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	Message: : System Shock Marathon Comparison & talkthrough Season 2: System Shock 2 : : Episode 3: Reprisal : Act 1: Watch Your Step – Hydroponics: sector B & C : In the last part of the System Shock 2 writeup series, we went down to the : Engineering level and got the elevator working. However, the shaft is : blocked and we come to level 3 in order to find out what’s going wrong. : : "Damn! Something’s blocking the shaft, and the elevator can’t reach : deck 4. I’m attempting to determine…I’m detecting massive quantities of : some kind of biomaterial that’s plugging up the elevator shaft. The : environment on this level has been altered to be some kind of breeding : chamber for the xenomorphs! It shouldn’t prove dangerous unless you plan : to stay for more than a few hours, but in order to clear the shaft you’re : going to have to remove the biomaterial. I’m accessing the primary data : loop. Let’s see what we can find out there.” : On the floor is a log from Miller talking about how compelled everyone feels : to protect the young worms they found on Tau Ceti f, Anatoly giving the : only condition that nobody is to be told what the work helping them is. : Another log of his in an office down the hall talks about his mutations : and that the Many are feeding him ideas such as how to make a handy : implant. : : “OK, stop where you are. There’s a vial of an experimental material called : Toxin-A. It was developed by the Sci staff to reduce the growth of the : aliens. But I can’t find any data on how you should use it. You should be : able to research the toxin. I’m uploading you enough cyber modules to : acquire the research skill if you don’t have it.” : This is the first time a particular skill in the game is required to : progress. Luckily, the first lab down the other path has a Lab Assistant : implant you can use to boost your research skill by 1 even if you don’t : have any skillpoints in research, which can let you avoid getting : softlocked if you waste those cyber modules. : : “Life grows within the womb of these walls. Life which has never seen the : surface of the Earth.” : We saw a glimpse of those earlier but those are the Many’s eggs. They are : clearly ripping off the xenomorph eggs in Alien and they even hatch the : same way. : : Those are the Many worms: the equivalent to headcrabs, Flood infection forms, : facehuggers what-have-you. They could also be seen as a counterpart to the : ADAM sea slugs in Bioshock. : : Gameplay wise they simply try to bite you and occasionally jump on you. You : can’t actually get infected. In Secmod, they now leap out of their eggs : like dolphins. Search the eggs before destroying them in order to harvest : any organs that might be inside, such as the healing glands we found : before. Sure enough, I find some. : : : Like the purple pods on the level Watch Your Step in PID, some eggs don’t : hatch worms but instead fart toxic gas and large turds in your face. This : is where the PSI toxin shield comes in handy as it prevents us getting : poisoned when they do this. However, it’s a tier 3 PSI power so until I : can unlock the tier with 30 cyber modules and some to spare to get the : powers I want there, I’m stuck with being cautious. : The second OS upgrade unit is here. I take the upgrade that lets me use 2 : implants at once. : : : Here is where Delacroix was researching Toxin A. The Many have sabotaged the : replicator here she was using to produce the chemical. More toxin A can be : found in the lab next door with the lab assistant implant. I return to : previous decks to gather the ingredients I need for my research. However, : one needle I found requires sodium and only Hydroponics has it so far. : This gives me incentive to find the chemical storeroom on this level : besides researching toxin a. : : Worm Organ : Summary: While you have learned the vulnerabilities of this creature, they’re : so easily killed it hardly matters. Like all Annelids, they are somewhat : resistant to energy weapons. Annelid Eggs often contain useful organs if : you search them before they are destroyed. : Analysis: Genetically female, the Annelid Worm is the most basic Annelid form : (no shit!). The creature is principally nervous systems and musculature : – the highly advanced (for a worm) nervous system appears to be tied into : a rudimentary psionic sense organ. While wormlike in appearance, the worm : has no actual digestive tract, but is furnished with energy reserves at : birth. When these are depleted, the creature shuts down into a dormant : state, possibly until a further psionic trigger acts on it. The eggs that : these emerge from often contain organs that might be extracted for useful : purposes, unless the egg has been destroyed in combat. : Recommendation: The worms are fairly fragile, but can be somewhat dangerous : if they close before you see them. In large numbers, they may prove a more : significant threat. : : : Delacroix Re: A Ray of Hope : “Killing the children won’t be easy. But I think I’m actually onto something: : the biochemistry of these worms, which I call the Annelids, treats : inverted proteins as toxins. With the help of the replicator in the : Biological Survey Lab, I’ve managed to isolate some inverted proteins in a : number of