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Why do bad things always happen to mediocre people who are lying about their identity?
Playthrough 3 of Fallen Hero: Retribution, Even-More-of-a-Trainwreck-Than-Usual MC Edition! Also featuring:
• Elaborate headcanon
• Old friends in unexpected places
• Relatable Autistic Experiences™
• Grievous bodily harm
• (rot13) YNFRE QBYCUVAF?????
Jumping next to a rather different character: Jo Schuyler, human disaster. I originally threw Jo together not-very-seriously, just to try some of the more out there options none of my existing characters would have gone for. …Then I accidentally became actually fond of her, oh no, and the rest is history. The first time I imported her save into Retribution, she crashed the game by having a worse relationship with Steel than should have been mathematically possible, and that's frankly representative of the overall Jo Experience.
Jo has sharp instincts and a good head on her shoulders in theory, but her complete and utter lack of confidence in herself, combined with an excess of poorly bottled-up emotions, makes her her own worst enemy — mistrustful of her own judgment and prone to reneging or doubling down on it at the worst possible times. (At times you'd think her hero name was Backpedal, not Sidestep.) Has Abandonment Issues™. Bottles up her feelings because she has no idea how to talk about them, then resents that no one ever cares enough to bother taking her feelings into account. Has a Thing for women who make her feel both glaringly inadequate and very slightly scared for her life*. Does not remotely realize that it is a Thing, or even that she's into anyone, let alone women, in the first place.
* This category has included Ortega for over a decade and Mortum for the past year or so. (Lady Argent is actually not included—she scares Jo more than "very slightly", and she's too abrasive for Jo to think she's cooler than her.)
On the whole, makes the second-worst life choices of any of my MCs. I love her and want her to be okay. …The odds that she will be okay look Not Great, but I would like her to be.
Also, her expletive of choice is "yikes", which I feel the need to mention mainly because — despite being initially chosen as a joke — it's turned out to fit implausibly well into almost every line it's used in, even better than many normal swear words manage. I mean, just look! It can pull off…
This forbidden knowledge has enhanced my life; maybe it will enhance yours too.
The full answer to this question, for anyone interested, is:
Jo originally came up with her name in a panic when she was put on the spot* and couldn't think of anything better, and has been unsatisfied with it ever since. When Ortega asked what it was short for and Jo reacted to this extremely normal question in an extremely normal, not at all flustered or inexplicably defensive manner, Ortega, out of consideration for what was clearly a touchy subject, proceeded to rib Jo about her mysterious, probably-embarrassing full name at every possible opportunity. When this yielded no answers, only death glares and storming off, Ortega concluded that it was on her to guess. Thus, over the years Ortega has called Jo by just about every name you could possibly derive "Jo" from — and, frankly, several you probably couldn't.
Since this is of course completely unimplementable, I will settle for an actual diminutive of Jo (Joey) in-game, and may or may not sneakily edit any text excerpted here as necessary.
* The fact that Jo is the fake name you can give Mia is a complete, but hilarious, coincidence.
Really, how does anyone not love Steel? He's a delight.
The idea that they were able to burn Anathema's body is eyebrow-raising.
…Wait. When I first talked about this, I noted that Ortega's pointed evasiveness made it sound like she knew there was more to the "conspiracy theories" than she let on…
…But given what we now know about Ortega, said theories probably wouldn't have been about our actual tragic backstory, would they.
well
in a manner of speaking yes
at least according to your conspiracy stringboard
I mean, let's not speak for him here. I feel like he might, in fact, care quite a bit!
—excUSE ME??
God, the timing with which this hit me was brutal. I see exciting new dialogue with Mia about Hollow Ground, I follow along raptly, and with no change in tone it leads me straight into laser dolphins before I realize what's happened.
I. Is that why the sea is "strange" these days?????
The thing that kills me about this paragraph is that by all rights the last sentence should be dripping with dramatic irony, but knowing Ortega, I am 99% certain it's not. Unironically dating a criminal you're investigating? Classic Julia Ortega move, comes as easy as breathing. Publicly dating another woman? Now that's pushing her comfort zone.
Well that's new
So… Shroud knew our puppet when they were alive, and is very curious why they're up and walking again.
"Nickname" is an interesting choice of word for what's usually a generic insult. Is she a vampire? That would fit the aesthetic and all the talk about "feeding".
...Ah.
The light meant "Occupied".
Well, I'm sure the Catastrofiend has had a great god knows how long in there.
(This game really has an astounding amount of branching compared to Rebirth. I'm slightly terrified on the author's behalf.)
On a side note, I'm honestly pretty surprised I haven't seen a single option to use the gun on the regenerator instead of on an opponent. Transporting that sort of thing is basically what it's for, isn't it?
Yes, yes, Jo has made a nonzero number of mistakes in her life, rub it in why don't you.
It's interesting that the Catastrofiend is referred to as "it"; is it not a (heavily altered) human? I assume it's probably a case of "no one knows its gender and it looks like a monster", but I kind of love the mental image of the Catastrofiend correcting people on its pronouns.
Yeah, in more ways than one, I'd imagine! Jesus fucking christ.
I would love some more detailed flashbacks of this.
