Fort Solis

WEBVTT

00:00:17.070 --> 00:00:19.750
Hello, everyone, and welcome back to The Other Castle.

00:00:19.770 --> 00:00:22.490
The Other Castle in space.

00:00:22.590 --> 00:00:23.730
Oh, we're in space right now?

00:00:23.830 --> 00:00:24.810
Yeah.

00:00:24.830 --> 00:00:25.630
Oh, better hold our breath.

00:00:26.350 --> 00:00:27.810
They can't hear you scream out there.

00:00:27.950 --> 00:00:29.990
No, but they can hear us say, my name is Tom.

00:00:30.010 --> 00:00:32.350
And I'm Andrea, and this is The Other Castle podcast.

00:00:32.370 --> 00:00:36.630
This is a podcast where we break down the plot, lore and more behind games.

00:00:37.330 --> 00:00:39.450
Yes, we do, and thank you so much for tuning in.

00:00:39.470 --> 00:00:43.150
If this is your first time, you can check us out at our website, theothercastlepodcast.com.

00:00:43.170 --> 00:00:44.910
That's theothercastlepodcast.com.

00:00:45.190 --> 00:00:48.670
Over there, you can check out things like our Patreon, our Discord.

00:00:48.690 --> 00:00:50.250
We have every episode listed there.

00:00:50.270 --> 00:00:52.610
You can sign up for our newsletter, all sorts of fun things.

00:00:52.770 --> 00:00:58.250
And if you're in our Discord, I have been hinting at doing this game, but as of recording, no one has guessed it yet.

00:00:58.310 --> 00:01:00.090
The guessing games have been fun on Discord.

00:01:00.110 --> 00:01:11.470
I think it's very fun, because if you can figure out what the game is based on a Wheel of Fortune-style puzzle and some vague hints by us, you can be like, oh, I know that game.

00:01:11.490 --> 00:01:13.630
I give a shit, I'll check that out next time.

00:01:14.290 --> 00:01:15.710
But what was the first game that got spoiled?

00:01:16.010 --> 00:01:18.510
Oxenfree got guessed immediately in the Discord.

00:01:18.530 --> 00:01:19.290
That was impressive.

00:01:19.290 --> 00:01:20.710
That is coming up next week.

00:01:20.890 --> 00:01:21.970
That is next week's episode?

00:01:21.990 --> 00:01:22.770
Oh, giving it out of way.

00:01:22.830 --> 00:01:23.510
I am, yeah.

00:01:24.350 --> 00:01:25.310
Here's a teaser.

00:01:26.190 --> 00:01:29.010
But the Discord knew first, but that's been really fun.

00:01:29.030 --> 00:01:32.850
No one has guessed this, and I am scared that it's because no one knows what this game is.

00:01:33.230 --> 00:01:34.230
It's very possible.

00:01:34.250 --> 00:01:35.410
No, the Gears of War one.

00:01:35.650 --> 00:01:39.870
They also called that one just after I dropped the Terry Tate office linebacker video.

00:01:39.890 --> 00:01:41.970
They're like, oh no, it's Coltrane.

00:01:42.490 --> 00:01:45.950
I'm glad you dropped that in the DOS card just so I could watch it over and over again.

00:01:45.970 --> 00:01:47.890
That's the funniest fucking commercial.

00:01:47.910 --> 00:01:48.810
Oh, it's so good.

00:01:48.950 --> 00:01:51.430
Anyway, so this is The Other Castle.

00:01:51.450 --> 00:01:52.550
We're doing the plot lore and more.

00:01:52.570 --> 00:01:56.670
And today we are doing a game that, like you said, I don't think a lot of people know about.

00:01:56.690 --> 00:01:57.270
That's fair.

00:01:57.290 --> 00:01:58.610
Today we're doing Fort Solis.

00:01:58.630 --> 00:02:02.310
And I just want to clarify by plot lore and more, I mean, we're getting into development.

00:02:02.330 --> 00:02:06.190
We're getting into the production, and then we're getting into the whole story of the game.

00:02:06.210 --> 00:02:10.230
So if this is your first time joining us, spoilers by design.

00:02:10.230 --> 00:02:10.950
Full spoilers.

00:02:11.550 --> 00:02:13.830
But Fort Solis, it's a newer game.

00:02:13.850 --> 00:02:16.630
It came out on August 22nd, 2023.

00:02:16.650 --> 00:02:20.810
So as of the time this is posting, within two months or so.

00:02:21.050 --> 00:02:22.450
Yeah, very, very soon.

00:02:22.570 --> 00:02:28.070
Yeah, this came out across PS5 and PC and was developed by Fallen Leaf Studios.

00:02:28.270 --> 00:02:28.970
Haven't heard of them.

00:02:29.630 --> 00:02:30.670
Well, this is their first game.

00:02:30.810 --> 00:02:31.870
Okay, that makes sense.

00:02:32.190 --> 00:02:39.570
Fallen Leaf Studios is self-described as an exciting new independent game developer based in Liverpool's renowned Baltic Triangle.

00:02:40.030 --> 00:02:41.550
Hmm, I don't know where that is.

00:02:41.770 --> 00:02:45.870
You don't know where a lot of stuff is on a map, but Liverpool is in England.

00:02:46.170 --> 00:02:49.210
I know video game maps way better than I know the actual earth.

00:02:49.250 --> 00:02:50.070
That is a fact.

00:02:51.270 --> 00:02:58.830
Fallen Leaf also has an office in Warsaw, Poland, but a big chunk of the development team is apparently rooted in the UK.

00:02:58.830 --> 00:03:02.410
I did look at some LinkedIn posts, so if you saw me creeping, I'm sorry.

00:03:03.070 --> 00:03:04.790
It was for a podcast.

00:03:05.570 --> 00:03:12.530
The UK team includes studio director James Tinsdale Tinsdale has been a game developer since at least 2010.

00:03:12.870 --> 00:03:13.210
Okay.

00:03:13.210 --> 00:03:25.550
You know, because I stocked his LinkedIn profile and his IMDB and joined Fallen Leaf in March of 2021, which is kind of right when the studio was formed and like really got the wheels turning, it looks like.

00:03:26.730 --> 00:03:33.170
Since he's been in the gaming industry for years, he has worked on a lot of titles, but the only thing on his IMDB is Fort Solis.

00:03:33.470 --> 00:03:36.130
Does that mean it's because it's his like baby?

00:03:36.150 --> 00:03:37.470
What kind of role did he take with this?

00:03:37.870 --> 00:03:39.530
Well, this is definitely his baby.

00:03:39.550 --> 00:03:40.350
He's the writer director.

00:03:40.370 --> 00:03:42.490
He is like the heart and soul of Fort Solis.

00:03:42.510 --> 00:03:44.550
He's the full driving factor behind it.

00:03:44.730 --> 00:03:45.090
Oh, okay.

00:03:45.110 --> 00:03:46.010
So he's the mastermind.

00:03:46.010 --> 00:03:50.970
Yeah, I think perhaps the credits of other games he's been on just may not have transferred to IMDB.

00:03:50.990 --> 00:03:56.390
I just thought it was interesting that he's been in this industry for a while, but this is the only thing on his page.

00:03:56.410 --> 00:04:00.090
So it doesn't represent how storied his career is in gaming.

00:04:00.670 --> 00:04:05.730
It's probably just that nobody thought to track his history until he became the director of Fort Solis.

00:04:05.950 --> 00:04:09.010
That's fair, he probably doesn't have an agent adding shit to his page.

00:04:09.010 --> 00:04:11.370
Like that fully makes sense.

00:04:12.070 --> 00:04:21.530
Now, as we talk about Fort Solis, while in lockdown for the pandemic, the Fort Solis ideas are really starting to form for Tinsdale.

00:04:21.670 --> 00:04:28.610
And when we're talking about a COVID-inspired game, you know it's gonna be a little claustrophobic, a little lonely.

00:04:29.410 --> 00:04:38.570
And when he talks about his time in COVID, he talks about like, I was stuck at home, I watched everything on Netflix, like I finished Netflix.

00:04:40.050 --> 00:04:48.910
So what if I could take this kind of like whimsical storytelling that I'm seeing as I've binged literally everything, and pair it with a video game experience?

00:04:49.950 --> 00:04:58.030
Kind of make a binge moment that was still highly engaging, entertaining, and really top tier quality in terms of who put love into it.

00:04:58.470 --> 00:05:01.870
That's a really innovative idea just from watching Netflix videos.

00:05:03.910 --> 00:05:10.170
I can't wait for in 10 years when we're like, they were inspired by prank videos on YouTube to have great jumpscares.

00:05:10.190 --> 00:05:10.730
You know what I mean?

00:05:10.750 --> 00:05:12.430
I was watching a TikTok and...

00:05:12.450 --> 00:05:15.050
And it made me think of this AAA title.

00:05:15.110 --> 00:05:15.430
Right.

00:05:16.110 --> 00:05:21.950
Tinsdale also has this like really big admiration for ominous space shit.

00:05:22.290 --> 00:05:27.030
He's like, man, don't you love when you're in space and everything feels horrible?

00:05:27.230 --> 00:05:28.110
So dead space.

00:05:28.170 --> 00:05:28.730
I love that.

00:05:28.750 --> 00:05:30.690
Yeah, yes.

00:05:31.590 --> 00:05:49.990
So with this kind of idea of like ominous world of space and then claustrophobia of being locked at home, paired with like really high end entertainment value that doesn't feel cheap, really feels meaty and worth your while, Tinsdale moved forward with Fallen Leaf Studios to create the setting for Fort Solis.

00:05:50.770 --> 00:05:55.630
This idea started moving for Tinsdale, who started working with the graphic designer Mark Cushley.

00:05:56.110 --> 00:05:59.290
With a tight vision, the two game developer veterans came together.

00:05:59.850 --> 00:06:03.030
Fallen Leaf and Fort Solis started to take shape under their wing.

00:06:03.430 --> 00:06:05.230
It's a good little origin story for this company.

00:06:05.310 --> 00:06:08.030
Yeah, small beginnings in acorns and oak trees, whatever.

00:06:08.050 --> 00:06:08.470
Yeah.

00:06:08.890 --> 00:06:11.930
Tinsdale has cited narrative styles from Detroit Become Human.

00:06:12.110 --> 00:06:12.570
Hell yeah.

00:06:12.770 --> 00:06:14.130
All the super massive games.

00:06:14.470 --> 00:06:16.270
Shout out to the quarry, Pop Pop.

00:06:16.490 --> 00:06:17.210
Oh, that's great.

00:06:17.510 --> 00:06:24.030
As major influences in terms of the storytelling for how narrative driven to how character driven this piece is.

00:06:24.210 --> 00:06:26.150
So is this going to be a branching narrative game?

00:06:26.750 --> 00:06:29.270
There are more than one ending.

00:06:29.530 --> 00:06:30.190
More than one?

00:06:30.230 --> 00:06:31.170
More than one ending.

00:06:31.930 --> 00:06:32.390
Yes.

00:06:32.950 --> 00:06:39.890
He also really loved the aesthetic style of one-shot movies like Birdman and one of your favorites, 1917.

00:06:39.930 --> 00:06:41.010
Oh my God.

00:06:41.250 --> 00:06:43.370
I love single shot movies.

00:06:43.390 --> 00:06:46.090
1917 blew my fucking mind away though.

00:06:46.250 --> 00:06:47.910
You scared me out of watching it.

00:06:47.930 --> 00:06:48.950
Oh my God.

00:06:48.970 --> 00:06:50.290
It's just so good.

00:06:50.310 --> 00:06:54.070
And like that movie like touched me in ways that I didn't ever expect it to.

00:06:54.410 --> 00:06:55.150
That's beautiful.

00:06:55.290 --> 00:06:57.870
Yeah, it was like it came out right before COVID hits.

00:06:57.890 --> 00:07:03.950
So hardly anybody got to see it in theaters, but I managed to get out to see it in theaters and I was just mind blown.

00:07:04.550 --> 00:07:09.310
I love the idea that so many people's last movie in theaters was Cats before shutdown.

00:07:09.670 --> 00:07:14.590
Like I know a lot of people who are like, the last time I was in a theater is for fucking cats.

00:07:15.030 --> 00:07:16.410
You get a good story.

00:07:16.670 --> 00:07:20.530
Yeah, and it's funny cause Sam Mendes, he's the director of 1917.

00:07:20.850 --> 00:07:25.890
So now he's directed my favorite war movie, but he's also directed my least favorite war movie in Jarhead.

00:07:26.130 --> 00:07:28.510
Oh shit, so both ends of the spectrum.

00:07:28.530 --> 00:07:29.310
Yeah, he really did.

00:07:30.210 --> 00:07:31.050
That's really funny.

00:07:31.930 --> 00:07:40.630
But taking that idea of doing the one shot, so within 1917 and Birdman, the one shot that we're referring to is that it looks like the camera doesn't cut back and forth.

00:07:40.870 --> 00:07:46.670
So you get this very rhythmic involved sense of watching these properties.

00:07:46.910 --> 00:07:49.690
Very much like this bird's eye view of these characters.

00:07:49.890 --> 00:07:51.130
Yeah, entirely.

00:07:51.150 --> 00:07:52.190
It's super intimate.

00:07:52.870 --> 00:08:01.930
Now, he's also cited God of War as a visual inspiration kind of paired with that one take beautiful perspective for keeping the player immersed.

00:08:01.950 --> 00:08:07.170
And we're also thinking of things like Dead Space, which he has name dropped as an inspiration for this.

00:08:07.190 --> 00:08:08.210
So like, good for you.

00:08:08.230 --> 00:08:11.010
Take your fucking, I told you so shot or whatever.

00:08:12.190 --> 00:08:14.890
Dead Space is just a perfect, perfect game.

00:08:15.450 --> 00:08:15.970
It's beautiful.

00:08:16.530 --> 00:08:20.830
Although, no, I won't get into its sister sequel today.

00:08:22.350 --> 00:08:29.950
Eventually, as the Fallen Leaf team grew, they were able to hire more talent and they first focused on Simon Brattle.

00:08:30.590 --> 00:08:32.430
Brattle or Brattle, I apologize.

00:08:32.470 --> 00:08:33.670
I'm gonna go with Brattle.

00:08:34.210 --> 00:08:43.810
Brattle served as the technical director of this game and had come hot off the heels of working on a game that hasn't come out yet, but you've heard of GTA 6.

00:08:44.290 --> 00:08:45.430
Has he actually, though?

00:08:46.970 --> 00:08:48.450
You're like, everything's alleged.

00:08:48.470 --> 00:08:49.350
We've seen nothing.

00:08:50.290 --> 00:08:50.930
Fuck you.

00:08:51.870 --> 00:08:55.150
Allegedly, he left the GTA 6 team to work on this.

00:08:55.290 --> 00:08:55.970
Oh, damn, okay.

00:08:55.990 --> 00:08:58.290
I mean, GTA 6 has just taken so damn long.

00:08:58.450 --> 00:08:58.850
I know.

00:08:59.490 --> 00:09:03.730
We've gotten one GTA 6 leak of a weapon wheel, maybe, I think.

00:09:03.730 --> 00:09:04.290
I don't remember.

00:09:04.310 --> 00:09:06.050
They took the footage down very quickly.

00:09:06.070 --> 00:09:07.730
Very quickly, yeah, but there was a lot of fighting.

00:09:07.990 --> 00:09:09.270
Okay, cool, love that.

00:09:10.050 --> 00:09:18.710
So Fallen Leaf only had 10 developers, but these are all kick-ass fucking developers working on under an incredible technical director.

00:09:18.730 --> 00:09:22.910
So everyone that came in knew exactly what they were doing and they were really killing it.

00:09:23.550 --> 00:09:24.130
That's awesome.

00:09:24.970 --> 00:09:33.770
Now, again, securing key talent, that's gonna be kind of a theme with the development of Fort Solis, and that absolutely continued with the cast.

00:09:34.390 --> 00:09:42.090
Now, the cast is small, as this game is an isolated, lonely sci-fi horror game, but it is fucking stacked for how small it is.

00:09:42.110 --> 00:09:45.190
This is a perfect example of quality, not quantity.

00:09:45.530 --> 00:09:48.770
I think the casting is what made you wanna play this game to begin with.

00:09:48.910 --> 00:09:51.250
It's the only reason I gave a shit about this game.

00:09:51.650 --> 00:09:55.770
You were following this game so closely because of the cast.

00:09:56.010 --> 00:10:02.570
Yeah, after this got announced and I saw who was associated, I just went, was Googling updates, even when I wasn't prompted.

00:10:02.590 --> 00:10:04.050
It was just, oh, it's been a week.

00:10:04.070 --> 00:10:05.130
Let's see what they're up to.

00:10:05.410 --> 00:10:06.530
What's going on with Fort Solis?

00:10:06.550 --> 00:10:11.850
Yeah, now, the reason I love this so much is because you literally could not do better in this world.

00:10:11.990 --> 00:10:12.630
I don't think so.

00:10:12.950 --> 00:10:19.530
So for our protagonist, Jack Leary, the team was able to secure probably one of the best video game performers in the game right now.

00:10:20.070 --> 00:10:26.750
Of course, I'm talking about the incomparable Roger Clark, AKA Arthur Morgan from Red Dead Redemption 2.

00:10:26.770 --> 00:10:35.610
Oh, like to get the person who has made so many people laugh, cry, cheer, and get him as like your lead.

00:10:36.570 --> 00:10:37.450
That's a fucking get.

00:10:37.750 --> 00:10:39.750
And it's right on the heels of Red Dead 2.

00:10:39.810 --> 00:10:42.330
It's been five years since that game has come out, but.

00:10:42.350 --> 00:10:43.710
Oh, don't remind me.

00:10:44.230 --> 00:10:47.630
But it's still so impactful that it doesn't feel like an old game.

00:10:47.930 --> 00:10:51.230
It looks better than 90% of the game is fucking out there right now.

00:10:51.390 --> 00:10:53.570
It's because they take a long time making these games, though.

00:10:53.590 --> 00:10:54.050
That's why.

00:10:54.070 --> 00:10:55.070
Yeah, they are perfect.

00:10:55.350 --> 00:10:58.510
I also do have an Arthur Morgan tattoo now, so.

00:10:58.530 --> 00:10:59.490
Kind of, yeah, you do.

00:10:59.490 --> 00:11:00.790
That's where my life has gone.

00:11:00.810 --> 00:11:02.030
It's a long story.

00:11:02.490 --> 00:11:10.690
Anyway, it's unclear if they leverage their former Rockstar technical director to come in and lock in the baddest cowboy in the West, but I'm gonna throw it out there.

00:11:10.870 --> 00:11:11.990
I'm just gonna speculate.

00:11:12.430 --> 00:11:15.050
Yeah, I think so, likely, that they might have something to do with that.

00:11:15.070 --> 00:11:16.930
A text might have been sent.

00:11:17.110 --> 00:11:17.850
We never know.

00:11:17.870 --> 00:11:19.230
You know, we've run into each other at a party.

00:11:19.670 --> 00:11:24.410
But regardless, Roger Clark was hooked once he actually got to read the script.

00:11:24.630 --> 00:11:25.270
Oh, that's great.

00:11:25.510 --> 00:11:35.550
Well, this performer is incredible and absolutely has nothing to prove after that fucking entire performance as Arthur Morgan, where he showed people how to feel again.

00:11:36.690 --> 00:11:45.410
He did say that he took on this role to show his fan base that he's been lucky enough to show his work to, that there's more to life than being a cowboy.

00:11:45.430 --> 00:11:46.430
Hell yeah.

00:11:46.470 --> 00:11:47.590
He's gonna be a space cowboy.

00:11:47.770 --> 00:11:51.830
Also, what a humble moment to say, thank you all so much for following me.

00:11:51.850 --> 00:11:53.050
I'm not just a cowboy.

00:11:53.070 --> 00:11:54.670
I'm just a performer.

00:11:54.830 --> 00:11:55.530
Yeah, right?

00:11:55.550 --> 00:11:56.930
He does Shakespeare and shit.

00:11:56.950 --> 00:11:58.690
Like, he's done a lot of stage performing.

00:11:58.710 --> 00:12:00.690
He's an incredible performer, period.

00:12:00.930 --> 00:12:03.050
He's like, if you liked that, wait till you see what I got next.

00:12:04.250 --> 00:12:10.810
He loved that the game concept was different and the script really stood out to him, and it did take a big departure from who Arthur is.

00:12:10.830 --> 00:12:13.650
So he gets to show off his acting straight up.

00:12:13.670 --> 00:12:16.170
And he is an actor at his core.

00:12:16.190 --> 00:12:18.830
This is an incredible performance and is nothing like Arthur.

00:12:19.030 --> 00:12:21.850
I don't even hear Arthur in the undertones of his voice.

00:12:21.850 --> 00:12:22.950
It's completely different.

00:12:23.130 --> 00:12:23.890
Oh, that's great.

00:12:23.910 --> 00:12:25.210
Is it all done in mocap though?

00:12:25.330 --> 00:12:25.750
Yes.

00:12:26.550 --> 00:12:33.850
Well, I mean, like with most video games, it's large portion mocap with some ADR here and there, but I'm just splitting hairs there.

00:12:35.550 --> 00:12:44.430
To balance out the powerhouse of Roger Clark, the Fallen Leaf team managed to book the other incredible voice actor of our generation.

00:12:45.030 --> 00:12:48.110
The fact they managed to get two A-list actors.

00:12:48.850 --> 00:12:50.370
This is Troy Baker, y'all.

00:12:50.390 --> 00:12:51.810
Yeah, Troy fucking Baker.

00:12:52.210 --> 00:12:54.850
You know who Troy Baker is, so like, don't start with me.

00:12:55.810 --> 00:12:56.730
I'm not talking to you.

00:12:56.870 --> 00:12:58.210
I'm talking to the listener.

00:12:58.590 --> 00:13:00.050
Being real aggressive right now.

00:13:00.390 --> 00:13:03.730
Anyway, Troy Baker is Joel Miller from The Last of Us.

00:13:03.730 --> 00:13:09.670
Troy Baker is Batman and the Joker and the Penguin at different times in the Batman universe.

00:13:09.750 --> 00:13:11.690
Troy Baker has been around forever.

00:13:11.950 --> 00:13:15.170
He's Sam Drake in Uncharted 4, the fourth Uncharted.

00:13:15.670 --> 00:13:16.530
He's in everything.

00:13:16.650 --> 00:13:18.170
Yeah, he's an incredible performer.

00:13:18.270 --> 00:13:20.230
He is, and he does a lot of mocap.

00:13:20.250 --> 00:13:23.430
He also does a lot of anime dubbing too, which I saw on his IMDB.

00:13:23.430 --> 00:13:24.030
Oh, good for him.

00:13:24.610 --> 00:13:33.830
Now, Troy Baker was able to work closely on the character development of his performance with the team really like early on in development.

00:13:34.250 --> 00:13:37.490
So he said, I'm into this, but I want to have a hand on the wheel.

00:13:37.490 --> 00:13:40.330
I want to work with this to make this a great character study.

00:13:40.350 --> 00:13:41.830
And they said, oh, thank God.

00:13:43.290 --> 00:13:44.870
There's four of us here, man.

00:13:44.890 --> 00:13:47.810
Please, we would love your support in figuring this out.

00:13:48.230 --> 00:13:52.470
And like, if there's anybody that you can trust to do this right, it's Troy Baker.

00:13:52.610 --> 00:13:56.890
Yeah, and you pair him with the other great performer of our generation, Roger Clark.

00:13:56.990 --> 00:13:59.390
Yeah, they're gonna do some fucking acting.

00:13:59.410 --> 00:14:03.350
Yeah, Roger Clark spent five years making Red Dead.

00:14:03.510 --> 00:14:06.610
And we've spent five years loving him since the day it came out.

00:14:06.630 --> 00:14:07.130
Yeah, right.

00:14:07.190 --> 00:14:08.350
So it's fair, it's even now.

00:14:09.710 --> 00:14:14.270
So Troy really was focused on making this a big character piece for him.

00:14:14.450 --> 00:14:24.050
And I really appreciated that in all of the interviews with Troy or even where it's Troy's reference in this game, they're like, he would never call in fucking anything.

00:14:24.070 --> 00:14:28.090
Troy is an all or nothing, like, I am in it to be in it kind of guy.