vials. However, the mix with the base compound is still off, so : I need to do some more research. Once I do that and mix the toxin into the : 4 environmental regulators…Well, things can only get better.” : Why does she call them “the annelids” when that’s just the Latin name for : worm? It’s kind of obvious, so she needs to come up with something better. : Just as well I’m doing her research for her and the implant I found makes : it go faster. : Toxin A : Summary: Placing this toxin in an environmental regulator will reduce local : annelid growth. : Analysis: This is an experimental toxin, highly virulent, developed : specifically to break down and dissolve annelid tissue. The canister is : highly pressurised, as the liquid toxic would evaporate quickly under : ordinary conditions. : Recommendation: For maximum coverage, this toxic should be introduced into an : environmental regulator immediately after being opened. : In Bioshock’s Arcadia and Farmer’s Market levels, our mission there was the : exact opposite of this one: instead of researching a poison with other : poisonous chemical elements to kill animal life blocking the way, we : gather less toxic materials for a U-Invent station in order to create a : serum that brings dead plants back to life in order to avoid suffocating : to death when Andrew Ryan kills the trees in Arcadia with a deadly : neurotoxin. : Marathon wise I’d say it’s like Couch Fishing, where we prevent the spread of : an entity throughout the ship except this one is alive in the traditional : sense instead of an AI. It also requires more steps, like a repeat of : Never Burn Money & Defend THIS. : As I make my way down the hall past some benches with booze and nanites, : Xerxes demands to know why I let “the metal mother” guide my actions and : why don’t I join them. An audio log from Delacroix to Polito talks about : discovering Korenchkin isn’t well (as he’s a hybrid) and wonders if the AI : Polito found is connected to this. Up a ladder near the Xerxes core is the : pattern buffer for this section. In a hydroponics lab next door to it is : some cyber modules and a log from Miller: The worms are dying and they are : powerless to help due to the toxic gas some of the eggs contain. Another : crewmember wouldn’t leave them and died for it. Miller discovered a way to : make the cyborg midwives so they could nurture the eggs and worms inside : them without getting poisoned. A log from Anatoly downstairs (below the : pattern buffer) says that he feels he has a purpose more important than : the company now that he’s joined the Many. : Downstairs from the lab with Millar’s log is a cyborg midwife guarding some : eggs and some biomass growing around the first environmental regulator. I : put the first vial of Toxin A into the machine and there’s an inhuman : hissing sound as the meat surrounding it dies and dissolves. Polito is : pleased and she gives me more cybernetic modules. : “Good. You’ll notice that the bio-matter on the walls and in the elevator : shaft has been impacted by the introduction of the bio toxin. Now do the : same with the other 3 regulators.” : Polito sounds oddly robotic when she says “biotoxin”. Something isn’t right. : I jump through the open window into a square hallway above another square : hallway behind a locked door near Xerxes’s core. I can break through some : damaged glass into the lower area. The Many contact me again: I’ve entered : another of their nests: “Babies must sleep. Babies must rest. Wise is the : one who does not waken them. Leave this place now, or we will wound you, : as you have us.” : As if to back up their threat, there’s a cyborg midwife here guarding the : eggs, but also a working laser pistol on a dead crewman among them. I : ditch the broken one and charge the new one with a portable battery I have : a few of so I can fight her better. I also find more healing glands in the : eggs. Past some boiling water, I come to some monkeys and a camera next to : a hydroponics pond with cyber modules in it. One or two of the monkeys are : red: those new ones have pyrokinesis. They don’t get a chance to use their : PK fire though as they decide to try rushing me for melee attacks instead. : Big mistake. : : Midwife Organ : Analysis: DNA sequence confirms that the subject was originally a human : female, cybernetically modified. An auxiliary CPU in the base of the spine : serves as a controller, overriding most signals sent by the subjects : natural brain. Both speed and musculature have been mechanically enhanced, : and the cybernetic apparatus also serves as physical shielding for the : softer human tissues. : Recommendation: Due to the half-mechanical nature of this creature, : incendiary and anti-personnel weapons will be fairly ineffective, but : armour-piercing rounds should be effective. : In essence, they are Little Sisters from Bioshock in terms of serving the : purpose of handling a parasitic invertebrate combined with the : aggressively protective nature of the Big Daddies, except arguably worse : to fight as we don’t have electrokinesis or chemical throwers. : Just as well we read up on them as we see ghosts of the very first cyborg : midwife, Erin Bloome getting converted next door. : : : “Please Papa Suchong! I don’t want to go back on the table!” : Erin herself is right next