:')
Love you too, achievement popup <3
Honestly, though, that went surprisingly well. Let's give Jo a little credit here!
Oh, that's an interesting choice. I mean, blatantly misleading her is a terrible idea, but the choice makes a good point I hadn't considered. I doubt she'd be inclined to make waves when we have her gun, but she would know she was meeting a telepath.
…Sounds like she's learned something about "Jacqui's" tragic backstory. Which makes one of us.
I love little touches like this line. That phrase typically just means "your own face", which wouldn't be enough information—but in this context we know to take it literally, because there's only one face we're willing to look in the mirror with.
A name! Ace, huh.
The MC's thought process is always so horribly revealing.
Interesting. How direct are we talking in terms of cause and effect? Ace seems to have been essentially dead for at least a couple years, while Shroud is still around, so the most obvious answer is that us finding Ace's body will lead to Shroud's downfall. But it could be something else.
…I wonder. In playthroughs where we haven't run into Shroud, should we assume this conversation still went exactly as shown here? The answer is probably "yes, and the Shroud plot thread eventually continues whether or not you got these scenes in Retribution", but there's room for some fun speculation in the fact that we don't actually know.
Obviously the more important point of ambiguity is Ace's conspicuously vague phrasing, which could easily allow for multiple outcomes to this storyline depending on the player's choices. But let me have my self-indulgent speculation about Schrödinger's Prophecies too. :P (What can I say, I'm a sucker for narrative sleight of hand that takes advantage of the medium.)
Oof, that's a powerful moment. Hit me right in the gut.
God, the fate motivation makes this scene brutal. (I'm assuming that's what's responsible for the exact wording here, at least—it sure sounds that way.)
Huh. Interesting.
I really want to see this list. And in particular, to see who the top candidates were.
Ah yes, the painfully relatable experience of being... *checks notes* a lab-grown telepathic superspy.
The entire scene with Mortum is so good. One of the highlights of the series so far.
Ooooh. Does she know?
…Yeah. Yeah, she definitely knows.
Interesting that that's the only risk they mention, even if you triggered her epilepsy during your fight. Personally, I always thought the worst part of that choice was that you did it in public. There's a big difference between a superhero who secretly has photosensitive epilepsy and one who everyone knows can be incapacitated — in or out of battle! — by the right pattern of flashing lights. Using it against her so publicly ensures she'll be the latter from now on. Maybe the Rangers can do some damage control on the information's spread, at least among the general public, but I can't see any way to get the cat back in the bag after it happened on live TV.
;__;
Huh, he actually does care! Hadn't expected that after they flirted for all of thirty seconds. But then, I guess it's not like he needs to know her well to think she seems decent and sympathize as a fellow henchman.
(Wonder if this affects the outcome of sending your puppet to meet Hollow Ground? I don't know that I'd expect Jake to intervene were I going solely on characterization, but from a narrative/game design perspective it really reads like the Jake friendship thing is there to set that up, and it's not like I know him well enough to assume he wouldn't either.)
Anyway. As like Jo as it might be to get mind controlled by her long-lost ???, she only came in person in the first place because, in the middle of one of her worst weeks in years, someone literally walked up and handed her the chance to finish destroying her life before it can inevitably happen anyway. (In the form of an offer she couldn't afford to refuse, even!) Which is to say, she was in a bad mood even before a rival mob boss decided to coerce her into a vulnerable position that sets off all her PTSD, and her self-preservation instincts are far too numb for her to bother not acting like it.
Jo, there's a good chance Ortega is talking about your relationship with Hollow Ground rather than your villain identity (which, admittedly, she totally knows regardless), but oh who am I kidding Jo is mathematically incapable of making the willpower saving throw she'd need to not tell Ortega everything here.
Oh my god they give you the option of abruptly blurting out that you're in love with Ortega at the absolute worst time possible, with no prior romantic leadup whatsoever for either party? Perfect. I'd been half-wondering if Jo would remain in oblivious denial about this for the whole series, given she lacks even the self-awareness to click "I have a secret crush", but this option was literally made for her. I'm so glad.
WELP Jo sure did just lose an eye!! That's now officially a thing that happened! This is the problem with having important conversations while passively suicidal…
Of course, as always, the real villain is the American healthcare system.
Someone is having an even worse day than Jo.
Oh! That's a new one for the epilogue.
The mood whiplash from … the entire ending so far, to Ortega going WHAT THE ENTIRE FUCK ARGENT, is phenomenal.
(…It's possible my reaction to that scene was not supposed to be fond amusement, but this is just who I am as a person.)
AND THEN RIGHT BACK TO HITTING ME IN THE HEART. Dr. Mortum.......... ; ;
A second Ortega scene?? I guess Julia has had a hell of a day, after all.
(I've got to say, it is an incredibly weird feeling to actually see inside Ortega's mind for even a couple scenes.)
I like how Herald has literally not appeared once since Chapter 15, except to let my stat screen know he's very disappointed in me. Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Playthrough.
(Me: Even though Herald only appears a few times in Rebirth, I find the characterization he does get really interesting, particularly the contrast between the terms in which other characters describe him and the impression his behavior actually gives when taken on its own, and I'm really interested to see how those impressions pan out. Plus it's really neat to see a superhero with a CHA-based build in a story so focused on combat. I can't wait for him to get more screentime in Retribution!
