Disaster Report Diaries (Raw Danger!) Part Thirteen

This is my exploration of the Disaster Report series where I will chronicle my playthrough like a text-based Let’s Play. Now let’s continue Raw Danger!...

Isaac Schiller had picked up a passenger, Sophia Briggs, who had him drive her to an apartment, then now on to NorCal Pharmaceutical…

It was 24th December at 17:34 (three hours since Mayor Goldstein’s reception), and we had arrived at the NorCal Area of the Hudson District. Sophia gave me a map and told me which building was the R&D Department, so I headed for it. And the fare read 1620 on my taximeter (so far), and I had a feeling that I definitely wouldn’t get paid…

After getting a bit lost driving through the site (and I’m not convinced that it’s designed for driving through), I found a broken fence and parked right next to the door for the R&D building. Sophia used a “borrowed” employee ID card and asked me to join her inside, so that she could procure more stuff. I wondered what she had gotten me into before following her inside and we went down in an elevator.

Following the hallway, I found a locker room and warmed up at a survival point inside. I found a NorCal Keycard on the floor, though it said “Sintomi Seiyaku” on it, meaning that it came from a parallel universe where the company had a Japanese name instead of an English one… It allowed me to open a door a little further along, which allowed us to bypass a closed shutter. Inside, I found Rubber Gloves which I equipped, as well as Wading Pants and a Banana Compass. I then went and opened the shutter using a button on the wall.

There were two R&D offices, the first had a Tomato Soup and a Garbage Bag which I left on the floor, while the second had a NorCal Compass which I grabbed. A third lab was next to another shutter, which I opened before going inside the lab. Lots of equipment filled the two adjoining rooms, and I followed Sophia inside where she handed me a Secret Document, telling me to take it back to the taxi. I tried to read it, but it was meaningless to a non-scientist.

Leaving the room to do as I was asked, Sophia managed to activate a security door! It slammed into place, and moments later water began leaking in from the ceiling, beginning to fill the room! With no way for me to free Sophia, she told me to go and find the man she had spoken to at the apartment building, Jaden Bradford. I quickly left, and just nipped into an office which I hadn’t explored yet, finding a Hostess Compass which I nabbed, then I left the building.

The obvious place to start looking seemed to be the apartment, so I left the NorCal site and headed for Discovery Heights, which seemed to be my GPS’ name for the Union District?

The sun had all but set when I left NorCal, so by now it was full darkness. Luckily, I had headlights. Portions of road were missing and filled with water, which streamed freely along the streets, so I had to slalom to avoid losing my car in sinkholes before I finally reached the Landmark Apartments.

Jaden came running straight up to me, which was lucky, and I told him that Sophia was trapped inside a room. I didn’t have a chance to tell him that it was filling with water before he pulled a gun on me, saying that I was going to take him to the Cascade Dam, and that he’d tell me more in the car. It seemed like I only had time to ask one question, so I asked how he could leave Sophia trapped. He told me “Priorities” and that this was more important.

It was the 25th of December at 9:26 when we reached the Cascade Pass Area, and no matter how you looked at it, Sophia had been trapped for over 12 hours and my taxi had amazing fuel consumption. We were three miles from the dam and my taximeter now read 5940. This fare was going to pay my rent for sure, if it actually got paid.

Driving along the mountain ridge road, I narrowly avoided crashing into a truck which was heading the other way and swerving across the road. Unfortunately, I soon discovered why it was in such a hurry — the bridge it had just crossed had collapsed. At least, I assume it crossed the bridge, because the route I was about to take really only worked heading in one direction! That’s right, I had to drive through the woods. And then some (thankfully) shallow water and along a rocky riverside. Honestly, my cab wasn’t looking so great, but I was sure the taximeter fare of 7860 would help go towards repairs.

It was the 25th of December at 11:03 by the time we reached the dam proper. Jaden then told me that the security system trapping Sophia could only be deactivated with a retinal scan, so I had to wait for him. However, the taxi was running low on fuel, so I had to find some and followed Jaden into the first building. He was muttering something about a Guardian God, so I left him to it and went down some stairs where I found a Snowboarder Compass and a tank of gasoline next to a survival point. I warmed up, then went looking for a canister to carry some of the fuel in.

Leaving the building, I went down some stairs and grabbed a Heating Pad from the recycling bin, and in the small building just behind it, I found an Empty Fuel Tank which was roughly half the size of me. I had to empty some space in my inventory, so I used the Heating Pad I had grabbed.