00:14:28.110 --> 00:14:38.030
And it just, you know, you don't get this kind of reputation and this kind of work in any industry without being a hard worker and someone who's dedicated to doing the best you can.

00:14:38.830 --> 00:14:39.530
And I love that.

00:14:39.530 --> 00:14:40.910
And, you know, it's kind of funny.

00:14:40.930 --> 00:14:43.490
We just watched behind the scenes on Bioshock Infinite.

00:14:43.890 --> 00:14:47.870
And the way he also hams up for other performers was incredible.

00:14:47.890 --> 00:14:56.370
Like we saw this scene of Elizabeth's vocal performer doing a performance and Troy was in the room, like feeding her lines to get her excited and to get her energy up.

00:14:56.390 --> 00:14:58.810
It was like, damn, he fucking works.

00:14:59.290 --> 00:15:00.650
No, he absolutely does.

00:15:00.810 --> 00:15:03.070
And like, sorry, everybody, that's not a preview for this season.

00:15:03.090 --> 00:15:06.370
No, oh no, I'll take a shot for that one.

00:15:06.390 --> 00:15:06.970
I'm sorry.

00:15:08.150 --> 00:15:08.390
No.

00:15:08.410 --> 00:15:10.270
Yeah, we weren't watching the behind the scenes for this season.

00:15:10.290 --> 00:15:11.390
We were just watching it to watch it.

00:15:11.490 --> 00:15:12.970
Oh yeah, we were doing that for fun.

00:15:12.990 --> 00:15:14.830
That's who we are now as people.

00:15:15.570 --> 00:15:17.510
Our YouTube algorithm is so fucked though.

00:15:17.530 --> 00:15:18.650
Yeah, it's terrible.

00:15:18.690 --> 00:15:23.710
It's all just like, lore explained, developer interview with game titles.

00:15:23.730 --> 00:15:25.790
Like there's nothing fun on our algorithms at all.

00:15:25.810 --> 00:15:26.130
Nope.

00:15:26.850 --> 00:15:30.370
So I just also wanted to share an anecdote from an interview that I heard.

00:15:30.630 --> 00:15:39.610
During the development of Red Dead Redemption 2, Roger Clarke would play Uncharted 4 and The Last of Us to study specifically Troy Baker's performances.

00:15:40.350 --> 00:15:40.850
Really?

00:15:40.970 --> 00:15:49.870
Yeah, he said there was intricacies of gun work and space work in The Last of Us and other games where he was like, holy shit, this guy knows what he's fucking doing.

00:15:49.890 --> 00:15:53.110
I'm studying how he owns these different roles too.

00:15:53.930 --> 00:15:57.010
Also, let's get Roger Clarke in a goddamn Naughty Dog game.

00:15:57.010 --> 00:15:57.790
Come on.

00:15:57.850 --> 00:15:58.630
Seriously.

00:15:58.650 --> 00:16:03.670
He's out here name dropping Uncharted and Last of Us all in a breath and it's only partially for Troy.

00:16:03.690 --> 00:16:04.870
Let's get this man some work.

00:16:05.030 --> 00:16:06.510
I'm sure Troy will say something.

00:16:07.550 --> 00:16:08.970
He'll put in a word with Neil.

00:16:08.990 --> 00:16:09.270
Yeah.

00:16:10.190 --> 00:16:13.470
That all culminates though, in the boys working together.

00:16:13.750 --> 00:16:23.530
And during production, they did argue over who would win a fight, Arthur Morgan or Joel Miller, because we all share the same fucking brain cell when it comes to video games.

00:16:23.770 --> 00:16:24.410
And it's Arthur.

00:16:25.110 --> 00:16:30.770
Roger Clark insists that if Joel can be taken down by a golf club, Arthur's got this fight, no problem.

00:16:30.770 --> 00:16:32.830
Oh my God.

00:16:32.850 --> 00:16:34.830
That was a low fucking blow.

00:16:34.850 --> 00:16:37.050
You talking about that golf club?

00:16:38.990 --> 00:16:39.570
Yeah.

00:16:40.810 --> 00:16:43.270
Oh shit, that was fucking mean, if anything.

00:16:44.010 --> 00:16:49.330
It's just a reminder that Arthur Morgan is the baddest motherfucker in the West.

00:16:49.810 --> 00:16:56.250
Like I say in that episode, there's that part where he gets shot in the shoulder with a shotgun point blank and survives it somehow.

00:16:56.270 --> 00:17:01.410
So yeah, if a golf club, damn Joel, goddamn that's mean.

00:17:01.430 --> 00:17:03.930
You sound so upset for Joel right now.

00:17:03.950 --> 00:17:05.030
I think it's hilarious.

00:17:05.050 --> 00:17:07.070
You're not even a Joel apologist.

00:17:07.130 --> 00:17:12.090
I know your heart says Arthur Morgan on this one, so does mine, but holy shit, you're upset.

00:17:12.710 --> 00:17:14.070
That was vicious.

00:17:14.590 --> 00:17:18.250
Roger Clark is one of the most charming people in the world to watch interviews from.

00:17:18.290 --> 00:17:21.190
He is so grateful and so excited to be there.

00:17:21.210 --> 00:17:22.430
I love him so much.

00:17:22.690 --> 00:17:29.470
I want to protect him, and everything in my heart says he's not gonna be problematic, and I feel like we can trust in him.

00:17:29.530 --> 00:17:30.570
Fingers crossed, everybody.

00:17:30.570 --> 00:17:32.490
Yeah, I hope this doesn't age poorly.

00:17:33.730 --> 00:17:38.670
Now, in addition to the Boy Squad, Scottish actress Julia Brown rounded out the cast.

00:17:39.010 --> 00:17:45.890
She's mostly done TV, but really enjoyed the process and embraced the experience of working on a video game.

00:17:46.230 --> 00:17:51.170
That includes mocap, that includes ADR, that includes all kinds of scanning of your stuff.

00:17:51.570 --> 00:17:53.610
That sounded weird, mostly her face scanning.

00:17:55.110 --> 00:17:56.870
Yeah, the face scans in this are pretty accurate.

00:17:57.130 --> 00:18:03.470
She's also talked about how wonderful it was to work with Roger Clark and Troy Baker, which also solidifies my theory that these are all great people.

00:18:03.750 --> 00:18:04.370
Oh, that's good.

00:18:05.470 --> 00:18:10.950
Fort Solis was announced on June 9th, 2022 with a full trailer at Summer Games Fest.

00:18:11.370 --> 00:18:16.430
And with it, Jeff Keighley brought both Roger Clark and Troy Baker on stage to talk about the trailer.

00:18:16.870 --> 00:18:19.330
Because holy shit, you just showed us a space trailer.

00:18:19.810 --> 00:18:23.390
It ends with who's in it, and then you bring out the two best performers.

00:18:23.410 --> 00:18:25.570
Like, Nolan North was busy that week.

00:18:26.710 --> 00:18:28.230
But these two can't, you know what I mean?

00:18:28.250 --> 00:18:28.710
Yeah, right?

00:18:29.930 --> 00:18:30.970
Oh, so good.

00:18:31.050 --> 00:18:32.830
No, he gets some great exclusives.

00:18:33.150 --> 00:18:39.530
Now, this moment in gaming history is only 15 months after Tinsdale went full time with Fallen Leaf.

00:18:40.250 --> 00:18:42.010
That is a tight fucking turnaround.

00:18:42.030 --> 00:18:43.490
That's faster than like Stray.

00:18:43.970 --> 00:18:49.590
Oh, right, this is just incredible to see it all really come together and like hitting these deadlines.

00:18:50.190 --> 00:19:00.250
And because they're a small studio and they're in Europe where there's a lot of, you know, work-life balance, I actually have faith that they weren't too crunchy, but I didn't see anything either way.

00:19:00.290 --> 00:19:10.190
But, you know, I'm perhaps very hopeful with this game and its intention and its creation because I really enjoyed it and I really liked the people involved.

00:19:11.410 --> 00:19:19.350
After this announcement, the studio was silent, to the point of me telling Tom, I'm just Googling Fort Solis for funsies in hopes something will show up.

00:19:19.590 --> 00:19:23.570
Every single game announcement after that, you're like, why no Fort Solis?

00:19:23.870 --> 00:19:24.390
I was.

00:19:24.410 --> 00:19:32.170
I think we got a state of play, we got a lot of Summer Games Fest packs of trailers, I was like, yeah, yeah, I don't care about this.

00:19:32.190 --> 00:19:33.090
Where's Fort Solis?

00:19:33.150 --> 00:19:34.050
Where's my cowboy?

00:19:34.530 --> 00:19:34.890
Nowhere.

00:19:35.390 --> 00:19:35.870
Nowhere.

00:19:36.090 --> 00:19:38.690
But the things that did trickle out were fantastic.

00:19:39.350 --> 00:19:44.630
GamesRadar and Roger Clark have called Troy Baker's performance in the game some of his finest work to date.

00:19:44.970 --> 00:19:46.530
And they said that separately.

00:19:46.870 --> 00:19:47.270
Nice.

00:19:48.230 --> 00:19:50.110
The game is admittedly very short.

00:19:50.130 --> 00:19:53.010
Like you can do this in like a two and a half, three hour run.

00:19:53.030 --> 00:19:53.870
Holy shit.

00:19:54.090 --> 00:19:59.410
Yeah, because it's a Netflix thing, it's a sunken in the couch thing, it's an evening, like let's roll with it.

00:19:59.430 --> 00:20:00.210
A quick binge.

00:20:00.370 --> 00:20:02.470
It's a big quick binge.

00:20:02.670 --> 00:20:03.090
Okay.

00:20:03.770 --> 00:20:05.050
However, it is dense.

00:20:05.090 --> 00:20:07.350
There's not a lot of that time that feels stupid.

00:20:08.330 --> 00:20:09.290
That feels stupid.

00:20:10.090 --> 00:20:11.330
There's no filler content.

00:20:12.010 --> 00:20:14.130
Yeah, filler content, thank you.

00:20:14.150 --> 00:20:16.630
There's not a lot of fetch quests necessarily.

00:20:17.150 --> 00:20:20.250
It's a lot of constant moving, it's a lot of constant updates.

00:20:20.710 --> 00:20:22.250
It doesn't feel like a slog.

00:20:22.850 --> 00:20:33.630
This game has been cited as a walking simulator, but it doesn't have that weightiness of your steps, where it feels like, oh, every step you have to take in the fucking environment.

00:20:34.310 --> 00:20:35.570
Yeah, it's so beautiful.

00:20:35.670 --> 00:20:38.350
Like, no, I'm taking my step towards my next goal.

00:20:38.370 --> 00:20:42.690
But their goals were, they're like small and achievable, when you get through and it feels good.

00:20:42.710 --> 00:20:45.370
This is a fucking endorphin rush of a three-hour game.

00:20:45.470 --> 00:20:46.070
Okay, cool.

00:20:46.630 --> 00:20:49.710
Troy Baker's called the story akin to a black hole.

00:20:50.130 --> 00:20:53.910
It's deep and it's dense, rather than a wide net of a story.

00:20:54.090 --> 00:20:55.030
It sucks you in.

00:20:55.190 --> 00:20:59.590
Yeah, Tinsdale's has concurred by saying, it was a small team that put this together.

00:20:59.610 --> 00:21:04.910
I cannot keep emphasizing the amount of people that worked on this is very small.

00:21:05.950 --> 00:21:09.270
And if anything didn't move the plot forward, it had to be cut.

00:21:09.290 --> 00:21:14.070
They didn't have their resources to put in any filler, anything stupid, like I said.

00:21:14.530 --> 00:21:19.130
The team, including Roger Clark himself, has called the game a walking simulator.

00:21:19.230 --> 00:21:21.610
So we'll bring that back around.

00:21:21.630 --> 00:21:23.390
But it still gets stuck to its label.

00:21:23.450 --> 00:21:30.290
Yeah, but it's set in a horror sci-fi world, which I think does kind of help elevate the genre.

00:21:30.310 --> 00:21:34.910
It's been a lot of walking around in a field or a house or a set environment.

00:21:34.930 --> 00:21:39.090
Now it's a much more expansive fantasy world.

00:21:39.430 --> 00:21:40.010
Fantasy?

00:21:40.030 --> 00:21:41.090
No, space is real.

00:21:41.550 --> 00:21:42.410
Space world.

00:21:42.430 --> 00:21:43.230
Sci-fi world.

00:21:44.590 --> 00:21:47.370
Please, no one clip me forgetting that space exists.

00:21:49.490 --> 00:21:54.710
Fort Solis is truly, in my heart of hearts, the intersection of Firewatch and Dead Space.

00:21:55.410 --> 00:22:04.790
Two games which I've covered on this show as a plug, but truly it is, whatever that bastard baby is, it's Fort Solis.

00:22:05.010 --> 00:22:05.430
Awesome.

00:22:05.690 --> 00:22:08.390
They wanted to create a concise moving experience.

00:22:08.590 --> 00:22:10.810
They wanted the best in the industry to put it together.

00:22:11.450 --> 00:22:14.150
They want to ride this baby all the way to Mars.

00:22:15.710 --> 00:22:17.750
This is Fort Solis.

00:22:18.830 --> 00:22:24.530
The game opens with a quote, Courage is not the lack of fear, it is acting in spite of it.

00:22:25.110 --> 00:22:25.670
Mark Twain.

00:22:26.310 --> 00:22:27.430
He said a lot of things, though.

00:22:27.450 --> 00:22:28.430
You don't mean to take everything so hard.

00:22:28.450 --> 00:22:30.750
I was gonna say, he says a lot of things, and they're not all great.

00:22:30.990 --> 00:22:31.410
Nah.

00:22:32.230 --> 00:22:33.130
We are on Mars.

00:22:33.650 --> 00:22:35.550
It's the year 2080 here.

00:22:36.070 --> 00:22:40.350
The red planet is dark at night, but we are illuminated to the sight of a mining operation.

00:22:41.030 --> 00:22:43.170
This is Fort Miner, like the band.

00:22:44.130 --> 00:22:44.930
Do you know that band?

00:22:44.950 --> 00:22:45.250
Nope.

00:22:45.570 --> 00:22:46.690
All right, I figured not.

00:22:47.870 --> 00:22:51.190
It is the offshoot of Mike Shinoda from Linkin Park.

00:22:52.290 --> 00:22:53.470
Oh, okay.

00:22:53.990 --> 00:22:57.530
I don't know if you guys are here at Emo Game Episode.

00:22:57.550 --> 00:23:00.550
Tom doesn't know music, especially this genre very well.

00:23:00.790 --> 00:23:03.730
I just want to throw that shout out for the one other person that will get that.

00:23:04.430 --> 00:23:05.190
It's not Tom.

00:23:05.750 --> 00:23:13.530
Anyway, we meet two engineers who are prepping the exterior machinery of this area before a big storm hits the surface.

00:23:14.170 --> 00:23:15.630
Oh, there's a big storm coming.

00:23:17.030 --> 00:23:17.310
Oh, yeah.

00:23:17.330 --> 00:23:17.470
Yeah.

00:23:18.230 --> 00:23:22.910
We see Jessica Appleton, a junior engineer up on a tower prepping some shit.

00:23:23.290 --> 00:23:28.370
And then we come down to senior engineer Jack Leary, my cowboy.

00:23:29.570 --> 00:23:30.650
So this is Roger Clark's character?

00:23:30.690 --> 00:23:31.010
Yes.

00:23:31.050 --> 00:23:31.370
Okay.

00:23:32.430 --> 00:23:36.350
Jack and Jessica are chatting about some zombie TV show they've been watching together.

00:23:37.010 --> 00:23:39.970
Jack didn't love the ending of whatever show they just watched.

00:23:39.990 --> 00:23:42.530
He thinks the hero could have done more to save everyone.

00:23:43.070 --> 00:23:45.230
They have perfect platonic banter.

00:23:45.250 --> 00:23:53.950
Like this is one of those, when you think of those great non-sexual friendships that look like they could be a relationship, but aren't because they're just friends and respect each other.

00:23:53.970 --> 00:23:55.370
A good platonic relationship, yeah.

00:23:55.370 --> 00:23:59.070
Oh, I love a good platonic relationship so goddamn much.

00:23:59.090 --> 00:23:59.810
It's so rare.

00:24:00.070 --> 00:24:00.330
Yeah.

00:24:00.350 --> 00:24:03.090
And you guys, just as an example, Leslie Knope or Ron Swanson.

00:24:03.470 --> 00:24:06.210
Or, you know, Arthur Morgan and Sadie Adler.

00:24:07.470 --> 00:24:09.330
Although there's some tension.

00:24:09.350 --> 00:24:11.430
Hey, you know, we all want it to happen.

00:24:12.670 --> 00:24:14.170
If I believe in it hard enough.

00:24:15.370 --> 00:24:17.890
Jack is a little bit older than Jessica.

00:24:17.910 --> 00:24:20.210
He's a senior engineer, you know, aged.

00:24:20.490 --> 00:24:24.570
Jessica likes to poke at him, knowing she's close enough to get under her skin.

00:24:24.590 --> 00:24:27.270
So there's a little brother sister relationship to it.

00:24:27.330 --> 00:24:28.110
Little ribbing.

00:24:28.290 --> 00:24:29.250
Yeah, a little ribbing.

00:24:30.090 --> 00:24:35.530
Their chat is interrupted by an emergency alert from a nearby mining plant, Fort Solis.

00:24:36.110 --> 00:24:37.050
That's the name of the game.

00:24:37.070 --> 00:24:38.050
That's the name of this game.

00:24:38.390 --> 00:24:45.970
Jessica is surprised because, as she calls it, Fort Solis is a relic, and she didn't even think anyone was there or doing anything.

00:24:45.990 --> 00:24:46.710
What the fuck?

00:24:46.790 --> 00:24:48.750
Ew, Fort Solis, that was so last season.

00:24:49.350 --> 00:24:52.470
Jack is grumpy, because he's an old dude, so go for it.

00:24:53.030 --> 00:24:58.310
He says, the second the shuttle gets here and his shift is over, he's going on his goddamn vacation.

00:24:58.830 --> 00:24:59.210
Good.

00:24:59.430 --> 00:25:03.690
It's a well-earned one, and Jessica knows he's been looking forward to this for so long.

00:25:03.950 --> 00:25:05.470
Don't look forward to anything.

00:25:06.090 --> 00:25:08.430
You can never have a dream in a video game.

00:25:08.990 --> 00:25:10.210
Especially a horror game.

00:25:10.950 --> 00:25:11.830
You dummy.

00:25:12.290 --> 00:25:15.050
Jack goes to a comms base and reaches out to Fort Solis.

00:25:15.430 --> 00:25:17.750
He pings them a few times, but no one answers.

00:25:17.910 --> 00:25:19.810
And he's like, damn, that's crazy.

00:25:19.830 --> 00:25:22.810
I can't wait to go on vacation.

00:25:24.730 --> 00:25:27.750
Jessica is like, it's just a stone's throw from over here.

00:25:27.830 --> 00:25:29.430
And Jack says, we're on Mars.

00:25:29.450 --> 00:25:33.930
That idiom isn't really relevant for science reasons, but whatever.

00:25:34.910 --> 00:25:41.190
Jack does, by design, have to follow through on the emergency call because it's just the protocol for it.

00:25:41.650 --> 00:25:46.670
And he figures he'll just take an LTV to Fort Solis, check it out, loop back around, will be great.

00:25:47.250 --> 00:25:55.350
Jessica is still up in the towers prepping things for the storm, and she's like, perfect, I need to finish this or whole shit's gonna get fucked up, but then I'll catch up with you.

00:25:56.030 --> 00:25:57.370
Jack says, Roger that.

00:25:58.270 --> 00:26:01.150
Jessica's like, you're not in the military anymore, you can cool it.

00:26:01.230 --> 00:26:02.390
He says, Roger that.

00:26:03.810 --> 00:26:07.230
So that's just like some of the banter and the energy they have.

00:26:07.390 --> 00:26:08.730
They don't wanna fuck each other.

00:26:08.750 --> 00:26:10.890
No, it's good character introduction.

00:26:10.950 --> 00:26:13.470
They just respect each other and they're both funny.

00:26:14.410 --> 00:26:19.130
Jack heads off in a six-wheel LTV, similar to like to the ones we saw in The Martian.

00:26:19.330 --> 00:26:19.690
Okay.

00:26:20.030 --> 00:26:22.450
Which is the only Mars thing I think I've ever seen.

00:26:22.470 --> 00:26:25.370
I was gonna say, this is already feeling very Martian vibes.

00:26:25.390 --> 00:26:29.650
Right, there's a storm, shit's going down, people are getting separated, not a good scene.

00:26:30.030 --> 00:26:35.090
So yeah, when you think about The Martian, the things that he's driving, it's like that, but this one's really, really big.

00:26:35.110 --> 00:26:36.430
It's like a tank-sized one.

00:26:36.510 --> 00:26:36.950
Got it.

00:26:37.410 --> 00:26:41.030
It's 2080, you know, so machinery's always gonna be a little bit bigger and better.

00:26:41.050 --> 00:26:43.110
Right, souped up lunar rover.

00:26:43.790 --> 00:26:44.430
Exactly.

00:26:44.810 --> 00:26:54.210
The LTV slowly takes Jack to Fort Solis alone as we get a glimpse of the miraculously detailed and somehow lived-in atmosphere of Mars.

00:26:54.990 --> 00:27:15.010
There's something about this that does feel traversed as opposed to this very desert-like, shaped-by-nature world that we typically see at Mars, which the character in that set design alone tells me so much about how long people have been here and the studies and structures and how common it is to be working on Mars, like these two people.

00:27:15.290 --> 00:27:18.110
Yeah, I was gonna say, this sounds like we've been here a long time already.

00:27:18.230 --> 00:27:18.770
Oh yeah.

00:27:19.650 --> 00:27:22.390
As he heads off, Jack tells Jessica to watch out for the storm.

00:27:23.230 --> 00:27:29.010
In Jessica's charming and gentle Scottish accent, she says, I doubt it'll pass by me unnoticed.

00:27:29.450 --> 00:27:35.930
While the LTV finds its way to the nearby and yet still very far Fort Solis, we get the opening credits across the screen.

00:27:36.790 --> 00:27:45.210
The dust from the surface dances in the highlights of Jack's LTV as we approach the game's namesake and we get the title card, Fort Solis.

00:27:45.950 --> 00:27:46.750
Also location.

00:27:46.990 --> 00:27:49.550
Yeah, it doubled, I like that.

00:27:49.570 --> 00:27:49.770
Yeah.

00:27:50.450 --> 00:27:52.290
Following the title card, we get the cast.

00:27:52.570 --> 00:27:58.610
Roger Clark as Jack Leary, Julia Brown as Jessica Appleton, and then with the and treatment.

00:27:58.630 --> 00:28:00.790
Of course he gets the and treatment.

00:28:01.210 --> 00:28:03.310
And Troy Baker as Wyatt Taylor.

00:28:03.870 --> 00:28:05.850
Can you tell me why the and is so important?

00:28:06.530 --> 00:28:08.850
I can't actually, I wish I could.

00:28:08.870 --> 00:28:16.530
I think it's one of those things they introduced for when you have two mega stars, essentially in the same role, and they both want to be at the top.

00:28:17.350 --> 00:28:21.650
Oh, so one gets an and at the end to be like, and I'm the standing ovation of it all.

00:28:21.690 --> 00:28:26.670
Yeah, that makes you kind of the special guest, the big treat, the get of the project.

00:28:26.970 --> 00:28:30.990
Okay, so like in Fast X, Helen Mirren and Ria Moreno.

00:28:31.010 --> 00:28:37.010
Okay, you can't compare it to Fast X, because there are 14 people that get an and in that movie.

00:28:40.810 --> 00:28:51.910
I came home from work the other day, and you were just at the credits of this movie, and it was literally at the and and with section of the credits, and there was seriously like 14 people on that list.

00:28:52.570 --> 00:28:56.470
So I think it's like, and these people also blessed us with their time.

00:28:56.630 --> 00:29:00.090
Yeah, we were lucky to have this person show up.

00:29:00.190 --> 00:29:03.790
I fucking love the Fast and Furious movies unironically.

00:29:03.810 --> 00:29:04.630
You really do.

00:29:05.270 --> 00:29:06.630
I wish it was ironic.

00:29:07.010 --> 00:29:08.790
It's not, it's a genuine love.

