This update is going to be rather light on actual screenshots and very heavy on transcription; I'd forgotten quite how enormous a textdump Jean St. Mouchoir's computer is. His recordings are pretty much the equivalent of a Resident Evil game dropping a 10-pound sheaf of files on you, all at once. Lots of backstory and world-color if that's your thing, but the wanderings and investigatings won't properly resume until next episode.



Examine
Transgressions: It's just a locked door, but nobody knows how to lock a door like a government security agent.

Locked, eh? Well, we've got that picklock implant Dr. Clean installed on the G-man's skin. I wonder if that'll work.


Oh! Thanks, game!


And here we are: the office of Jean St. Mouchoir, high-ranking Transgressions officer. Way back at the beginning of the game, Frank Jersey told us not to risk meeting up with the man himself, but to search his extensive voice diaries for information that could help sort out our little personal mystery. First, the customary round of look-at-everything!

Examine
Jean St. Mouchoir's Office: The hush of privacy clings to this room, as if the dedicated occupant has worked there, sweated there, worried there for a long time. There's the couch, the worn leather chair...even the computer seems to have taken on his personality.

Pencil: An ordinary pencil.

Mouchoir's Computer: Jean St. Mouchoir's computer, where his daily working caseload is stored as well as classified Transgressions records, an operations/investigations database...and some personal notes, too.

In other words, digital swag and lots of it. Yar!


Crap.




This never fails!


CRAP

This calls for sleuthing! If we examine the tablet to the right of the keyboard, we see this:


If you look VERY closely, you might be able to see the faint imprint of some writing. Time to grab the pencil and do the ol' detective-movie notepad trick. This results in...

A Jackie Treehorn boner doodle!


...OK, not really.


By the way, Jean, that's still a terrible password. <:(

Anyway, that gets us past the basic level of security, though some of the more sensitive entries are individually locked with additional passwords or other measures. The top level of files contains eight items, viz:



Ooh, we rate our own entry! Some of these are standalone files, while others contain submenus of related topics. Incidentally, Jean St. Mouchoir is voiced by Geoffrey Holder, who also provides Mouchoir's face; his voiceover makes this extremely wordy stretch of Hell a lot more entertaining than it would be otherwise, because man, I could listen to that accent all day. I'll provide some of the more fun clips in mp3 form at the end of this entry.

Anyway, let's check out DEMONS!


...Which turns out to be a container for a submenu consisting of UNHOLY TRINITY, PAZUZU AND ASMODEUS, and MR. BEAUTIFUL, as seen above. Well, let's get to reading.

THE UNHOLY TRIO: BELIAL, BEELZEBUB, & MEPHISTOPHELES: The demons continue to trouble me, especially the unholy triumvirate: Belial, Beelzebub, and Mephistopheles. I realize, of course, that the Hand cannot eradicate supernatural immortal beings. They're all a part of God's plan, the plan that Solux enacts here on earth. So, according to the Imperator's directions, we condemn people to serve under these hell lords. We send them to their lairs to serve their sentences.

PAZUZU, ASMODEUS: I made a run with a squad of rookies today, and we caught a blatant sinner, a man who's been haunting the Ford's Theater area exhibiting himself. We had to let him go. Seems he works for Asmodeus. We're never supposed to prosecute people involved with the Hell Syndicate: Asmodeus, the demon filmmaker, or Pazuzu, aka Mr. Beautiful...gambler, drug dealer, wiseguy. Don't know why we can't prosecute these guys, besides the fact that they're actually demons, and we probably can't catch them if we wanted to. They must fit into the plan somehow.

MR. BEAUTIFUL: Captain Thorn decided to use Beautiful to complete the case we were building against the Smoke Cowboys, a gang of technology outlaws. I had a scrub team arrest the Cowboys. We charged them with violating the artificial realities ban, and Beautiful supplied the judge with all the evidence we needed to send the Cowboys to Belial's pits! Ha-ha.

