Shadowplay

"You still can't go back there. Please just leave it alone."

The trio goes silent at your return.

Metal shudders and groans beneath your feet, reverberating downwards.

The tabletop is splattered with the drying blood of your old friend.

You face Shelf G once more.

Rotanev's shrine sits undisturbed under its worn wooden awning.

You open the Renotel distribution panel once more. After pressing the ON button, you push the Voskol Auto-Negotiator's cord into the…

You should now have everything you need to make your very own killing device.

You return to the folded pants.

"I'll be off soon so get whatever you need now."

You return to the wasteland.

You return to The Animal Zone.

Water sloshes quietly against the hull of the boat. The door is closed firm.

The monkey is still hiding in the shadows.

You unfold the cipher and remember the instructions extracted from the novel:

The desk is as you left it.

You take out the medical dummy once more.

The metal drawer slides out nearly soundlessly, revealing rows of official-looking folders.

"Back again, CASCADE? Might want to, you know, get the fuck on with it."

The fax machine hums faintly. A single sheet sits in the tray, edges curled like a beckoning finger.

"Please, if you see Karolina. Do let me know."

"Still waiting, CASCADE. Slab's getting cold."

"Shh."

You return to the residents' list.

"Hello again."

You approach your double. A faint line of drool darkens the sheet.

"Loneliest... of towns..."

"I already told you, miss. You can't come through here. Try the other entrance." He waves you off.

You return to the framed photographs.

The container is still overfull with rubbish.

"I told you this place is off-limits. It's been targeted by a gang." He shakes his head.

He ignores you, transfixed by the woman above.

The girl in the postcard still wants you to join her fan club.

You return to one of the city's ancient benches. It welcomes you.

"Hello, hero."

You return to the desk. Everything is right where you left it, including the pack of Suprema 100s.

The vandalised jukebox is where you left it, looking slightly more dispirited on second visit.

"You're back." She eyes you warily.

He stares straight ahead, trying to ignore PSEUDOPOD. He looks extremely uncomfortable.

You take out the bomb again.

The girl is far too preoccupied fiddling with her fishing wire to pay any attention to you.

The man's eyes are closed. He is completely still.

You return to the staircase.

"I really think you'd dig this. You look like the type."

"Back again, Hershel."

H.S. Lastra's blood-obsessed pulp epic awaits you.

With awkward reverence, you approach the shrine again.

He turns his head toward you in slow-motion and barely.

The lump of flesh you extracted from HOLOCENE's head sloshes about in the mysterious red liquid.

"You've come back."