n\nYou want to respond but he anticipates your reaction.\n\n//"Don't talk. Just move. In 3...2...1..."//<<endif>>\n\nYou hear a low thrumming in the distance. It is closing in rapidly. You can feel the plexiglass against your back begin to vibrate.\n\n[[Get ready to move|CON_Veil_End]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

You:\n//"I was barely allowed into the test chambers to observe Dr. Mendelsson while he worked let alone interact directly with any live samples. You're grasping at straws if the only lead you have left is me."//\n\nVeil puts a finger to his lips to call for silence.\n\nVeil:\n//"They told me you were a brave one. Even Dr. Mendelsson applauded your pluck and vigor before his demise."//\n\nYou:\n//"You murdered an innocent man and a brilliant researcher."//\n\nYou:\n//"Tell me, Miranda: how many more of your associates need to expire painfully for the sake of your cause? These poor souls who you've roped into this hopeless crusade of yours. It may be courageous of you to continue on this path but quite reckless at the same time, don't you agree?"//\n\n''Conversation:''\n[[(Rebuke)|CON_Veil_Naive]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

[[Open Inventory|Inventory]]

Your tongue is dry, making your words come out in a desperate, raspy whisper.\n\nYou:\n//"Hello? Who is this?"//\n\nMore static as the voice comm attempts to realign the channel caused by interference.\n\nRobek:\n//"Thank god. Mira...it's Robek. listen to me carefully. You have to leave the tower. You have to leave right now."//\n\n''Conversation:''\n[[(Interrogate)|CON_Robek_Interrogate]]\n[[(Advice)|CON_Robek_Advice]]\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

<<if visited("CON_Jackie_HackElevator") gte 1>>You're out of options for getting into the weapons locker. You press your face up against the viewport and sigh. All those guns in there for the taking and you're helpless to do anything about it.\n\nYou're snapped out of your reverie by Jackie's voice again. Suddenly he's back and with a renewed tone of urgency.<<else>>You determine you're as ready as you'll ever be as you wait for the Heiwa extraction team.<<endif>>\n\nJackie:\n//"I've routed power back to the elevators. Robek caught the lift on the 30th floor and he should be getting onto the roof shortly."//\n\nYou:\n//"Okay, I'll get ready to meet him."//\n\nJackie:\n//"No, you should prepare for Veil. Find a defensive position and hold it until the extraction team arrives. I'll do my best to slow him down but right now he may as well be a ghost. He could be anywhere."//\n\n<<if visited("USE_Lock_Roof") gte 1>>[[Ask Jackie about Veil's dagger|DO_HackDagger_Yes]]\n[[Wait for the extraction team|CLIMAX_Veil_Shootout1]]<<else>>\n[[Wait for the extraction team|CLIMAX_Veil_Shootout1]]<<endif>>\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

You:\n//"I don't have it."//\n\n<<if visited("USE_Phone_Boardroom") eq 0>>As you say this truth you realize that the Progenitor Virus must still be inside the boardroom. You can't leave it behind.<<else>>The globe containing the Progenitor Virus sits snugly within the pocket of your waistcoat but you'd be a fool to give up your only bargaining chip so easily.<<endif>>\n\nThe assassin shifts slightly on his feet as if the squatting posture he's been holding is finally beginning to cause him discomfort.\n\nVeil:\n//"It's quite simple really. You can give me the formula, right here, right now. All the running, all the hiding and all the disillusionment can end with one, easy gesture."//\n\nYou:\n//"I said I don't have it!"//\n\nVeil:\n//"Or...you can tell me lies, misdirect me and try to stall for time."//\n\nHis face darkens, mirroring the canopy of grey clouds that begin to waft by at that moment, reflecting off the tower’s expansive bank of plexiglass windows.\n\nVeil:\n//"You can do this, Miranda, and I will have the virus anyway. I will find it on your person. My search will be most excruciating and invasive. You will likely not survive the inspection but I will find what I came for. This I can guarantee."//\n\n''Conversation:''\n[[(Keep stalling)|CON_Veil_Stalling]]\n<<if visited("CON_Veil_Confess1") eq 0>>[[(Confess)|CON_Veil_Confess1]]<<endif>>\n<<if visited("CON_Veil_Shoot1") eq 0>><<if $carrying["Mark-9"]>>\n[[Shoot him|CON_Veil_Shoot1]]<<endif>><<endif>>\n\n<<display "ControlBar">>

