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Update 12: The Fox and the Feline
On Little Cat Feet (Ground)
We have our objective - get a library card. Granted our one way of getting that card is by already having the card so we are in something of a "pickle". That said, there is more to the city to explore so maybe something will come up from more exploration.
We already passed by here earlier, but now it's time to actually head the way the arrows are telling us so we can reach the rest of the city.
Uhhhhhhhh??
......
Goons! Did you see what happened?
Yeah, I mean kinda. There was some kind of weird image of a wolf?
My vision went blank for a second...
And then I saw something?
Like a really short dream... I wonder what that was about...
I'm not sure to be honest, maybe this is related to the square particles and how they seem to be central to this area. Maybe we'll find more answers if we move on...
Simple Secrets
Heading northward is the correct way to go, but the other two paths offer some things for us to see.
Hmm, I wonder if it's because of that gigantic machine that seems to be pumping out heat?
[Oh, a cat.]
GAH! It talks!
[Are you lost?]
Me?
Join... your cats?
[Yes.]
But I'm not a cat...
I don't walk on four legs like they do...
[You have cat eyes.]
My eyes are normal people eyes...
Well, normal back home!
[Your hat is shaped like a cat.]
But I'm just a person!
[I protect lost people as well.]
Thanks! But I'm not lost though! I've got Goons to guide me!
[I see...]
Niko was never heard from again after they tried to start a commune in Hawaii.
Passing by the faded flyers will lead us to here - a strange wall with the marking of a ram.
Now, for those of you who didn't think to barter for more than just the ink from Magpie - this wall remains just a wall. But for us enterprising Goons, this wall becomes something more.
You may come in.
Pretty Nice Day
...Oh no.
Interacting with any of the sheep just leads to them going "baa", as expected.
Looks like it's boiling water.
Oh, right, it's almost lunch time. Would you like to stay for a nice cup of... RAMen?
...
I'll... pass...
Gonna... be one of those rooms, huh OneShot?
Instead, the word "baa" is written on its wool.
That one isn't a RAM. That one is... Read-Only.
I... see...
As a pun lover, I'm dying inside and screaming on the outside.
We meet again.
Hello...
Wait...
Aren't you from the village?
Yes, but the rams are ever-present. In the village, in the city... even... in your heart.
Huh, that would explain why my doctor was measuring my heart bleats in ram-power.
...okay.
If rams wore shoes... they would have... flip flops.
... I don't get it.
I used to host the official RAM club wiki site... but we kept having page faults due to rams getting out of the server room.
...what?
I have no idea what any of that meant.
Consider yourself LUCKY.
Hmp. I guess that's it for my jokes. It cannot be helped... they were quite b-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-d.
...
I got that one!
WE ARE LEAVING.
So, once again, we can simply head north to continue with our current objective. But this time we do actually need to take a stop on the left side to pick up something for later.
Oh, we stumbled into someone's house it looks like. It's pretty barebones compared to what we saw even in the elevator area. Well... let's get to lootin'!
...Ah, these are dictionaries.
Some of the words are underlined... *most* of the words are underlined.
A wordsmith, clearly.
There's a note attached.
It says "Thank you for working so hard, Mr. Lamplighter!"
...Oh. This is his place that we are just ramsacking. That would explain all the empty coffee cups everywhere. Well, in that case we should leave... after we take the shiny object, of course.
Looks like they're supposed to go in something?
...
Wait, Goons, are we really gonna take these with us? They look so heavy...
Look, we aren't the ones who made them shiny. Shiny means we have to take them, those are the rules.
Alright...
Hey! They're actually pretty light!
See? Burglary works! That's it for that house, let's head back to the alleyways...
... and check out the other side.
Uhh???
...
I think... that's the first character we've run into that's been affected by the squares. Calamus said it messes you up. The bot just repeats that phrase over and over again. Real glad the game doesn't have voice acting so it can't suddenly turn into a horror game.
Right after the squares is an ominious room! Clearly, we need to investigate this room.
Is that... a fox?
Whoa!
Goons? Did you see that fox just now?
It just ran behind the tree...
Sonder
I'm sorry if you are looking for me. But I cannot talk to you. Not now...
...But you are talking to us. A fox, is talking to us. Wait... weren't we told about such a creature?
Um...
...
But... can you promise me something?
Huh?
If... you can find a way to return... please do.
Er... What... do you mean by that?
...
And sure enough, exploring the room comes up with nothing. That... was strange. And what did it mean by if we can return? Leaving the room and going back in doesn't trigger anything else... so what else could it mean??
Welp, I guess... we have to move on.
On Little Cat Feet (Ground)
Welcome to vendor street! I'm sure you can quickly figure out why it's called that! Let's start this street by talking to that vendor we see, with the mug for a head.
Want some soup dumplings? They're guaranteed to contain only a minimal amount of industrial byproducts!
I'll... pass.
I'm not sure how you can pass on that, the tiny amount of mercury is what makes the dumpling. Also the brain damage is just a side perk.