00:29:08.990 --> 00:29:12.770
My hair is a little shaggy because of Michelle Rodriguez in Fast Five right now.

00:29:14.730 --> 00:29:16.910
Anyway, I don't wanna talk about nerd shit.

00:29:16.930 --> 00:29:17.850
Let's get back to space.

00:29:18.750 --> 00:29:24.550
The credits stop rolling as the LTV slows to approach the campus of Fort Solis, covered in space dust.

00:29:25.330 --> 00:29:29.550
Jack radios into Solis, but gets a notice that the whole facility is on lockdown.

00:29:30.130 --> 00:29:32.530
Jessica's like, well, maybe it's storm damage?

00:29:32.930 --> 00:29:37.590
Jack says, that's super weird though, that no one's even like here or answering the comms.

00:29:37.610 --> 00:29:39.250
I'm saying, hey, I'm here to help you.

00:29:39.590 --> 00:29:42.570
You called the fucking emergency line and no one's there?

00:29:42.590 --> 00:29:43.270
That's weird.

00:29:45.010 --> 00:29:51.730
Jessica says, well, she's wrapped up here, but she'll be online to keep Jack company because it's either that or take a nap.

00:29:52.290 --> 00:29:52.670
Fair.

00:29:53.670 --> 00:29:59.110
All the exterior doors of Fort Solis are locked and shows like a lockdown alarm when Jack approaches.

00:29:59.130 --> 00:30:01.090
So he can't even finagle his way in.

00:30:01.690 --> 00:30:04.130
So hold on, the whole place is just locked down, nobody can get in?

00:30:04.270 --> 00:30:04.650
Yeah.

00:30:05.010 --> 00:30:05.330
Hmm.

00:30:06.150 --> 00:30:11.210
The sky is dark with dust and night, so Jack has to cruise around just by the light on his helmet.

00:30:11.770 --> 00:30:18.350
Like Firewatch, we see our protagonists navigate orange and red rocks with the voice of a charming female coworker in his ear.

00:30:18.890 --> 00:30:23.410
With all the doors locked down, Jack's like, all right, I guess we're going climbing.

00:30:24.190 --> 00:30:30.190
And wires into a loose rope to climb his way to the top of the building to approach a different area of the campus.

00:30:31.090 --> 00:30:35.090
He scales part of a red mountain swaying in the wind as the storm approaches.

00:30:35.870 --> 00:30:43.190
On his way up, Jack complains about the fort being a relic and just a straight up pain in the ass at this point, because now he's scaling a fucking mountain.

00:30:43.470 --> 00:30:44.310
Yeah, right?

00:30:44.950 --> 00:30:50.730
As he gets closer to the top, Jack looks to his side and sees a ladder right next to where he was rappelling.

00:30:54.110 --> 00:31:00.850
Jessica hears Jack struggling to breathe as he climbs and climbs and asks him if it's time to quit the beer, buddy?

00:31:01.510 --> 00:31:03.110
They're still drinking beer on Mars?

00:31:03.130 --> 00:31:06.270
Like, it's expensive to send shit to Mars.

00:31:06.850 --> 00:31:07.770
Maybe they're brewing.

00:31:08.030 --> 00:31:08.690
Every single...

00:31:08.710 --> 00:31:09.430
Yeah, I guess so.

00:31:09.450 --> 00:31:11.070
They could be brewing, but they'd have to grow the wheat.

00:31:11.230 --> 00:31:14.090
This does not seem really logical to have beer on Mars.

00:31:14.110 --> 00:31:14.810
I gotta be honest.

00:31:14.830 --> 00:31:16.770
The year is 2080, Tom.

00:31:17.710 --> 00:31:20.410
In 50 years, we could be brewing beers on Mars.

00:31:20.430 --> 00:31:26.210
There could be horrific breweries infesting Mars, like it's your hometown.

00:31:26.970 --> 00:31:29.130
An MPA, Martian Pale Ale.

00:31:29.270 --> 00:31:29.730
Oh, yeah.

00:31:29.770 --> 00:31:32.550
It's just a beer garden on the Red Planet.

00:31:33.050 --> 00:31:35.270
Jack says, next time, I don't give a fuck.

00:31:35.310 --> 00:31:36.570
I'm cutting through the door.

00:31:37.790 --> 00:31:49.210
Here, as Jack opens the main door atrium of Fort Solis, we exit the prologue and we enter chapter one, Dark Descent, 1903, the timing.

00:31:49.230 --> 00:31:50.590
So it's like 7 p.m.

00:31:50.610 --> 00:31:51.450
Oh, okay, not the year.

00:31:51.690 --> 00:31:53.350
No, the year is 2080.

00:31:53.370 --> 00:31:54.690
Like I keep reiterating to you.

00:31:54.710 --> 00:31:57.550
No, but I thought you were saying, like we just stepped through a time portal.

00:31:57.850 --> 00:31:59.270
Oh my God, what a nightmare.

00:31:59.770 --> 00:32:01.930
That would be so fucking embarrassing.

00:32:01.950 --> 00:32:02.270
Right.

00:32:02.570 --> 00:32:03.710
What a terrible game.

00:32:03.730 --> 00:32:08.230
In fact, open the door and they're like, hello, we've got the Black Plague on Mars.

00:32:08.390 --> 00:32:09.710
Why would you change planets?

00:32:09.730 --> 00:32:10.310
No, that's horrible.

00:32:10.610 --> 00:32:11.330
I fucking hate it.

00:32:11.350 --> 00:32:14.210
What year do you think the Black Plague happened?

00:32:14.230 --> 00:32:15.170
1903?

00:32:15.950 --> 00:32:17.290
Was it not 1903?

00:32:18.610 --> 00:32:20.690
So there was no plague in 1903?

00:32:20.730 --> 00:32:22.610
There might have been, but it wasn't that plague.

00:32:22.630 --> 00:32:23.790
So you admit there's a chance.

00:32:26.090 --> 00:32:27.650
Just after 7 p.m.

00:32:27.770 --> 00:32:30.870
I had to look that up also because I don't know how to do military time.

00:32:30.910 --> 00:32:32.630
I know it's just subtracting 12.

00:32:32.650 --> 00:32:34.090
My brain is like, weird.

00:32:34.110 --> 00:32:35.730
We don't have the bandwidth for that ever.

00:32:36.410 --> 00:32:37.790
Jack approaches the main doors.

00:32:38.370 --> 00:32:42.090
Jessica asks about the campus, telling Jack to paint a picture for her.

00:32:42.610 --> 00:32:46.530
It's so nice, too, just to have the person in your ear constantly checking in on you.

00:32:47.010 --> 00:32:49.630
One, as a safety measure, fully makes sense.

00:32:49.650 --> 00:32:52.510
This is a logical thing that she's like, you're going alone.

00:32:52.530 --> 00:32:54.470
I'm going to be on comms in case you need help.

00:32:54.950 --> 00:32:59.430
And so you don't have space madness because space madness is real.

00:32:59.950 --> 00:33:00.730
Oh, entirely.

00:33:00.770 --> 00:33:03.750
You see Peter Stormar get it really badly in Armageddon.

00:33:04.130 --> 00:33:04.610
Oh, shit.

00:33:05.950 --> 00:33:07.250
He was in Until Dawn.

00:33:07.270 --> 00:33:07.850
He was.

00:33:07.930 --> 00:33:09.090
All these games are connecting.

00:33:09.110 --> 00:33:09.630
It's crazy.

00:33:09.650 --> 00:33:10.350
It's all coming.

00:33:10.370 --> 00:33:13.670
My Pepe Silva wall of just video games is all coming together.

00:33:13.670 --> 00:33:16.270
Well, he said Supermassive Games were a huge inspiration.

00:33:18.210 --> 00:33:18.850
There's something there.

00:33:18.870 --> 00:33:19.490
There is.

00:33:19.570 --> 00:33:20.170
I'm telling you.

00:33:20.410 --> 00:33:23.490
It's also just very nice to hear two friends talking.

00:33:23.510 --> 00:33:31.590
Like when people talk about what they love about The Last of Us, one, it's mostly Joel and Ellie's banter and them getting to know each other and them loving each other.

00:33:31.930 --> 00:33:39.770
With this, we've just skipped, and these are coworkers who've been working together for long enough that they're sharing their Netflix account and watching TV shows together.

00:33:40.010 --> 00:33:41.730
These are best fucking friends.

00:33:41.770 --> 00:33:45.130
So this is more like Gears of War with Dom and Marcus.

00:33:45.270 --> 00:33:47.410
Hell yeah, they are ride or die as fuck.

00:33:47.850 --> 00:33:49.130
They're just not as beefy.

00:33:49.130 --> 00:33:50.330
Right, no beefy boys.

00:33:51.030 --> 00:33:56.870
Can I tell you, Tom was like, oh, are you excited for the Gears of War episode?

00:33:56.890 --> 00:33:58.290
I'm like, yeah, I think I had a lot of fun.

00:33:58.310 --> 00:34:01.290
And you were like, oh, that song you sang was crazy.

00:34:01.310 --> 00:34:03.810
And I said, I sang a song in the Gears of War episode?

00:34:04.170 --> 00:34:06.270
I blacked out, no idea what happened.

00:34:07.190 --> 00:34:11.190
And then he played it for me right before we started recording and I cried laughing.

00:34:12.190 --> 00:34:13.570
Because what's wrong with me?

00:34:14.350 --> 00:34:16.190
Anyway, this will not be a musical episode.

00:34:16.210 --> 00:34:19.170
This is, I put my bard hat away for this one.

00:34:19.310 --> 00:34:20.930
Is it very clear I'm a bard?

00:34:21.190 --> 00:34:22.370
Very clear, all the time.

00:34:23.130 --> 00:34:23.970
All the time.

00:34:24.070 --> 00:34:25.190
You make it very obvious.

00:34:26.950 --> 00:34:28.430
I've never been good at hiding who I am.

00:34:28.950 --> 00:34:29.410
Good.

00:34:29.770 --> 00:34:33.310
So Jack is going to paint a picture for Jessica of the whole campus.

00:34:33.470 --> 00:34:34.970
He says, it's old school.

00:34:34.990 --> 00:34:38.370
There's a lot of single structures, whatever that means, that's space gibberish.

00:34:38.870 --> 00:34:44.530
And upon hearing the place being described as old, Jessica tells Jack he should feel right at home then.

00:34:45.650 --> 00:34:47.330
I love them so goddamn much.

00:34:48.010 --> 00:34:51.670
Through the main atrium doors, Jack is able to get into the main station.

00:34:52.490 --> 00:34:56.270
He's a little skeeved out that all the doors are locked and no one seems to be home.

00:34:56.350 --> 00:34:58.790
But Jessica's like, hey, it's protocol, man.

00:34:58.810 --> 00:35:01.130
Like, if something went wrong, they do have to shut all the doors.

00:35:01.670 --> 00:35:02.470
You understand.

00:35:02.790 --> 00:35:04.270
We're in goddamn space.

00:35:04.310 --> 00:35:07.130
Opening a window could kill thousands of people here.

00:35:08.830 --> 00:35:09.910
Opening a window.

00:35:11.530 --> 00:35:17.170
It's so funny to compare it to, because yeah, on Earth, that seems like such a simple thing, and on another planet, it kills people.

00:35:17.190 --> 00:35:19.190
It'll suck the soul out of you.

00:35:20.910 --> 00:35:27.870
Jack enters the atrium where he's greeted by a 15-foot tall cherry blossom tree, which is rare on Earth.

00:35:27.890 --> 00:35:31.370
There's not every climate that can handle that kind of tree, you know?

00:35:31.670 --> 00:35:34.610
I've seen them in Washington, DC during the Cherry Blossom Festival.

00:35:35.170 --> 00:35:36.070
Fucking amazing.

00:35:36.290 --> 00:35:40.150
Also, cherry blossoms play a huge role in 1917, just saying.

00:35:40.430 --> 00:35:40.870
Really?

00:35:41.190 --> 00:35:43.810
What the fuck happens in 1917?

00:35:45.110 --> 00:35:49.990
All you've told me is that Sherlock's in it, and people die in really gory ways, and I was like, I'm out.

00:35:50.010 --> 00:35:51.750
I don't love to see violence.

00:35:51.810 --> 00:35:53.650
Sherlock and Moriarty are in it.

00:35:53.990 --> 00:35:55.330
Oh, I love Moriarty.

00:35:55.990 --> 00:36:00.970
With the generators powering the entire campus, Jack takes the opportunity to take his helmet off.

00:36:01.210 --> 00:36:03.930
Because there's always a goddamn generator.

00:36:03.950 --> 00:36:04.970
This one's already on.

00:36:04.990 --> 00:36:05.870
Calm down.

00:36:07.010 --> 00:36:10.950
Jessica notices that his comms moved from his helmet to a Bluetooth and yells at him.

00:36:11.490 --> 00:36:12.410
He's like, chill out.

00:36:12.430 --> 00:36:13.050
It's fine.

00:36:13.070 --> 00:36:15.250
I'm inside, and I hate wearing my helmet.

00:36:16.070 --> 00:36:17.810
Jessica's like, I love my helmet.

00:36:17.810 --> 00:36:19.330
My helmet has a frog on it.

00:36:19.390 --> 00:36:20.130
I'm cool as fuck.

00:36:21.570 --> 00:36:23.550
Frog helmet, hell yeah, like Lucio.

00:36:24.010 --> 00:36:24.690
Exactly.

00:36:24.910 --> 00:36:33.770
Seemingly alone in this huge facility, Jack beelines straight to the beer fridge, where he has a nice frosty beer while enjoying the sight of the tree.

00:36:33.790 --> 00:36:35.650
One of those Martian pale ales we were talking about.

00:36:35.650 --> 00:36:36.310
Exactly.

00:36:37.090 --> 00:36:40.750
According to the plaque, the tree is just about as old as Jessica.

00:36:41.070 --> 00:36:42.730
It's from 2053.

00:36:43.570 --> 00:36:45.730
Jessica also gives him shit for drinking on the job.

00:36:47.370 --> 00:36:50.750
She should, because I don't care that he's already on vacation mode.

00:36:51.870 --> 00:36:53.290
There's an emergency, sir.

00:36:53.310 --> 00:36:55.250
And he's like, the emergency is that I'm thirsty.

00:36:57.410 --> 00:37:03.250
Looking around, Jack notices a lot of doors need battery packs to open, which is an old school space thing, apparently.

00:37:03.910 --> 00:37:09.450
Many doors are unlockable just by walking around them or kind of figuring out how to put the battery pack in.

00:37:09.470 --> 00:37:12.770
But either way, there's clearance cards sometimes.

00:37:13.130 --> 00:37:15.650
It's just one of those things they give you to make it a little harder.

00:37:15.970 --> 00:37:19.830
Because Jack's from Fort Minor, his key card access is useless here.

00:37:19.850 --> 00:37:22.630
He has no authority in this place, so...

00:37:22.650 --> 00:37:24.210
Then why the fuck did they send him?

00:37:24.230 --> 00:37:25.510
No one else was there.

00:37:25.570 --> 00:37:29.290
I know, but still, like, they need authority to go in there.

00:37:29.310 --> 00:37:32.150
You'd think they might, like, oh, you're responding to the call.

00:37:32.170 --> 00:37:33.930
Here's an updated access card.

00:37:33.950 --> 00:37:34.630
Yeah, something.

00:37:34.830 --> 00:37:36.250
Nah, it's just annoying.

00:37:37.090 --> 00:37:40.270
Jessica is amused by all the old tech that Jack keeps running into.

00:37:40.290 --> 00:37:48.930
And speaking of, as Jack starts navigating the Atrium, he's able to see old space posters and relics from when space travel was more novel.

00:37:49.270 --> 00:37:49.510
Oh.

00:37:49.570 --> 00:37:51.330
It'll be like, here's the sky walk.

00:37:51.350 --> 00:37:52.430
Look at the stars.

00:37:52.450 --> 00:37:53.730
And he's like, oh, my God.

00:37:54.070 --> 00:37:55.330
Introducing trains.

00:37:55.350 --> 00:37:57.210
Yeah, the people mover.

00:37:58.310 --> 00:37:58.930
Don't sue me.

00:37:59.170 --> 00:38:04.870
The Atrium consists of a few rooms, mostly outlook posts and hallways to other locked off areas.

00:38:05.470 --> 00:38:08.510
Jack is like, it's really spooky that no one is here, though.

00:38:08.530 --> 00:38:12.150
Like, it's strange being alone in space for me at this point.

00:38:12.530 --> 00:38:16.870
I've been in a fucking work situation, so I'm constantly surrounded by people.

00:38:18.070 --> 00:38:24.450
To make him feel more at ease, Jack downloads the schematics of the campus, so he actually does have a map throughout, which is very helpful.

00:38:24.570 --> 00:38:26.310
Okay, good, not just a hand-drawn one.

00:38:26.790 --> 00:38:31.270
He's not writing this on the back of his glove, like, Atrium North, let's go.

00:38:31.290 --> 00:38:38.570
The map, as well as any files you find throughout the game, are accessible via a wrist device that Jack has on his arm.

00:38:39.010 --> 00:38:45.030
It's a little screen that he can navigate through to hold data and check where he is, and it's simply called a multi-tool.

00:38:45.810 --> 00:38:51.630
Using an old battery that he finds, Jack is able to get into some of the offices and conference rooms in that area of the Atrium.

00:38:52.290 --> 00:38:55.150
Here's where the player gets into the game part of it.

00:38:55.750 --> 00:39:03.090
Jack pokes around some people's computers and, like, personal shit in their offices, but he still can't find anyone or, like, a sign of life.

00:39:03.110 --> 00:39:06.750
You know, in movies, sometimes you'll get, like, a hot coffee mug and you're like, ah, they're nearby.

00:39:07.290 --> 00:39:09.090
Fucking nothing, it's super strange.

00:39:09.970 --> 00:39:13.890
He sees some doors, he's going through, he just doesn't see anyone.

00:39:13.910 --> 00:39:21.950
He's also able to unlock some doors down to the downstairs part of the building, which is helpful, so he can at least get into, like, the guts of the building.

00:39:22.150 --> 00:39:25.170
Right, is he doing anything, like, hello, anybody home or anything like that?

00:39:25.590 --> 00:39:25.930
Yeah.

00:39:26.210 --> 00:39:26.550
Okay.

00:39:26.630 --> 00:39:30.910
He's kind of cruising around, he's also playing with people's shit, he's talking out loud to Jessica.

00:39:30.910 --> 00:39:31.770
Drinking a beer.

00:39:31.790 --> 00:39:32.370
He's having...

00:39:32.390 --> 00:39:37.450
He fully just had a nice beer and looked at a tree and enjoyed himself for ten minutes.

00:39:38.050 --> 00:39:43.770
He can go into one office and play with an abacus, and then there's another office with a Rubik's Cube.

00:39:43.870 --> 00:39:46.550
And in game, you can solve the Rubik's Cube.

00:39:46.650 --> 00:39:47.090
Really?

00:39:47.210 --> 00:39:53.110
I've seen videos of players solving the Rubik's Cube in the game, and I'm like, God damn, how does your brain work?

00:39:53.590 --> 00:39:55.050
I can't even do that in real life.

00:39:55.290 --> 00:40:01.710
I don't remember your phone number, and I've had to put it into things so fucking often, including my own phone.

00:40:01.710 --> 00:40:02.350
Like, I am...

00:40:02.630 --> 00:40:03.870
My brain don't work like that.

00:40:03.950 --> 00:40:04.230
Nope.

00:40:04.630 --> 00:40:12.150
Using his multi-tool, Jack can find some recordings of people singing Happy Birthday to a loved one, and he's like, Oh, what a try-hard.

00:40:12.170 --> 00:40:13.890
It's a dick.

00:40:13.970 --> 00:40:18.290
Jessica is like, Wow, you're divorced, right?

00:40:20.410 --> 00:40:25.910
And Jack goes, Look, there are a lot of reasons that we broke up, but I was not a try-hard.

00:40:26.310 --> 00:40:28.050
Oh my God, this is great.

00:40:28.610 --> 00:40:34.210
Apart from this, like, grouchy divorced moment, Jack does find ways to be playful in his search of the building.

00:40:34.930 --> 00:40:39.610
He finds, like, a little marching spaceman toy, and he's like, look at the little guy go.

00:40:39.630 --> 00:40:51.310
Like, there's so much joy to him to balance the grouch and, like, the grumpy old man exterior, but there's still such a sweet little boy in there that's like, I'm playing in space, you know?

00:40:51.830 --> 00:40:53.910
It's a really well-balanced performance.

00:40:54.090 --> 00:40:55.990
Question for you about the performance.

00:40:56.610 --> 00:40:59.030
Is this Roger Clark's natural voice?

00:40:59.110 --> 00:41:01.610
Is he doing a voice like he was with Arthur Morgan?

00:41:01.910 --> 00:41:02.850
I'm glad you asked that.

00:41:02.870 --> 00:41:05.830
He is using his regular Irish accent.

00:41:06.150 --> 00:41:09.430
Which is probably why I can't hear any fucking Arthur Morgan in there.

00:41:09.530 --> 00:41:11.730
These are different people from different planets.

00:41:12.330 --> 00:41:12.990
Literally.

00:41:13.630 --> 00:41:15.290
Planets and countries.

00:41:16.130 --> 00:41:26.310
With access to the lower levels unlocked thanks to Jack's cool computer hacking skills, he put someone's birthday in and it worked as their password, and then he figured it out.

00:41:26.930 --> 00:41:28.250
Jack heads downstairs.

00:41:28.710 --> 00:41:30.090
It is old school fashion.

00:41:30.890 --> 00:41:31.570
Fort Solis.

00:41:31.590 --> 00:41:34.110
So that's the way that they just did passwords.

00:41:34.190 --> 00:41:38.450
Oh, yeah, I'm sure if he typed password into every computer, he'd get into a third of them.

00:41:40.410 --> 00:41:42.450
Jack is like, he's coming downstairs.

00:41:42.470 --> 00:41:43.870
He's gone through every office.

00:41:44.350 --> 00:41:46.610
He's like, Jessica, this is fucking creepy.

00:41:46.630 --> 00:41:47.650
Where is everyone?

00:41:47.670 --> 00:41:49.650
Who even sent this fucking warning?

00:41:49.670 --> 00:41:51.170
Because no one's here.

00:41:51.290 --> 00:41:52.070
Seriously.

00:41:52.490 --> 00:41:56.870
Jessica figures they were cursed to walk the surface of the planet as Mars zombies.

00:41:57.650 --> 00:42:01.450
And Jack is like, oh my God, are we still talking about the goddamn zombies?

00:42:02.530 --> 00:42:05.570
Jessica defends it, saying, hey, he sacrificed himself.

00:42:06.110 --> 00:42:07.970
Chivalry isn't dead.

00:42:08.830 --> 00:42:09.710
He's about to be.

00:42:10.090 --> 00:42:11.630
Jack says, yeah, but did he die?

00:42:12.990 --> 00:42:14.390
Jessica says, it's romantic.

00:42:14.990 --> 00:42:18.770
Downstairs are some of where, like, the crew would spend their time.

00:42:19.290 --> 00:42:23.910
We see a small gym and a rec room area where people could play cards and unwind.

00:42:24.570 --> 00:42:30.870
At the poker table, Jack sees a hand with two pairs, two weights and two aces, all in black suits.

00:42:31.150 --> 00:42:32.590
Why are you gasping?

00:42:32.750 --> 00:42:34.190
That's the dead man's hand.

00:42:34.210 --> 00:42:36.070
Can you tell me what the dead man's hand is?

00:42:36.370 --> 00:42:45.230
So the dead man's hand is the poker hand that Wild Bill Hickok was holding when he was shot in the back of the head just by a random passerby.

00:42:45.390 --> 00:42:46.410
By that coward.

00:42:46.570 --> 00:42:48.990
By that fucking coward piece of shit, yes.

00:42:49.510 --> 00:42:59.210
And since then, that hand has been called the dead man's hand, and it's a widely known poker thing, and Jack does make a note of going, oh, God, dead man's hand.

00:42:59.690 --> 00:43:01.210
I thought that would impress you, though.

00:43:01.230 --> 00:43:02.890
We've been watching Deadwood, so...

00:43:03.010 --> 00:43:08.130
Yeah, and they show the death of Wild Bill Hickok, spoiler alert, for Deadwood, a 14-year-old show.

