Amber’s hangout, Club Kaos (-552. -4. -611) is a grim place. It lacks the light and lively feel you get from some nightclubs; perhaps it is the green light everywhere. (Note to self: avoid green for the next Collective Machinist bash...) Over a tableau of bored barkeeps and listless dancers, the dark-eyed exile wears a dark pantsuit, setting off blonde, straggly hair. She seemed serious. And she seemed worried, too: swarms and swarms of her security staff massed outside, eager to do her bidding. But she did not want them. She wanted me. And who could blame her?
1. A Suspicious Character
Rogers way is Amber’s turf, and some guy has been showing too much silent interest in it. This is seldom a positive development, and she wants you to investigate him and his motivation. He’s not hard to find. But when you do enter his apartment, he says, “about time you got here. Tell Amber her response time sucks.“ Quite the surprise! Amber is not expecting this and directs you to take the disk to have it checked out.
When this is done, there is indeed more to him than meets the eye, as Amber confirms. She seems impressed. Your patron does not share the results, and you complete this mission without ever knowing who this guy is or what he is all about.
2. A Safe Place
Amber has an escort mish for you: an informant needs to be taken to a safe place. But the informant, aptly named “Craven”, refuses to emerge from her bedroom until you have killed everything else there: some big, bad vampires. Then, there is a long, eventful hike to the safehouse, with many mobs to slay. And when you get her to the safehouse, filled with Amber’s ASPs? She warmly responds, “What are you waiting for, a tip?”
I love this job!
3. Second Try
The bluepill we escorted last time is now missing, and needs rescue and escort. This starts with finding a dead exile, whose picture leads us to another location, where the straying informant is found. Both locations are those weird, maze-like buildings in Westview that are so trashy and filled with junk. I always get lost in them! Her escort involved much, much killing of local mobs. Paradoxically enough, these mobs you have to kill are the exact same mobs (ASPs) that Amber supposedly controls. How curious! Anyway, eventually you get her to the protection safe house again and you are done. She adds, “Look I know you have some sort of weird crush on me, but I want you to leave me alone.” With pleasure, my dear!
4. The Final Clue
Amber continues to fret about unfriendly efforts to cut into her turf. She needs to know who is behind this. The clue is found on a CD which is held by a band of fierce hackers. Not easy to take them all down, and I had to withdraw a few times to rest up. Eventually the CD is procured and delivered to Shingo, one of Amber’s lieutenants, who hangs out surrounded by Level-51+ level security staff. Glad I didn’t have to fight my way past them! Amber is pleased with the fast, efficient work. I was pleased to be alive.
5. Payback Time
Based on the last mission’s CD, Amber has determined that her mischievous brother Mandarin was behind the attacks, and wants payback, through a special virus placed in his systems. Getting into the room with the target computer involved a lot of gun fighting. I could overhear two guards speaking disparagingly of Mandarin being clueless “as usual”. Then I had planted the virus, and was fleeing for my life.
This final, finale mission was surprisingly straightforward, not to say simple. Not that I complained!
And with this, all my Westview missions were over! This region ended well, with warm praise from Amber, claiming that “I won’t forget you, Sugaree; you’ll always have a home in Rogers Way.” How nice it would be if after you have completed all the region’s missions, the mobs of the last Exile lord would leave you alone, or even come over and /dap you! But I appreciated the warmth, after so much callous, crude behavior from the others.
Conclusion: One unusually interesting loose end, with the researcher from the very first mnission left unexplained. It drive me nuts! The informant's alternatingly arrogant and cowardly behavior was entertaining. And there were some tough fights, I must admit. Tough for me, anyway! Next will be an overview of the Westview mission lords. For now, thanks must go to my brother and sister from The Collective, Sattakan and Toulouet for their inestimable help. I could never have gotten the escort mission done without them. And the others would not have been nearly as much fun.
This review and many others may be found at manifoldmischief.blogspot.com, along with other writings relevant to MxO.