Oh, hey! We found the lamplighter! We haven't see him in a bit, how's he doing?
Hey, you lookin for something?
Yeah... I need to go find a library card now...
Any idea where I can get one?
From... the... library?
I tried that already!
The person in charge wasn't there.
Oh, uh...
Maybe check out the factory? You just take the stairs at the end of this street and make a turn.
There's a lot of scientists there.
Scientists... read books, right?
They might help you...
Wow, that sounds like some actual good advice! Thanks lamplighter! Before we do head over there though... why don't we show him one of those things we took from his house. Maybe he can tell us what they're for.
...
(oH GOODNESS GRACIOUS DID THE MESSIAH AND LITERALLY GODS THEMSELVES JUST BREAK INTO MY HOUSE.)
Oh! Was that... your...
You heard me??
...sorry about breaking into your house.
We didn't actually break anything, but...
The Goons said I should take these plastic disks, for some reason?
Should we put them back?
What the hell Niko, don't snitch on us!!
I wouldn't have been able to fix that machine anyway...
Thanks for taking them off my hands, I guess? The lenses, that is.
The scientists wanted me to use them to fix the camera in the photo booth, but...
You can imagine how that went.
I'm just glad I didn't break anything...
This is completely missable (which sucks because it's really funny) but the lamplighter gives us a clue as to what we are supposed to do with them. The game will flat out tell us later when we actually need to use them, but you could solve the puzzle now if you wanted to.
Continuing on down vendor street, there seems to be a shopkeep with a toaster for a head; because of course. Let's stop in with them to see what they got on sale.
This smells kinda nice!
What is it?
Breaded fish! I toasted the bread myself!
...I...see....
...Starting to not like this street.
Inside the building is the photo booth. We'll be back for it later, but we'll talk to the person outside of it right now.
Are you here for your photos?
No?
Alrighty then. I'll just... uh... stand here.
While they're standing there, we'll keep moving down the street.
Another street vendor, maybe this one will sell something that isn't awful??
This stand smells a bit like burnt sugar...
Yup... still gettin' the hang of making these fried candy skewers... they don't taste too bad, though! Do you want one?
It's okay, thank you!
Niko didn't get one, but that sounds like the first thing on this street actually worth getting. Maybe the next vendor will actually have something good?
Hey hey! Ready for me to blow your mind?
Eh, sure why not.
Ok so! I've invented a medicine to prepare everyone for the upcoming water shortage! All you gotta do is dissolve one of these pills in water, and then you drink the water. And then you never need to drink water again!
Has the FDA approved this?? A pill that makes it to where you don't have to drink water again?? I guess I shouldn't be that surprised considering the talking fox turned out to be real too.
What!
It also makes plants grow faster!
How... does it work?
Here, why don't you take a free sample?
Oh! Thanks?
Don't thank me! Go spread the word!
Supposedly is doing a lot of lifting in that sentence. I would be real cautious about the vendor dodging the question when Niko asked how it works... but at least we got a free sample to try, so why don't we try it?
It dissolved really fast!
Actually... I exaggerated. The effects of the pill wears off in like a week. But all you have to do is just take another pill!
That's... a pretty big qualification!! Well, regardless, we have some real fancy water now. We'll use it later but keep that thought in the back of your head for now.
The slimmer path is going to be ignored for now as it doesn't lead anywhere we can go. Unlike this larger path which leads towards the factory.
Factory
The factory has three entries - one on the left, one on the right, and one in the center. We'll take the one in the center and explore the surrounding areas from there.
Alright, let's go to the right first!
...What the hell is this place?
This one has a robot in it!
Here's the full view of the room. It's been a while, but it's the grand return of notes! We'll start with the robot in front of us before checking all those notes.
[BEEP BOOP. THIS IS THE PRINTER ROOM, WHERE MACHINE PARTS ARE MADE. ALSO, ROBOTS]
Well, that explains the robots in the glass boxes at least. If they didn't seem like they were screaming in agony, it would be a bit better. Now, it's time to read the notes! It's best to start on the left side and go clockwise from there. The notes kinda want you to take that order.
quote:
It may help you to go one color at a time! - Management
quote:
It can also help to write down previous attempts. - Management
quote:
If all else fails, wait for the puzzle to rest. Maybe you'll get an easier one next time...
Well... thanks for the advice? I'm unsure why we needed that help but cool, I guess.
Heading over to the left side and we come across this scientist with a weird layout for a laboratory. There's a bunch of like lava surrounding this one machine. Excuse me from not having any more experience than undergrad chemistry, but uh, this seems improper.
Alarming, to say the least... that's the sharpest decline I've seen, and the number is only increasing. We will have to further concentrate the phosphor now, for it to be of any use. It's hard to believe, but there's a good chance this city could run out of light in as little as six months. What are we going to do?
Considering how poorly set up this room is, this scientist seems to be doing some incredibly important work here! Like jeez dude, surely they can give you a chair at the very least! Either way, we should have things taken care of before those 6 months are up...