My MCs: I can.)
1) holy shit
2) This… damn. This must either not be a relationship value check or be a very low one, because Jo would never pass otherwise, which means... Ortegaaaaaaaa ; ;
3) she brought a fucking designer-brand hoodie
—LMAO that third comment is literally one of the dialogue options
;_;
(…Given the achievement wording, I wonder what happens if you meet the requirements for multiple Rangers to break you out? The answer is probably "the game chooses one", but I very badly want it to be "all eligible Rangers simultaneously stage separate breakouts, excruciatingly awkward yet heartwarming chaos ensues".)
help, I love her
it's been two games and numerous playthroughs, can't believe the author is still making me swoon over this ridiculous fucking woman
Sometimes the next-page prompts just do things to my emotions.
This is honestly a much better place than I'd expected Jo to end up in by the end of book 2; I'm really happy about that! I mean, yes, the whole "exposed as a villain" thing could have some negative repercussions, along with the whole "made an enemy of the most powerful person in Los Diablos" thing, and the fact that the Farm seems to be super on to her at this point is legitimate cause for worry, not to mention whatever Jacqui is up to now that she and Jo have had a falling out, and of course her relationship with Dr. Mortum is a goddamn mess even before you factor in whatever the fuck her trainwreck of a love-hate relationship with Ortega has turned into… But look, at least she's actually talked about her problems now! Albeit basically at gunpoint, which is not great but, if I'm completely honest, is still probably better than where she was before. That's a solid groundwork that can be built off of, for once. I'm hoping for the best!
One particular detail that surprised me when I noticed, but nonetheless worked very well, was that Jo wound up developing a much lower ruthlessness score than she started the game with—I think it started in the 60s and was around 25–30 by the end? A flip-flopping ruthlessness stat isn't new for her, but I hadn't expected to see it move so strongly in one direction. It does make decent sense for her character in retrospect, though, I think: Jo isn't exactly high on the "concern for her fellow man" index, but she's extremely high on the "oh god what the fuck did I do last night, I have regrets" one, and that kind of heads off any chances of following your murder spree through to becoming the baddest villain in town.
Incidentally, I have absolutely no idea where Jo's clusterfuck of a love life is going. Jo certainly doesn't know!! I guess she's at least more or less aware she might like women now, so… progress?? I guess?? Towards what exactly, I don't know, but then who does with love? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
• Elaborate headcanon
• Old friends in unexpected places
• Relatable Autistic Experiences™
• Grievous bodily harm
• (rot13) YNFRE QBYCUVAF?????
Jumping next to a rather different character: Jo Schuyler, human disaster. I originally threw Jo together not-very-seriously, just to try some of the more out there options none of my existing characters would have gone for. …Then I accidentally became actually fond of her, oh no, and the rest is history. The first time I imported her save into Retribution, she crashed the game by having a worse relationship with Steel than should have been mathematically possible, and that's frankly representative of the overall Jo Experience.
Jo has sharp instincts and a good head on her shoulders in theory, but her complete and utter lack of confidence in herself, combined with an excess of poorly bottled-up emotions, makes her her own worst enemy — mistrustful of her own judgment and prone to reneging or doubling down on it at the worst possible times. (At times you'd think her hero name was Backpedal, not Sidestep.) Has Abandonment Issues™. Bottles up her feelings because she has no idea how to talk about them, then resents that no one ever cares enough to bother taking her feelings into account. Has a Thing for women who make her feel both glaringly inadequate and very slightly scared for her life*. Does not remotely realize that it is a Thing, or even that she's into anyone, let alone women, in the first place.
* This category has included Ortega for over a decade and Mortum for the past year or so. (Lady Argent is actually not included—she scares Jo more than "very slightly", and she's too abrasive for Jo to think she's cooler than her.)
On the whole, makes the second-worst life choices of any of my MCs. I love her and want her to be okay. …The odds that she will be okay look Not Great, but I would like her to be.
Also, her expletive of choice is "yikes", which I feel the need to mention mainly because — despite being initially chosen as a joke — it's turned out to fit implausibly well into almost every line it's used in, even better than many normal swear words manage. I mean, just look! It can pull off…
…the classics:
Yikes, that hurt.
-
You are looking up at the current headquarters of the Rangers, trying not to panic. Yikes indeed.
-
Yikes, this turned bad fast.
…the lines where it reads as adorably flustered:
Ortega smiles a little, and you recognize that smile. Yikes.
That small, smug smile is exactly the one she makes when she is thinking about kissing someone.
-
"What? No…." You let your face get a look of astonishment. "Don't tell me that actually was Charge? I thought she looked a bit like her, but…"
"That was indeed one of the Rangers, yes."
"Yikes!" You cover your face and slide further down in your bed, set on looking as mortified as you possibly can. It's not hard—you've had your share of awkward moments that you can channel. "Really?"
-
The kiss deepens, gets more intense, her hands sliding down your back. Yikes, you're actually doing this, aren't you? Too close. Too risky. And you won't stop.