door in the chemical storeroom. She still has an : audio log from before she was kidnapped and converted. Compare the : midwives’ model’s face to that of Erin’s log portrait. : : : I wash my hands before cooking my needle recipe: this room has the sodium I : need. : PSI Booster : Summary: This hypo will increase the user’s Psionic Ability by 1 for five : minutes. : Analysis: This pharmaceutical combines a complex mix of psychoactive : chemicals, some of them quite powerful, and refined annelid tissue. Many : of the chemicals have enzymatically bonded to the annelid tissue : fragments, many of them since construction of the hypo, as if the annelid : tissue is still biologically active. : Recommendation: This experimental hypospray will increase your Psionic : Ability for a few minutes – if you don’t mind injecting yourself with : purified annelid tissue. Long term usage may well cause hallucinatory side : effects. : They won’t. Unlike the dermal patches/pills in System Shock 1, none of the : hypodermic needles in System Shock 2 have side effects. The only exception : I can think of is if you use a speed booster with high agility, you can : take damage just by running into walls but that’s just the laws of : physics, not the effect of the drugs. There’s more toxin A in Erin : Bloome’s desk along with some antimony & vanadium to research it if : you haven’t already, and some cyber modules in the trash can. I wonder who : put those there. : There’s another hydroponics pond nearby with some med hypos and either a rad : or anti-toxin hypo guarded by a camera but not much else. A body near the : first pond has the keycard out of here back to Xerxes’s core. I also find : a grenade launcher here! : : Bioshock again is the obvious comparison but I say this is more like PID. : While the PID grenade launcher was in gameplay terms an explosive Super : Shotgun from Doom 2 due to being hitscan and reloading with a barrel : break, the System Shock 2 grenade launcher is an in-universe miniature : railgun, though the text cuts off before it can say unless I scroll. It : can also use Disruption Grenades which are basically the PID HE rounds: : smaller blast radius but bigger boom. : It requires heavy weapons skill of 1 to use and I’m not using it so I dump : the gun and its grenades by the lift. : I learn more PSI powers while I’m here: I learn PK fire, PSI Toxin Shield and : PSI Recharge which for energy weapon users, is immensely handy. Tier 3 : powers like those are 8 XP a pop so it brings me down to 0 again. I think : player stats and maintenance is next. Near the ramps I came down to return : is a freezer area full of more eggs and the next environmental regulator. : PSI toxin shield comes in handy around eggs from now on so I don’t get : poisoned. The Many contact me again: “Submit to the biomass and your : suffering will end.” : : That last sharting egg contains a new organ for me to cook. The recipe calls : for some gallium and yttrium, boil for 5 minutes and chop up in a cup with : large amounts of butter, salt & pepper. : There’s more cyber modules, nanites, ammo and tech software down here as : well. : : I feel sorry for the poor crew’s kids and their spouses back on Earth. : Imagine how horrified Erin’s kid must feel after the game, knowing their : mother was turned into a metal monster looking after other monsters before : getting gunned down by a psychonaut. Hell, what about their dad? How would : he feel knowing he lost his lover in the depths of deep space? : : : And here’s a cartoon of what PK fire looks like once I upgrade my PSI stat : later: : : The final 2 regulators are in different maps. First I head to Sector A which : is above the freezer. The keycard is on one of the bodies down in the : freezer beside a farting egg. : Act 2: Don’t Get Poisoned – Hydroponics Sector A : : Polito Re: AI Voice Fragment : “Marie, this is urgent! It seems the AI from Tau Ceti has integrated itself : into the ship’s computer. I picked up this fragment today.” : “*static & glitches*Insolent, INSOLENT children!” : “Not only that, but after I found the fragment, I returned to my lab to find : it ransacked! I must see you. You’re the only one I trust now. I have a : theory about this AI: I tried to find information about the various : rumours regarding the events on Citadel Station. I think I’m on…” MESSAGE : INTERRUPTED : ***INCOMING MESSAGE FROM XERXES*** : “Log fragment error. Please rerecord.” : ***END MESSAGE*** : The plot thickens! The voice fragment alone should be enough to tip you off : who the AI is but I’m keeping quiet until the next level. : : Besides the 2 cameras, there’s a lot of maintenance bots in this map. The : laser pistol makes things so much easier. There’s no pattern buffer here, : so be careful. : : This was where I’d learned about hydroponics tanks but I think I did see them : in garden centres as a kid before I played this game. Check between the : plants in the tanks for ammo and cyber modules. I can never remember where : they are. You may recognise this hallway from the opening FMV. At least : one older build of Brutal Doom Extermination Day has an entire biodome of : hydroponics tanks in one Episode 1 map. Sadly the latest version removed : that room. : : A body in this room has the keycard for the final section on it. : : “Why do you go