And back up to the root directory to check into Dean Sterling...

DEAN STERLING: Some of the men are suspicious about a freelance demon hunter we're monitoring. His name is Dean Sterling. He has been having some real success! He eliminated a score of minor and mid-level demons, and now we hear he's after the big ones...Asmodeus, Beautiful, any of them that are brazen enough to walk the earth. It is understood in the department that some of the demons are untouchable, but Sterling has the freedom to choose his target at will. As for me, I will neither hinder nor assist Mr. Sterling. He has made his presence felt, and the demons are nervous about him. As far as I'm concerned, he's a genuine good guy.

When we try to access CITIZENS FREEDOM FRONT, we're prompted for another password, along with...somewhat inexplicably...a simple formula for figuring out what it is. Between the basic password scrawled in huge letters across his notepad and the deeper-level passwords providing hints up front, one assumes Mouchoir must have the memory of a goldfish.


The passwords will always be some name or term you encounter elsewhere in the game, so it's usually pretty easy to work them out according to the rules above. For example, this one is just a section of DC we've visited before...


Transgressions had better hope the Front never figures out dictionary attacks.

Anyway! CITIZENS FREEDOM FRONT is a container for SENATOR ERIN BURR (!), CFF, and CFF HISTORY.

Yes, the Senator Burr we were pointed toward in the last episode is named Erin. Erin Burr.

Really.

SENATOR ERIN BURR: Ha ha ha ha ha! I've just received this month's collection of Senator Burr sightings from our agents in the field. Amazing woman, amazing woman, this Burr! She is seemingly in several places at once! Of course we know that she is inside the British Embassy here in Washington, where she has been granted political refuge, but we have discovered that there are ways in and out of the embassy. On several occasions, Burr has escaped the embassy, thus feeding the paranoia among ARC agents that she is everywhere.

THE CITIZENS' FREEDOM FRONT: The recent sweep of the CFF shadow government leaves the so-called Freedom Front effectively crippled. The CFF has been fanatically dedicated to its cause. Our best estimate of their membership is in the thousands, although the leadership proper is small and cohesive.

CFF HISTORY: What we know about the CFF is extensive, but not particularly useful. They were founded after the Imperator's ascension by a quartet consisting of a Methodist minister, a Catholic priest, a rabbi, and a Muslim iman. They quickly moved into political activity when they were joined by former government figures, including Erin Burr, who had resigned rather than serve under the Hand.

GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS gives us NIGHT OF THE TITANS, NIGHT OF RE-ENTOMBMENT, MASSIMO EDDY, ARTIFICIAL REALITY CONTAINMENT.


NIGHT OF THE TITANS reqires another access code. This one's a little tougher, since it gives you so few letters to work with. The answer, in any case, is Hell Pit.

NIGHT OF THE TITANS: Transgressions recently launched dozens of scrub teams on a coordinated sweep of the CFF shadow cabinet, a strike against the Resistance that has been over a year in the making. Codenamed Night of the Titans, it is truly a historical occasion.

After this short description, NoTT brings up another submenu: RANDAL SINGH, TOWNSON ELLERS, BRETT CAREW, EDDY COMMERCE.

RANDAL SINGH: Probably the most interesting figure we nailed in our sweep was a Front operative we've been keeping under close observation for a while now, a man named Randal Singh. I am not certain of his status with the CFF, but we suspected him of being fairly important.

TOWNSON ELLERS: The sweep of the CFF shadow cabinet also netted Townson Ellers, a former British ambassador. We believe he has been helping Burr to establish a diplomatic corps-in-waiting and has been consulting her on world economic matters as well. We suspect he has been a regular conduit between Burr and foreign governments concerning efforts to apply international pressure on the Hand.