…the lines where it reads as hilarious understatement:
"Yes?" The voice at the other end is cool, polite, and familiar, and your hand starts shaking despite your attempts to stay calm. Yikes. Why couldn't it have been a stranger?
-
It reminds you of how helpless you are. How much of a puppet. A tool. A toy. You're hiding in a corner, hoping nobody can see you, when you should be…should be out there.
Yikes.
The world will burn soon enough, and you will have your revenge.
-
You can pick up the burst of excitement a moment before a fist slams into the back of your head.
Yikes.
…the lines where it unintentionally changes the meaning:
Yikes, I've missed being in on the action!
-
You remember her kissing you for the first time.
Yikes, you remember her kissing you.
…the lines where it changes the meaning to be unintentionally accurate:
Not with Ortega's arms around you, one of your hands tangled in her hair. Close. Warm. There's heat running down your guts; your lips feel slick, and there's a taste in your mouth of champagne and metal.
Yikes, but you've wanted this.
-
Herald picks himself up with a confused shake of his head, just as you step forward to punch him in the face.
Yikes, that feels so good.
-
Hurt. Of course she was hurt. You should know that.
You were the one who did it.
Yikes.
This forbidden knowledge has enhanced my life; maybe it will enhance yours too.
"Liar," she says, not accusingly, just matter-of-fact. It's an old dance between you, and you're starting to relearn the steps. "Come on…"
• My first name, like always.
• It's my surname, just like it is for Ortega.
• It's my nickname…
The full answer to this question, for anyone interested, is:
Jo originally came up with her name in a panic when she was put on the spot* and couldn't think of anything better, and has been unsatisfied with it ever since. When Ortega asked what it was short for and Jo reacted to this extremely normal question in an extremely normal, not at all flustered or inexplicably defensive manner, Ortega, out of consideration for what was clearly a touchy subject, proceeded to rib Jo about her mysterious, probably-embarrassing full name at every possible opportunity. When this yielded no answers, only death glares and storming off, Ortega concluded that it was on her to guess. Thus, over the years Ortega has called Jo by just about every name you could possibly derive "Jo" from — and, frankly, several you probably couldn't.
Since this is of course completely unimplementable, I will settle for an actual diminutive of Jo (Joey) in-game, and may or may not sneakily edit any text excerpted here as necessary.
* The fact that Jo is the fake name you can give Mia is a complete, but hilarious, coincidence.
"Once again, you have no idea how I feel." You sharpen your tone to drive home the point.
"Number five on my list," Steel says, completely deadpan.
"What?"
"I don't understand you," he patiently explains, "that's number five on my list."
Really, how does anyone not love Steel? He's a delight.
"[…]I mean, we didn't have a body for either of you, but that doesn't mean we were just going to forget."
"Either of us?" It takes a moment for your brain to catch up, but Ortega is already filling in the blanks.
"You and Anathema." The pain is still fresh on her face. As it is in your gut. How could you forget about Themmy? How wrapped up in yourself are you? "They told us all the bodies were burned to stop possible infection, so we didn't have anything[…]"
The idea that they were able to burn Anathema's body is eyebrow-raising.
"[…]And then that asshole shows up to drag up—"
"Dragging up what?" You have frozen solid, but you keep the faint smile on your face. Don't let anything show. Good thing you've got practice by now.
"He was a conspiracy theorist." Ortega looks away. "Started ranting about all sorts of nonsense. I can't remember half the things he said, just that he did it at the wrong time."
…Wait. When I first talked about this, I noted that Ortega's pointed evasiveness made it sound like she knew there was more to the "conspiracy theories" than she let on…
…But given what we now know about Ortega, said theories probably wouldn't have been about our actual tragic backstory, would they.
"Trying to track Heartbreak down." A sheepish grin. "I want payback."
"Any luck?" You're proud you manage to keep a straight face.
"Not yet. But I have my theories that they're connected to Hollow Ground." She gives you a careful look, judging your response.
well
in a manner of speaking yes
at least according to your conspiracy stringboard
"They killed Marshal Hood. John was my friend. He deserves closure."
"He's dead; he won't care one way or the other."
I mean, let's not speak for him here. I feel like he might, in fact, care quite a bit!
"Then let's cut to the heart of the matter." You fold your arms over your chest, and she picks up her pencil. Focused. "What do you know about Hollow Ground?"
"I…try to steer clear of that," she says warily. "People have got their careers shot down for dealing with that subject."
"I'm surprised," you say, just a little mockingly. "I thought you were after the truth?"
"The truth doesn't help if I can't get it published. My editor says Hollow Ground is a tabloid bogeyman right there with the laser dolphins."
"The laser dolphins are real," you say, voice steady, "and even if Hollow Ground is not, their organization certainly is."
—excUSE ME??
God, the timing with which this hit me was brutal. I see exciting new dialogue with Mia about Hollow Ground, I follow along raptly, and with no change in tone it leads me straight into laser dolphins before I realize what's happened.
I. Is that why the sea is "strange" these days?????
It feels different being here on your own and not with Ortega.
