Conversation · Soona, the Programmer

"The bookstore lady hates me -- says I'm part of the curse, whatever that means."

"Why does she think you're part of the curse?"

"Because she's from Martinaise and people from Martinaise have never ever seen a radiocomputer. She thinks it emits elemental evil."

"That's a bit biased, don't you think?"

"No." She stares at you with droopy eyes. "She literally started praying for the higher powers when she first saw my Rehm Civic. I'm not making this up."

The lieutenant coughs like he's amused.

"Once I came in one morning only to find that my terminal was full of those strange... trinkets and amulets. Wards. It looked like some Semenine magic."

"So what I need you to do here is -- go have a talk with her, say that you're a policeman and need to get to the building's basement. Then bring me the off-site copy. Alright?"

"Yeah, people in Martinaise don't really like to get with the times."

"She literally started praying for the higher powers when she first saw my Rehm Civic. I'm not making this up."

"What if it does emit elemental evil?" (Narrow your eyes.)

"It doesn't emit, it receives..." She stops explaining. "You sound just like her. She started praying when she first saw my Rehm. Turned to higher powers."

"Don't be too harsh. That's only because of their socio-economic situation."

"Yes, but she literally started praying for the higher powers when she first saw my Rehm Civic. I'm not making this up."

"Wait. Are you -- part of the curse?"

"Of course not." She crosses her arms. "Anyway, I don't have my keys anymore and she won't let me in."

"Alright, I'll go look for the off-site copy." (Proceed.)

"Thanks."

"Thanks." She thinks for a moment, then reaches behind the radiocomputer and hands you what looks like an oversized prybar.

"And here's my Kvalsund multitool. You might need it to hack loose some ice. It opens everything. If you get me the off-site copy, then you can keep the Kvalsund."

It hurts a bit for her to say this -- she's not too happy to be parting with the Kvalsund.

The legendary Kvalsund multitool! This is prybar version 2.0 -- for professionals, like you.

This glorious multitool makes a regular prybar completely OBSOLETE.

"Thanks." She thinks for a moment, then reaches behind the radiocomputer and hands you what looks like an oversized prybar.

"Thanks." She thinks for a moment, then reaches behind the radiocomputer and hands you what looks like an oversized prybar.

"Is this the filament you're looking for?" (Show her the production schedule.)

"No, that's the production schedule you stole and accessed without authorization." She's tapping the table in a badly concealed impatience. "I don't need it."

"In his defence, it was simply lying in the desk drawer of an abandoned cubicle."

"Okay -- but still."

"No, that's the production schedule, I don't need it. The right filament memory has 'OFF-SITE COPY' written on silver tape."

She doesn't care how you got your hands on that thing.

"What is an off-site copy and why do you need it?"

"It's a back-up of my former employer's project -- the radio game we were working on. It's stored on a filament memory just like the one inside this radiocomputer." She points to the glowing cube inside the machine.

She's making it extra simple for you.

"The backup itself is destroyed now, but I'm hoping to use what's left of it to pinpoint the exact location of the anomaly. You just have to go to my old workspace and get the filament."

Hold on... If it's called an off-site copy, then why is it still on-site?

"Where is your old workspace?"

"On Rue de Saint-Ghislaine in the East Delta Commerce Centre." She wipes some hair off her face and sighs.

"You might be more familiar with the name Doomed Commercial Area. You can get in through the bookshop on plaza. You just have to do some explaining to the bookstore lady."

"By the way, we put a dead body in that fridge."

"Wait, what?" She looks up, alarmed. "Whose dead body?"

"You know, we don't actually have to tell the entire world about the fridge," the lieutenant says, looking at you.

"Whose body is it?" she demands again, staring first at you, then back at the lieutenant.

"It's the body of the hanged man."

"And what is it doing in the fridge?!"

It's almost as if she feels some sort of ownership of the fridge.

"Don't worry, I put it there -- temporarily. It's all part of an official police investigation."

"You put it there..." She leans back, massaging her eyelids. "You put a dead body inside the ice bear fridge..."

"The investigation warranted it."

"Okay," she says, pressing fingers into her eyebrow ridge. "Very cool, thanks for keeping me in the loop."

"We would appreciate it if you kept this knowledge to yourself, miss."

"Who would I tell, my mother?" She shakes her frizzy head. "I don't have anyone to tell -- and if I did, I wouldn't. I don't care."

"Just wanted to let you know."

"Yeah, that's what I said in the first place."

"I brought you the filament." (Give her the off-site copy.)

"Thanks." She takes the filament, inspecting the metallic tape on its side. "Looks like it's the one."

"What's going to happen now?"

"Now I'm going to print it out to see what's left of it." She's already inserted the filament into the radiocomputer's core, ready to close the door.

"Wait! Don't put it in yet, it might be dangerous!"

She starts laughing, but stops almost immediately, her voice oddly humourless: "No, it's not dangerous, just depressing."