00:43:08.570 --> 00:43:09.490
About history.

00:43:09.530 --> 00:43:15.130
But yeah, the real life Wild Bill Hickok, that's how he died, and he was holding that exact poker hand.

00:43:15.350 --> 00:43:16.490
That's terrifying.

00:43:16.850 --> 00:43:21.190
Now, Jessica is, at this point, still pretty shocked he hasn't run into anyone.

00:43:21.210 --> 00:43:24.730
Not even a security officer doing a perimeter check.

00:43:24.950 --> 00:43:26.450
No one's in the rec room.

00:43:26.470 --> 00:43:27.330
That's where you hang out.

00:43:27.350 --> 00:43:29.370
That's where space people go to relax.

00:43:30.130 --> 00:43:34.870
Jack goes, yeah, this is continuing to be super fucking creepy because I'm all alone.

00:43:35.470 --> 00:43:38.910
This is weird, and I'm concerned that I should have found someone by now.

00:43:39.510 --> 00:43:41.950
I'm very concerned that he hasn't found anybody yet.

00:43:42.310 --> 00:43:46.210
Yeah, and he's reasoning, like, a manual emergency alert was sent out.

00:43:46.550 --> 00:43:50.250
Someone was physically here and sent an alarm.

00:43:50.510 --> 00:43:51.810
Why is no one here?

00:43:51.830 --> 00:43:54.530
What happened to at least the one person that sent the alarm?

00:43:54.670 --> 00:43:56.330
This isn't the one beer talking either.

00:43:56.350 --> 00:44:02.070
Yeah, we don't know how powerful space beer is, but he seems to hold his own pretty well.

00:44:02.690 --> 00:44:08.870
If you think about it, when you drink at high altitude, it's actually more effective, so you're at real high altitude in Mars.

00:44:09.450 --> 00:44:14.370
Well, you're high from Earth, from where your natural Earth-bound gravity is.

00:44:15.470 --> 00:44:19.250
I suppose, but I think there's science that's wrong there.

00:44:19.510 --> 00:44:21.110
Probably, I don't know shit.

00:44:21.430 --> 00:44:22.470
I can't point it out.

00:44:24.050 --> 00:44:34.350
Jack finds a panel, and he's able to override some of the locks in the crew quarter rooms, because he's like, okay, if they're not in the rec room, maybe they're all bunkered down in their individual dorm rooms, basically.

00:44:34.370 --> 00:44:35.770
These are tiny fucking rooms.

00:44:35.770 --> 00:44:41.470
It's like when you see an apartment tour of a $3,000 Manhattan studio, this fucking tiny.

00:44:41.630 --> 00:44:44.750
It is a bummer how tiny these fucking rooms are.

00:44:45.250 --> 00:44:49.450
Going through the crew quarter rooms, he finds one for Helen Dunpart.

00:44:50.030 --> 00:44:54.050
Helen is the chief botanist, and she's studying plant life on Mars.

00:44:54.750 --> 00:44:59.910
Helen, in a vlog, muses that her planet is dying and Earth is running out of time.

00:45:00.590 --> 00:45:06.310
Her research is currently into making growth and farming viable on Mars, which is fucking cool.

00:45:06.770 --> 00:45:11.090
But she just keeps running into the plants dying, which is kind of the story of the Martian.

00:45:11.110 --> 00:45:13.830
I was going to say she's kind of the Marsha Watney in this.

00:45:14.670 --> 00:45:18.950
Also, just as a general plug, Andy Weir is an incredible sci-fi writer.

00:45:18.970 --> 00:45:22.050
Yeah, if you haven't read Andy Weir's books, you absolutely should.

00:45:22.070 --> 00:45:25.570
The Martian, Project Hail Mary, two of the greatest books ever written.

00:45:25.590 --> 00:45:28.010
Not just sci-fi, greatest books ever written.

00:45:28.330 --> 00:45:37.790
The movie The Martian is good, but I will say that in doing the audiobook of The Martian prior to seeing the movie, I cried the last act.

00:45:37.870 --> 00:45:40.150
I fully tears.

00:45:40.350 --> 00:45:41.410
It's so fucking good.

00:45:41.510 --> 00:45:44.210
It is better than the movie, like everyone says.

00:45:44.230 --> 00:45:44.850
Movie's solid.

00:45:44.870 --> 00:45:46.630
Movie's still very fucking good.

00:45:46.750 --> 00:45:47.630
Solid fucking movie.

00:45:47.650 --> 00:45:49.010
Book, incredible.

00:45:49.330 --> 00:45:53.310
Yeah, but his whole deal was that he stuck on Mars.

00:45:53.550 --> 00:45:54.210
Not a spoiler.

00:45:54.870 --> 00:45:55.930
That's the whole fucking movie.

00:45:56.070 --> 00:46:01.830
But he has to grow food because he's running out of food, so he ends up growing potatoes in his own shit.

00:46:01.970 --> 00:46:03.890
And very fortunately, he was a botanist back on Earth.

00:46:04.210 --> 00:46:05.990
Yeah, he was the chief botanist there.

00:46:06.010 --> 00:46:14.270
So similarly to Mark Watney, Helen is the chief botanist, and her whole thing is just trying to grow shit on Mars and make it viable.

00:46:14.610 --> 00:46:18.870
And she's super worried about Earth, because yeah, in 50 years, we're probably not in a great place.

00:46:18.970 --> 00:46:19.770
No, probably not.

00:46:19.810 --> 00:46:24.090
Not to bum everyone out, but I use a tote bag when I go to the grocery store.

00:46:24.130 --> 00:46:29.690
If we do have full communities on Mars by 50 years from now, it might not be that bad.

00:46:30.170 --> 00:46:30.810
I wouldn't go.

00:46:32.690 --> 00:46:35.070
Well, you know what happens at this game, so let's find out.

00:46:36.190 --> 00:46:37.470
I am plagued by knowledge.

00:46:37.490 --> 00:46:37.790
Yes.

00:46:38.990 --> 00:46:44.470
So she's working on this new formula, Compound 26, and it's starting to show some positive results.

00:46:44.890 --> 00:46:49.750
But as she starts to describe it, a man enters her room and begins to scold her.

00:46:50.110 --> 00:46:53.870
She is in her private room, and a man barged in to scold her.

00:46:54.510 --> 00:46:56.050
What a bad person.

00:46:56.390 --> 00:46:57.710
I hate everything about that.

00:46:57.730 --> 00:47:01.130
You are stuck on a colony with coworkers in space.

00:47:01.470 --> 00:47:02.290
No loved ones.

00:47:02.310 --> 00:47:05.470
There's not like a plus one situation in a Mars colony.

00:47:06.150 --> 00:47:08.550
Your room should be only accessible to you.

00:47:08.970 --> 00:47:09.350
Yeah.

00:47:09.570 --> 00:47:10.010
Straight up.

00:47:10.190 --> 00:47:10.630
Fully.

00:47:10.690 --> 00:47:15.410
And, you know, there's this situation that he had where he couldn't get in to certain places with his key card.

00:47:16.030 --> 00:47:16.930
Your private room?

00:47:17.030 --> 00:47:18.330
Nobody should have access to that.

00:47:18.390 --> 00:47:19.410
A hundred percent.

00:47:20.090 --> 00:47:23.670
Now, the man that's scolding her, he says that's two.

00:47:23.890 --> 00:47:26.670
Two people are now sick after interfering with your work.

00:47:27.330 --> 00:47:32.510
She defends herself saying what she's doing is important, and he says the people are getting sick.

00:47:32.870 --> 00:47:35.930
And then the video cuts off after she stops arguing with him.

00:47:36.610 --> 00:47:38.470
Oh, this is starting to sound like serenity now.

00:47:38.490 --> 00:47:49.170
Like there's so many like birth points for this story that I'm seeing and I'm loving it because it's taking all of my favorite science and like space stories and kind of cramming them all together.

00:47:49.730 --> 00:47:55.730
As Jack turns to explore the rest of the lonely building, Jessica whispers in his ear, shh, shh, shh, shh.

00:47:57.450 --> 00:47:58.510
What a bitch.

00:47:58.530 --> 00:48:06.250
Sorry, you said that at the perfect moment to call out these incredible inspirations from media and then this happens immediately after.

00:48:06.270 --> 00:48:07.610
Oh, that's so good.

00:48:07.630 --> 00:48:09.010
Does the Halloween on her.

00:48:09.170 --> 00:48:15.350
Because the game knows what's happening and Jessica has the funniest fucking sense of humor on Mars.

00:48:17.810 --> 00:48:18.870
Mars, that's good.

00:48:19.410 --> 00:48:21.430
Jack goes, what the fuck?

00:48:22.630 --> 00:48:27.750
I'm alone, I'm unarmed, I don't need the goddamn soundtrack, Jessica.

00:48:29.530 --> 00:48:32.650
And Jessica is like, no, this was very funny.

00:48:33.890 --> 00:48:35.110
I agree with Jessica.

00:48:35.310 --> 00:48:39.750
Jack is rifling through people's shit, and he does find an access card in one of the bedrooms.

00:48:39.830 --> 00:48:42.430
So now we can move a little more freely about the cabin.

00:48:42.830 --> 00:48:43.410
Okay, good.

00:48:43.450 --> 00:48:45.390
It's not full access, but it's a start.

00:48:45.450 --> 00:48:47.410
You know, we need some normal gameplay elements.

00:48:47.430 --> 00:48:48.530
It can't all just be walking.

00:48:49.850 --> 00:48:56.070
In one of the bathrooms, Jack comes up on a sink with spots of blood and a deep red rag next to it.

00:48:56.970 --> 00:49:02.010
He goes, that's one hell of a nose bleed, thinks nothing of it, and moves on with his life.

00:49:03.550 --> 00:49:13.170
So to recap, alone in a giant facility that should be full of people, emergency signal went off, no one's there, and now he's found signs of blood.

00:49:14.090 --> 00:49:15.030
Nah, probably nothing.

00:49:15.110 --> 00:49:15.970
It's probably nothing.

00:49:17.190 --> 00:49:23.290
Jack moves deeper into the dormitories of Fort Solis and still hasn't found anyone, which is wild at this point.

00:49:24.090 --> 00:49:26.970
He figured the crew quarters would be where the crew fucking was.

00:49:26.990 --> 00:49:28.310
This is ridiculous.

00:49:28.330 --> 00:49:29.370
Yeah, that's where the crew goes.

00:49:29.850 --> 00:49:34.430
Jack goes hopping around like he's on goddamn room raiders looking for any sign of life.

00:49:35.650 --> 00:49:38.770
If the call came from inside the house, why is the house empty?

00:49:39.230 --> 00:49:40.210
Who called from here?

00:49:40.630 --> 00:49:44.530
How recent was whatever that happened with all that blood in the sink?

00:49:45.970 --> 00:49:51.590
Jack heads down deeper into Fort Solis and hears the walls creak as they fight the storm on the surface.

00:49:52.350 --> 00:49:58.630
The building groans at you, and they echo down the lonely hallways while Jack wanders around looking for signs of life.

00:49:59.770 --> 00:50:04.450
In the lowest level, Jack comes up on a door that looks like no, it couldn't be.

00:50:05.210 --> 00:50:07.430
It was sabotage.

00:50:08.010 --> 00:50:08.550
Oh no.

00:50:09.150 --> 00:50:13.750
He kneels to get a better look and he's talking to Jessica, and he says it's something really odd.

00:50:14.290 --> 00:50:17.170
Something snapped the manual lever of the door off.

00:50:17.670 --> 00:50:20.650
Jessica gasps and goes, something?

00:50:20.670 --> 00:50:23.290
Which is so rude.

00:50:23.710 --> 00:50:28.110
He found something that could be dangerous, and she's like, something or someone.

00:50:28.130 --> 00:50:29.570
Is it spooky?

00:50:29.770 --> 00:50:32.930
It's so easy for her to have this attitude from far away.

00:50:32.950 --> 00:50:40.630
Yeah, from the safety of a manned facility, she's like, haha, Jack's fucking paranoid, and he's having the worst night of his life.

00:50:40.850 --> 00:50:42.850
Also, why aren't there cameras in Fort Solis?

00:50:42.870 --> 00:50:43.350
But anyway.

00:50:43.930 --> 00:50:45.190
There are security cameras.

00:50:45.210 --> 00:50:54.750
They are accessible through certain computers you could find throughout the game of people who had access, like department heads or security people or main facility cameras.

00:50:55.150 --> 00:50:56.850
But she can't access them.

00:50:56.990 --> 00:50:58.070
She's not in their network.

00:50:58.250 --> 00:50:59.350
She's from Fort Minor.

00:50:59.830 --> 00:51:00.250
I know.

00:51:00.270 --> 00:51:01.070
They should have that.

00:51:01.330 --> 00:51:01.810
They should.

00:51:01.870 --> 00:51:02.170
Yeah.

00:51:02.190 --> 00:51:02.890
I'll give you that.

00:51:04.190 --> 00:51:06.870
Jack hunts it down and is like, what the fuck?

00:51:07.090 --> 00:51:09.130
But we gotta figure out what's going on.

00:51:09.150 --> 00:51:09.910
This is crazy.

00:51:10.490 --> 00:51:17.770
Jessica warns him to be careful because obviously there's weird shit going on and she's here, but she's like, okay, it's getting kind of weird now.

00:51:18.830 --> 00:51:20.370
Jack says, yeah, no shit.

00:51:21.670 --> 00:51:26.950
Now, occasionally the sound of the ship's computer will remind you that there is a lockdown in effect.

00:51:27.570 --> 00:51:38.730
The only human voices you get are the ghosts on these computers telling you what happened before you got there and sweet baby Jessica safely somewhere else off-site, waiting out the storm.

00:51:39.450 --> 00:51:41.990
For Jack, the loneliness really starts to creep in.

00:51:43.810 --> 00:51:49.370
Jack unlocks the door to the medical bay where the sabotage drawer was, and it's also completely deserted in here.

00:51:50.050 --> 00:51:54.730
There are some medical reports showing crew members with some strange medical issues.

00:51:55.190 --> 00:51:59.850
Dizziness, loss of balance, low blood pressure, maybe it's radiation poisoning?

00:52:01.090 --> 00:52:07.150
And then we finally see the face of Wyatt Taylor, the chief medical officer, aka Troy Baker.

00:52:07.790 --> 00:52:08.430
Oh, hell yeah.

00:52:08.530 --> 00:52:20.070
We see him in vlogs, and he vlogs that he's had some crew members with issues he believes may be radiation poisoning, citing they've been working really long hours on their work sites on the surface and ignoring the risks.

00:52:20.790 --> 00:52:27.770
He's annoyed that he seems to be ignored by basically everyone on the crew when he's literally just saying, like, watch your exposure levels.

00:52:28.550 --> 00:52:34.270
We're not supposed to be on this planet, and we are, so our bodies are not used to this shit.

00:52:34.590 --> 00:52:36.750
You can get sick by just hanging out.

00:52:37.290 --> 00:52:38.810
And everybody's like, eh, it's probably fine.

00:52:38.910 --> 00:52:42.690
Entirely, they're like, oh, crazy fucking Wyatt.

00:52:43.790 --> 00:52:46.790
And he's like, I'm a literal fucking doctor.

00:52:46.810 --> 00:52:49.470
And they go, ah, Wyatt's so annoying.

00:52:49.570 --> 00:52:50.910
Whatever, we're all doctors.

00:52:51.770 --> 00:52:55.290
Jack watches all these videos of him being like, why isn't anyone listening to me?

00:52:55.310 --> 00:52:56.650
They're getting fucking sick.

00:52:57.570 --> 00:52:59.870
And Jack's just like, damn, that's crazy.

00:53:00.850 --> 00:53:04.890
I'm gonna get a pina colada tomorrow when I get home.

00:53:05.590 --> 00:53:09.550
Walking around, Jack then sees something a little scarier.

00:53:09.970 --> 00:53:12.910
He comes up on a large pool of blood.

00:53:13.590 --> 00:53:14.050
Pool.

00:53:14.670 --> 00:53:18.030
He messages Jessica and he's like, there was a fucking incident here.

00:53:18.330 --> 00:53:20.410
Something bad is actually happening.

00:53:21.210 --> 00:53:25.730
Jessica's looked up the contacts at Fort Solis and asked Jack if Officer Taylor is there.

00:53:26.390 --> 00:53:33.210
She figures the chief medical officer should be on site clearly, and he's in the medical bay, so like, where else would the fuck he be?

00:53:34.110 --> 00:53:41.150
Jack still hasn't seen a soul, but continues through the medical offices to see if he can at least hunt down Officer Taylor.

00:53:43.250 --> 00:53:46.030
Jack remembers a story about a co-worker named Tom.

00:53:46.750 --> 00:53:52.950
He asked Jessica if she remembers when he ate space soil on a dare and ended up in medical isolation for two weeks.

00:53:56.350 --> 00:53:57.890
They laugh about this.

00:53:58.590 --> 00:54:00.070
Are they four-year-olds?

00:54:00.930 --> 00:54:02.150
Like, seriously?

00:54:02.170 --> 00:54:07.530
I just really like that he brings this up of, like, radiation poisoning.

00:54:07.710 --> 00:54:11.030
Oh my god, do you remember when we got Tom to eat all that space dirt?

00:54:11.050 --> 00:54:11.770
All that dirt?

00:54:11.910 --> 00:54:12.290
Yeah.

00:54:12.530 --> 00:54:14.250
And he was sick for two weeks.

00:54:15.990 --> 00:54:24.050
I mean, yeah, they're giggling, but it also lays down the groundwork that Mars soil could very well be a source of radiation poisoning, like Officer Taylor suspected.

00:54:24.090 --> 00:54:27.030
So we're qualifying the theories here.

00:54:27.890 --> 00:54:31.530
Through more of the offices, we can see a lot of files from Officer Taylor.

00:54:31.590 --> 00:54:35.850
Obviously, Chief Medical Officer, he's leaving data all over the place.

00:54:36.770 --> 00:54:45.830
A lot of Wyatt's videos are talking about missing his family, and at one point his video calling was broken so he couldn't even fucking FaceTime his family back home.

00:54:45.850 --> 00:54:46.650
Oh, that's awful.

00:54:47.210 --> 00:54:51.930
He also talks about his raising suspicions on people doing weird shit at the facility.

00:54:51.950 --> 00:54:53.140
He's...

00:54:53.140 --> 00:54:55.090
he doesn't want to say...

00:54:55.510 --> 00:54:56.250
He's gonna say it.

00:54:56.670 --> 00:54:59.010
He thought he heard some weird shit at night?

00:54:59.990 --> 00:55:00.750
Weird shit.

00:55:01.410 --> 00:55:08.550
He's ramping himself up to talk to people the next day and bring it up and get down to the bottom of this because it feels like they're hiding something from him.

00:55:09.330 --> 00:55:20.210
In the crew quarters in a supply closet, Jack finds lots and lots of blood and a space suit with Officer Taylor's name on it, also covered in blood.

00:55:20.470 --> 00:55:21.230
Oh, shit.

00:55:22.010 --> 00:55:26.630
Jessica tells Jack to finish a sweep and then get out of there because this just does not feel right.

00:55:26.810 --> 00:55:27.730
No, it doesn't.

00:55:28.290 --> 00:55:33.530
Jack agrees and is like, okay, I can get the fuck away from this shit.

00:55:33.530 --> 00:55:35.650
This is actually scaring me and I'm alone.

00:55:36.530 --> 00:55:37.230
Absolutely not.

00:55:37.330 --> 00:55:38.650
Yeah, this needs a whole fucking team.

00:55:39.330 --> 00:55:45.690
He is compelled, though, to do his due diligence and be like, if Officer Taylor is anywhere, he's probably here.

00:55:45.710 --> 00:55:46.830
So let me get him out.

00:55:47.250 --> 00:55:48.470
I can get his story.

00:55:48.490 --> 00:55:49.590
I can drive him back.

00:55:50.010 --> 00:55:54.090
And then he can handle the investigation so I can go to Margaritaville, Europa.

00:55:56.550 --> 00:56:01.330
Going in deeper, Jack does find an office with Officer Taylor's actual computer.

00:56:01.990 --> 00:56:11.150
An email shows up that Helen, our botanist friend, dropped off a plant that he had requested, but next to the computer is wiped up blood and a plant.

00:56:11.610 --> 00:56:14.290
So, I don't know, someone bled on this plant.

00:56:14.850 --> 00:56:16.570
I don't know, I'd stay the fuck away from that plant.

00:56:16.850 --> 00:56:18.430
You're getting Little Shop of Horrors vibes?

00:56:18.450 --> 00:56:19.610
Yeah.

00:56:19.610 --> 00:56:20.790
That's Audrey, too.

00:56:20.930 --> 00:56:21.430
Yeah.

00:56:21.970 --> 00:56:26.390
Some vlogs capture Officer Taylor pleased after a call with his wife and daughters.

00:56:27.130 --> 00:56:29.310
He is deeply focused on getting home.

00:56:29.330 --> 00:56:30.450
His kids are pretty young.

00:56:30.470 --> 00:56:35.090
I'd say like maybe six and eight or nine, you know, like kid, kid aged.

00:56:35.370 --> 00:56:38.730
They're cute little girls, and he's a loving dad.

00:56:38.770 --> 00:56:41.610
He's just like, God damn, this feels so long.

00:56:41.750 --> 00:56:51.050
And he is increasingly desperate as he talks about how much he misses them, how he aches to see them in person and not just through a screen.

00:56:51.410 --> 00:56:52.410
And they're back on Earth?

00:56:52.450 --> 00:56:52.950
Yeah.

00:56:53.170 --> 00:56:56.270
Oh my gosh, I mean, just the fucking flight out is two years.

00:56:57.130 --> 00:57:01.150
He wipes tears away as he says the next five months are gonna be hard.

00:57:01.670 --> 00:57:01.890
Oh.

00:57:02.370 --> 00:57:05.110
And he mentions getting something for his daughter that she asked for.

00:57:05.450 --> 00:57:06.850
She wanted a space plant.

00:57:07.570 --> 00:57:08.250
Oh, no.

00:57:08.990 --> 00:57:16.030
The next blog has Officer Taylor discussing the first incident of what we know is that radiation poison issue he's been seeing.

00:57:16.150 --> 00:57:16.490
Right.

00:57:16.810 --> 00:57:19.270
He says the first stage is trembling hands.

00:57:19.870 --> 00:57:23.730
He's paranoid and says that something is going on, and he needs to find out what it is.

00:57:24.810 --> 00:57:31.730
Through some messing around on the computer, Jack is able to override a door to the surgical bay and is like, cool, I'm gonna go take a look.

00:57:32.470 --> 00:57:42.010
He's going through some of the rooms, and he goes through a furnace room, and he sees something actively burning, and is like, this is disgusting, I wish I had my helmet on.

00:57:42.330 --> 00:57:44.430
Finally some activity in this fucking place, though.

00:57:44.730 --> 00:57:47.810
Jessica is like, hey, dipshit, you should always have your helmet on.

00:57:48.010 --> 00:57:49.110
We're in space.

00:57:49.390 --> 00:57:49.830
Right.

00:57:50.030 --> 00:57:51.790
You answered an emergency call.

00:57:51.970 --> 00:57:52.790
You know what that means?

00:57:53.090 --> 00:57:54.810
Shit's not right, my dude.

00:57:55.070 --> 00:57:56.310
Something is wrong.

00:57:56.430 --> 00:57:57.930
They could all be suffocating.

00:57:58.710 --> 00:58:05.070
In the surgery ward, Jack opens these slideaway curtains to see a body under a sheet.

00:58:05.890 --> 00:58:10.870
Through the medical blue tones of the blanket is a pool of blood on the surface of the fabric.

00:58:11.890 --> 00:58:17.950
He rips off the blanket and screams, as he should, as he sees the security guard dead.

00:58:18.750 --> 00:58:23.110
He knows he's security by the uniform, and his chest is bleeding through his clothes.

00:58:23.830 --> 00:58:31.290
Jack is panicked, but tells Jessica his name, and manages to get his data card off his multi-tool for some more videos and context from this guy.

00:58:32.070 --> 00:58:40.610
Jack also makes the great decision to grab his security badge and tells Jessica, look, Officer Taylor isn't here, but we need to update Central.

00:58:41.150 --> 00:58:46.050
Central is just kind of the generic, oh, the cops, like the people running Mars.

00:58:46.070 --> 00:58:46.430
Right.