While you can't officially be her girlfriend, you do go out together. It's been shaky progress on her part, she is clearly not used to being seen as something other than straight. So far, there have been no headlines; the PR team has done their job. Still, the tension is there. You doubt anybody else would notice, but you can read her better than most. How she acts on your dates is not how she acts when she's relaxed, and you can't think of anything else that could be the reason.
The thing that kills me about this paragraph is that by all rights the last sentence should be dripping with dramatic irony, but knowing Ortega, I am 99% certain it's not. Unironically dating a criminal you're investigating? Classic Julia Ortega move, comes as easy as breathing. Publicly dating another woman? Now that's pushing her comfort zone.
You should have left, but your body's reactions confused you. Something was wrong. You still have no idea what triggered the alarm, but your knees were shaking. Your chest hurt, your heart beat too fast, and your breaths were the shallow gasps of a drowning woman. You've felt this kind of visceral fear before, but never in Jacqui's body. It's supposed to shield you from the world, a safe place for your mind to relax.
[…]
The butler had lowered his voice, and you remember trying to edge closer to catch the words, despite the knot of fear in your stomach. "And he is concerned over your health…."
"I am fine, Miles, I have no intention to—" And then she looked up. At you.
A deer in the headlights.
"I don't believe it." You couldn't see her eyes behind the veil, but you knew she was staring at you. Through you. She pulled up one hand against her chest, the other one tugging at the edge of her silk gloves like she was unsheathing a blade.
• "You'd better," I said, the reply automatic.
• "See you around." I remember saluting her as I walked away.
• "Yes? Can I help you?" I feigned ignorance, but did she buy it?
Well that's new
"You'd better believe it," you said, the reply automatic enough that you only realized you had said it once the words slipped out. You remember wondering if Shroud knew you? Impossible, but in hindsight, you're wondering.
"How is this possible?" She started pulling down her glove, but the butler reached out and gently took hold of her wrist. Would there have been a fight otherwise? It felt like it.
"Not here, mistress."
"I know, fool." She kept staring at you, and you kept staring back. Where did you find the courage? Spite. It felt like spite.
"So long, sucker." Giving her the finger felt natural, but where did you get that nickname? Why did it fit so well?
So… Shroud knew our puppet when they were alive, and is very curious why they're up and walking again.
"Nickname" is an interesting choice of word for what's usually a generic insult. Is she a vampire? That would fit the aesthetic and all the talk about "feeding".
All it takes is one single moment of inattention.
One single moment when you grab the gun and pull the trigger.
One single moment when everything changes.
The air shivers, but she doesn't scream. She doesn't disappear. Something appears instead. Something solid. Something twisted.
There is a new shadow, right between you, wrapped in eerie fluorescence. A distorted shadow, taller than a man but hunched like a twisted grasshopper, too many blades, too many limbs, wrapped in a smell of ammonia strong enough to set off your armor's sensors.
The Catastrofiend!
...Ah.
The light meant "Occupied".
Well, I'm sure the Catastrofiend has had a great god knows how long in there.
(This game really has an astounding amount of branching compared to Rebirth. I'm slightly terrified on the author's behalf.)
On a side note, I'm honestly pretty surprised I haven't seen a single option to use the gun on the regenerator instead of on an opponent. Transporting that sort of thing is basically what it's for, isn't it?
Achievement: A Bad Shot
Oh no. Oh NO. The Catastrofiend is back!
Yes, yes, Jo has made a nonzero number of mistakes in her life, rub it in why don't you.
It's interesting that the Catastrofiend is referred to as "it"; is it not a (heavily altered) human? I assume it's probably a case of "no one knows its gender and it looks like a monster", but I kind of love the mental image of the Catastrofiend correcting people on its pronouns.
She can't feel its mind. You can.
Holding your breath, you feel its cracked mind seep outward, sticky, expanding. The mouth opens and opens, the jaws slitting apart upward, then sideways, the wet, fleshy throat gray and discolored in the faint light. It's covered in spots, like mold, the skin cracked, the insides glowing faintly. It looks hurt, you realize. It looks wrong.
It looks MAD.
Yeah, in more ways than one, I'd imagine! Jesus fucking christ.
The Catastrofiend is broken.
Its mind is broken in ways that would have killed you ten years ago. Was it in there for too long?
It was always wrong, always claustrophobically sticky, forcing you to put up walls to keep it out. It was always frightening, giving you glimpses you didn't want to see, taunting you with insights best avoided. You didn't dare touch its mind back then. You didn't dare open yourself enough to dodge properly, certainly not enough to nudge it to do something.
I would love some more detailed flashbacks of this.
Throwing yourself backward as the Catastrofiend shifts in your direction, you pull the trigger, willing it to work again. Put the cat back in the bag.
That never works.
The gun makes a sad sound and goes dead in your hand. Out of power. Yikes. You give it an annoyed glare as you stick it to one of the magnetized panels of your armor.
:')
Achievement: Confuse a Cat
Fighting the Catastrofiend is a bad idea, but, by now, you're very good at bad ideas.
Love you too, achievement popup <3
Honestly, though, that went surprisingly well. Let's give Jo a little credit here!
The biggest issue now is whether Dr. Mortum will agree to meet if you go as yourself. And if she does, would she take the opportunity to set a trap? She is cautious, but also curious. Which instinct will be the stronger one?
