Sugar-Shack 02: Mission Reviews: Sister Margaret of Mara Center: Patron of the Arts
Last week, we ventured to one of MegaCity’s toughest locales in search of missions. This week, in contrast, we go a hop, skip, and a jump across the square at Mara Center to visit Sister Margaret and run through one of the classic suites of Exile missions. These bring back great memories, and are among the biggest milkruns there are. No problems reaching her! And no bugs!
With her hair bunned on top of her head and no black robes, Sister Margaret is not at first sight what one expects from a woman of the cloth. But the missions she offers show a deep sense of compassion all too rare in this rough world of ours. Some Exiles give missions that make me fidget; hers gave me a warm glow. Let’s look at them.
Mish 01: The Stingy Librarian: Infiltrate Hypatia’s computer network
The talented sculptress who did the beautiful sculpture outside (which I must examine some time) needs materials, and callous Hypatia is withholding them. For the sake of art and God, we will break into her network to steal what she will not share. This was doable without even a fight! I ran in and ran out, like a pizza delivery girl. And I was done! At the end Sister Margaret says, “Truly you are a bright, light in this dark place”; when was the last time anyone talked to you this way? I loved it! All this and XPs too!
Mish 02: Seeking Marble: Get Hypatia’s data for the Sculptress
The next step is to break into a facility and get data to help find the materials. Take a disk and upload its contents. Snap city! It was enjoyable, by the way, to notice the classic tactic of entrapment: ask someone to do something small, and then gradually up the ante, asking for larger and larger tasks. At the end of this one-step mission, she purrs, ”My goodness! You are so talented, Sugaree!” She knows vanity when she sees it.
Mish 03: Flawless Theft
For the glory of God, we will infiltrate a facility and place a virus. The Collector has a warehouse with the marble Sister Margaret’s Sculptress friend wants; we will plant a virus to redirect a shipment. Thus the work of this mission is to place a tiny disk in a tiny notebook. “I ran into an agent, and being a machinist I stopped to chat. However, all he did, though, was bark out “You!!”, so I thought it best to eb about my business. And what is reward for all this? A few xps. A few info. And a heartfelt “You continue to amaze me, Sugaree” *sigh*
Mish 04: Blue Destiny
This was one of the more complicated missions. First rescue one lover, then take him to his girlfriend, and then take them both to a Zion extraction point. Regrettably, the dialog for this mission was not written by Shakespeare, and seems stilted. The best the lost and lonely girlfriend can say to her long-lost lover is “It’s good to see you again, Jackson Pemberton”. I was hoping for more. However it was cute that they stood close to each other in the elevator and elsewhere. This mish ups the ante of complexity and import considerably. As I left them at the extraction point, I felt aglow with anticipation about the future, until I stepped out into the stained cement wasteland that is life for the rest of us, in the big, dirty city.
Mish 05: Saving Grace
We learn that the church sits atop a place of importance in the Matrix, hence the Sculptress’s interest in it. And the interest of others, one of whom, Albireo, has kidnapped three parishioners. We must free them. This is fairly straightforward. Even on Hard,. All you do is kill Albireo and free the three. This mish was notoriously bugged in beta, and now it works perfectly. Bravo!
And with that, our spiritual servitude comes to an end. What will become of the opus of the Sculptress, who we never meet? What is so special about the location of the Church that others are motivated to attack her work? How will Sister Margaret cope with unfriendly neighbors? Only future missions and live events will shed might on this.