00:58:46.610 --> 00:58:49.150
The authorities who are supposed to be in charge of everyone here.

00:58:49.450 --> 00:58:50.950
People who should be handling this right now.

00:58:51.890 --> 00:58:53.950
Jessica is all over it to help Jack out.

00:58:53.970 --> 00:58:55.790
She says, I'm reporting it right now.

00:58:55.810 --> 00:58:56.390
I got you.

00:58:57.510 --> 00:59:03.410
In the Bay of the Surgery Ward, Jack also finds a saw blade near a sink with lots of blood.

00:59:04.170 --> 00:59:06.790
He is like, seriously, what the hell happened here?

00:59:07.910 --> 00:59:12.170
Jessica lets Jack know that she reached out for backup and tells Jack to get out of here.

00:59:12.970 --> 00:59:22.290
As Jack enters the main medical bay, he looks over and sees another space suit walk through an activated door down the hall and exit.

00:59:23.110 --> 00:59:24.150
We are not alone.

00:59:24.410 --> 00:59:25.410
Oh, fuck me.

00:59:26.330 --> 00:59:33.590
And it's such a split second on the screen, and then Jack reacts and goes, hey, hey, and screams after him, but it's too late.

00:59:34.230 --> 00:59:36.830
Well, yeah, it's the first fucking person you've seen this whole time.

00:59:36.850 --> 00:59:40.730
The first live person we've seen this whole time.

00:59:42.910 --> 00:59:54.350
As the door closes behind that person, red lights flash and the computer voice comes out saying the levels are being reduced and the whole system is shutting down due to an airlock breach.

00:59:54.570 --> 00:59:55.110
Oh, shit.

00:59:55.250 --> 00:59:56.590
I'm going to remind you one more time.

00:59:57.310 --> 00:59:59.290
Jack took off his helmet when he walked in.

00:59:59.330 --> 01:00:01.310
Yeah, and he left it where he fucking took it off.

01:00:01.330 --> 01:00:04.470
With an airlock breach, that means the oxygen is going away.

01:00:04.950 --> 01:00:05.370
Shit.

01:00:05.890 --> 01:00:09.090
Jack screams out for help, but is once again alone.

01:00:09.110 --> 01:00:11.730
That person is fucking gone, whoever the fuck they were.

01:00:12.130 --> 01:00:15.550
So, like, to recap, we found a fully dead security officer.

01:00:16.050 --> 01:00:21.130
There's been lots of blood, and we also found a bloody suit for the medical officer Wyatt Taylor.

01:00:21.150 --> 01:00:21.470
Right.

01:00:22.130 --> 01:00:23.610
We don't know where anyone else is.

01:00:23.630 --> 01:00:24.570
We have not seen anyone.

01:00:24.970 --> 01:00:28.290
And we only saw the back of that suit as they left the room.

01:00:28.490 --> 01:00:30.050
So we don't know who the fuck that is.

01:00:30.210 --> 01:00:30.450
Ugh.

01:00:31.470 --> 01:00:36.850
Jessica screams, knowing Jack doesn't have his helmet on, and if the oxygen goes out, he will suffocate and die.

01:00:37.330 --> 01:00:38.330
On calms with her.

01:00:39.110 --> 01:00:45.890
Jack panics and sprints through the medical bay, landing in the furnace and taking a maintenance route out of the closing down medical bay.

01:00:46.150 --> 01:00:52.530
He crawls on his belly along a coffin narrow corridor, breathing heavily, panicked that he's about to die.

01:00:52.770 --> 01:00:53.230
Yeah.

01:00:54.210 --> 01:01:00.690
This area is at least somewhat stable and isn't actively being shut down by the computer, so he's fine.

01:01:00.710 --> 01:01:02.650
He's like, okay, let's just fucking go.

01:01:03.230 --> 01:01:07.990
Jack snake bellies through the perimeter of the ship and comes up on another out in the system.

01:01:08.450 --> 01:01:11.190
Now at the base of the stairwell, he used to get downstairs.

01:01:12.130 --> 01:01:14.950
Once he's safe, Jack is like, holy shit.

01:01:15.490 --> 01:01:17.390
And Jessica goes, what the fuck happened?

01:01:17.410 --> 01:01:18.030
Are you good?

01:01:18.090 --> 01:01:20.290
And Jack goes, I don't know.

01:01:21.690 --> 01:01:23.890
But someone's down here with me.

01:01:24.570 --> 01:01:32.750
Jessica is shocked to hear this as we all were at the time, but still reiterates, okay, it doesn't matter, but you need to get your ass out of there right now.

01:01:32.850 --> 01:01:33.230
Yeah.

01:01:33.370 --> 01:01:35.370
Jack goes, I'm trying.

01:01:35.390 --> 01:01:39.770
I just snake crawled my ass through a fucking narrow ass corridor.

01:01:40.510 --> 01:01:44.690
As he climbs up the stairs, the airlock breach alarm goes off here too.

01:01:45.210 --> 01:01:48.990
And Jessica is like, oh my fucking God, put on your goddamn helmet.

01:01:50.290 --> 01:01:57.350
Jack understands, okay, so this is the time and place for a helmet and sprints back up to the atrium to grab it from where he left it.

01:01:58.050 --> 01:02:00.970
Now fully suited up, Jack catches his breath.

01:02:01.610 --> 01:02:04.730
Jessica asks him what's happening, but Jack gets distracted.

01:02:05.730 --> 01:02:12.290
He opens the front door that he entered from, and as he does, a body flops dead in the doorway.

01:02:12.430 --> 01:02:15.150
Jesus, just bodies falling from everywhere now.

01:02:15.170 --> 01:02:21.210
He goes for the first hour of nothing and nobody, and now bodies are just throwing themselves at him.

01:02:22.270 --> 01:02:26.630
And, you know, he hasn't spent that much time wandering around the facility.

01:02:26.790 --> 01:02:31.610
This person is dead in front of him in the time it took for him to wander around.

01:02:31.610 --> 01:02:32.230
Jesus.

01:02:32.830 --> 01:02:36.570
He pulls the corpse to the side and tells Jessica, Dunpart?

01:02:36.950 --> 01:02:42.590
Jessica confirms that Dunpart is Helen Dunpart, the chief botanist at Fort Solis.

01:02:42.810 --> 01:02:43.610
Oh shit.

01:02:44.150 --> 01:02:48.950
Jack inspects her body and tells Jessica the body was stabbed multiple times.

01:02:49.130 --> 01:02:49.850
Stabbed?

01:02:49.970 --> 01:02:55.270
That her helmet was damaged and she couldn't breathe, but she still made it back to the facility.

01:02:55.870 --> 01:03:00.910
She was hurt outside somewhere and crawled back to Fort Solis.

01:03:00.990 --> 01:03:01.850
Jesus.

01:03:02.770 --> 01:03:06.950
Jack tells Jessica to update Central that this was a violent incidence.

01:03:07.150 --> 01:03:09.690
Now there's two confirmed kills.

01:03:09.830 --> 01:03:10.350
Shit.

01:03:11.010 --> 01:03:14.650
Maybe three, we don't know where Wyatt is, but we found his bloody clothes.

01:03:14.670 --> 01:03:15.050
Right.

01:03:15.630 --> 01:03:18.870
Jessica notes there's only six crew members on Fort Solis right now.

01:03:19.310 --> 01:03:20.230
Well, five.

01:03:20.350 --> 01:03:20.690
Yeah.

01:03:21.110 --> 01:03:22.070
Okay, I guess four.

01:03:23.050 --> 01:03:29.570
Chapter two, Let There Be Light, 2045, which is 845?

01:03:29.590 --> 01:03:30.030
Bingo.

01:03:30.590 --> 01:03:32.950
Okay, yeah, so it's been about an hour and a half.

01:03:34.270 --> 01:03:35.190
Ugh, poor Jack.

01:03:36.150 --> 01:03:37.370
Jack can't leave.

01:03:37.390 --> 01:03:48.910
His heart is saying he has to sweep and try and use the cameras to locate anyone else and get them out safe, because there's four people who may still be alive here, and I cannot let them die.

01:03:49.190 --> 01:03:49.550
Right.

01:03:49.910 --> 01:03:54.910
Jessica was like, I would rather you leave now and Central handle it, because what the fuck?

01:03:55.110 --> 01:04:00.510
Jack is like, but no, if I can stop someone from dying, I'm gonna stop someone from dying.

01:04:01.150 --> 01:04:03.210
I can't in good faith walk away from this.

01:04:04.210 --> 01:04:10.570
Jack figures he'll go down to security, find whoever's left, get them out of here safely, and then go on his divorced guy vacation.

01:04:12.830 --> 01:04:20.390
Knowing he's no longer alone, or maybe knowing he was never alone, Jack continues exploring Fort Solis.

01:04:21.250 --> 01:04:29.490
Gently, after knowing he's seen two dead bodies, Jessica asks how Jack is doing, you know, with all this.

01:04:29.690 --> 01:04:30.090
Right.

01:04:30.670 --> 01:04:35.850
Then teases Jack saying, what's the point of watching all these fucking shows if you don't learn from the heroes?

01:04:37.390 --> 01:04:41.430
Jack says, well, for what it's worth, I haven't ruled out zombies.

01:04:42.050 --> 01:04:42.950
Haven't ruled it out yet.

01:04:43.530 --> 01:04:45.850
I love them so much.

01:04:47.250 --> 01:05:03.510
Jack goes through offices and closets and rooms as he may sit down to the hangar bay on his search for security, because if he can get to security, he can check the monitors, find everyone, and hopefully, like, get them safe, help them get rescued by Central, help find out what's going on here.

01:05:03.610 --> 01:05:04.930
At least see where the fuck they are.

01:05:06.430 --> 01:05:14.110
As he enters the hangar bay, a platform, a huge space shipping container, rolls out right at Jack.

01:05:14.770 --> 01:05:18.150
Now, there's a QTE, and if you fuck it up, Jack can get injured.

01:05:18.850 --> 01:05:19.310
Oh, shit.

01:05:19.390 --> 01:05:20.390
Just to throw it out there.

01:05:20.950 --> 01:05:22.090
Is there permadeath in this game?

01:05:22.450 --> 01:05:22.710
No.

01:05:22.850 --> 01:05:23.430
No, okay.

01:05:23.930 --> 01:05:25.630
I don't think I died in this game.

01:05:26.490 --> 01:05:27.770
But there's no permadeath.

01:05:27.790 --> 01:05:30.350
This is not a heavy rain situation.

01:05:30.350 --> 01:05:30.710
Right.

01:05:31.550 --> 01:05:37.330
With that one platform container thing fucked up, it hits one of the doorways that Jack needed.

01:05:37.350 --> 01:05:38.230
So he's like, cool.

01:05:38.470 --> 01:05:40.450
Almost got killed, and I'm trapped.

01:05:40.950 --> 01:05:42.150
This is the worst day.

01:05:43.390 --> 01:05:48.570
There are some tunnel tracks used to move platforms back and forth, because again, this is a mining facility.

01:05:48.810 --> 01:05:49.110
Right.

01:05:49.130 --> 01:05:50.650
So they're moving heavy shit around.

01:05:50.670 --> 01:05:52.330
Totally makes sense that there's crazy machinery.

01:05:52.550 --> 01:05:53.490
Not at Fort Minor.

01:05:54.170 --> 01:05:54.490
Yeah.

01:05:55.250 --> 01:05:58.590
And Jack looks around and goes, it's a nice night for a walk.

01:05:59.430 --> 01:05:59.970
Let's go.

01:06:00.670 --> 01:06:11.870
In the depths, as he goes on, Jack can find a voice memo from the head of operations saying that the medical officer, Officer Wyatt Taylor, has been on his ass about overexposure to his team.

01:06:12.450 --> 01:06:17.910
This is the ops manager Nick, and Nick brushes it off, but it's clearly really annoying him.

01:06:18.170 --> 01:06:32.170
And while I've only named three performers that are in this game, because those are the only ones that get opening credits, there is about 10 performers or so that round out the full cast of people doing vlogs.

01:06:32.350 --> 01:06:38.850
So we know Jessica's there, we know Jack's there, but everyone else is appearing in video memos and voice memos.

01:06:40.150 --> 01:06:43.770
It's actually kind of funny because early on, Wyatt Taylor is doing one.

01:06:43.790 --> 01:06:50.570
I think it's the one where he's talking about his kids, but he says, they make us do these vlogs for our mental health, and I kind of get it.

01:06:50.570 --> 01:07:02.190
But I like the notion that they put forth a reason for the vlogs to exist, not just a bio shock of someone recording something on a device and then leaving it in a convenient place.

01:07:03.230 --> 01:07:08.770
They're like, no, no, they make us do these like once a day so we don't go fucking space madness, you know?

01:07:08.970 --> 01:07:11.550
Right, no, they do that in all sorts of different space movies too.

01:07:12.010 --> 01:07:13.570
And they say it's a mental health thing?

01:07:13.590 --> 01:07:14.070
Yeah, fully.

01:07:14.210 --> 01:07:14.890
Oh, that's funny.

01:07:16.050 --> 01:07:24.930
So Jack sets off down the tunnels, which is a tedious process of opening doors, running back and forth, but he makes his way down and out to the guts of Fort Solis.

01:07:25.910 --> 01:07:32.830
Unlit tunnels are dirty and lonely, while Jack walks down with only the light of his helmet to guide him out of the larger campus.

01:07:34.050 --> 01:07:40.550
He ends up on the edge of one of the mining locations, outside in the middle of a brewing storm on the surface of Mars.

01:07:40.950 --> 01:07:44.250
He figures he needs to get back to the surface and climbs up and out.

01:07:44.770 --> 01:07:48.990
Jack talks to Jessica and is like, seriously, what is going on?

01:07:49.170 --> 01:07:52.830
Why was no one here radioed us or reached back out?

01:07:53.670 --> 01:07:54.810
What happened here?

01:07:55.410 --> 01:07:58.190
She's finally starting to get on board that there's something fucking wrong.

01:07:58.790 --> 01:08:03.710
Jessica reminds Jack that he hasn't ruled out zombies, so it could be zombies.

01:08:04.810 --> 01:08:16.750
On another level of the mining levels, he sees a storage unit with the door swinging wide open kind of through the wind, which is weird because obviously that's not protocol, especially during a storm.

01:08:17.370 --> 01:08:18.870
He says he's just going to go take a look.

01:08:19.770 --> 01:08:25.350
Jessica says, it's like you watch these movies and try to outdo the dumb protagonists who die early.

01:08:26.630 --> 01:08:31.750
Jack, who knows he's in a horror movie, tells Jessica, I'll be right back.

01:08:32.250 --> 01:08:33.090
Jesus Christ.

01:08:33.150 --> 01:08:34.770
She says, I can't even with you.

01:08:36.690 --> 01:08:39.650
And I'll be right back is obviously a nod to one of your favorites.

01:08:39.690 --> 01:08:41.230
Oh, scream, of course.

01:08:41.850 --> 01:08:47.690
The iconic Jamie Kennedy, who is truly like that is the best he's given to people.

01:08:47.890 --> 01:08:48.150
Ever.

01:08:48.610 --> 01:08:51.450
Ever like bless his prank show, I guess, whatever.

01:08:51.470 --> 01:08:54.190
But his scream performance is weirdly on point.

01:08:54.710 --> 01:08:56.950
He is perfect as Randy in those fucking movies.

01:08:57.110 --> 01:09:00.870
Yeah, when he's yelling in Jamie Lee Curtis, like Jamie turn around.

01:09:00.950 --> 01:09:03.910
It's one of the best meta moments in the history of cinema.

01:09:03.950 --> 01:09:04.630
Yeah, absolutely.

01:09:04.650 --> 01:09:06.170
I was going to say horror, but yeah, you're right.

01:09:06.810 --> 01:09:07.990
He said Deadpool, who?

01:09:08.010 --> 01:09:08.670
I got this.

01:09:08.690 --> 01:09:08.970
Yeah.

01:09:09.830 --> 01:09:12.670
Jack has to check out the storage unit because he's in a horror movie.

01:09:13.190 --> 01:09:20.070
And as he peaks in, he trips on something soft and lands on the corpse of Nick, the operations manager.

01:09:20.350 --> 01:09:20.870
Damn it.

01:09:20.890 --> 01:09:22.290
So now we're down three.

01:09:23.090 --> 01:09:27.150
Jack screams and panics and tells Jessica he found him.

01:09:27.290 --> 01:09:30.850
He reads the manager's name off and Jessica confirms, yep, that's Nick.

01:09:30.870 --> 01:09:32.310
That's the operations manager.

01:09:33.450 --> 01:09:41.210
They log the third body Jack has found and Jack wanders deeper into the storm to find a way to save whoever is left.

01:09:42.470 --> 01:09:51.910
Now, Nick's body wasn't wearing a helmet and his face was distorted, frozen in a full scream as his corpse lay there in the dust.

01:09:52.270 --> 01:09:55.470
Oh, and this is like a very realistic looking game, right?

01:09:55.550 --> 01:09:57.570
This game is absolutely beautiful.

01:09:57.910 --> 01:10:00.110
This fucking sucks to look at.

01:10:00.550 --> 01:10:03.970
It is, and I mean that lovingly because it is so scary.

01:10:03.990 --> 01:10:08.850
It's kind of like in the ring, the way that people's faces are distorted after they're dead.

01:10:09.190 --> 01:10:14.270
It's like a stretched out forever scream, kind of like Edward Monk's The Scream, the painting.

01:10:14.290 --> 01:10:14.630
Yeah.

01:10:15.030 --> 01:10:20.230
I sound so douchey referencing a painting in a podcast about video games.

01:10:20.250 --> 01:10:21.550
Get the fuck over yourself.

01:10:21.710 --> 01:10:23.350
But that's what it looks like, to be real.

01:10:23.930 --> 01:10:32.770
It sucks to look at because you also see his vlogs prior, and he's like a nice, charming looking dude, and then you see just the worst death someone could have.

01:10:33.090 --> 01:10:33.330
Ugh.

01:10:34.450 --> 01:10:38.350
Jack finds the maintenance unit where he can hopefully make his way to security.

01:10:39.090 --> 01:10:44.050
To appease him, Jessica says, Roger, and Jack's like, oh, hey, you're doing my thing.

01:10:44.070 --> 01:10:44.730
Thank you.

01:10:44.750 --> 01:10:45.350
That's my name.

01:10:45.570 --> 01:10:48.130
He's like, I've seen three dead bodies tonight.

01:10:48.410 --> 01:10:53.770
Jessica immediately admits that she did it to add a little levity to the horrible situation he's in.

01:10:53.810 --> 01:10:54.190
Right.

01:10:54.970 --> 01:10:56.950
Their ribbing is so fucking good.

01:10:57.510 --> 01:10:59.990
It's probably very necessary considering how dark we're going.

01:11:00.190 --> 01:11:02.190
How dark and how lonely everything is.

01:11:04.250 --> 01:11:09.190
After the maintenance unit airlock, Jack is basically in the workshop of Fort Solis.

01:11:09.650 --> 01:11:15.670
There's tools and lots of different items around that the team has used to build and maintain all these mining units.

01:11:15.690 --> 01:11:17.090
Like I said, tons of machinery.

01:11:17.690 --> 01:11:26.870
An audio file from Nick, who is now confirmed dead, is optimistic, saying they could be figuring out the future here.

01:11:27.370 --> 01:11:31.770
He alludes to something here being the actual future.

01:11:32.470 --> 01:11:35.370
He stops himself and he goes, I sound like her.

01:11:36.570 --> 01:11:37.530
Hmm.

01:11:37.870 --> 01:11:38.610
The botanist?

01:11:38.930 --> 01:11:39.790
Perhaps.

01:11:41.270 --> 01:11:50.330
Jack is excited to see a 3D printer here, though, because frankly, any dude is excited to see a 3D printer, especially an engineer.

01:11:53.430 --> 01:11:58.610
Jessica is like, okay, you like the printer, but the star walks to see space are boring.

01:11:59.030 --> 01:12:02.010
And Jack is like, yeah, I don't give a shit about space.

01:12:02.030 --> 01:12:03.870
I fucking love 3D printers.

01:12:06.350 --> 01:12:10.970
Jack makes his way through the empty maintenance halls in search of some way to find everyone.

01:12:11.510 --> 01:12:15.610
He comes by one of our favorite things and sees the power generator.

01:12:15.630 --> 01:12:18.390
Oh, it's a goddamn generator.

01:12:18.550 --> 01:12:20.650
It's shut down, so you know what that means.

01:12:20.670 --> 01:12:21.830
You gotta turn this bitch on.

01:12:22.170 --> 01:12:27.710
No, because as Jack is inspecting it, he tells Jessica it looks like it was manually powered down.

01:12:28.090 --> 01:12:28.270
Oh.

01:12:28.750 --> 01:12:35.350
The only way to do that would be to hack the control panel and override the generator's security measures.

01:12:36.030 --> 01:12:39.070
And it's done in a way where this person clearly didn't want to get caught.

01:12:40.010 --> 01:12:46.310
With the security hacked and compromised, Jack can't do anything to get the security comms on and find anyone else.

01:12:46.750 --> 01:12:47.810
So this is intentional.

01:12:47.830 --> 01:12:49.190
This was deliberate.

01:12:49.990 --> 01:12:58.570
The backup generator next to the main one has been whacked, and all the wires are like pulled and yanked out, fully sabotaged.

01:12:58.850 --> 01:12:59.470
Oh, shit.

01:12:59.550 --> 01:13:00.650
It's all bad.

01:13:00.670 --> 01:13:03.630
There's truly no hope of getting these comms back up and running.

01:13:04.510 --> 01:13:09.150
Jessica, once again, the voice of reason is like, Jack, you have to get out of there.

01:13:10.230 --> 01:13:12.070
Jack admits defeat and says, you're right.

01:13:12.310 --> 01:13:17.650
Like, he really wanted to save whoever he could, but there's no way he could find anyone now.

01:13:18.950 --> 01:13:26.450
As Jack stands from inspecting the sabotage generators, he turns to leave when a pair of hands wrap around his helmet.

01:13:26.750 --> 01:13:27.230
Shit.

01:13:27.590 --> 01:13:32.890
This is the same suit we saw earlier in the medical bay, and this person overpowers Jack.

01:13:33.470 --> 01:13:36.050
They hit him in the ribs and slam him against the walls.

01:13:36.710 --> 01:13:40.350
They pin him up and punch him deeply right in between the ribs.

01:13:40.450 --> 01:13:40.890
Fuck.

01:13:41.450 --> 01:13:47.730
As Jack crumbles to the ground, we meet Chief Medical Officer Wyatt Taylor.

01:13:48.430 --> 01:13:49.330
Oh, shit.

01:13:49.370 --> 01:13:49.850
Really?

01:13:49.870 --> 01:13:51.370
Oh, yeah.

01:13:51.550 --> 01:13:53.330
So Troy Baker was the bad guy?

01:13:56.750 --> 01:13:57.470
Why is he, though?

01:13:58.510 --> 01:13:59.510
Do we know what happened?

01:13:59.670 --> 01:14:00.330
No, true.

01:14:00.330 --> 01:14:02.470
He might be mistaking who this person is.

01:14:02.490 --> 01:14:03.390
Oh, this is exciting.

01:14:03.410 --> 01:14:04.910
He's never met Jack.

01:14:04.910 --> 01:14:05.530
That's true.

01:14:06.250 --> 01:14:10.130
Wyatt grabs Jack's helmet and screams, How many are with you?

01:14:10.490 --> 01:14:11.830
Who else answered the alarm?

01:14:12.330 --> 01:14:20.370
But frantically, before Jack can get the wind back in his lungs to say anything, Wyatt slams Jack again to the ground.

01:14:21.670 --> 01:14:29.610
Without saying a word, Jack crawls away as much as he can, but Wyatt comes up behind him and screams, I asked you a question.

01:14:30.130 --> 01:14:31.570
Didn't give me a chance to answer.

01:14:32.870 --> 01:14:41.730
Jessica's voice comes over screaming for Jack in his ear, but as Jack looks up at Wyatt, Wyatt stomps him the fuck out in the face.

01:14:41.870 --> 01:14:43.090
Oh my God.

01:14:43.550 --> 01:14:48.410
As the screen turns to black, we hear Jessica scream out for Jack one more time.

