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Update 7:The Maize in the Caves

To Sleep

It's time to help Calamus find his little sister and also find out what's going on in the southern Glen. Before we investigate though, let's ask Calamus some more questions.

Are you from the village?

No...

I don't remember why, but our father left the village while we were still young.

We've lived in the ruins ever since.

...Well, it's just Alula and I now. I can't lose her too...

She's all I have, I can't lose her...

Aww, poor kids. We've definitely got to help them out and reunite them. Let's try down south first.

Another fisherman! There's been quite a few of these around here.

This is the best fishing spot I've found yet! All the fish I catch here are longer than my arm!

Wow, that's a hell of a spot! What kind of fish are these anyway?

Oh okay, that makes sense. Eels can still be tasty and nutritious, so that's still worth enco-

Wait, no...

It's full of snakes...

... Ok. Moving on.

The ruins are to the right, and where Calamus says he last saw Alula. She's probably not down this path, but it's worth checking since he wasn't sure where she got to.

A robot? That's the first one we've seen in this area.

[HELLO, PERSON. WELCOME TO THE RESEARCH STATION.]

Hello!

[DID DR. SILVERPOINT SEND YOU?]

No? I'm with some Goons...

[Oh, CARRY ON, THEN.]

Dr. Silverpoint? Are they the leader around here?

We passed a robot who said the same thing as the greeter bot and now we come to that red magnificient looking bot. That bot has to be the important one around here.

Well, more of a purple than red...

But your eyes and stuff are red!

Niko! Don't just tell the important character they're important! You gotta schmooze them a bit first.

[I AM ONLY HERE TO PICK UP THIS WEEK'S MOSS SAMPLES. I WILL RETURN TO MY STATION IN THE CITY SOON.]

I see!

Oh, so I guess it's because it's a citybot? So, the different areas have color-coded bots? Interesting... I wonder why?

Cool!

So are those two bots having a conversation? Because I'm curious what a bot-bot conversation is... in human languages anyway. Though I guess it would be funny if they just talk binary to each other

Entering the building behind the two bots reveals...

...a cult complex. What the hell is this place?

[HELLO, PERSON. THIS IS THE MAIN GENERATOR OF THE GLEN.]

Oooh!

The Goons and I actually fixed one of these earlier, in that place across the ocean...

[THIS GENERATOR DOES NOT NEED TO BE FIXED RIGHT NOW.]

Right... you guys already have power and all...

Oh, that's interesting. I feel like most games would require us to fix the generators in each area to progress and have the robots not work until that happens. It's interesting that the bots here were already up and running. I guess the city needs the farmlands here for food and helps to support this place with infrastructure? That's my guess anyway.

This one's got a working battery!

So this interaction gives us an achievement, but is also kinda funny. I think you only need to "activate" the generator another time through any means, but I pulled the lightbulb out just in case.

I just got shocked...

Niko gets a bit of static electricity from the generator. If you try and get Niko to interact with it again, well...

They rightfully tell us to fuck off. Poor Niko, we haven't been the best of God/Guardians

We'll head back out and down the bridge this time.

[PLEASE DO NOT HARVEST THEM.]

I'm... not?

Phosphor... trees? So it comes from trees here? And I guess also the fireflies? It's kinda starting to seem like a miracle element with how prevalent it is.

[PHOSPHOR TREE GROWTH RATE HAS BEEN REDUCED AS OF LATE...]

Well that sucks I guess, though I'm unsure what you want us to do with that information.

BEEP BOOP. COMMENTARY NOT FOUND.

Hello.

[I HAVE COLLECTED A DUPLICATE WATER SAMPLE. WOULD YOU LIKE IT?]

Um...

[MY PROGRAMMING SAYS THAT ORGANIC BEINGS NEED WATER TO SURVIVE. SO I SHALL OFFER IT TO YOU.]

Oh, uh, sure! We'll take it.

Well, I guess if Niko is borderline dehydrated, they can at least get an infusion of water instead of the world dying because Niko forgot to drink water.

Sometimes the bots have personality, and sometimes they don't. I'm unsure if that's intentional or not.

Heading back out and up this side, we're almost down with the research station.

Hmm, is that more of those square things we saw in the Barrens? I don't like that they've followed us here to the Glen. Let's hope this is the last we see of them.

[MONITORING ANOMALY...]

What IS that thing?

[AN ANOMALY.]

Well, yeah, but...

Thanks for the concrete answer there Mr. Robot.

That's it for the Research Station. We didn't see any signs of Alula down here, though we did get a vial of tasty forest water for our troubles. Let's head back out and to the ruins this time to investigate there for any signs of Alula.

Whoa, that's a LOT of clovers. Investigating just leads to a door with vines covering it.

Well that's a big ol bot! We haven't seen a bot that big since the dormitory guardian bot. Is this also a protection bot?

[Are you on your way to the Tower?]

Mhm.

[You can enter the Refuge through this wall. You'll need to sign your name in this scroll first.]

Wow! We could go straight to the city and the Tower if we wanted to! The Glen was a breeze!

Alright... do you have a pen?

...Uh oh.

[...No, I've lost mine. Perhaps you should look around the Glen for another.]

Well... that figures. Now we've got two objectives for the Glen before we can get closer to the Tower and saving the world. Anyway, the ruins await us.