Oh, that's an interesting choice. I mean, blatantly misleading her is a terrible idea, but the choice makes a good point I hadn't considered. I doubt she'd be inclined to make waves when we have her gun, but she would know she was meeting a telepath.
Something has changed.
You notice that immediately when Dr. Mortum lets you into the lab. There's a tension on her face, a tension you're not certain you like.
You can't read it.
The welcoming kiss is unusually intense, the one on your cheek followed by a second one on the lips. A longer one. Soft and filled with emotions you're not sure you can interpret.
…Sounds like she's learned something about "Jacqui's" tragic backstory. Which makes one of us.
You know this woman, you see her face every time you look in the mirror.
I love little touches like this line. That phrase typically just means "your own face", which wouldn't be enough information—but in this context we know to take it literally, because there's only one face we're willing to look in the mirror with.
"Be reasonable, Ace. All we want to know is how you did it." Even through the speakers, her voice is putting you on edge.
A name! Ace, huh.
Is there anything familiar in the way she moves? Maybe. You're not sure. Being tied down to a chair and threatened tends to erase individuality.
The MC's thought process is always so horribly revealing.
"Liar." The word is harsh with desperation, and the struggle to get out of the chair is real enough to send your heart racing. "You will kill me, but that will be the end of you." The last is a threat, spat with certainty you can't help but admire. You know the feeling well, your fate on rails until the inevitable end. […] "Do your worst, sucker, but that will be the biggest mistake of your life."
Interesting. How direct are we talking in terms of cause and effect? Ace seems to have been essentially dead for at least a couple years, while Shroud is still around, so the most obvious answer is that us finding Ace's body will lead to Shroud's downfall. But it could be something else.
…I wonder. In playthroughs where we haven't run into Shroud, should we assume this conversation still went exactly as shown here? The answer is probably "yes, and the Shroud plot thread eventually continues whether or not you got these scenes in Retribution", but there's room for some fun speculation in the fact that we don't actually know.
Obviously the more important point of ambiguity is Ace's conspicuously vague phrasing, which could easily allow for multiple outcomes to this storyline depending on the player's choices. But let me have my self-indulgent speculation about Schrödinger's Prophecies too. :P (What can I say, I'm a sucker for narrative sleight of hand that takes advantage of the medium.)
"I'm not lying," Ace growls as she looks around wildly, searching for a way out. There's a moment when her eyes look straight at the screen. Straight at you. A connection, and then it's gone as she keeps struggling.
Oof, that's a powerful moment. Hit me right in the gut.
You can still feel Ace's eyes meeting yours through the screen, though years separate the moment. She knew. As do you. All this was inevitable.
And it terrifies you.
God, the fate motivation makes this scene brutal. (I'm assuming that's what's responsible for the exact wording here, at least—it sure sounds that way.)
"Apparently. I didn't know you were a boost."
"Me neither." You shake your head.
"If you wish to try to rekindle those powers, there are protocols on how to try to chart them." Dr. Mortum looks down. "It's not an easy process, though. Painful."
You can't stop the faint twitch on your face. This…this is not something that's commonly known. You've been through it at the Farm, no, not through it, that was what the Farm was. Over and over and over again, honing, grinding down the blade until there was nothing left but the sharpest spike of talent, useless for anything but their purpose.
How…how would Dr. Mortum know anything about that? Is it the same thing she's talking about, or are there other ways? How much does she know?
[…]
"I thought you only worked with tech?" you ask, rubbing your hands. Damp. Nervous.
"That doesn't mean I'm a stranger to boosted theory. On the contrary, there have been times my work has veered close to that." Dr. Mortum smiles, and is it your imagination, or is her expression colder than normal?
"Really?" You fight hard to keep emotions off your face.
"There are boosts who have sought my services to try to enhance their abilities. A…training regimen if you like."
Huh. Interesting.
"Jo Schuyler," she says, eyes narrowing behind her glasses. She doesn't even look at the gun, just at you. Perhaps you should be flattered. "You were on my list of possible candidates for being Heartbreak, but I have to admit I'm surprised."
I really want to see this list. And in particular, to see who the top candidates were.
"Just please, let me finish." You grit your teeth, looking at the wall two inches to the left of her head. The safe spot. Easy to confuse with eye contact. "I'm a telepath. I felt people feeling things, but I didn't understand what it was. And I couldn't talk about it because I wasn't supposed to know about things like that. I had to try to figure it out on my own, and I got it wrong all the time."
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Just like you. No changing that.
"That was one of the reasons I got close to Charge," you continue, "because I couldn't feel her judging me like everyone else. Notice all the times I got it wrong. Was weird. Didn't play pretend good enough. Because that's the thing with being a telepath, I feel it. Even when I don't want to. Even when I don't understand it. But I never had that problem with her. I could pretend I was normal. Be me, not what she wanted me to be."
Ah yes, the painfully relatable experience of being... *checks notes* a lab-grown telepathic superspy.
The entire scene with Mortum is so good. One of the highlights of the series so far.
"I'm just glad you're here. I've been trying to get hold of you for a while."