01:14:50.510 --> 01:14:54.730
Now I want to take a moment here to give you some behind the scenes fun stuff.

01:14:54.830 --> 01:14:55.330
Please.

01:14:56.570 --> 01:15:03.610
During one of the fight scenes, I think it might be this one, it could be another moment, but I do want to tell this story now.

01:15:04.150 --> 01:15:05.610
The crew went out to lunch.

01:15:05.630 --> 01:15:08.370
They're like, cool, take 20, we're gonna eat sandwiches.

01:15:08.950 --> 01:15:15.650
Roger Clark joined the whole crew, but Troy Baker stayed behind to practice some of his fight sequence with a stunt performer.

01:15:16.670 --> 01:15:22.830
During the practice, Troy flew into a wall, and his body made a hole in the wall.

01:15:22.950 --> 01:15:28.170
The entire crew came back, and Roger was like, hey Troy, what's this hole in the wall?

01:15:28.690 --> 01:15:29.750
It looks like a butt.

01:15:32.110 --> 01:15:35.770
And Troy Baker said, that's me with my butt shaped body.

01:15:36.170 --> 01:15:38.150
Oh my god, his whole body was butt shaped?

01:15:39.210 --> 01:15:45.690
He's a tall man, like he seems more lanky than butt shaped, but I guess we don't know what shape we are until we go through a wall.

01:15:47.030 --> 01:15:48.690
We're not all going to look like Roger Rabbit.

01:15:49.230 --> 01:15:54.270
The team never bothered fixing the hole, and Troy Baker eventually signed the butt wall.

01:15:55.930 --> 01:16:00.590
I don't know why, but Roger Clark is like wildly tickled by this story, and it's so tender.

01:16:00.930 --> 01:16:02.650
I guess it wasn't a very eventful set.

01:16:04.030 --> 01:16:06.210
It was real dark, they wanted any kind of levity.

01:16:07.530 --> 01:16:15.530
Meanwhile, across Mars, in the LTV Jessica was sitting in, Jessica is screaming at her comms.

01:16:15.550 --> 01:16:18.470
She's like, Jack, please, I need you to tell me if you're okay.

01:16:18.730 --> 01:16:20.150
Jack, Jack, Jack.

01:16:21.210 --> 01:16:22.610
She hears nothing.

01:16:23.130 --> 01:16:23.950
Oh, shit.

01:16:24.510 --> 01:16:29.150
On her other line, she follows up with Central, calling for help and asking for an ETA on backup.

01:16:29.830 --> 01:16:35.870
The operator tells them they're on the way, but with this storm, don't hold your breath, they might not get there until tomorrow.

01:16:36.510 --> 01:16:40.950
Jessica hangs up with Central and turns the autopilot off on her LTV.

01:16:41.490 --> 01:16:45.630
She says, hang on, Jack, I'm on my way, as she heads to Fort Solis.

01:16:46.750 --> 01:16:51.670
Unfortunately, because of the storm, her LTV is overridden with instructions to not move.

01:16:51.970 --> 01:16:55.770
It just has an automatic thing of like, bitch, no, stop it.

01:16:56.810 --> 01:17:02.350
Jessica says to herself, echoing Jack's words, nice night for a walk, I guess.

01:17:03.170 --> 01:17:11.210
The wind fights Jessica every step of the way, as she breathes through the tedious task of walking against the weather and the wind.

01:17:12.190 --> 01:17:19.510
As the player switches to Jessica, we get the title card, Chapter Three, Midnight Run, 2320.

01:17:20.010 --> 01:17:23.250
I did not see us switching characters at any point in this game.

01:17:23.450 --> 01:17:24.430
I didn't either.

01:17:24.450 --> 01:17:29.330
I didn't realize, it really caught me off guard that Troy Baker was on site.

01:17:31.330 --> 01:17:32.910
I was really hook, line, and sinker for this.

01:17:33.150 --> 01:17:36.350
And probably because they didn't put anything fucking out for this game.

01:17:36.370 --> 01:17:40.850
There were no spoilers, but I fully thought we were playing as Jack Leary the whole time.

01:17:41.250 --> 01:17:50.330
I thought at this point, maybe Troy Baker is just like the ghost in the computer that we interact with the most, and they just gave him a title card, because obviously it's Troy Baker.

01:17:50.890 --> 01:17:52.310
Put some respect on his name.

01:17:52.670 --> 01:17:59.770
And I thought Jessica would truly be the Delilah from Firewatch that we'd see maybe a little bit, but never interact with.

01:17:59.790 --> 01:18:00.830
And now we are her.

01:18:01.230 --> 01:18:02.250
That's pretty great.

01:18:02.250 --> 01:18:05.310
Like, yeah, I did not see us at all changing characters.

01:18:05.590 --> 01:18:06.410
It's really great.

01:18:06.990 --> 01:18:11.170
The script on this was surprising, and it's a really tight script.

01:18:11.190 --> 01:18:12.130
I really enjoy this.

01:18:12.290 --> 01:18:14.150
It's giving MJ and Spider-Man.

01:18:14.610 --> 01:18:15.330
But useful.

01:18:16.650 --> 01:18:20.770
But not tedious and ass, where you're just hiding behind a box and throwing shit.

01:18:20.870 --> 01:18:21.730
That's another thing.

01:18:22.970 --> 01:18:23.770
Now we're Jessica.

01:18:24.490 --> 01:18:34.210
Jessica manages her way through a pitch dark stormy conditions as she approaches the same area of Fort Solis Jack approached on his first point of contact.

01:18:35.130 --> 01:18:43.230
Unfortunately, Jessica experiences the same issues Jack had on coming in, but can't climb up the wall and propel herself because of how bad the storm is.

01:18:44.050 --> 01:18:46.250
So she's like, what would Jack do?

01:18:46.590 --> 01:18:49.930
All right, Jack told me, next time I'd cut through the goddamn door.

01:18:50.510 --> 01:18:56.310
So she goes to Jack's LTV, grabs his tools, and cuts down the goddamn door.

01:18:56.330 --> 01:18:57.350
Damn right.

01:18:57.410 --> 01:18:58.430
Hell yeah, Jessica.

01:18:58.450 --> 01:18:59.970
She's also an engineer.

01:18:59.990 --> 01:19:01.850
She's problem solving like a motherfucker.

01:19:02.410 --> 01:19:04.510
I love that these are smart characters.

01:19:04.730 --> 01:19:05.150
Yeah.

01:19:05.270 --> 01:19:12.270
Like, I appreciate that they're engineers because all of this makes sense, how they approach problems and solve it.

01:19:12.290 --> 01:19:18.350
And noting that Jack has military background kind of speeds to him saying, no man left behind.

01:19:18.490 --> 01:19:20.790
If there's someone here, I'm not going to let them get hurt.

01:19:20.790 --> 01:19:23.330
You know, that drives so much of what just happened.

01:19:23.550 --> 01:19:24.250
Fully, yeah.

01:19:24.270 --> 01:19:26.490
I mean, you got to be smart to make it to Mars.

01:19:26.550 --> 01:19:26.910
So...

01:19:27.090 --> 01:19:27.670
Yeah.

01:19:28.730 --> 01:19:30.730
These aren't Seas Get Degrees engineers.

01:19:30.750 --> 01:19:32.470
Yeah, you still kind of got to be an astronaut.

01:19:33.870 --> 01:19:40.530
Jessica fires up the wall cutter and says, I'm sure it's fine to cut this door, but there's only one way to find out, really.

01:19:41.310 --> 01:19:46.410
And then she tears apart the Fort Solis airlock door with lasers, which is so fucking cool.

01:19:46.430 --> 01:19:46.850
Hell yeah.

01:19:47.750 --> 01:19:51.330
Inside the airlock immediately, she runs into a man.

01:19:52.490 --> 01:19:55.190
As the player, we are reintroduced to Wyatt.

01:19:55.390 --> 01:19:55.890
Shit.

01:19:57.250 --> 01:19:59.730
Wyatt has caught her completely off guard.

01:20:00.390 --> 01:20:02.550
He starts with, oh my god, I'm so sorry.

01:20:02.570 --> 01:20:03.830
I saw you out in the storm.

01:20:03.890 --> 01:20:04.790
Are you okay?

01:20:04.810 --> 01:20:06.910
Oh, so now he's playing all kind?

01:20:07.270 --> 01:20:07.790
Bitch.

01:20:08.910 --> 01:20:10.130
Jessica is on edge.

01:20:10.450 --> 01:20:13.170
Obviously, she doesn't know what happened to her best friend.

01:20:13.570 --> 01:20:14.970
She says, yeah, I'm good.

01:20:15.610 --> 01:20:16.850
She's hesitant.

01:20:17.170 --> 01:20:19.870
She's shy, and she's short and careful with her words.

01:20:20.770 --> 01:20:26.030
Wyatt kindly asks, hey, you know, there's some crazy weird shit going on tonight.

01:20:26.390 --> 01:20:27.070
I'm so sorry.

01:20:27.990 --> 01:20:28.710
Who are you?

01:20:29.890 --> 01:20:32.110
Jessica answers him and asks his name.

01:20:33.070 --> 01:20:35.610
Wyatt looks her in the eyes and says, I'm Nick.

01:20:35.750 --> 01:20:37.130
I run the drills around here.

01:20:38.070 --> 01:20:41.330
He smiles at her and can't take his eyes off of her eyes.

01:20:41.670 --> 01:20:42.410
Oh shit.

01:20:42.730 --> 01:20:44.370
Jessica asks about his team.

01:20:45.390 --> 01:20:47.770
He says, oh, they're off site because of the storms.

01:20:48.070 --> 01:20:49.990
He asks, are you here alone?

01:20:50.910 --> 01:20:54.490
Jessica says, yes, I'm responding to the alarm.

01:20:55.710 --> 01:20:56.670
There is some time.

01:20:56.890 --> 01:20:57.950
They stare at each other.

01:20:58.690 --> 01:21:01.910
And then Jessica hauls ass, sprinting off through the facility.

01:21:02.190 --> 01:21:02.750
Smart.

01:21:03.530 --> 01:21:05.830
Wyatt chases her with some joy in his voice.

01:21:05.850 --> 01:21:07.530
He goes, hey, where are you going?

01:21:08.350 --> 01:21:09.530
Why are you sprinting?

01:21:09.930 --> 01:21:16.590
But Jessica has managed to run through a hall and lock a door behind her, leaving a barrier between her and Wyatt.

01:21:17.630 --> 01:21:21.550
Wyatt kindly tells her again, hey, come on, it's okay.

01:21:21.590 --> 01:21:22.150
Open the door.

01:21:22.390 --> 01:21:23.490
I'll explain everything.

01:21:23.610 --> 01:21:24.290
And you know what?

01:21:24.310 --> 01:21:25.650
I'll take you to see your friend.

01:21:26.710 --> 01:21:29.610
He tells her to open the door, over and over.

01:21:30.290 --> 01:21:34.730
And it turns from, hey, open the door, to open the fucking door.

01:21:34.750 --> 01:21:35.770
Oh my God.

01:21:36.430 --> 01:21:41.490
Jessica stounds her ground and doesn't say anything, and Wyatt realizes he won't get through to her.

01:21:41.810 --> 01:21:44.970
And he says, okay, fine, but I'll be seeing you.

01:21:45.490 --> 01:21:47.330
And he turns and he leaves another way.

01:21:48.070 --> 01:21:48.990
I like Jessica.

01:21:49.430 --> 01:21:51.130
Jessica's a bad bitch.

01:21:51.250 --> 01:21:51.890
Hell yeah.

01:21:52.250 --> 01:21:56.490
Jessica watches him leave, and she just goes, what are you doing, Jessica?

01:21:56.930 --> 01:21:59.970
Holy shit, we are, is this space madness?

01:21:59.990 --> 01:22:00.690
Oh my God.

01:22:00.910 --> 01:22:01.690
Seriously.

01:22:02.110 --> 01:22:11.550
Now in the belly of Fort Solis, following her best friend's footsteps, Jessica figures the last place she heard from Jack was in that maintenance unit, so that's where we have to check first.

01:22:12.410 --> 01:22:13.790
If he's dead, we'll find him there.

01:22:13.790 --> 01:22:16.530
If he's hurt, he can't be too far, right?

01:22:17.730 --> 01:22:25.630
As Jessica, you can explore a lot of the same areas of the fort as Jack, so you can double back and find collectibles or clues that you may have missed.

01:22:26.210 --> 01:22:30.190
Kind of nice, but also like you have a sense of where things are, so good for you.

01:22:30.950 --> 01:22:39.890
The more of the gore that Jessica confirms from hearing it from Jack and now seeing it with her own eyes, the more she's like, fuck this shit, I have to get Jack out of here.

01:22:40.830 --> 01:22:47.250
Jessica, now partially alone with a deranged weirdo somewhere else, calls herself an idiot.

01:22:48.250 --> 01:22:50.410
This is what you get for being a hero.

01:22:50.870 --> 01:22:51.710
Poor Jessica.

01:22:52.330 --> 01:22:55.170
And poor Jessica doesn't seem to have anybody on the other line for her.

01:22:55.190 --> 01:22:55.990
Right?

01:22:56.170 --> 01:22:58.170
Yeah, she's talking to herself for part of this.

01:22:58.750 --> 01:22:59.670
But then she's not.

01:22:59.950 --> 01:23:03.690
Because as Jessica explores, Wyatt comes on to her comms.

01:23:03.710 --> 01:23:04.610
God damn it.

01:23:04.730 --> 01:23:08.950
He tells her, look, it's been a long night, and I'm just trying to contain this.

01:23:09.990 --> 01:23:20.890
When Jessica speaks to Wyatt, she is calm collected, but there is fear and urgency in her voice as she tries to communicate with this person she is terrified of.

01:23:21.430 --> 01:23:23.090
She asks, where is Jack?

01:23:23.550 --> 01:23:24.470
Is Jack alive?

01:23:25.290 --> 01:23:34.930
Wyatt takes a pause and tells her, even with his Hippocratic Oath, which is like a do no harm, save everyone kind of thing, it's slightly different in different regions.

01:23:34.950 --> 01:23:38.690
It might be different on space, but core concept, don't hurt anyone.

01:23:38.710 --> 01:23:43.110
If someone comes to you in need, help them regardless of who they are or what the situation is.

01:23:44.530 --> 01:23:47.810
He says there is nothing he can do for either of them now.

01:23:49.330 --> 01:23:51.690
Jessica says, what you're doing is insane.

01:23:52.230 --> 01:23:55.730
Wyatt tells her to look around and tell him he's wrong.

01:23:56.770 --> 01:23:58.630
Jessica says, why would you do this?

01:24:00.090 --> 01:24:06.930
Wyatt quotes Jack London and says, the proper function of man is to live, not to exist.

01:24:07.470 --> 01:24:10.150
I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them.

01:24:10.850 --> 01:24:12.030
I shall use my time.

01:24:12.650 --> 01:24:18.650
And then he fucks off into the night, and we don't hear from him for a while, which is so horrifying.

01:24:18.670 --> 01:24:21.070
I'm just gonna say some cryptic shit and leave.

01:24:21.090 --> 01:24:22.550
Yeah, why?

01:24:22.570 --> 01:24:24.370
It's like he wants to be the villain.

01:24:25.050 --> 01:24:30.490
Jessica navigates deeper and deeper into Fort Solis, trying to track Jack down someplace in the dark.

01:24:31.270 --> 01:24:38.710
She comes up on the drill bay hanger door, blocked by that platform that fell on Jack earlier, and like I said, it's blocked, so she's like, okay, whatever.

01:24:39.530 --> 01:24:48.330
There's some backtracking and some navigating, but Jessica manages to open a door that leads right to the generators that Jack was reporting live from when he was jumped by Wyatt.

01:24:48.350 --> 01:24:55.570
So there's that one generator that was manually powered down and the other that was like, they yanked the wires out of it, so they couldn't turn it back on.

01:24:56.750 --> 01:25:00.570
Jessica is at least not far, so she searches the nearby areas.

01:25:00.770 --> 01:25:04.230
Like, he got jumped, he couldn't have gotten far, he has to be nearby.

01:25:05.090 --> 01:25:11.830
As she does, in her ear, Wyatt goes, Jessica.

01:25:12.530 --> 01:25:16.790
Jessica asks again, calmly but horrified, where is Jack?

01:25:17.250 --> 01:25:20.530
Wyatt goes into complaining that Helen tried to silence him.

01:25:21.190 --> 01:25:22.630
It's a whole conspiracy.

01:25:23.390 --> 01:25:30.630
Jessica asks what he was silenced about, and Wyatt invites her to the greenhouse so he can show her in person.

01:25:31.870 --> 01:25:36.210
He goes silent, and after he does, Jessica goes, well, that must be where Jack is.

01:25:36.310 --> 01:25:36.670
Okay.

01:25:37.930 --> 01:25:40.950
I don't care if he's luring me somewhere, I have to find Jack.

01:25:41.350 --> 01:25:46.510
And again, Helen is the botanist who is trying to silence him allegedly.

01:25:46.990 --> 01:25:56.310
And we did see that one clip of her talking about her discovery and being so excited, and Wyatt rushing in and saying, people are sick, Helen, fuck your research.

01:25:57.750 --> 01:25:59.390
There's something going on between those two.

01:25:59.410 --> 01:26:00.770
There's something very going on.

01:26:01.690 --> 01:26:11.430
Jessica finds a security camera that was covering the generators, and we see the footage of Wyatt brutally attacking Jack in the generator room from not that long ago.

01:26:11.670 --> 01:26:13.690
Like, canonically what, an hour ago?

01:26:14.730 --> 01:26:17.310
She whispers to herself, what happened here?

01:26:18.470 --> 01:26:22.910
She gets through the maintenance workshop area and sees the 3D printer Jack was admiring.

01:26:24.050 --> 01:26:27.190
She gets closer, and on the screen is an axe.

01:26:28.170 --> 01:26:33.930
She says quietly to herself, but also to Jack, I hoped you printed that out and not him.

01:26:35.030 --> 01:26:36.530
Oh, man, me too.

01:26:38.070 --> 01:26:44.450
Jessica makes her way out of airlock to a different part of Fort Solis, and has to manage some fallen equipment from tonight's storm.

01:26:45.090 --> 01:26:54.510
She is dead set on this point at removing the lockdown that has the entire Fort Solis campus shut down and locked up so she can manage through the facility and actually find Jack.

01:26:55.230 --> 01:27:00.230
She's so, fuck this, let's burn it to the ground from the inside out, and I fucking love her for it.

01:27:01.210 --> 01:27:02.070
She's a bad bitch.

01:27:02.210 --> 01:27:04.850
She is the baddest bitch.

01:27:05.890 --> 01:27:11.950
Once inside the internal comms and logistics area, Jessica's like, okay, let's Scooby-Doo this shit, I guess.

01:27:12.670 --> 01:27:22.050
I'm gonna remove the lockdown and get all this shit sorted out, find Jack, get that lunatic under control somehow, and then Jack can go to Margaritaville Europa.

01:27:24.030 --> 01:27:33.590
Jessica manages to find a loose multi-tool, and as she checks it out, a video of Nick, the actual operations guy, was showing off some tools they've been using to mine the site.

01:27:34.750 --> 01:27:39.910
As he's talking, he gets interrupted by Officer Taylor bursting in, demanding to be seen.

01:27:40.790 --> 01:27:58.390
She can see more videos, but she's basically caught up that Wyatt was starting to get really paranoid, because the mining teams that were out on Mars are getting a lot of exposure, they're getting sick, and he's like you guys are staying longer than I'm telling you is safe, and you're not listening to me, so why are you putting people in danger?

01:27:58.450 --> 01:28:02.390
What the fuck are you working on where you're letting people get sick?

01:28:03.190 --> 01:28:05.610
And that has something to do with Helen, the botanist.

01:28:07.030 --> 01:28:08.570
Yeah, this is all so crazy.

01:28:09.010 --> 01:28:18.070
Jessica sees more and more, and she just gets more scared, cause like people are clearly on edge, like the days leading up to this, everyone seemed to be really at each other's throats.

01:28:18.990 --> 01:28:27.810
The whole area feels empty, but through that stillness, Jessica knows she's not alone, and that Wyatt is trying to keep some kind of tab on her.

01:28:29.050 --> 01:28:31.510
She stops at the top of the stairs and catches her breath.

01:28:32.650 --> 01:28:35.370
As she does, she looks down at her hand, which is trembling.

01:28:36.610 --> 01:28:38.030
Oh no, that's the first sign.

01:28:38.850 --> 01:28:44.650
Jessica goes downstairs to the full server room to give the system a reboot and get the lockdown taken off.

01:28:44.670 --> 01:28:49.730
She's like, I can't even fucking get through to where he wants me to be with this shit on lockdown.

01:28:50.810 --> 01:28:54.970
As she approaches the main servers, she's caught off guard with nausea.

01:28:55.590 --> 01:28:59.190
She doubles over and throws her helmet off just to spit up on the ground.

01:29:00.270 --> 01:29:02.510
She stops and tells herself to pull it together.

01:29:03.230 --> 01:29:08.150
Knowing she has to save Jack, she rallies, puts her helmet back on, and gets back to work.

01:29:09.770 --> 01:29:12.370
At the base of the main terminal of the server is...

01:29:13.510 --> 01:29:15.170
Fuck, it's another pool of blood.

01:29:15.730 --> 01:29:17.090
Jesus, more blood.

01:29:17.350 --> 01:29:22.070
Looking deeper, there is a severed hand at the very center of the pool of blood.

01:29:22.390 --> 01:29:23.010
Fuck me.

01:29:23.310 --> 01:29:34.630
Jessica, now unfazed by the horrors of seeing several dead bodies this evening, picks up the man's arm and uses the multi-tool that it's wearing to scan into the server room's database.

01:29:35.230 --> 01:29:36.230
That's some dark shit.

01:29:36.250 --> 01:29:39.330
That's some real dark fucking shit.

01:29:40.610 --> 01:29:43.350
The rest of the man is slumped over by the wall.

01:29:43.950 --> 01:29:45.070
Clearly very dead.

01:29:45.650 --> 01:29:53.450
So, this is four confirmed dead bodies, Wyatt, and Jack, all around here.

01:29:53.750 --> 01:29:53.950
Ugh.

01:29:53.970 --> 01:29:53.970
Ugh.

01:29:55.750 --> 01:30:01.070
With some home database resetting, Jessica solves a quick puzzle to reboot the whole server system.

01:30:01.590 --> 01:30:03.470
She's a goddamn engineer after all.

01:30:04.590 --> 01:30:08.850
With her plan working perfectly so far, Jessica is able to reset the server.

01:30:09.190 --> 01:30:11.210
And she's like, hell yeah, I did that shit.

01:30:11.870 --> 01:30:13.590
But she does need one more thing.

01:30:14.010 --> 01:30:16.750
Access to unlock and fully send the reset.

01:30:17.450 --> 01:30:24.490
She does a quick search and finds Hoskins, the guy with access, in the canteen from the server's security footage.

01:30:24.610 --> 01:30:25.550
She's like, perfect.

01:30:25.570 --> 01:30:26.130
There he is.

01:30:26.610 --> 01:30:29.210
One more stop, and then I can find and save Jack.

01:30:30.290 --> 01:30:38.730
As she sets off, Wyatt whispers back in her ear, saying, Jesse, Jesse, Jesse, think about what you're doing.

01:30:39.690 --> 01:30:43.990
With the same tone she's brought to him every time, she says, I am.

01:30:45.310 --> 01:30:48.950
Wyatt pleads, it's been a long night, and I'm just trying to contain this.

01:30:49.790 --> 01:30:51.590
She hasn't seen what he has.

01:30:52.330 --> 01:30:56.150
Wyatt becomes more erratic, yelling at her to listen to him.

01:30:56.570 --> 01:31:00.150
And then frustrated, he says he's let this go on long enough.

01:31:00.750 --> 01:31:03.170
And then he just fucks off into the nothingness again.

01:31:03.690 --> 01:31:06.250
And like, explain yourself, sir, what the fuck are you containing?

01:31:07.570 --> 01:31:07.990
Right?

01:31:08.110 --> 01:31:08.470
This.

01:31:08.650 --> 01:31:10.790
He said it twice, I'm trying to contain this.

01:31:11.290 --> 01:31:13.230
What, dude, can you use your words?

01:31:13.630 --> 01:31:18.850
Once again, how many video game issues would be solved if people just use their god damn words?