BRETT CAREW: Perhaps the only dissident whose apprehension I regretted was Brett Carew's. Carew is one of the three or four writers Solux has banned, and she has been apprehended in the recent CFF sweep. The charges against her are weak, just rumors that she writes some of Senator Burr's pirate broadcasts.

EDDY COMMERCE: I confess that I do not get the joke. Melissa and I saw Commerce perform years ago, when he was legal. I do not find this man to be funny, much less someone capable of being a subversive figure. The filthy language, the personal attacks against the Imperator, the monologues about free expression! I thought it a mistake to include him in the recent crackdown. Arrests like these only risk making martyrs of people who pose no threat to the Hand.

Back up to GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS we go, where we find that NIGHT OF RE-ENTOMBMENT, which is very Relevant to Our Interests, has a password we can't figure out yet, dammit. Technically, if you already know it from an earlier playthrough (or spoiler, or FAQ), you can enter the code now...it's the name of a character we haven't met yet...but I'm going to avoid unnecessary sequence breakage in this run.

MASSIMO EDDIE: Last night there was another Massimo Eddie broadcast, another vision of hell. Massimo is the first man who was damned to hell and lived to tell of his experience. There was Eddie, paint splashed on his face, ranting about his trip to hell, bursting into sudden screams of "The color, the colors!" then "Whoooaaaaa...fire, all is aflame, all is aflame! Whooo!" He would speak and the demons that possess him would taunt him from within, ooh, from within a terribly frightening exhibit that reminds viewers what there is to fear about hell. Periodically, the Hand drags him out to broadcast his bizarre visions to the nation. He has developed a cult following of people expecting wisdom from the mad Massimo. I fear those people will be disappointed. I doubt this lost soul has anything to teach.

At this point, we can enter a code to learn the location of Massimo Eddy, thus making it accessible on the map, but we don't have that yet.

ARC: Reality Containment was outraged after two of its agents were targeted in the latest scrub team action. I don't know what the executives in the Five Fingers had in mind when they included Gideon Eshanti and Rachel Braque on the scrub list. There were ways of making them disappear without setting ARC and Transgressions at odds with one another. The question remains, why? What were Eshanti and Braque involved in that demanded they be eliminated in such a high-profile fashion? Rumors are that the order to kill them came directly from the Imperator!

Back up to the root directory again.

RACHEL BRAQUE & GIDEON ESHANTI: Looking through back files today and found I had one on Braque and Eshanti. I'd forgotten, but it seems I tried to recruit them myself a couple of years ago when I heard about the great job they were doing at ARC...but to outduel the scrub team, they were obviously more talented than any of us realized. Their work with ARC was top-notch even though they had a reputation of going easy on minor criminals. Still, their character was somewhat questionable.

Questionable? Well, I never!


FRINGE OPERATIONS has another puzzle-password. It's an easy one, as the answer is right up there in the earlier files: Dean Sterling.

We can now enter another submenu: GNEO-GNOSTICS, PSIONIC LEAGUE, ESCHATOLOGY INCORPORATED, MEATS.

GNEO-GNOSTICS: In ancient times, the Gnostics were heretical sects whose beliefs were at odds with early Christianity; they believed that human transcendence was directly achievable. The Gneos may be just one more group of cyberspace outlaws with designs on founding virtual colonies in the global net. If the latter is true, Transgressions will scrub them. We may do that in any event if the need for a high-profile bust arises. Database update: Gnostics headquartered near Capital South station.

PSIONIC LEAGUE: Of the dozens of illegal operations we monitor, the Psionic League is the most dangerous threat to stability...especially if the leader, Columbus Spatola, should ever decide to politicize his organization. The League has been tolerated to this point because it is the inspiration for similar groups. No one better knows the dangers of unrestrained psionic ability than Spatola. He's one of the most powerful psionics on the planet. His life is a case study of the hardships that psionics endure when forced to master their abilities alone. His early hardships led to the founding of the League and his near-fanatical belief in the benevolent use of the power. Database update: Psionic League headquartered in Georgetown.