"I'm not at your beck and call, Julia, you know that."
"Doesn't mean I can't be worried."
"Worried about what? I'm retired. There's nothing exciting happening in my life."
"Nothing, it's just a dangerous city and…" There's a small twitch, and she visibly forces herself to relax. "I get paranoid."
Ooooh. Does she know?
…Yeah. Yeah, she definitely knows.
"I still can't believe they let you be a hero in the first place." Not that anybody could stop her.
"My condition is managed," she speaks with the same stubborn conviction as always. "You know that."
"I also know that if you get an attack when fighting the wrong villain, you could end up dead." The wrong villain. You. You put her through that.
Interesting that that's the only risk they mention, even if you triggered her epilepsy during your fight. Personally, I always thought the worst part of that choice was that you did it in public. There's a big difference between a superhero who secretly has photosensitive epilepsy and one who everyone knows can be incapacitated — in or out of battle! — by the right pattern of flashing lights. Using it against her so publicly ensures she'll be the latter from now on. Maybe the Rangers can do some damage control on the information's spread, at least among the general public, but I can't see any way to get the cat back in the bag after it happened on live TV.
"I miss your hair," you admit, smiling fondly to yourself.
"Thank you," comes the amused reply, "but I haven't gone bald just yet."
"Idiot." The insult is almost tender. "You know what I mean. Why did you cut it?"
Ortega doesn't pause in her cooking, but she does fall silent, no witty reply at the ready. You let the silence stretch, wondering why that was a sore point, seeing the tension in her shoulders but unable to read it.
"I tried to braid it," she finally admits, quiet enough that you have to strain your ears to hear. "After you…were gone. I tried to braid it, and it was just awful"—an attempt at a laugh—"I guess I was a little drunk. More than a little. And I just couldn't do it, and I remembered your hands, how careful you were when you did it, how good…" She breaks off, removing one of the pans from the heat, shoulders sagging. "So I cut it off. Hacked through it with a kitchen knife and threw it in the trash. Couldn't find any scissors…," the last is admitted with a strained laugh.
"You never were good at keeping track of your stuff," you say, proud that your voice doesn't break as well.
;__;
"Make sure your boss gets it. Hollow Ground does not like being stood up." Jake gives you a hard clap on your shoulder, lowering his voice. "Stay clear until the dust has settled. This is your boss's mess, not yours."
"Are you trying to warn me?"
"Wouldn't dream of it," he says with a wink. "I'm just obeying orders."
Huh, he actually does care! Hadn't expected that after they flirted for all of thirty seconds. But then, I guess it's not like he needs to know her well to think she seems decent and sympathize as a fellow henchman.
(Wonder if this affects the outcome of sending your puppet to meet Hollow Ground? I don't know that I'd expect Jake to intervene were I going solely on characterization, but from a narrative/game design perspective it really reads like the Jake friendship thing is there to set that up, and it's not like I know him well enough to assume he wouldn't either.)
Anyway. As like Jo as it might be to get mind controlled by her long-lost ???, she only came in person in the first place because, in the middle of one of her worst weeks in years, someone literally walked up and handed her the chance to finish destroying her life before it can inevitably happen anyway. (In the form of an offer she couldn't afford to refuse, even!) Which is to say, she was in a bad mood even before a rival mob boss decided to coerce her into a vulnerable position that sets off all her PTSD, and her self-preservation instincts are far too numb for her to bother not acting like it.
Jo, there's a good chance Ortega is talking about your relationship with Hollow Ground rather than your villain identity (which, admittedly, she totally knows regardless), but oh who am I kidding Jo is mathematically incapable of making the willpower saving throw she'd need to not tell Ortega everything here.
Oh my god they give you the option of abruptly blurting out that you're in love with Ortega at the absolute worst time possible, with no prior romantic leadup whatsoever for either party? Perfect. I'd been half-wondering if Jo would remain in oblivious denial about this for the whole series, given she lacks even the self-awareness to click "I have a secret crush", but this option was literally made for her. I'm so glad.
WELP Jo sure did just lose an eye!! That's now officially a thing that happened! This is the problem with having important conversations while passively suicidal…
Your eye is ruined. That was the verdict. The doctors took care of it as best they could, but you won't regain your vision. Had you been any other patient, they would have recommended removal so they could fit a mod there once you had healed enough, but as it is, that's not on the menu.
You guess villains won't get first-rate health care, even here.
Of course, as always, the real villain is the American healthcare system.
The Catastrofiend.
Dark.
Movement.
Here.
Disjointed sideways freeze. Reality asserts. Hurts. Shaft of light like a lance from the heavens.
Query: What is "Lance?" Query: What is "Heaven?"
Stained glass butterfly wings. Unfolded Kaleidoscope.
Nothing fits.
Hurts. Hur. Hur. Hu. Hu-Hu. Hu…
Hungry.
Query: Irrelevant.
Slowly, in the ruined bowels of the city, the Catastrofiend begins to move.
Someone is having an even worse day than Jo.
Julia Ortega. Charge.
Oh! That's a new one for the epilogue.
The mood whiplash from … the entire ending so far, to Ortega going WHAT THE ENTIRE FUCK ARGENT, is phenomenal.