01:31:18.930 --> 01:31:20.390
Use some fucking communication.

01:31:20.470 --> 01:31:28.810
Like, this should be a study in therapy, like, processes of, here's what happens if you don't explain your situation.

01:31:28.830 --> 01:31:31.530
Here's what happens if you don't effectively communicate the situation.

01:31:31.750 --> 01:31:32.870
You get a Fort Solis.

01:31:34.690 --> 01:31:38.150
I would love to see a therapist be like, okay, what video games have you played?

01:31:38.350 --> 01:31:41.690
I will explain to you what they did wrong and how that relates to your shit.

01:31:42.850 --> 01:31:48.190
Jessica, the baddest bitch, says nothing to Wyatt having a mental breakdown in her comms.

01:31:49.030 --> 01:31:51.510
She knows better than to give in to his bullshit.

01:31:51.810 --> 01:31:53.550
She's a goddamn space engineer.

01:31:53.770 --> 01:31:56.010
She knows how to manage a fragile male ego.

01:31:57.030 --> 01:31:58.870
She has a fucking septum ring.

01:31:59.850 --> 01:32:04.030
I don't know why I wanted to put that in there, but septum gang gang.

01:32:04.330 --> 01:32:06.850
She's cool as fuck.

01:32:07.070 --> 01:32:09.170
The energy is never let them see you sweat.

01:32:09.870 --> 01:32:13.950
Julia Brown is the baddest bitch, and her performance is so goddamn good.

01:32:14.010 --> 01:32:16.110
I love Jessica so much.

01:32:16.930 --> 01:32:18.570
No, she's been fantastic, honestly.

01:32:19.310 --> 01:32:22.950
In the canteen, she comes up on Hoskins, who is dead.

01:32:22.970 --> 01:32:24.390
Of course he is.

01:32:24.690 --> 01:32:30.870
His corpse is slumped over a table in the canteen, and it appears he may have been strangled with a rope or a cord.

01:32:31.030 --> 01:32:31.510
Fuck.

01:32:31.870 --> 01:32:39.730
Jessica is horrified at this, just seeing just another dead person confirming that everyone in this crew is dead except for Wyatt.

01:32:40.890 --> 01:32:47.170
But then she sees his access card, full Level 5 security access, and she goes, finally, fuck lockdown.

01:32:48.270 --> 01:32:52.250
Which I think might be that echo of this being a pandemic story that was written.

01:32:52.310 --> 01:32:52.950
Yeah, right.

01:32:53.710 --> 01:32:59.230
After her joyous moment, she closes Hoskins' eyes and rests his body back how she found him.

01:33:00.890 --> 01:33:06.430
With as much access as her heart could desire, Jessica heads around looking for Jack.

01:33:07.630 --> 01:33:16.210
She can stop by some areas Jack never had access to to check out, like, extra crew corridors and shit like that, so you can really fill out your punch card here.

01:33:16.370 --> 01:33:16.910
Okay, nice.

01:33:17.130 --> 01:33:32.990
Through her room raiders era, Jessica can find more and more crew diaries outlining Officer Taylor's dive into obsession with Nick's team and how much radiation they were exposed to and how Helen's botany work was increasingly suspicious for him.

01:33:33.870 --> 01:33:42.750
You can also find the security tape of Hoskins eating alone at the canteen, Wyatt coming up from behind him with a cord and strangling him to death.

01:33:42.810 --> 01:33:43.450
Oh shit.

01:33:43.990 --> 01:33:52.890
This particularly sucks because via the voice memos you can find, Hoskins actually reported the weird activity and sickness and stuff to Central as well.

01:33:53.450 --> 01:33:54.950
He wasn't against Wyatt.

01:33:55.050 --> 01:34:01.990
He said, hey, there's people getting sick from exposure and our chief medical officer's been reaching out for help and everyone's been ignoring him.

01:34:02.370 --> 01:34:03.650
He was on his side.

01:34:03.670 --> 01:34:05.130
He was like, wait, this guy was right though.

01:34:05.150 --> 01:34:08.410
Yeah, but he was still collateral for whatever happened.

01:34:09.750 --> 01:34:17.250
Jessica knows the only place she has left to go to find Jack is exactly where Wyatt wants her to go, the greenhouse.

01:34:17.990 --> 01:34:21.870
Chapter four for Lorne, 0330.

01:34:21.890 --> 01:34:23.870
So now it's 330 a.m.

01:34:24.150 --> 01:34:24.550
Yeah.

01:34:25.130 --> 01:34:26.210
This started at seven.

01:34:26.230 --> 01:34:28.070
This is a whole second shift.

01:34:29.870 --> 01:34:36.170
In the depths of Fort Solis, as Jessica comes closer to the greenhouse, Wyatt interrupts her on comms again.

01:34:37.950 --> 01:34:42.230
She asks where Jack is, and Wyatt continues to beg her to stop looking.

01:34:43.070 --> 01:34:46.430
He says he's saving lives because that's what he does.

01:34:46.990 --> 01:34:48.430
No, he's taking lives.

01:34:48.450 --> 01:34:49.590
We've seen it on video.

01:34:49.610 --> 01:34:51.810
We've definitely seen him kill a couple people, yeah.

01:34:52.690 --> 01:35:00.970
Jessica mentions the names of some of the dead crew she's found, and Wyatt just sighs and says, I've let this go on long enough.

01:35:02.290 --> 01:35:08.350
As Jessica enters the greenhouse, she's met with huge trays of live growing tomatoes.

01:35:09.090 --> 01:35:11.410
The vines are stacked to the top of 10-

01:35:11.430 --> 01:35:12.750
or 11-foot ceilings.

01:35:13.490 --> 01:35:20.150
More planters throughout are harvesting fresh vegetables like zucchini and potatoes, Martian, you know.

01:35:21.210 --> 01:35:23.790
You gotta include a potato if it's on Mars.

01:35:24.110 --> 01:35:29.030
Andy Weir has changed the pop culture zeitgeist for growing food on Mars, and I don't say that lightly.

01:35:30.390 --> 01:35:35.930
Jessica is actually a little taken aback and overwhelmed, and she says, I can't believe these are real.

01:35:37.210 --> 01:35:43.670
Another wing of the greenhouse shows rooms full of growing herbs and some clear tester planters for other produce.

01:35:44.610 --> 01:35:47.910
There are audio files from chief botanist Helen Dunpart.

01:35:48.590 --> 01:35:53.310
One specific voice memo has Helen saying, unironically, progress.

01:35:53.910 --> 01:35:55.210
It's a funny thing, really.

01:35:55.830 --> 01:35:58.410
You're so preoccupied with whether you could.

01:35:59.090 --> 01:36:01.250
You never stop to think if you should.

01:36:01.350 --> 01:36:03.350
Oh, come on, Jurassic Park.

01:36:03.370 --> 01:36:04.450
Are you fucking kidding me?

01:36:04.490 --> 01:36:06.510
Bitch, that's what the dinosaur people said.

01:36:07.590 --> 01:36:08.430
And you know what?

01:36:08.450 --> 01:36:09.530
They were wrong.

01:36:10.870 --> 01:36:13.910
There's so many movies talking about how it was wrong.

01:36:14.150 --> 01:36:14.670
Yeah.

01:36:15.370 --> 01:36:16.570
Two generations.

01:36:17.010 --> 01:36:23.830
OK, but for real, they just drop that in there like I'm not supposed to have a minor pop culture panic attack about it.

01:36:25.870 --> 01:36:27.810
Jessica loves old shit.

01:36:27.830 --> 01:36:28.810
Can we also take a beat?

01:36:28.830 --> 01:36:30.330
She went, shh, shh, shh, shh.

01:36:31.370 --> 01:36:33.110
It is the year 2080.

01:36:33.130 --> 01:36:38.110
That is the equivalent of us watching the black and white Nosferatu and making jokes about it, you know?

01:36:38.150 --> 01:36:38.530
Right.

01:36:38.530 --> 01:36:40.190
She loves old media.

01:36:41.710 --> 01:36:49.990
Now, Jessica also runs into a bee hive behind a glass panel and is like, holy shit, they have bees on Mars.

01:36:51.190 --> 01:36:54.710
Then she snaps out of it and says, okay, come on, Jess, no time to look at the bees.

01:36:55.630 --> 01:36:58.490
Which I think is just such a sweet moment of like, get your shit together.

01:36:58.510 --> 01:36:59.510
It's just an insect.

01:36:59.530 --> 01:37:02.550
Although bees, it's really cool to see bees on Mars.

01:37:03.910 --> 01:37:07.290
She preps herself and says, focused and calm, just like they taught me.

01:37:08.050 --> 01:37:08.950
Focused mind.

01:37:09.190 --> 01:37:10.490
Again, she's a junior engineer.

01:37:10.510 --> 01:37:13.030
She's like, what in my notes can help me right now?

01:37:13.050 --> 01:37:14.090
I'm fucking scared.

01:37:14.110 --> 01:37:14.450
Yeah.

01:37:15.750 --> 01:37:22.070
Now, the greenhouse is as massive as it can be, and this is where the botanists were doing a ton of research.

01:37:22.370 --> 01:37:25.430
There are rooms and rooms and rooms of planters.

01:37:25.870 --> 01:37:33.410
And Jessica can find a lot of key information, mainly about the compounds that had failed to support the growth of produce on Mars.

01:37:34.210 --> 01:37:42.570
There were a lot of issues with the soil and the materials being mined from Mars not being sustainable to grow Earth produce on, which fully makes sense.

01:37:43.730 --> 01:37:52.410
However, if they were able to use a compound in addition to the Mars materials, they thought they could manage to find a solution to harvest crops directly on Mars.

01:37:54.390 --> 01:38:02.830
The rooms of the greenhouse are as dense with planters as they are with Helen's notes and reports of failure, as she tries to figure out how the fuck all these plants are going then.

01:38:03.930 --> 01:38:08.370
Then, as it appears, Helen came on Compound 26.

01:38:09.210 --> 01:38:18.610
With Compound 26, it appeared to help accelerate the plants' growth, and Helen was very proud of this, without dying quickly like the previous components.

01:38:19.290 --> 01:38:28.450
The compound, in mixture with the natural Mars materials, made it so they could get plants harvested super fast and actually have a viable way to sustain life on Mars.

01:38:29.210 --> 01:38:33.450
For Helen, this was a huge discovery, and it's more than just sustainable farming.

01:38:34.010 --> 01:38:41.630
Because of the growth of plants, it would sustain humans' oxygen in an enclosed environment so they could actually survive on Mars.

01:38:41.730 --> 01:38:42.850
That's true, yeah.

01:38:44.050 --> 01:38:57.350
There are emails you can find that show that the head of research and development that oversees the Mars project were backing Helen and all her work, including allowing the team to overwork to support Helen's research.

01:38:58.350 --> 01:39:09.410
So when it was reported to Central that people were working too long or getting sick from overexposure, Central turned a blind eye because they just really supported Helen finding a solution to this.

01:39:10.230 --> 01:39:15.810
Central was fully made aware that people were overworked and were getting sick, and they did nothing about it.

01:39:16.070 --> 01:39:17.010
They just let it happen.

01:39:17.090 --> 01:39:17.790
Exactly.

01:39:17.790 --> 01:39:18.370
Fuck them.

01:39:20.170 --> 01:39:28.210
Wyatt is reasonable in this, then, because there is evidence that his shit was being overlooked and he was being silenced.

01:39:28.810 --> 01:39:29.290
Yeah.

01:39:29.950 --> 01:39:31.090
There was a conspiracy.

01:39:32.650 --> 01:39:35.770
In a vlog, Helen says that time on Earth is running out.

01:39:36.090 --> 01:39:36.730
We know this.

01:39:37.690 --> 01:39:40.510
And this work they're doing is bigger than all of us.

01:39:41.130 --> 01:39:48.970
She describes how Compound 26 can sustain environmental hazards, so this development is fundamental for our future.

01:39:49.930 --> 01:39:54.210
She's interrupted by an assistant saying, Officer Taylor is here again.

01:39:54.230 --> 01:39:56.130
He's asking to see you again.

01:39:57.270 --> 01:40:01.810
Helen tells her assistant he doesn't have access, and he's been told to back off my work.

01:40:02.530 --> 01:40:06.810
The assistant tells her he said the visit was a question of ethics.

01:40:08.290 --> 01:40:12.010
We can see video footage of Wyatt aggressively confronting Helen.

01:40:12.490 --> 01:40:14.150
He screams at her and walks away.

01:40:15.390 --> 01:40:27.310
By this point in the timeline, as we go through some emails and piece some things together, we see that Central actually were called to remove Wyatt from the site to allow Helen's team to continue working.

01:40:28.430 --> 01:40:33.710
In a video, we see a man reporting on behalf of Central security who is there to remove Wyatt.

01:40:34.650 --> 01:40:42.510
When we see the image of this man, we realize this is the same security officer that was found dead in Wyatt's medical bay.

01:40:42.970 --> 01:40:43.170
Oh.

01:40:45.050 --> 01:40:53.350
But of course, you know, I do want to bring this up with the extended research and exposure to Mars' organic materials, the crew was being exposed to more and more of the surface.

01:40:53.370 --> 01:40:57.750
Like, is this what would cause the radiation poisoning that Wyatt had been treating?

01:40:58.010 --> 01:41:00.870
Or was Compound 26 what was getting them sick?

01:41:01.430 --> 01:41:02.530
Was it pure coincidence?

01:41:02.570 --> 01:41:05.070
Are we just suffering from space madness?

01:41:05.610 --> 01:41:06.350
All of the above.

01:41:07.090 --> 01:41:07.490
Yes.

01:41:09.110 --> 01:41:12.770
In Helen's office, we can even find a sample of Compound 26.

01:41:13.490 --> 01:41:19.350
Central had dispatched a team to collect an extra sample of Compound 26 to move on to Phase 2.

01:41:20.190 --> 01:41:29.610
We see that whatever is here in Compound 26, it is already cycling through Central, through the teams, and being expanded to work on to make Mars habitable for everyone.

01:41:31.170 --> 01:41:38.910
Deeper in the greenhouse, Jessica can find tons of irrigation tables, plant matter testing materials, just general botany shit.

01:41:39.910 --> 01:41:46.350
She starts to find some of the successful lab reports and wonders, what if Wyatt was after this discovery for himself?

01:41:47.310 --> 01:41:48.870
What if this was for the glory?

01:41:48.890 --> 01:41:50.990
That would be a dick move.

01:41:51.610 --> 01:41:52.510
He's kind of a dick.

01:41:53.830 --> 01:41:59.930
Finally, the greenhouse culminates in a several stories tall indoor courtyard garden.

01:42:00.570 --> 01:42:06.070
This scales between floors as trees grow directly up between the buildings, stories and stories high.

01:42:07.170 --> 01:42:10.570
Jessica says, out of the depths, then into the jungle, I guess?

01:42:11.310 --> 01:42:12.410
Where's goddamn Jack?

01:42:13.650 --> 01:42:16.730
This courtyard area is so full of plant life.

01:42:16.750 --> 01:42:22.150
It's growing everywhere, and there are vines crawling up the walls and around the scaffolding.

01:42:23.330 --> 01:42:24.230
This is on Mars.

01:42:24.250 --> 01:42:25.550
This is fucking crazy.

01:42:25.570 --> 01:42:31.710
Yeah, this feels like that level in Bioshock, Take Your Bioshot, where it has all the greenery for the entire fucking facility.

01:42:31.950 --> 01:42:32.850
Yeah, entirely.

01:42:32.950 --> 01:42:37.210
And it was a study in oxygen and sustainability.

01:42:37.810 --> 01:42:45.410
Jessica can't find Wyatt as she carefully goes through and certainly can't find Jack, so she's like, all right, let's get to exploring.

01:42:46.330 --> 01:42:52.110
She figures all of this, these botanical discoveries, that's why the space is even operational.

01:42:52.130 --> 01:42:53.930
This is incredible to see.

01:42:53.950 --> 01:42:57.670
So much plant life on Mars of all places.

01:42:57.730 --> 01:42:58.170
Right.

01:42:58.850 --> 01:43:04.630
Several stories up on the catwalk above the courtyard, Jessica does take a moment to admire the view.

01:43:05.890 --> 01:43:07.850
She hasn't seen plants in so fucking long.

01:43:07.950 --> 01:43:08.290
Right.

01:43:08.670 --> 01:43:09.990
She says all this.

01:43:10.530 --> 01:43:12.970
It's such a beautiful sight, even up here.

01:43:14.150 --> 01:43:19.930
She extends her hand out over the railing, and we see a tremor before she brings it back down to her side.

01:43:22.050 --> 01:43:24.110
Jessica continues and pep talks herself.

01:43:24.610 --> 01:43:25.390
It's going to be all right.

01:43:26.230 --> 01:43:27.170
It's going to be okay.

01:43:28.330 --> 01:43:32.870
She quietly trudges through looking for Wyatt, when Wyatt finds her first.

01:43:33.890 --> 01:43:36.990
He comes up from behind and pulls her immediately into a headlock.

01:43:37.710 --> 01:43:41.230
Jessica thrashes, kicking and clawing away at this man to break free.

01:43:41.890 --> 01:43:47.890
Eventually, she takes the fun route and brings out a knife and stabs his arm that's wrapped around her neck to get out.

01:43:47.970 --> 01:43:48.770
Oh, hell yeah.

01:43:48.990 --> 01:43:55.050
Because unlike a certain someone in Troy Baker's long line of work, this bitch carries a knife.

01:43:56.890 --> 01:43:58.310
Fucking Joel without a knife.

01:43:59.330 --> 01:44:05.370
I apologize if you already heard on the last of us episode, but it's mostly me going, why the fuck does Joel not have a knife?

01:44:06.970 --> 01:44:16.010
But for real, Wyatt lets go of Jessica as he realizes he just got fucking stabbed, and Jessica slashes at Wyatt, nailing him in the arm.

01:44:16.730 --> 01:44:21.690
Wyatt goes for her knife, but in the scuffle, Jessica stabs him in the abdomen.

01:44:22.310 --> 01:44:25.110
This is the baddest bitch on the entire planet.

01:44:26.170 --> 01:44:33.150
He backhand hits her so hard she falls over, and before she's even turned around to get up, Wyatt is gone.

01:44:34.070 --> 01:44:35.050
Well, he knows this place.

01:44:35.770 --> 01:44:39.270
I want to take a beat here to bring up a video log you can find.

01:44:39.930 --> 01:44:45.870
This is the most recently recorded video log from Wyatt, which he recorded this very night.

01:44:47.330 --> 01:44:51.650
In the last video log, we see Wyatt in a suit, covered in blood.

01:44:52.210 --> 01:44:58.610
Right over his chest, we see a bloodied handprint, even in the depth, reaching out for mercy against a madman.

01:44:59.750 --> 01:45:01.830
He says, there's no going back.

01:45:02.290 --> 01:45:03.570
He just has to finish it.

01:45:04.570 --> 01:45:10.110
They may never really know what he did to save them, all of them, but he'll know.

01:45:10.870 --> 01:45:12.770
And that'll just have to be enough for now.

01:45:13.830 --> 01:45:18.190
In the timeline, this is between him killing Helen and then killing Nick.

01:45:18.870 --> 01:45:20.470
Does he think he's mercy killing them?

01:45:20.850 --> 01:45:21.190
Yes.

01:45:23.230 --> 01:45:27.150
Jessica catches her breath and says, Fuck this, fuck staying calm.

01:45:27.410 --> 01:45:28.210
Hell yeah, girl.

01:45:28.890 --> 01:45:32.710
She goes deeper still into the greenhouse where she finally sees her friend.

01:45:33.210 --> 01:45:33.650
Oh shit.

01:45:33.790 --> 01:45:39.950
Jack is in a garage just off the greenhouse, tied to a chair, but he is unawake and unmoving.

01:45:40.810 --> 01:45:46.830
She runs to Jack and she throws her helmet off and gets on her knees at his side, frantically telling him to wake up.

01:45:47.110 --> 01:45:47.630
Are you okay?

01:45:47.770 --> 01:45:48.990
Jack, Jack, are you okay?

01:45:49.010 --> 01:45:49.710
Wake up, Jack.

01:45:50.630 --> 01:45:53.050
But as she does this, Wyatt catches up to her.

01:45:54.610 --> 01:45:56.950
He says, do you have any idea what I've done?

01:45:57.630 --> 01:45:59.230
What this has taken from me?

01:46:00.190 --> 01:46:06.910
Jessica is so emotionally intelligent because she takes this approach where she says, I read Helen's work.

01:46:07.430 --> 01:46:09.070
We can report this together.

01:46:09.890 --> 01:46:12.370
She offers him the justice road.

01:46:12.390 --> 01:46:13.830
She says, we can fix this.

01:46:13.870 --> 01:46:15.130
You can still be the hero.

01:46:15.830 --> 01:46:17.690
Wyatt says, Helen's work.

01:46:18.070 --> 01:46:19.450
What about my work?

01:46:19.910 --> 01:46:20.410
Oh, no.

01:46:20.590 --> 01:46:26.970
And I did report this to everyone, but they just suspended me, me of all people.

01:46:27.650 --> 01:46:31.410
They came for me at my facility, and they took everything.

01:46:32.190 --> 01:46:36.970
Jessica pleads that they can walk out of here and they can tell everyone what happened.

01:46:37.890 --> 01:46:42.190
She is so brave, but she has never had to navigate a man like this before.

01:46:42.350 --> 01:46:43.130
Nobody has.

01:46:43.470 --> 01:46:48.410
As we get a full look at the recently stabbed Wyatt, who's been stabbed multiple times.

01:46:48.590 --> 01:46:48.950
Good.

01:46:49.130 --> 01:46:51.270
We see he's leaning on some sort of cane.

01:46:51.950 --> 01:46:53.930
Wyatt says, These were my colleagues.

01:46:54.730 --> 01:46:57.350
These were my friends, my family.

01:46:57.650 --> 01:47:01.210
You know what it feels like to realize you're not going home?

01:47:02.110 --> 01:47:06.790
Jessica is crying now, but through the tears she says, We can.

01:47:07.370 --> 01:47:08.590
We all could.

01:47:09.790 --> 01:47:18.210
Wyatt leans on his cane as he comes closer to Jessica, but as he does, we see that this was not a cane, but something we saw earlier.

01:47:19.450 --> 01:47:20.950
The 3D printed axe.

01:47:21.750 --> 01:47:28.870
Wyatt shakes his head and says, That's sweet, but your hand is shaking, and that's the first sign.

01:47:29.750 --> 01:47:31.430
And after that, it's not good.

01:47:32.610 --> 01:47:37.910
Leaning on the axe, Wyatt slowly takes steps closer and closer to Jessica.

01:47:38.250 --> 01:47:38.990
No, thank you.

01:47:39.710 --> 01:47:44.030
Jessica is in full sobs now as she is standing eye to eye to Wyatt.

01:47:46.050 --> 01:47:47.310
He says, I'm sorry.

01:47:47.450 --> 01:47:57.250
I'm sorry it has to be this way because you look like really good people, and trust me, I take no joy in any of this.

01:47:57.490 --> 01:47:58.070
Oh, shut up.

01:47:58.090 --> 01:47:58.590
Yes, you do.

01:47:58.690 --> 01:48:05.290
And Wyatt, with whatever energy he had left, raises his axe and swings down hard at Jessica.

01:48:05.750 --> 01:48:11.590
Jessica raises her hands and screams, no, as she backs up behind her, dodging Wyatt's axe blow.

01:48:12.150 --> 01:48:19.370
They struggle for a bit with the axe, and Wyatt finally gets on top of Jessica and starts to push the axe down across her throat.

01:48:20.270 --> 01:48:25.790
They grapple over the axe until Wyatt manages to plunge the sharp side into Jessica's stomach.

01:48:26.330 --> 01:48:26.610
Oh.

01:48:27.610 --> 01:48:34.230
Jessica is on the ground, grasping for air desperately, as Wyatt looks down at her and says, I'm sorry.

01:48:34.250 --> 01:48:35.550
No, you're not.

01:48:36.010 --> 01:48:41.070
As he does this, Jack gets up and hits Wyatt over the head with an oxygen tank.

01:48:41.090 --> 01:48:42.790
About fucking time, Jack.

01:48:43.030 --> 01:48:49.730
The way he grunts, we know it's the last bit of muscle Jack can muster together, so he's gonna make it fucking count.