Alright, this part of the factory has been explored... let's talk to this robot and see what's past the door.
[IN ORDER TO GAIN FURTHER ACCESS TO THE LABS, YOU MUST PASS THE SECURITY SYSTEM TEST.]
The... huh?
[YOU MUST CHANGE THE COLOR OF THE LIGHTS INTO A SPECIFIC CONFIGURATION. ALLOW ME.]
Welcome to everyone's favorite past time - a randomized puzzle, which just so happens to be the puzzle the notes in the other room was referring to. As you can see, there's 5 lights lit up and there are 4 different colors (yellow, blue, green, and red - in that order) that each light could be. All 5 need to be the correct light. So what's the correct light? Good question! Figure it out through trial and error!
We got a pretty good roll to start with. We don't know which two lights are correct, but we do know that two are correct which can save on attempts. Oh yeah, you get 10 attempts to get it right or you start over. Good luck!
Here was my combination for this go. Since I had two yellow lights, it meant when I changed that first color from yellow to blue, I had only one right. I also only had two greens and a blue - which didn't require many wrong guesses. I'm unsure if you can get some rolls that are literally unsolveable without getting lucky (all reds), but it's not too bad. I got this one in one go, but I think my first go round it took 3 chances.
Let's be done with this puzzle, and head into the inner labs.
Oh...that's uh... not good!
No need to tell us twice!
My robot!!
What happened?
I don't know! I left for a minute and... What am I going to do!!!
Don't ask me! I still have no clue what those squares even mean.
Leaving the malfunctioning bot and the screaming scientist in the background, the inner labs have a similar layout to the outer labs/factory. There are 3 entrances - one on the left, one on the right, and the one right in front of us. Just like before, we'll head inside through the center and work our way around once inside.
Several more scientists are inside the lab... now that I think about it, that one scientist in the lava room is even more messed up than before. Why does that dude have to languish alone while trying to solve the issue of "All sources of illumination are failing".
Dr. Silverpoint usually references his works.
...I should be used to it by now, but what does this scientist have a soda can for a head?
How does Dr. Silverpoint get all that energy?
The square particles took out a few of my robots last week, and
...
She fell asleep...
Well, can't accuse them of not taking the end of the world seriously. I mean, surely you guys would work better if you had some sleep, right? Also, needless to say, the coffee pot is empty 
Heading over to the left side leads to the computer labs, from the looks of things. There's quite a few scientists in here to talk to, so let's get a nice round up of them all.
...well, nothing unusual at this point.
We might have to put off the water analysis project for now.
This is consistent with our earlier findings... not good at all...
Jeez, you scientists are a bunch of downers! No wonder no one comes hang out with ya'll! Well, I guess that and the security system. Seriously, it's the best security system in the world. Imagine you break into some billionaire's home and that's the security system you have to overcome. You'd probably just leave while sighing profusely.
Over on the right side... we seem to have entered the robot room. The right side of the labs in general seems to be the robot areas, I guess.
Physical damage from square-particle anomalies is almost impossible to revert. No living person can touch them, unless they have a death wish... but if we're lucky, sometimes the squares go away on their own... but not before taking away one of the robot's arms, or legs.... or head.
...okay.
Niko really doesn't like it when robot's heads are threatened.
Wow! It really can't!
[WE ARE WAITING TO BE REPAIRED.]
Finally, I'm so glad to meet a scientist who's focus of study is the gamecube.
This is so tedious! I miss the good ol' days before our robot-repairing-robots broke down. Now all the robots have to be assembled by actual people.
But... aren't you a robot?
No? I mean, do I SOUND like a robot to you?
Not really... but your head is a tv?
W...What does that have to do with anything?
...
Nevermind.
IT HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH IT! WHY DO YOU HAVE A GAMECUBE FOR A HEAD!! WHAT IS HAPPENING???
Ok... before I go COMPLETELY insane, let's go back to the central room and head to the back room, to be done with this accursed place.
If I had known you would be here so soon, I would've turned off the darned lock!
Hello there!
Sorry about the weird... security measures.
It's okay!
It's not okay
The Goons helped me solve it!
Did they now! So... can I help you with anything?
Yeah... do you know how I can get a library card?
A library card?
I tried...
I need it to see the head librarian, but I can't get to see her without a library card... but at the same time, she's the one who gives out library cards...
Really...
Heh... that sounds like George alright!
I'm sorry you caught her on a bad day!
Aw...
...wait, I know!
I can just give you my library card!
It won't be hard for me to get another one.
Wow, thanks!
Wow, we somehow solved the unsolvable conundrum...!
Wait.
And of course that wasn't it 
Shoot!
I forgot... the front desk library bots have facial recognition. And my photo on the card won't match you...
Unless I tape a photo of my face to your face!
Um...
That was a joke.
Who knows, maybe you'll get lucky and the robot will take it anyway!
Worse comes to worse, you can always find somewhere to take a photo.
We've got our library card, at the least! Now... where will we find a photo of Niko...