Killing Orders - Part 1: Escape the Assassin\n\nPLANNED FEATURES:\n\t- Basic inventory system - DONE\n\t- Achievements - IN PROGRESS\n\t- Scoring: deaths, achievements earned, other - IN PROGRESS\n\t- Splash page - IN PROGRESS\n\t- Credits page - IN PROGRESS\n\t- Underline style for dialog - IN PROGRESS\n\nQA:\n* prevent ammo from being consumed on a re-visit\n\nSTRETCH FEATURES (or implement in Part 2):\n\t- Codex: unlock entries as you play\n\t- Skills and attributes\n\t- Smart inventory and objects system\n\nOVERVIEW:\n\nThe player takes the role of Mira Gellar, a young and brilliant scientist. The game begins in medias res. Mira has stumbled on a terrible secret about her employer, Genosphere Labs and has come into possession of a potent nanotech bio-weapon called the Progenitor Virus.\n\nGenosphere Labs has developed the P-Virus in partnership with Galactic Frontiers Consortium, the governing body that first colonized New Caldonis, consisting of various world leaders and captains of industry from Earth.\n\nThe Progenitor Virus (in its original form dubbed, the Progenitor Project) was original designed to more efficiently recycle waste materials on the resource-scarce colony city through the controlled distribution of nanotech organisms. Ironically, the virus is destructive rather than generative. Under the influence of the GF Consortium, Genosphere Labs has re-engineered these nano-organisms to attach to living genetic matter: people.\n\nThe Galactic Frontiers Consortium, under the pretense of terraforming and industrial efficiency, seeks to use the P-Virus to control the very aspects of life on New Caldonis. He who controls the nano-organisms also decides who lives and how dies... and what you are processed into after death.\n\nMira sought asylum with megacorporation, Heiwa Industries, in her efforts to expose the truth about the Genosphere Project and reverse-engineer a cure for the Progenitor Virus.\n\nPart 1 begins with Mira in the custody of the Heiwa's private military force. They are holed up at the top floor of the VaniCorp building, awaiting helicopter extraction to a top-secret Heiwa Industries research facility.\n\nUnfortunately for them, the Galactic Frontiers Consortium has dispatched an assassin to eliminate Mira and to retrieve the virus. Veil is the most feared operator in the civilized reaches of the galaxy and he always finds his target.\n\nCAST:\n\nMira Gellar (the player) - young and brilliant researcher for Genosphere Labs. Goes rogue after learning about GFC's misappropriation of the Progenitor Project.\n\nVeil - the galaxy's most feared assassin. Much of what is known about the intergalactic hunter is wrapped up in urban myths and hearsay. What we do know is that Veil was nearly dead at one time. His body was salvaged and reconstructed by the research & development arm of GFC turning an already deadly but human assassin into an augmented, unstoppable killing machine.\n\nRobek Lu - a former cop and security specialist for the Heiwa Industries back on Earth, Robek gets called in for some favours from an old associate when news leaks of a young whistleblower from Genosphere Labs seeking asylum with Heiwa.\n\nJackie Parado - is one of the best datamancers/metawalkers you've never heard of. Jackie is a new breed of computer hacker and plies his trade by entering a near-death state, melding a copy of his mind to that of the Metasphere, a future vision of the Internet that has spread beyond Earth and into the farther reaches of the Milky Way. Jackie and Mira have a history together as students at the Academy before Mira boarded the Fourth Wave of colony ships to New Caldonis.\n\nGalactic Frontiers Consortium - \n\nGenosphere Labs -\n\nHeiwa Industries -\n\nNuScape Terraforming -\n\n\n\nPLAY SUMMARY:\n\nPart 1 consists of 3 main scenes:\n\t- the escape from the boardroom\n\t- the confrontation with Veil\n\t- the escape from VaniCorp Tower\n\nBranching Paths:\n\nA) Mira searches bag \n--> Gets Phone, ID & P-Virus \n--> Talk to Robek \n--> Get advice from Jackie on window sill \n--> Jackie calls in gunship for Mira \n--> Get tip to grab Veil's knife \n--> Jackie can hack Veil's robotic systems on the rooftop \n--> Extraction team arrives and Mira makes a leap for the chopper\n\nB) Mira does not search bag \n--> Leaves boardroom only with Mark-9 \n--> Does not converse with Robek \n--> Cannot be reached by Jackie \n--> Jackie distracts Veil with drone & calls in gunship \n--> Mira gets call from Robek on the rooftop \n--> Robek stuns Veil with an EMP grenade \n--> Extraction team arrives and Mira makes a leap for the chopper. Robek stays behind.