(…It's possible my reaction to that scene was not supposed to be fond amusement, but this is just who I am as a person.)
Dr. Mortum. Scientist.
It is annoying, being this distracted.
Dr. Mortum chides herself about her unprofessional behavior.
She is a scientist. Rational. Clear-headed. She was a villain. Cutthroat. Hard.
Sitting around here being wistful does not suit her.
No. A new project is exactly the remedy she needs, a suitable distraction that has nothing to do with Heartbreak.
Whatever trouble Schuyler has got herself into, she can get herself out of.
She isn't paid to care.
That should make a difference.
It should.
Groaning loudly, she pushes back the chair and starts to pace. She really shouldn't consider this, should she? It is stupid, absurd, risky.
It is the Rangers.
No, she should just go and make a cup of coffee, then go back to working on her new project.
And try to stop thinking about Jo.
AND THEN RIGHT BACK TO HITTING ME IN THE HEART. Dr. Mortum.......... ; ;
A second Ortega scene?? I guess Julia has had a hell of a day, after all.
(I've got to say, it is an incredibly weird feeling to actually see inside Ortega's mind for even a couple scenes.)
I like how Herald has literally not appeared once since Chapter 15, except to let my stat screen know he's very disappointed in me. Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Playthrough.
(Me: Even though Herald only appears a few times in Rebirth, I find the characterization he does get really interesting, particularly the contrast between the terms in which other characters describe him and the impression his behavior actually gives when taken on its own, and I'm really interested to see how those impressions pan out. Plus it's really neat to see a superhero with a CHA-based build in a story so focused on combat. I can't wait for him to get more screentime in Retribution!
My MCs: I can.)
"Normally, I'd love to banter." Ortega tosses you a plastic bag of clothes, which you catch despite the stab in your ribs. You pretend it doesn't hurt. "But we need to get your clothes on. We're running late."
"For what?" You pull out an oversized hoodie from the bag. It smells new, the tags still on it. Is that Gucci?
"Your escape." She starts to disconnect you from the machines. "We're getting out of here."
1) holy shit
2) This… damn. This must either not be a relationship value check or be a very low one, because Jo would never pass otherwise, which means... Ortegaaaaaaaa ; ;
3) she brought a fucking designer-brand hoodie
—LMAO that third comment is literally one of the dialogue options
Achievement: Faith
One of the Rangers trusted you enough to break you out of the hospital, even though they knew you were the villain.
;_;
(…Given the achievement wording, I wonder what happens if you meet the requirements for multiple Rangers to break you out? The answer is probably "the game chooses one", but I very badly want it to be "all eligible Rangers simultaneously stage separate breakouts, excruciatingly awkward yet heartwarming chaos ensues".)
"Rigged some explosives to cut the wires for the building. We'll have emergency power once it goes out, but the dampeners are not running on that. After that, it's your show to make sure we're not seen."
"Explosives?" You suck in a pained breath as she helps you pull the sweatpants on, over the casts. One leg at a time. They're big, which is lucky, because it's not like you can help much.
"It's what a villain would have done, isn't it?" She's keeping her voice light, but you can see the worry on her face as she helps you pull your pants up. "You're a villain. It makes sense you'd have someone rescue you."
"I can't believe you," you groan, cold sweat dripping down your spine. "I'm surprised you didn't get a cape and mask."
"I considered it," she admits, "but you would have laughed."
help, I love her
it's been two games and numerous playthroughs, can't believe the author is still making me swoon over this ridiculous fucking woman
Epilogue, Reprised
Sometimes the next-page prompts just do things to my emotions.
This is honestly a much better place than I'd expected Jo to end up in by the end of book 2; I'm really happy about that! I mean, yes, the whole "exposed as a villain" thing could have some negative repercussions, along with the whole "made an enemy of the most powerful person in Los Diablos" thing, and the fact that the Farm seems to be super on to her at this point is legitimate cause for worry, not to mention whatever Jacqui is up to now that she and Jo have had a falling out, and of course her relationship with Dr. Mortum is a goddamn mess even before you factor in whatever the fuck her trainwreck of a love-hate relationship with Ortega has turned into… But look, at least she's actually talked about her problems now! Albeit basically at gunpoint, which is not great but, if I'm completely honest, is still probably better than where she was before. That's a solid groundwork that can be built off of, for once. I'm hoping for the best!
One particular detail that surprised me when I noticed, but nonetheless worked very well, was that Jo wound up developing a much lower ruthlessness score than she started the game with—I think it started in the 60s and was around 25–30 by the end? A flip-flopping ruthlessness stat isn't new for her, but I hadn't expected to see it move so strongly in one direction. It does make decent sense for her character in retrospect, though, I think: Jo isn't exactly high on the "concern for her fellow man" index, but she's extremely high on the "oh god what the fuck did I do last night, I have regrets" one, and that kind of heads off any chances of following your murder spree through to becoming the baddest villain in town.
Incidentally, I have absolutely no idea where Jo's clusterfuck of a love life is going. Jo certainly doesn't know!! I guess she's at least more or less aware she might like women now, so… progress?? I guess?? Towards what exactly, I don't know, but then who does with love? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