ESCHATOLOGY INCORPORATED: Recent intelligence reveals that Hercule Rue Des Couers and his researchers are no closer to learning any of hell's essential secrets. Des Couers serves his purpose. His obsession with hell, his attempts to map it and to catalogue its horrors, help to maintain the public's fear. Database update: Eschatology Incorporated headquartered in Watergate.

MEATS: Data from Reality Containment shows an increase in illegal attempts to reproduce the human tissue lab of New Corporeal Biologics. Officially named Server Units, New Corp's infamous products are widely referred to as meats. Meats epitomize the relentless perversion of God's creations by human hands. As so with many nightmares, it all started with good intentions. The goal of providing servant machines for the masses was lofty and laudable. But when the meats were introduced into the market, the public was outraged. The meats were twisted parodies of humanity, flesh without souls. Within six months, the meats were a moral scandal. When several developed cancers, it was more cost-effective for New Corporeal to discard the entire tissue casing than it was to perform surgery. One hate group began to burn meats in public. The meats were withdrawn from the market, and New Corporeal closed. Now, outlaw entrepreneurs seek to revive the technology for use in foreign markets. Such criminal efforts are precisely what Transgressions and ARC were formed to combat. Database update: New Corporeal Biologics defunct laboratory located near Federal Center SW.

Each of the four entries under FRINGE OPERATIONS unlocks a new location on the map. Three of them have information we'll need about the less fortunate targets of the Night of Re-Entombment; those will be our next stops, before we go to meet Senator Burr and the CFF. The remaining location, Psionic League headquarters, leads to a honking big string of subquests I'm in no hurry to deal with. Anyway, once more unto the root menu!

SOLENE SOLUX: We had an interoffice holo-conference call from the Imperator today. The Imperator discussed the recent actions against the CFF. Solux pointed out that the CFF was still operating...the sweep had failed to net Erin Burr...and that an even greater effort must be made. The entire performance was classic Solux. It reminded me of the Imperator's ascension to power, when Solux would inspire tens of thousands of people at mass rallies, saying things that would make the crowd leap to its feet and roar its devotion. When Solux finally ascended to power it was as if Earth had become a new planet. People were sick of how society had crumbled into a crime-ridden, godless free-fire zone. The Hand of God proved an apt name because that was the way Solux promised to administer justice: as if enacted by the Lord himself. And it has come to pass.

ACTI-DECK gives us a short menu: ACTI-DECK and PARALLAX CODE.

ACTI-DECK: When Parallax Entertainment's breakthrough decking technologies permitted the company to create a home entertainment system that provided a direct interface between the users' nervous systems and the machine's software, the result was the Acti-Deck. Acti-Deck programs plunged the user into virtual reality worlds, for a price. Anything was possible, but the price proved to be steep. The Parallax ad campaign had claimed that the direct interface between nervous system and circuitry allowed the player to change the machine. What they didn't know...or weren't telling...was that the machine was changing us! When details of the Parallax Effect broke, the public outrage was intense. The issue dovetailed perfectly with the Hand of God's plan for seizing power, and was a significant tool in their campaign against technology.

PARALLAX CODE: The Parallax code is a highly secret series of computer code modules that made cyberspace a reality. To my knowledge, the source code for Parallax has never been discovered.

And that's all we can get out of Mouchoir's computer for now, though we'll be back once we've got what we need to crack the Night of Re-Entombment file and the whereabouts of Massimo Eddie. Next time on IPAT: Hell...New Corporeal Biologics, Eschatology Incorporated, and the Gneo-Gnostics!

BONUS CONTENT

Jean St. Mouchoir on Mr. Beautiful
Jean St. Mouchoir on Senator Erin Burr
Jean St. Mouchoir on Eddy Commerce
Jean St. Mouchoir on Massimo Eddie
Jean St. Mouchoir on the Psionic Leeeeeeague