Next Chapter →
← Previous Chapter
Back to the game page
TV Host: An observatory. A place for man to witness the magnificence of the universe. But such insights are not what the champion of light is looking for. He has come to find a weapon.
Rachel: Hello? I’m Doctor Rachel Meadows and – wait a moment, it’s you! I can’t believe you would dare show your face around here again!
Rachel: Go away!
Wake: It wasn’t me! I just look like him!
Rachel: Are you serious? That’s what you’re going with? Please.
Wake: I’m trying to stop him. You saw those shadow things trying to kill me, right? I bet he got along with them just fine.
Rachel: Yes… yes, he did. All right. Come on in.
Wake: Thank you.
Rachel: Just a moment, I’ll send the lift down to you. I didn’t expect to see anyone here tonight, but I’m relieved to see an actual person. That’s assuming this isn’t some kind of a cruel trick on your part, of course.
Wake: Doctor, the man who looked like me… what did he want here?
Rachel: There’s a strange astronomical event happening right now, something I can’t begin to classify, but I think it’s disabled our satellite. There’s a very peculiar signal that we are receiving–
Wake: A signal! That’s what I’m here for.
Rachel: Well, so was he. But he didn’t seem to understand it at all. He got very angry, sabotaged our imaging array, and now we’re blind. I believe the event is still going on, but we can’t pick it up.
Wake: Is there something we can do?
Rachel: What he broke is essentially just a special camera, but we can’t use the telescope without it. There’s a replacement in my car. If you can get that to me, we’re back in business.
Wake: Consider it done. Tell me more about the signal.
Rachel: It’s almost as if something is being transmitted to Night Springs. It’s the strangest thing—it’s quite elusive, almost as if it wasn’t properly there. I don’t know how to describe it.
Wake: So… What was this signal like?
Rachel: I wish I knew. He appeared before I had a good fix on it. He was very pleasant when I was working, but when I isolated the signal, he suddenly forced me out of the control booth. He said it was none of my business. He seemed to… to change. Somehow, he… he was very smooth and charming before that, but suddenly he became… I’m sorry, I’m not sure I want to talk about it.
Wake: I have to ask. Do you always wear that to work?
Rachel: I was at a party—for a local art exhibition, fascinating works—when I was called away by my assistant. Michael was the first to spot this event. I don’t know where he is now, actually, he was supposed to bring us some food, but he never showed up.
Wake: Tell me about the event.
Rachel: Oh, it’s quite fascinating! It looks as if stars were changing, somehow. Or shifting positions. It isn’t really happening, of course. Most likely, it’s caused by some kind of atmospheric refraction phenomenon, but I’ve never seen anything like it.
Wake: Did he hurt you?
Rachel: No. He didn’t quite threaten me, exactly, but thos… shadowy things started to crawl into view, and whatever the signal was, he seemed to be extremely frustrated by it. He just started breaking things and left. I thought it best to not interfere.
Wake: You were lucky. He’s done much worse.
Rachel: Yes. He showed me a knife. And he kept talking. He enjoyed the sound of his own voice. A proper maniac. You really aren’t anything like him, are you?
Wake: Believe me, I try very hard not to be.
Rachel: Good luck! And try to be careful! It’s a very expensive part, and we don’t have a replacement! Oh dear, that sounded more callous than I intended. Ah… be safe!
Wake: This must be her car. Eugh.
Wake: I found it!
Rachel: Excellent. I’ll operate the platform directly below the telescope so you can install the array. Don’t worry, it’s very easy! Hop on!
Wake: Hmm.
Rachel: Brilliant, you’ve got it! I’ll just run a quick diagnostic on it… yes, it’s in perfect order. All right, we’re good to go. Let’s take a look at the skies. Oh, bugger it all! We’re overheating. I have to shit this down. There’s a problem with the automated coolant system. Somebody just interrupted the flow.
Wake: So now what?
Rachel: Well… you could go and open the secondary coolant flow valves manually. I know it’s dangerous there, but… well…
Wake: I got it.
Rachel: Please come talk to me if you have questions.
Wake: Is there something I should know about this coolant thing?
Rachel: Oh, no, it’s quite straightforward. The telescope is very heavy, and moving it generates a lot of heat. So do all of the electronics. Overheating could cause damage, so it shuts down automatically if the coolant fluid isn’t flowing. And hot electronics generate instrument noise, which we want to eliminate as much as possible.
Wake: What’s in this coolant, anyway? Is it dangerous?
Rachel: We use liquid nitrogen. It’s quite safe.
Wake: If I can make it to the valves in one piece.
Rachel: Yes, there is that. Good luck!
Wake: I’m assuming you didn’t have this kind of trouble using the telescope earlier, when my double was here.
Rachel: No, it went very smoothly, until he turned into a nutter. This doppelgänger of yours doesn’t seem to want anyone else to look at this phenomenon. Honestly, it seems a little pointless to me. There are many eyes on the sky.
Wake: I’m not sure what we’re going to get once this thing is working again, but I have a hunch. I doubt it has anything to do with outer space… Or that anyone else can see it. I think it’s a message for me.
Rachel: For you? That seems unlikely. And even if it were a very localized phenomenon, surely it’s visible to others in the area.
Wake:Maybe, but I wouldn’t bet on it. There’s a reason he came here, and a reason he doesn’t want me looking at it.
Rachel: Just remember, you need to release all three valves! It doesn’t matter what order you do it in!
Wake: Okay, that should do it.
Wake: I released all of the valves, Doctor! Is it working?
Rachel: Just bear with me a moment… Mm, yes, I believe you’ve got it sorted. It’s working again! Nicely done! That sounds like trouble. I don’t think they’re happy with our success! Look out! They’ve found a way in!
Rachel: Just hold on a little longer, I’ve almost got it isolated!
Rachel: Are you all right? That was intense! I’m sighted in now. I still have no idea what I’m looking at, but… it’s very strange, very strange indeed. Oh, where are my manners! Please, come on up. I’m sorry, I was distracted…
Wake: Are we receiving the signal now?
Rachel: Oh, yes, it’s coming in loud and clear. It’s amazing. I’m not sure what it is, yet, let alone where it’s coming from, but it’s… interacting with our systems, somehow. Like it was intended for us. But I don’t understand how that could be.
Wake: Maybe that’s just how the story goes.
Rachel: What?
Wake: Never mind. Is there a way I can hear it, or however this is supposed to work?
Rachel: I think the signal is incomplete, somehow, but you should be getting a printout of it now.
Wake: What do you mean, it’s incomplete?
Rachel: It’s almost as if we’re only getting a fragment of it.
Wake: I need the whole thing. This is important!
Rachel: I’m sure it is, but this is all we are getting.
Wake: Did the man who looks like me get the whole thing?
Rachel: He locked me out of the booth, so I have no way of knowing. But I can tell you that he didn’t really seem to understand it.
Wake: So… what’s in the sky?
Rachel: It doesn’t make any sense. The stars are just—they’re wrong. I thought I’d be able to see something, but it’s like I’m looking at a sky that’s just — that’s not the right sky. But that’s impossible!
Wake: I consider myself a rational man, Doctor, but this isn’t a thing you can measure or explain. I’ve seen impossible things that have taught me just to roll with some punches. It’s either that or go insane.
Rachel: I find it disturbing that you sound like you’re speaking from ample experience.
TV Host: A printout of a signal. It, too, is a weapon created by the champion of light. In its words stirs a new reality… but it is incomplete. And yet, it provides a road map for the man to follow, a course that will lead him to a place where he may confront his enemy.