Conversation · Ruby, the Instigator

"What bunker?"

"The communist hideout back there..."

"Don't know anything about it. No one's been around since I set up camp. But I'm sure I'm not the first vagabond to..." Her voice trails off into white noise in your head. It feels like an aneurysm approaching.

Hhhhhhhzzzzzzz... L'Iramburde: starbursts and sunshine. 24 degrees centigrade...

You've gotta act soon. This is getting bad.

Keep calm. Breathe in. After the pain recedes it's a little clearer...

"Just a bunker. Have you been there?!"

"Just a... place some comrades stopped through. A revolutionary bunker."

"When I came into town was there... anyone with me?"

"Yeah. You had your death squad with you. What happened to them, anyway?"

"Who was in this... squad?"

"Well, it wasn't this scrawny dude." She nods toward the lieutenant. "You had two guys and a lady. The guys looked pretty buff. Lady wasn't bad either."

"What else can you... tell me..."

"One of the guys seemed chipper, a blond, the other had a brooding something-or-other about him... And the woman... the woman was the only one in uniform. All were carrying."

She narrows her eyes. "That sound about right?"

No idea who these people are. Literally.

Satellite-Officer Vicquemare looks out of the window grimly, then puts his coffee down and turns to Patrol Officer Minot. "We can either take a room here in the Whirling or go home for today."

"Let's go home, Jean. Nothing's going to happen today," she responds quietly. Jean takes his blond wig off. "Call Heidelstam. He can give us a ride."

"Yeah, that's right, I was just... testing you. They're right outside, with guns."

"I've faced worse." She shrugs.

She hasn't. She hasn't gone up against three armed people before. And she believed you.

"No... that doesn't ring any bells."

"Well, this has been a great talk, really. But I think I'm going to hit the road now."

She means it. You better make your move soon.

"I think I know them. They're in Martinaise..."

Hhhhhhhhzzzzzzzzzzz.......... friction lock set.. Zzzzzzzzzzz... Don't leave me here, please Celice!

"Fantastic. I've gotta get on the road -- then you can go find your friends... Unless you have anything pressing to ask me."

"That's all... thank you."

"I don't... know what happened to them."

"Sure you do, I bet they're just outside, waiting." She looks into the tunnel behind you. "I guess I'll take my chances."

She'll go out in a hail of bullets if she has to.

She's carrying a two-barrelled front-loader. Remain careful.

"Please, turn it off! I can't take it anymore!" (Move on.)

"You're big boys, you can handle it. Stop being so damned melodramatic."

"236189281... If you're looking for a deal on mattresses... SUHSUHSUHSPEEDFRRRR... 23567... 32971047302819... O' strange light, O' light of mine.."

"Damn... this..." The lieutenant clutches his head, grimacing.

"Goddamnit." She regards you and Kim with sudden sympathy.

"Fine. I can dial it down. I've also got a gun, by the way." She steps reluctantly out of the shadows. The pain lessens.

"This is all... great, but let's talk... about the man who was killed."

"Yeah, let's not talk about that shit. You were hunting me and fell into my trap instead. That's all there is to say about it."

So she thinks of you as hunters -- not cops -- and of herself merely as prey.

She likes telling you about the machine. Keep her talking, look for an opportunity to break loose.

This must be how the twins heard the radio in their heads. They must have been standing by when she tested it.

Look back at Kim.

"Right behind you, officer." Eyes closed, the lieutenant is doubled over. He's still alive and breathing.

The torment Lieutenant Kitsuragi is experiencing is worse than your own, but he's slowly beginning to recover.

You should probably check on Kim. That's what good partners do.

"Fat Angus said you had a pale emitter..."

"That boy's really gotta learn to keep his trap shut. And it's not a bloody pale emitter. It doesn't emit pale..."

"I saw your equations... It's the ULAN frequency!"

"Saw my equations?" She snorts. "You've been sniffing through my lorry, right? I expected as much. I am a bit surprised you knew what you were looking at..."

Say nothing. Try to cover your ears.

This must be the pale emitter Fat Angus mentioned.

I hate to interrupt the deafening pain you're in, but Joyce said it was possible to force dimensions by using radio waves. This must be one of the devices used to send radio signals across the pale.

"Help, Kim, help! My brain's on fire!"

"Mmm..." The lieutenant clutches his head as his eyes roll back into his skull.

The torment Lieutenant Kitsuragi is experiencing is worse than your own. He's trying to resist, but there's no way of knowing when he will recover.

(Yell through the static.) "You're under arrest!"

"Really now? Check this out!" She turns the dial in her hand.

You're overwhelmed with a new surge of violent static. It feels like a blood vessel exploded in your brain.