Disaster Report Diaries (Raw Danger!) Part Twelve

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!...

Amber Brazil had found justice for her brother, but there were still more stories to tell about the flooding of Del Ray, this one with Isaac Schiller…

It was 24th December at around 14:00 (Mayor Goldstein’s reception was currently going on), and Isaac was stood reading a magazine in a convenience store. Two people walked past talking about the Geo Grand Opening Celebration, which Mayor Goldstein was attending. I decided that I might find a wealthy customer, so picked up some things before paying and leaving the store. Since my inventory space was limited, I went with a Lighter, a Garbage Bag, Throat Spray, and an Umbrella, as well as picking up a Turkey Leg Compass from the counter. I also found, and wore, some Ear Muffs I found in the customer restroom.

Someone was standing at my taxi, but I nipped around the corner to speak with Jasper, the homeless person who transcended time and space. He didn’t have anything that I thought might immediately be useful, so instead I picked up a Travel Pouch and a Broom from the ground, equipping the pouch so that I could carry more stuff. Then, just for the heck of it, I grabbed the Chicken Noodle that Jasper was carrying. After picking up a Therapy Ball Compass from the footpath, I spoke to the person at my taxi. He wanted to get to Downtown Geo, which was where I wanted to go anyway for a wealthy customer, and we set off.

It was 24th December at 14:20 when we hit traffic in the Downtown Area. My passenger, in a yellow helmet with a green cross on it, paid me and got out, thanking me for the ride. Almost immediately, another passenger got in, wanting to go to the Landmark Apartments in the Union District — but she had no money. I asked if someone at the destination could pay me, and she confirmed it, so once traffic cleared up we continued on.

It was 25th December at 15:01 (one hour since Mayor Goldstein’s reception) when we had to stop in the Police Station Area because a car swerved across an intersection and crashed into a tanker truck! My passenger got out, wanting to see if they could help, so I listened to the radio a little but decided to go and find them.

After parking in a nearby parking lot, I warmed up at a barrel fire before going across the road to the police station. My passenger was talking to an officer, and I caught the end of their conversation — and it didn’t sound like I was going to get paid. The man they wanted to see at Landmark Apartments had been murdered by his sister! But they were in custody, and by the way, we should evacuate because the river had broken its banks. I idly wondered if the officer was playing her cab fare, before the officer wandered off.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone in pink go through a hole in a wall, and before my passenger and I could leave, there was a loud noise and an explosion as a tanker caught on fire! This caused another vehicle to explode and the ground below us opened up, sending us a few metres underground.

I woke a few moments later, and my passenger suggested we get the hell out of there. I managed to climb out using a table, and hurried out of the car park while vehicles exploded around me, and the moment I reached the footpath the building behind me crashed down!

My passenger was still in the hole, but now unconscious. I called out to rouse them, then directed them to safety, pulling them free and out to the footpath again just before the rest of the police precinct fell to block the hole. Back at my taxi, I remembered where she wanted to go, and we left.

It was 24th December at 16:02 (two hours since Mayor Goldstein’s reception) when we reached Union District, and our destination. My passenger got out, but was unable to get inside because they lost the piece of paper they had written the code on. I agreed to help find another way inside, so I parked up and went around the side of the building, raiding the recycling bin for the Emergency Pack I knew was inside. I also grabbed a Heating Pad, then equipped the Emergency Pack before locating the rear entrance to the building. It was too far to drop down, so I went back to tell my passenger, and we got in my taxi to find a way to the apartment’s underground parking lot.

As I drove around, the road collapsed, sending us ramming straight into a huge, decorated tree which immediately fell and crashed into an apartment on the fourth floor. I hadn’t really wondered how that happened earlier, but it was interesting that it had an explanation.

The crash had caused my rear tire to detach, so my passenger told me to repair the car while they went to speak to whomever they were here to see. And they weren’t paying for the damage. I warmed up at a barrel fire, then looked around the car park — except I’m not sure it was supposed to be a car park, it just so happened to have several vans and trucks parked in it.

Venturing inside, I picked up a Beef Stew in an apartment on the basement level. There was nothing for me on the ground floor, but I picked up a Heating Pad on the fourth floor, where I also found my passenger inside a crime scene. Then, I went to the underground parking structure. I picked up a First Aid kit and Garbage Bag, and found a replacement tire, which fit perfectly on my taxi.

Just as I finished fixing the damage, my passenger ran out to meet with someone. Unbeknownst to Isaac, it was Jaden Bradford, who told my passenger that she should have no issues getting inside NorCal Pharmaceutical because he issued a fake evacuation order. He warned that she would need an employee ID, which my passenger assured she already had. I was introduced as her driver, and Jaden gave his condolences. I assured that I was enjoying this, to which he replied that me and my passenger were “just alike”. Jaden left, telling me to take care of her, and to drive safe.

Back in the cab, my passenger said that she wanted to go to NorCal Pharmaceutical. However, I had questions first, wanting to know her job and who that man was. She was a journalist for Capitol Magazine, and he was some guy who worked for NorCal. When I asked why she wanted to go to the apartment, she said that she wanted to pick up some things her brother had. She immediately followed that up by saying it wasn’t her brother, it was someone else’s brother…

I finally asked if she was really going to pay me, and she assured me that she would, adding that if she found what she wanted, it would mean a big tip for me. I hoped that she meant money, and wasn’t hinting at sleeping with me, because there was a reason I didn’t check my mail… She told me that she wanted to find evidence of Mayor Goldstein getting political funding from NorCal in exchange for favours, and that there was a connection between them, and she needed to find evidence of money changing hands. If that sounds like the same thing repeated three times, that’s because she said all of that, but less succinctly. Also, something about a top-secret project.

I agreed to help her, but warned it would cost, and she finally introduced herself: Sophia Briggs. We finally set off for NorCal, which was across the city…