Flooded Ruins

Already a bot at the door, this place can't be too dangerous if bots are roaming around.

[HELLO, PERSON! PLEASE DO NOTE THAT THE RUINS BELOW ARE PARTIALLY FLOODED.]

Oh!

Should we... not be here?

[THERE IS NO IMMEDIATE DANGER. USING THIS AREA AS A DWELLING IS NOT RECOMMENDED, HOWEVER.]

...Don't Calamus and Alula live here though?

The right just leads to a dead end, so we'll keep heading south.

That's uh... a LOT of vines. All the other blocked doorways it at least seemed like the vines could be cut away. That uh, doesn't.

Yeah, we're gonna need to do something about these vines.

Another huge cluster of vines, and a bot to boot.

[THESE VINES APPEARED MERE MINUTES AGO.]

Really?

I've been seeing a lot of them in doorways and stuff...

I just assumed it was cuz this place was abandoned...

[A SIGN OF DISTRESS.]

...huh?

[BUT I CANNOT TRACE THE SOURCE.]

...Ah.

Oh shit, is the robot talking about Alula? Game, it's way too early to start killing off people like this. We need to hurry and try and find her.

A robot and two different directions to go in. Let's talk to the bot first and see if it can give us a clue on how to find Alula.

[HELLO, PERSON. TWO CHILDREN RESIDE NEAR HERE.]

Ah! It did help us! I'm guessing their house is back behind this way?

The pathway is blocked...

...by blocks!

...Really Niko? Just move them! This could mean life or death!!

To be honest, this reminds me of mother 3 blocking off areas by having ants in the way. Which was also a cute little way of the game saying "We don't want you going this way right now."

We'll have to go the other way and see where that takes us.

Self Contained Universe - Reprise

...Uh oh. I'm not a fan of the sad music playing up.

It's starting to get really dark, even with the sun in our possession. What is down this way?

Oh, that's not Alula. Whoever it is looks incredibly green though.

...S...savior...? I can't believe it... You're real...

...miss?

Are you... alright?

No....

W-we should get you to the village! Maybe they could-

But...

...the sun... I haven't seen it... I haven't felt it in so long...

Uh, look, miss... you don't seem evil or malevolent, but how are we supposed to know that we give you the freakin sun and you don't just sprout wings and start cackling?

I... will it make you better?

...No. It will not save me. I just want to experience the sun one more time before I ... well...

Oh...

Would it... Would it be too selfish of me to ask?

If this choice affected anything, I would absolutely put it up to a vote. But the game won't progress until we give her the sun so... just hope that she is a benevolent being.

Here!

......

........warm.....

I have... almost forgotten... It's so warm...

That's... good, right?

I'm glad that Niko is on the same page as us and is really concerned about what kind of boss monster this lady is about to turn into.

Th...the vines should be gone now...

I'm not afraid anymore. Thank you.

I guess... she was trustworthy after all. She's still alive, but just keeps repeating that she's not afraid. We have to leave the sun here with her though for now, so hopefully she keeps good care of it.

Without the sun in our possession the game is now REALLY dark again. It will get a bit better when we get back into the Glen proper, but it is a good reminder that this world doesn't have a sun. Us walking around with it constantly can make us not realize that we're the only ones who get to benefit from that.

Well, if what that lady said is true, the vines should all be gone now. There were several doorways that were blocking us from moving forward. Which one should we go down? Let's take a look at the closest one to us first.

[THE VINES RECEDED. DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED?]

I found this... plant person.

She was barely holding on...

I gave her the sun for now, but...

She said it was too late for her...

[I UNDERSTAND. I NEED TO REPORT THIS TO THE CITY.]

Whoa wait, what are you reporting to the city? Can you leave out the part about us leaving her the sun? I don't want any malicious rumors spreading before they finish writing the bible according to Niko.

Well, let's check out where the doorway takes us...

Oh wow... it takes us straight to the village! A nice shortcut. We'll make use of this shortly, but for now - we're heading back into the ruins.

This time, we're gonna explore this side bit we ignored earlier. Because now it's opened up and has... not the way forward, but our clue to the way forward.

Yup... it's our old friend - the computer that seems to hate us but is also helping us.

A God's Machine

UHhhhhh, why did my desktop go purple??

[Hello Goons. It seems I need to help you again. Niko will not be able to progress otherwise. This time, the information you need has fallen to the most easily accessible place on your machine.]

There's uh, no need to play cute this time! I uh, think I see the solution to whatever it is we have to do.

[You'll know what to do with it, then.]

Will we?? We don't even know what we're supposed to do with this newfound knowledge!

Well... there's only one other place in the ruins that had vines covering it. It was near the entrance so I guess let's check out there next.

Looks like we found the puzzle for our solution. Specifically, we'll need to light it up like it showed on my desktop... which is... still really weird to me.

What... the hell is in the doorway? Are those... blurry squares?? What the hell is happening back there??

It reminds me of what I saw a while ago, at the cliffs... For some reason, I'm afraid to touch it.

Yeah, don't touch it please. This one isn't making any ear piercing static noises, so let's not aggravate it.

Now then, for the puzzle...

As I mentioned, the floor needs to be lit up exactly like the desktop wallpaper says. Each step on a tile lights it up or turns it off if already lit up.