I quickly explored the areas that I knew would be destroyed shortly, finding a Blue Marlin Compass at the far end, and another building with a Chicken Broth and Large Backpack inside! I grabbed that, warmed up, then went back to the recycling bin where I deposited the Emergency Pack. As I returned to get some fuel, Jaden ran past me — then the dam rumbled and began to fall apart! I couldn’t really see through the spray of water, but it looked like someone hurried after Jaden, and they weren’t moving their arms while they ran. I said something about the slab of the dam falling in front of me being a close call, then went to fill up the Fuel Tank.

Upon leaving the building, more of the dam crumbled, leaving my way ahead limited to a single metal beam that was being pelted by water. It was, for some reason, coming in spurts so that it wasn’t a constant stream, and I managed to get past — only for another spurt to rupture forth. Finally, though, I reached the taxi only to turn and see the entire dam collapsing!

I muttered something about strange things happening, then refueled the taxi. A short time later, Jaden returned and apologised for keeping me waiting. I asked him to please return to NorCal with me, and we left the dam.

On the 25th of December at 15:11 when we drove through the Del Ray High School Area. The place was in disarray with buildings at odd angles and the road churned up. Just as I was thinking that the flooding wasn’t too bad, an actual flood of water chased my taxi down the road and I almost hit two figures running across! Admittedly, I had to restart the section because I failed it, but that actually fixed my cab, so swings and roundabouts.

It was the 25th of December at 18:35 when we finally arrived back at NorCal, roughly 24 hours since I left Sophia. Driving onto the side, I was stopped by a sudden lack of ground; it had been washed away in the ensuing flood. I was still able to make it across, thanks to a footpath connecting two bits of land, but I wasn’t hopeful for getting back.

Jaden and I went down in the elevator to find ankle-deep water. In the lab, we could see the room was almost completely filled with water, with Sophia barely treading water. Of course, she could have easily kept her head above the water level if she stood on a table, but perhaps being left alone to contemplate her impending death for 24 hours had affected her in some way.

Much to Jaden’s surprise, the door wouldn’t open due to the water pressure. The windows wouldn’t break as they were reinforced, so I suggested we drain the water. Jaden confirmed that was possible, “we” just had to activate an exhaust duct, so I went and found a panel which stood out (having been given no directions) and pulled on the handle inside. Luckily, it drained the room and Jaden got the door open.

Hurrying to Sophia, she weakly asked what took us so long, and Jaden stated that we had to leave right away. I princess carried Sophia out of the room and towards the elevator, now wearing my Wading Pants, and it was a good thing too, as the water level suddenly began rising rapidly! It was waist-high before we got in the elevator, but we made it upstairs and back to the taxi. Someone on the radio said “This is an update on the disaster”, and then nothing else, but I was surprised to see my taximeter now said 9990!

While we stared at the radio, there was a loud crash and a torrent of water began raining down from behind! I didn’t wait around to see what would happen, I gunned the engine and drove for the exit — some large gas cylinders detached and rolled across my path, so the water managed to catch up to me for a moment. I went up a slope and into the main building, but crashed straight into the rock which suddenly replaced the front door, as the entire building fell down several metres!

I hung a left and went upstairs, trying to escape the rapidly climbing water. The stairs and balcony began falling away, so I put my foot down and leapt the car through a window! But it still wasn’t over, as I drove straight for the gates, the ground beneath me began sliding away! I finally hit the road and kept driving.

It was the 25th of December at 23:53 when we arrived at the Central District in the Del Ray Station Area. Sophia wanted to go to the Capitol Magazine building, so I asked if she was going to pay this time, which she assured someone would be there to pay. My taximeter was still at 9990, so I was pretty sure that was as high as it could go.

The streets were empty, and the snow had died down, so I had no issues parking in front of the building. Jaden thanked me and I asked where he was going, saying something about delivering something to a helicopter which I couldn’t see or hear. I shook his hand and he ran off. I told Sophia that she had to pay and she said that she thought she had, then, I should go with her. I asked why I had to go with her, but I did and followed her up to an office where one person remained. It was Keith Helm, a reporter who couldn’t believe that Sophia was still there.

Sophia went over how she stole documents from NorCal, and that she figured Mayor Goldstein was working with them for campaign contributions. After all, NorCal had been filing patents over the past several years! Keith said it was likely all above board, and that she shouldn’t have such a singular perspective. I interrupted, asking for my payment, which annoyed Sophia. She asked Keith to pay me, then I left. I got to my taxi when I was stopped by Sophia. She wanted a ride out of the city, and because I was good at customer service, I told her it would be my pleasure. Even though I knew she couldn’t pay, at least I was heading that way already.

After an epilogue which summarised events, I received Ending Type 3-A, which stated that I had travelled eight miles and warmed up six times across 1:14:24, with my Pedometer Compass saying 21,505.

But the disaster wasn’t over. Joshua, Stephanie, Amber, Isaac and Sophia weren’t the only people to escape the city, there was also Paige Meyer. Now, I was taking control of her!