so slowly? Do you think this is some kind of game? It is : only through luck and my continued forbearance that you’re even alive. Now : move!” : I’m really starting to distrust Dr Polito: she sounds nothing like herself in : her logs, being a cold, impatient bitch. Dr Polito said in her logs that : the AI she found escaped into the ship’s network. Given how robotic she : sounded when pronouncing the word “biotoxin” earlier as well… : Check the eggs, use toxin shield to avoid getting poisoned if you have it and : check between every tank on both levels of these side rooms. : There’s more robots patrolling here and another one as well as a cyborg : midwife guard some more eggs beside the regulator and a large hydroponics : pond. : : This is the first time I’ve been able to get a good look at those Metroids up : close, though I am using a models improvement mod. : Cybernetic Modules : Cybernetic Modules contain a mix of programmable RNA databases and brainwave : EM which can be used to augment a cyber rig at any Cybernetic Upgrade : Unit, a proprietary TriOptimum training device. Skills acquired via : Upgrade Units are not guaranteed to last more than a few weeks, though : skills acquired in this fashion and then used consistently, and especially : under stressful conditions, are frequently found to be permanent. : “God, was he jacked. I had never seen a specimen like him. How much of his : original self remained? Hard to say. However, I must admit … he put the : ‘sigh’ back in cybernetic.” ~ She Magazine, July 2111 : Returning to the entrance after using the environmental regulator, I kill a : hybrid carrying a log. This is apparently a female hybrid despite all : hybrid models being male. Maybe the Enhanced Edition will fix that. Rise : of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition is. : Turnbull Re: Changing : “What do you know? Bronson was right after all. I imagine I’ve got about an : hour…but I’m tracking the…the transformation in the hope that the data : might be useful to someone else. There are tumours on my leg and back. I : can feel that thing inside of me… chewing, growing fat. My theory is that : need a living host to complete the transformation. Screw Diego, screw : Korenchkin, screw Tau Ceti V! If someone finds this, don’t have any : regrets about punching my clock. I was already gone.” : Act 3: Threek Show – Hydroponics: Sector D : : Actually, it’s spelled Caesium. : : Add a squeaking sound when you squeeze it and you have a lovely doggo and cat : toy. : : This organ should be used only in emergencies but not for the reason the : research results say: using those organs restores all your PSI instead of : just some of it. They’re precious and you shouldn’t waste them. The door : to sector D is near the benches past the security station. : : It’s a mess. The music is replaced with ambient whirring noises and : heartbeats. Diego has a log to Anatoly on the floor among the blood. He : sounds pained and angry as he talks due to the Many’s voices echoing with : him. : Diego Re: Our Alliance : “I believe the plans the Many have for me are greater than I even imagined. : The change is upon me, but the path is more glorious we imagined. It does : not stop at a mere single mutation! The form I’ve been promised is more : beautiful than even that: they tell me I will float through the air and : strike at the foes of our biomass with my mind. With our mind! My cup : runneth over!” : Another log in a desk next to a beaker has a woman whose staff were taken by : Miller find out what he’s up to: she saw Erin Bloome whom we killed : earlier. In the room above by a security crate I hack and loot is a log : from Anatoly spamming shotgun blasts into a terrified crewman while : praising the Many. : : This is the best armour in the game but you need to keep it powered or else : it does nothing. PSI Recharge/electron cascade comes in handy for that. : There’s cyber modules hidden above the pipes through the window here but : watch out as the water below is boiling. There’s no pattern buffer in this : map either. : Down in the red tank filled room is another nest with cyber modules in it. A : new enemy appears here: : Annelid arachnids or just simply spiders are the System Shock equivelent to : the skitters from Pathways into Darkness. They’re based directly on : similar giant spiders from Thief right down to their biting animations. : Don’t get bitten or they poison you. Those little ones are always found : here but are actually quite rare: starting in the next level you encounter : bigger ones that deal more units of poison damage and have more health. : The little buggers here didn’t even drop their organs for me to research. : Maybe their big sisters will. Polito says she’ll be waiting for me once I : make it up to deck 4. I return to the elevator and use the beaker on the : worms inside the security station to make more worm clusters. : : Mmm. Cup of meatnoodles. It’s making me hungry, so I think I’ll get some for : lunch tomorrow at time of writing. Sadly this isn’t Mother 2 or Mother 3: : That isn’t actually an Udon of Life so we can’t eat it: for that we need : to use it and the implant that lets us eat them on the actual pile : themselves. Next stop: the Ops level and Dr Polito!
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