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Here we go. Time for the last chapter!
**Vessel Name – Cogito Ergosum
Vessel Type – Civilian Transport
Destination – Earth
Cargo – Alien life form
Crew – 5
Passengers – 1, military, in charge of cargo**
Welcome to the Cogito Ergosum, your new home for the entirety of this chapter.
The crew is in cold sleep, but it looks like we’re already missing one.
: Theeere we go… Finished!
At this point, we gain control of our protagonist.
The little guy makes burbling beeps and boops when he spins around like that.
: I’m Kato. That’s K-A-T-O. Kato.
Hi Kato! As you can probably guess, he’s the ship’s mechanic.
: Good morning? Er…
Here’s some trivia on the original patch that I do know. In the original Japanese and the old patch, Kato wanted to call his robot “Koro.” It means “round,” but it can also mean “dog.” I think “rover” is a good way of translating that, and I’m glad they changed that.
: You can be… Cube!!
Hmm…
… maaaybe not. Oh well, I’m sure I’ll think of something.
Kato paces a lot during this scene. He must be nervous about making a good first impression.
Kato is trying to teach us how to operate independently, so he left us alone. This will prove to be a bad idea. Now that we have a moment, I should take some time to show this little guy’s stats.
However, this chapter doesn’t have a stat menu. While this chapter isn’t devoid of combat, you won’t be getting into it accidentally.
I also realized that the menu is using the robot’s default name. I think this is the only chapter that allows this. That’s probably why Kato tries to name him; it lets the game use a placeholder for this menu.
Anyways, let’s immediately betray Kato’s trust.
**Month X, Day X
I’ve finished prototype 01. I ran some basic structural tests, but… … they turned out less successful than I’d hoped.
Month X, Day X
I’m gathering data for prototype 02. I’ve got the walking system done.
Month X, Day X
I’ve begun building prototype 03. It’s going pretty well.
Month X, Day X
I’ve finally completed prototype 03. Once I’ve performed my routine check of the ship, I’ll run one last test. Only one more week ‘til we’re back on Earth… Tomorrow, the other five crew members awaken from cold sleep. I’d really like to get it working before then.**
All of the crew members have terminals in their room. We’ll be able to read all of them before the chapter ends, but only Kato’s is available for now.
Now that that’s done, we can follow Kato.
: --Please state your business–
: Good morning! I need to register a new crew member.
: --Understood–
A fitting name for a young round robot.
: Now you can come and go as you please. Mind, each of the crew’s individual cabins have security locks. If you don’t have the owner’s permission, you won’t be able to get in.
Oh sure, now you tell us that invading privacy is bad.
: Alright then, Egg. Now I want you to follow me on your own. I need to test out your AI. I’ll be somewhere on this floor. Your job will be to come and find me.
This is either a rigorous test of Egg’s AI, or Kato just wanted to play Hide-and-Go-Seek.
Hmmm…Where could he be?
: Beyond this door is the Cold Sleep Room. During long trips through space, we use this place to go into cryogenic stasis. Don’t suppose you’d have to, though… Well, please wake everyone up. Thanks!
In lieu of a crew manifest, we can read the cold sleep capsules.
The last crew pod is Kato’s, but the last one…
It’s a mystery for now.
: Yeah! He’s called Egg.
These two seem pleasant enough.
…Never mind, Kirk is a jerk.
: Eh? A… A… robot? Oh! You finally finished him?
Hi Huey. Sorry for giving you a heart attack.
…OH. OK.
I’m sure this guy’s on the up-and-up! He has such a trustworthy name, after all!
: Corporal… The robot that Kato was building is done. He’s called Egg.
: Eh, don’t worry about it too much.
: When we wake up from cold sleep, we have a meeting in the break room. Come on! You’re part of the crew too, so you’re obligated to attend.
: Heh, that’s so like you to be treating him as if he were human!
: You really think so?
Everyone heads off, but we’re going to be making a side-trip.
I don’t think we properly introduced ourself, robot-to-robot.
: I know all about you
You are the first robot that Kato completed
I look forward to working with you
The break room is in the Northwest corner of the second level. It has two entrances and we’re taking the top entrance.
Hello again! Let’s go around and make friends.
Unfortunately, we can’t meet the captain. It seems a little odd to me that he’s the last one we meet.
: Damn straight! You want to take a shot at it?
I’m going to hold off on showing Kirk’s game. I may give it it’s own update. I’ll explain why I delayed it once we get around to actually playing it.
: Kirk’s really good at this game!
I do think it’s a little interesting that the jock character is also the video game playing character. It’s not super innovative or anything, but it stood out to me.
…I don’t know why I expected anything else.
Aside from Kato, I think Huey is the friendliest one here.
: It’s a story about people who lived centuries ago. I really like reading about people like that! They were so adventurous.
: That’s ‘cuz you’re a chicken! You’d be too scared to do that stuff yourself.
: You ought to explore the ship some. See the world, so to speak. Learn on your own.
Egg can do lot’s of things! Like walk, open doors, listen to people talk about him like he’s not there…
: Why don’t we teach him how to make coffee? Egg, come over here.
: S-Sorry…
It would seem that not only is Kato’s crowning achievement a spherical coffee maker, it’s not even that good at making coffee. Way to go, champ. This does give us the opportunity to hand out coffee to everyone on board.
:Th-thanks, I think. I’m not really thirsty right now, though.
: That’s the spirit, Egg! Thanks!
: Thanks. Why not drop by my room sometime later?
Giving Rachel coffee unlocks some optional scenes. This chapter has the most optional dialogue, but I’ll only try to get the more important scenes.
: Thanks! This is just how I like my coffee.
Well, three out of four ain’t bad. Let’s see if we can go for four out of five!
OK, we’re stuck at three out of five.
Oh good, the captain’s here to save us. I’m pretty sure Darth was about to spike us like a football.
: My apologies for the delay. How are you all feeling?
: We’re all fine.
: That’s good.
:Oh, that’s my robot! His name’s Egg.
: Oh, you finished it! I’d love to take a closer look later on.
: Some meeting! One game and it’s basically over.
: Hah! You know you like ‘em that way.
: Hahaha! True that.
: Well then, I’ll see it after I check the Mother Computer. Egg, you come too. Use the elevator. The Mother Computer is on Level 3, while the hold is on Level 1.
Well, we’ve met the crew, learned a skill, and nearly got murdered. I’d say that’s a full day! Next update, we’ll get into the real plot.