01:48:50.530 --> 01:48:57.090
As Wyatt drops to the floor like a dead sack of shit, Jack hurries to Jessica's side and mutters, can you walk?

01:48:57.990 --> 01:49:01.190
It comes out in all one breath, because that's all he can do.

01:49:01.270 --> 01:49:07.610
Regardless, he picks her up and swings his arm around her, and together they walk to the airlock.

01:49:07.810 --> 01:49:09.630
Just two broken fucking people.

01:49:09.810 --> 01:49:13.850
They are both completely out of breath and walking in tandem pain.

01:49:14.650 --> 01:49:17.930
Jessica coughs and holds her stomach together as they get closer.

01:49:18.770 --> 01:49:25.790
At this point, neither has a helmet on, so as they get to the final airlock, Jack puts Jessica down so he can go grab her a helmet.

01:49:26.270 --> 01:49:31.650
He tells her, you wait here, and he jumps up into the airlock gear area to grab helmets for them.

01:49:32.810 --> 01:49:39.190
He moves as fast as his body will allow, now pumping with adrenaline to even out his excruciating pain.

01:49:39.310 --> 01:49:39.710
Right.

01:49:39.910 --> 01:49:49.030
Jack gets a helmet on himself and turns to Jessica as she looks at him with all that she can in her eyes, and she says, I told you Chivalry is not dead.

01:49:51.430 --> 01:49:55.890
As she finishes this thought, Wyatt raises his axe right above her.

01:49:56.790 --> 01:50:00.330
Jack processes fast enough to say, don't you fucking dare.

01:50:00.830 --> 01:50:04.250
And as he does, Jessica reaches up and closes the airlock door.

01:50:04.710 --> 01:50:10.450
Keeping herself and Wyatt on one side, with Jack alone on the other in an airlock.

01:50:11.290 --> 01:50:13.250
Through the door, we hear hacking.

01:50:14.410 --> 01:50:14.990
Hacking?

01:50:15.230 --> 01:50:16.110
Fuck me.

01:50:16.890 --> 01:50:17.990
Jack panics.

01:50:18.010 --> 01:50:23.230
He is breathing loud, sharp, exhausted breaths, and he doesn't have the words.

01:50:23.510 --> 01:50:26.890
He just has the pain escaping through his lips.

01:50:27.130 --> 01:50:31.870
The last person on this planet he trusted is now dead.

01:50:32.350 --> 01:50:35.910
And once again, he is alone in Fort Solis with Wyatt.

01:50:36.830 --> 01:50:39.090
She's like fucking hacked to pieces.

01:50:39.550 --> 01:50:45.630
The final thuds come through as Jack listens to Jessica die, separated only by sheet metal.

01:50:47.950 --> 01:50:51.030
Jack crumbles to the ground but gets up and leaves the airlock.

01:50:51.210 --> 01:50:55.950
And as he does, the thuds of the axe are now against the door, separating Wyatt from Jack.

01:50:57.210 --> 01:51:01.230
The prompt on the screen now is simply to escape Fort Solis.

01:51:02.510 --> 01:51:08.170
In the storm, Jack heads down the Fort Solis garage where the LTVs and terrain units are kept.

01:51:08.370 --> 01:51:15.750
Jack closes the door behind him and starts checking out LTVs to escape through, but he's unable to get into the ones he sees with his access status.

01:51:16.550 --> 01:51:17.490
Fucking access.

01:51:17.530 --> 01:51:19.670
This dumb access status, really?

01:51:20.730 --> 01:51:27.110
Wyatt enters the garage and tells Jack, he knows this is hard because being a martyr always is.

01:51:27.990 --> 01:51:40.050
He tells Jack that Jack has the chance to do the right thing, that they'll be the ones who saved them all from certain death, that they'll be immortalized, they'll name schools after them.

01:51:40.910 --> 01:51:45.830
Wyatt tells Jack that his friend, her, he can't even remember her name.

01:51:45.910 --> 01:51:46.450
Jesus.

01:51:46.950 --> 01:51:50.150
As Jack creeps up on Wyatt, he kicks the shit out of him.

01:51:50.470 --> 01:51:50.830
Good.

01:51:51.330 --> 01:51:55.570
Jack throws him up on an LTV, and he punches him relentlessly.

01:51:56.010 --> 01:52:01.430
Every ounce of pain from hearing his friend die is coming through his fucking fist.

01:52:01.850 --> 01:52:03.490
But then Wyatt gets the upper hand.

01:52:03.970 --> 01:52:09.570
He gets Jack on his knees, and slams his head into the LTV over and over again.

01:52:10.590 --> 01:52:18.710
Wyatt closes an LTV car door on Jack's arms, and the crushing of the bones comes through his screaming.

01:52:19.390 --> 01:52:23.170
Jack writhes in pain and reaches out and manages to grab the axe.

01:52:23.710 --> 01:52:32.970
He sinks that axe into Wyatt's leg and crawls away to get as far away from Wyatt as he can, trying not to move his now shattered arm in the process.

01:52:33.890 --> 01:52:39.190
Jack leans on the wheel of an LTV and cries hard for a short time.

01:52:39.590 --> 01:52:44.330
That screaming cry where you can't get enough pain out of your lungs at once.

01:52:45.370 --> 01:52:54.170
He screams, God damn it, as he punishes himself for tonight, but stops short of breath as Wyatt comes up to him, limping and holding that fucking axe.

01:52:54.450 --> 01:52:55.390
Fucking axe.

01:52:55.950 --> 01:53:01.350
Wyatt looks at him and says gently, we do what we must for those we love.

01:53:01.490 --> 01:53:07.010
He says this, and then Wyatt lifts the axe, ready to kill Jack and end the night.

01:53:08.470 --> 01:53:10.610
And then Wyatt is shot in the back.

01:53:11.150 --> 01:53:12.110
By the fuck who?

01:53:12.570 --> 01:53:15.750
Wyatt turns, confused, bleeding and falls to the ground.

01:53:16.490 --> 01:53:19.710
Two central officers are pointing guns at Wyatt.

01:53:20.510 --> 01:53:23.930
As Wyatt deflates to death, the officers descend on Jack.

01:53:24.490 --> 01:53:26.510
They tell him to identify himself.

01:53:26.850 --> 01:53:28.630
They say, sir, sir.

01:53:28.910 --> 01:53:30.590
They ask if he's able to respond.

01:53:31.530 --> 01:53:37.790
Jack struggles to breathe staring through them, unable to understand what he saw and what happened tonight.

01:53:37.910 --> 01:53:39.710
I'm barely able to understand what just happened.

01:53:40.370 --> 01:53:51.810
He looks at the self-proclaimed martyr on the ground, immortalized as the martyr of Fort Solis after butchering his entire crew and Jack's last friend, Jessica.

01:53:52.650 --> 01:53:54.470
Jack's ears begin to ring out.

01:53:55.610 --> 01:53:56.890
And that's the good ending.

01:53:57.390 --> 01:53:59.010
Holy shit, that's just the end?

01:53:59.130 --> 01:54:00.910
That's just the good ending.

01:54:01.110 --> 01:54:02.690
Oh my god.

01:54:02.710 --> 01:54:04.530
There's a darker ending?

01:54:04.650 --> 01:54:07.250
There is somehow a worse version of this.

01:54:07.370 --> 01:54:10.270
I got the good ending when I played, which I was very pleased about.

01:54:10.290 --> 01:54:13.470
But then I was doing some research, and it was like, did you get the good ending or bad ending?

01:54:13.490 --> 01:54:14.630
And I was like, how is this?

01:54:15.270 --> 01:54:17.350
And I think you asked me, you're like, oh.

01:54:17.370 --> 01:54:17.870
I did, yeah.

01:54:17.950 --> 01:54:18.690
Is it different?

01:54:18.710 --> 01:54:21.690
And I was like, yeah, and I don't know if I got the good or bad ending.

01:54:21.710 --> 01:54:23.550
And you went, how do you not know?

01:54:23.970 --> 01:54:26.030
I'm about to tell you, audience.

01:54:27.050 --> 01:54:34.290
In the bad ending, we pick up just at about where Jessica is fatally stabbed by Wyatt and closes the airlock to project Jack.

01:54:35.170 --> 01:54:38.950
Jack still has a panic attack and then runs off into the dark storm on Mars.

01:54:39.570 --> 01:54:46.030
As he gets closer to the next airlock, Wyatt jumps him with the axe and manages to stab Jack in the stomach.

01:54:46.670 --> 01:54:48.170
Again, they are on the surface now.

01:54:48.730 --> 01:54:59.250
The two men grapple on the ground and Jack manages to use the axe to fatally wound Wyatt with a stab in the stomach, just like Wyatt stabbing Jessica in the stomach.

01:54:59.750 --> 01:55:06.830
With both of their suits compromised due to axe wounds down their bellies, the two men lay there and die in the storm.

01:55:07.810 --> 01:55:08.850
They both just die there?

01:55:08.870 --> 01:55:09.270
Yeah.

01:55:09.390 --> 01:55:10.090
Oh, damn.

01:55:10.150 --> 01:55:13.130
So, like, Jack is dead-ass dead in that one.

01:55:14.410 --> 01:55:20.870
Regardless, in an epilogue through the credits, we hear a voice memo that Wyatt is sending to his wife.

01:55:21.690 --> 01:55:27.210
He's telling her he sent her a package, but do not, do not open it.

01:55:27.470 --> 01:55:28.010
Oh, no.

01:55:28.550 --> 01:55:31.230
Just take it to one of my colleagues and don't tell anyone.

01:55:32.390 --> 01:55:33.230
He'll know what to do.

01:55:33.790 --> 01:55:34.170
Fuck.

01:55:35.330 --> 01:55:38.170
As you recall, Wyatt's daughter asked for a plant.

01:55:40.230 --> 01:55:49.990
In the voice memo, Wyatt continues and tells his wife there's something he's got to do up here, but he asks that she tuck the girls in for him.

01:55:50.730 --> 01:55:56.190
He begins to cry as he says, give them a kiss, and then he tells his wife he loves her.

01:55:57.990 --> 01:55:59.810
And that is Fort Solis.

01:56:00.070 --> 01:56:02.110
Holy shit.

01:56:02.270 --> 01:56:05.750
So do you want to talk about what we just saw?

01:56:05.770 --> 01:56:07.190
Do we want to speculate?

01:56:07.450 --> 01:56:08.590
Do you want a hug?

01:56:08.610 --> 01:56:09.490
Are you okay?

01:56:09.510 --> 01:56:10.170
That just...

01:56:10.670 --> 01:56:14.210
We were laughing so hard at the start of this episode.

01:56:14.590 --> 01:56:16.030
It takes such a turn.

01:56:16.490 --> 01:56:19.850
And it got so dark and depressing by the end.

01:56:19.910 --> 01:56:21.430
Holy shit.

01:56:21.630 --> 01:56:23.290
Okay, so let's look at the facts.

01:56:23.310 --> 01:56:28.270
This Compound 26 shit is killing people with the exposure and everything.

01:56:29.170 --> 01:56:31.150
Wyatt was like, hey, guys, we can't do this.

01:56:31.170 --> 01:56:31.990
It's not sustainable.

01:56:32.010 --> 01:56:33.210
It's making people sick.

01:56:33.650 --> 01:56:35.410
And they said, shut the fuck up.

01:56:35.430 --> 01:56:36.770
I need to grow potatoes.

01:56:37.190 --> 01:56:39.090
And he said, are you fucking kidding me?

01:56:39.110 --> 01:56:40.270
People are gonna die.

01:56:40.290 --> 01:56:42.510
You're gonna kill everyone if you try to use this.

01:56:42.770 --> 01:56:47.170
Everyone involved, everyone eating it, everyone in the same fucking facility as this, they're gonna die.

01:56:47.190 --> 01:56:49.810
And they're like, can you not though?

01:56:49.830 --> 01:56:53.190
So he went, I'm gonna shut the entire fucking thing down.

01:56:53.210 --> 01:56:55.630
If I shut this down, I don't give a fuck what they do to me.

01:56:56.410 --> 01:57:01.950
If I destroy this, if I burn the whole place to the ground, if I kill everyone involved, they're not gonna touch this.

01:57:02.690 --> 01:57:05.110
But what the fuck, man?

01:57:05.270 --> 01:57:06.670
I think he just had space madness.

01:57:06.690 --> 01:57:08.270
He had a little space madness.

01:57:10.890 --> 01:57:12.970
That's definitely still on the table.

01:57:13.290 --> 01:57:18.450
But I appreciate that there's some open to interpretation of like, were they playing him?

01:57:18.490 --> 01:57:19.590
Is this space madness?

01:57:19.610 --> 01:57:20.590
Is this pure of heart?

01:57:20.850 --> 01:57:21.170
Right.

01:57:21.390 --> 01:57:23.590
On his part, on anyone's part, you know?

01:57:24.290 --> 01:57:26.410
There are certainly some innocents that were killed.

01:57:26.490 --> 01:57:30.830
Like, Hodgkins, who got killed in the cafeteria, didn't need to die.

01:57:30.850 --> 01:57:31.250
Not at all.

01:57:31.950 --> 01:57:33.170
No, he agreed with you.

01:57:34.190 --> 01:57:42.530
There's one astronaut here who joins a poetry club, and he's playing chess with other people, and it's so sweet seeing his voice memos.

01:57:42.810 --> 01:57:47.730
I believe he's the one that gets killed in the security server room, and we get his arm.

01:57:47.770 --> 01:57:53.150
He's just a sweet man who writes poetry, and it's like, he's just a nice dude.

01:57:53.170 --> 01:57:54.090
He didn't have to die.

01:57:54.690 --> 01:57:54.870
Ugh.

01:57:55.910 --> 01:57:57.190
Helen could have been checked.

01:57:57.210 --> 01:57:57.990
She didn't have to die.

01:57:58.010 --> 01:57:59.170
No one had to die.

01:57:59.950 --> 01:58:07.070
And to come out swinging at Jack off the bat instead of being like, you need to leave, there's a dangerous compound in Fort Solis.

01:58:07.530 --> 01:58:08.150
Right.

01:58:08.250 --> 01:58:13.010
This whole thing could have been solved if you included that in the first emergency message.

01:58:14.670 --> 01:58:15.570
What the fuck?

01:58:15.590 --> 01:58:18.350
And then for Central to actually get there in the morning.

01:58:19.350 --> 01:58:26.430
But just the way that in the first section of Jessica and Jack being like, oh, chivalry is not dead.

01:58:26.450 --> 01:58:28.450
He died for everyone to save them.

01:58:28.990 --> 01:58:36.290
And then for the end, her final words to be chivalry is not dead with the notion of dying to save everyone.

01:58:36.410 --> 01:58:37.750
Fuck my life.

01:58:38.210 --> 01:58:39.870
I really enjoyed this game.

01:58:40.210 --> 01:58:41.130
You really did.

01:58:41.210 --> 01:58:41.850
I did too.

01:58:41.870 --> 01:58:43.570
This was an incredible story to go through.

01:58:43.570 --> 01:58:45.870
And it's three hours if you ever have a sick day.

01:58:47.210 --> 01:58:48.330
There are QTEs.

01:58:48.350 --> 01:58:56.430
It's a lot of walking and playing with things, but it's a pretty low-maintenance game in terms of like, oh, you can check your phone for a text message while you're playing.

01:58:56.450 --> 01:58:57.730
You know, it's not too crazy.

01:58:57.750 --> 01:58:59.310
But, man, I just...

01:58:59.830 --> 01:59:05.010
It's a short, sweet game, and I feel like it was dense with content, to everyone's point.

01:59:05.630 --> 01:59:07.810
The performances are absolutely incredible.

01:59:08.370 --> 01:59:17.230
For Julia Brown to come in against two of the biggest and most renowned fucking video game performers in the game right now.

01:59:18.150 --> 01:59:24.830
Hold her own and completely create this character that I fell in love with, and carries the back half of the game, truly.

01:59:24.850 --> 01:59:26.010
It's so good.

01:59:26.030 --> 01:59:26.810
It really did.

01:59:26.830 --> 01:59:32.030
I was shocked that we did not get to play as the main character for a huge portion of the game.

01:59:32.130 --> 01:59:33.150
We got red-dead-ed.

01:59:34.150 --> 01:59:39.430
When I was playing, I know you were saying all I heard was Roger Clark scream crying.

01:59:39.830 --> 01:59:44.290
Those sequences in the end are some of the most moving acting I've seen.

01:59:44.790 --> 01:59:46.370
My chest hurt for him.

01:59:46.770 --> 01:59:52.570
The way he screams after watching his only friend get butchered by this crazy person.

01:59:52.610 --> 01:59:53.410
Fully, yeah.

01:59:53.490 --> 01:59:54.410
Holy fuck.

01:59:54.470 --> 02:00:01.250
You know, if he ever wants to step away from the controller and get in front of a traditional camera, it's going to be Oscars on Oscars, bitch.

02:00:02.030 --> 02:00:04.550
He is such an incredible performer.

02:00:04.650 --> 02:00:05.350
Oh my god.

02:00:05.370 --> 02:00:07.110
He is more than just a cowboy.

02:00:07.870 --> 02:00:08.610
Fuck me.

02:00:08.750 --> 02:00:09.270
Oh my god.

02:00:09.290 --> 02:00:10.550
I really enjoyed this game.

02:00:11.330 --> 02:00:15.230
You know what's funny is that I also think it's funnier than I expected it to be.

02:00:15.870 --> 02:00:17.150
Oh the first part is very very.

02:00:17.170 --> 02:00:17.570
This is gonna be funny.

02:00:17.590 --> 02:00:25.130
The fact that Jessica's best friend is wandering around a spooky space and she's in his ear going, shh, shh, shh, shh.

02:00:25.150 --> 02:00:26.890
Like, bitch, that's fucking hysterical.

02:00:27.870 --> 02:00:34.350
No, their chemistry, and because their chemistry is so good, it just hurts that much more when they're separated.

02:00:34.370 --> 02:00:34.850
Right.

02:00:35.370 --> 02:00:41.170
It was truly painful, but I say that in the best way possible, because I'm a masochist, apparently.

02:00:42.310 --> 02:00:44.730
I love scary shit and I love sad shit.

02:00:45.330 --> 02:00:47.870
Oh, I'm glad you had fun with that, though.

02:00:47.890 --> 02:00:50.010
I had a great time, and I hope everybody else did, too.

02:00:50.030 --> 02:00:54.170
Yeah, I mean, there's some people that are like, it's a walking sim, it's not that scary.

02:00:54.190 --> 02:00:56.810
Like, not everything has to be Dead Space.

02:00:56.870 --> 02:00:57.250
Right.

02:00:57.550 --> 02:00:58.970
Dead Space is Dead Space.

02:00:58.990 --> 02:00:59.270
Yeah.

02:00:59.870 --> 02:01:03.050
Callisto Protocol is Dead Space.

02:01:03.490 --> 02:01:07.370
This can exist as the intersection of Firewatch and Dead Space.

02:01:07.390 --> 02:01:07.710
Yeah.

02:01:07.930 --> 02:01:11.170
I think that's a very good example of exactly what this is.

02:01:11.370 --> 02:01:12.750
Actually, it uses a lot of games.

02:01:13.170 --> 02:01:13.850
Yeah, that's true.

02:01:13.870 --> 02:01:20.090
Like, we're getting some Bioshock exploration and lore drops in the same function as Bioshock.

02:01:20.110 --> 02:01:21.650
We talk about Jurassic Park.

02:01:22.550 --> 02:01:24.030
Yeah, no, it has a lot of references in it.

02:01:24.050 --> 02:01:25.070
It wears it right on its sleeve.

02:01:25.090 --> 02:01:27.030
Yeah, and there's nothing wrong with that.

02:01:27.050 --> 02:01:27.410
No.

02:01:27.970 --> 02:01:31.150
There's a difference between ripping shit off and homage.

02:01:31.170 --> 02:01:44.090
And when you're talking about a scary, isolating space thing, there's so much content for that that you kind of naturally nod to or naturally reference because tropes exist and it's in a video game, so let's all just have some fun.

02:01:44.150 --> 02:01:44.970
Yeah, exactly.

02:01:45.210 --> 02:01:52.230
Ah, I'm glad that you hung out with me through that because I really enjoyed Fort Solis and I'll probably pick it up again on a rainy day.

02:01:52.290 --> 02:01:54.070
It feels like a good rainy day game.

02:01:54.290 --> 02:01:56.170
Yeah, three hours, three and a half hours.

02:01:56.190 --> 02:01:59.670
That sounds like a very easy, just kind of sit down and binge a game.

02:02:00.210 --> 02:02:01.210
Ah, absolutely.

02:02:01.270 --> 02:02:02.850
So thank you all very much.

02:02:02.870 --> 02:02:03.830
I really appreciate it.

02:02:03.870 --> 02:02:06.270
I would love for you guys to hang out.

02:02:06.290 --> 02:02:14.550
We have a couple more episodes coming out this season, so if you give the show a like or subscribe, we'll be able to show up in your algorithm, and I would really appreciate that.

02:02:14.710 --> 02:02:18.370
Yeah, and you can visit us over at our website, theothercastlepodcast.com.

02:02:18.410 --> 02:02:20.510
That's the othercastlepodcast.com.

02:02:20.630 --> 02:02:24.170
On there, we have links to our Patreon where you can get bonus episodes.

02:02:24.570 --> 02:02:28.210
There is a free trial on there, so you don't even have to pay immediately.

02:02:28.570 --> 02:02:37.050
If you do want to pay and hang out with us, it's two bucks a month because gaming should be accessible, but we have full-time jobs, so we have to carve out some time.

02:02:37.070 --> 02:02:40.410
So we appreciate if you do want to hang out behind the wall with us.

02:02:40.670 --> 02:02:45.370
I am dropping a very fun Halloween-themed episode this October.

02:02:45.370 --> 02:02:46.010
You are.

02:02:46.350 --> 02:02:48.410
We just covered Among Us as well.

02:02:48.430 --> 02:02:52.790
So another COVID game about space and murder.

02:02:53.570 --> 02:02:56.050
Oh no, am I on a track right now?

02:02:56.070 --> 02:02:57.130
You kind of are, yeah.

02:02:58.690 --> 02:02:59.430
Yeah, I am.

02:03:01.670 --> 02:03:02.330
Fair enough.

02:03:02.350 --> 02:03:05.350
So speaking of our Patreon, we have some friends to call out.

02:03:05.590 --> 02:03:09.510
Yes, we've got Aaron, Trevor, Molly.

02:03:10.150 --> 02:03:12.650
Brian, Krisha, Mollymauk.

02:03:13.250 --> 02:03:15.830
Jackie, Ellen, and Tijen.

02:03:15.870 --> 02:03:16.330
What's up?

02:03:16.350 --> 02:03:17.370
Thank you all very much.

02:03:17.390 --> 02:03:18.970
We appreciate the support.

02:03:19.070 --> 02:03:26.230
And some of these fine friends of ours are on Discord, where again, you can find out what games are coming up earlier if you solve our riddles.

02:03:27.450 --> 02:03:28.390
Like we're trolls.

02:03:28.750 --> 02:03:30.590
Yeah, you can also play Pokemon Go with me.

02:03:30.610 --> 02:03:36.190
My code is on the Discord, and I am happy to send you gifts from fun places I explore.

02:03:36.430 --> 02:03:37.610
It's usually Albertsons.

02:03:38.810 --> 02:03:43.210
I get a lot of them from the grocery store because I just have my phone out, and I'm like, oh, I'm gonna spin and get a bunch of gifts.

02:03:43.510 --> 02:03:48.630
That made sense to three people who still play Pogo, and for those three people, please add me.

02:03:48.970 --> 02:03:49.830
I'll send you gifts.

02:03:49.970 --> 02:03:50.730
I'll raid with you.

02:03:50.770 --> 02:03:51.830
It'll be fucking great.

02:03:52.230 --> 02:03:54.770
All right, Goombas, well, thank you so much for joining us.

02:03:55.190 --> 02:03:58.130
And until next time, this is Tom and Andrea reminding you.

02:04:01.050 --> 02:04:02.530
Chivalry is not dead.

02:04:03.290 --> 02:04:04.950
And don't skip the cutscenes.

02:04:06.150 --> 02:04:06.510
Bye.

02:04:06.990 --> 02:04:08.390
Born in the ocean.