Willmore wakes up to a knock on the door. Banging gets louder and more desperate as Willmore gets near the door. Willmore opens the door and there she is – Astadourian. She has news. She’s wondering why Willmore’s still at home and why he took such a long time to open the door. Willmore tells her that he worked the previous night. Willmore has no idea what time it is. Astadourian tells him that it’s almost noon. Astadourian tells Willmore that there’s a burn-victim, injuries of whom match those of the Tarakan crew. She has the whole burn-incident taped. She notices that Willmore’s VCR is not flashing “12:00” and is impressed (Someone who has been using his/her VCR constantly would have made adjustments to that. So, Willmore has been using it. In which case he isn’t afraid of technology as Astadourian says).
Ask all questions. Astadorian knows about the Tarakan injuries because she got the original autopsy report from Truitt. She has it with her if Willmore is interested in seeing it. Willmore never gets to see it. I am assuming he’s not very interested in seeing it – He’s just happy with the information. Victim is a John Doe (unidentified). She says he was a truck driver for “Gordon’s Hauling” in Charno. Willmore recognizes that name but doesn’t mention anything yet. Astadourian got the tape from a surveillance camera at the gas station. She says it’s not a great video although it shows the “thing.” Willmore asks “What thing?” Astadourian says “Ahh…you’ll see.”
Tape runs. Car pulls up. Willmore recognizes the car immediately – Ford Taurus Washington-621517 (Mulder’s rental car). He mentions this to Astadourian. She nods. Someone gets out. Willmore initially thinks that this is Mulder. It isn’t. It’s another guy Willmore will have an encounter with later in the day. Why did Willmore think it’s Mulder? Well, for starters, it looks like the man is getting out of Mulder’s car. The tape isn’t very clear in showing who the man is. The way he’s dressed is almost exactly the same way as Mulder is dressed in the photo Willmore has with him. He mentions this to Astadourian. Astadourian asks him if he’s seen him. Willmore responds in the negative telling her about the photo. A truck pulls up. An angry crew-cut man gets out of the truck to attack the other guy. Willmore recognizes him as the one he saw the previous night with a much larger truck. Both trucks belong to the same company – Gordon’s Hauling. He mentions this to Astadourian. She adds – Charno, WA. As the crew-cut man proceeds to attack the other guy, a bright flash fills the entire screen. The flash comes directly from that other guy’s body. That’s it. Tape goes blank. Willmore’s a little freaked out by this himself.
He asks Astadourian what that it is. Astadourian has no idea. She adds that the crew-cut man’s injuries match the those of the Tarakan crew and that all of the gas station’s electronic equipment stopped working (this explains why the tape ended abruptly). She’s interested in Willmore’s input on this. Three choices again. None of the three makes a huge difference. I prefer “A weapon of some sort” or “That light looked like it came of the man’s body.” This will be consistent with Willmore’s practicality. Frankly, even the third option will be consistent with Willmore’s practicality – he’s admits that it is strange and unusual although he has no idea what it is. Astadourian would find the “weapon” possibility reasonable. But what can be so powerful? Neither Willmore nor Astadourian has any idea.
Willmore receives a fax. Astadourian says that the body is at Truitt’s. She’s going to head on over there and check on what Truitt’s found out (She wants Willmore to go along with her). She got the Cyrillic document translated. It was indeed a payroll log. James Wong’s name was in the list of payees. Wong was paid almost $13,000 in the past few months. Astadourian is convinced that the murder was mob related (she’s wrong). She says Wong was probably killed because Willmore questioned him (that is true, but he wasn’t killed for the reason Astadourian thinks. Anyone who was questioned by Willmore would have been killed that day, really. Will explain this later). She makes a crack at Willmore – “So I guess you DID get him killed.” She has turned the case over to the task force. The other diary-like thing was the captain’s journal. It recounts the days at sea for the Tarakan crew. Read through the journal. It’s big, yes. But reading it will help find some interesting points. Make note of the 2nd last day in the journal (Captain spots Aurora Borealis lights). Keep the last day of voyage for the Tarakan in mind. I believe it’s around March 14.
Get the fax. Read through it. Industrial grade lead container that is hazardous to humans huh? Bear this in mind. Show Astadourian the fax. Hear her comment. Ask all questions (icons on top of the screen). Astadourian believes that the trucks of Gordon’s Hauling were there both at the warehouse and at the gas station because “they” are involved in smuggling. By “they” she means the Tarakan crew (she’s 100% wrong here; the Tarakan crew has absolutely nothing to do with Gordon’s Hauling or the Dockside Warehouse). Truck is totally empty. Astadourian has an evidence-crew searching the truck right now. Willmore doesn’t understand how Tarakan fits in here. This is an indication of Willmore’s reluctance to accept any normal causes for the fire on the Tarakan. He can’t piece it together with the man who fried the crew-cut man. Astadourian feels that the Tarakan crew were part of the smuggling (correct) and that they either fried themselves mishandling plutonium (wrong) or were killed by someone as part of a plan (wrong). She has no idea who the crew-cut man is. No possible way to determine his identity. He was very badly burned. Willmore wonders what the crew-cut man wanted with Mulder, assuming that the guy coming out of Mulder’s car was indeed Mulder (he is beginning to doubt if it is Mulder now). Astadourian has no idea either. What can be said is that the crew-cut man tried to attack the other guy.
Now, Willmore could say two different things here. I don’t know what exactly triggers the different statements. It could quite possibly be anything. I haven’t been able to pin it down on any particular action. The two theories/ideas triggered by “Mulder’s photo icon” are:
1) “We need to focus on Mulder & Scully. I mean…where are they? This voodoo with flashing lights and burned corpses is not the case we’re going to solve.” Astadourian disagrees. She feels that they can find Mulder & Scully if they can find out what this is all about.
2) “What happened to Mulder? I mean… there’s something fishy going on, something beyond smuggling. I can’t pin it down.” Astadourian insists it is smuggling and that all evidence point to that (She is wrong. Not every piece of evidence points to smuggling. What about the bright flash of light that came out of that guy’s body? What about the fact that the cabin and the interior of the Tarakan were not damaged? If that was indeed Mulder’s car, what was it doing there at the time? How can radiation burns be caused to a guy at a gas station? How can those burns match those of the Tarakan? What’s the connection? There are a lot of unanswered questions). Suffice to say for the moment that Willmore is right here. He’s on the right track, in regard to his line of thinking. This part is explained in the “Missing Links Interpretation.”
Astadourian urges Willmore to get ready and that they’re burning daylight (she’s scared of visiting the morgue at night). Willmore doesn’t have to say anything here. Both the remaining responses are purely optional. I prefer not to choose anything. Just e-mail updates to Shanks and Skinner (and Cook if you must). Head to the Coroner’s office.
Astadourian expresses her increasing displeasure in regard to visiting the morgue. Ask all questions. Truitt says that the crew-cut man died of radiation burns. Willmore asks why she thinks it’s radiation. Truitt concluded this based on some observations. Truitt says that the crew-cut man suffered head to toe burns – something that fire damage never does. Secondly, the crew-cut man’s clothes were, for the most part, undamaged. Furthermore, the crew-cut man had an imprint of the logo from his shirt on his body. Truitt says similar effects were observed in Hiroshima – Kimono patterns were burned under the skin of the wearer. Inverse shadows were permanently etched on the walls. Truitt says mishandling radioactive materials could not have caused such burns. Only a blast could have caused such damage (She’s right. The blast was the light coming out of that man’s body). Truitt adds that mishandling radioactive materials may account for James Wong’s tumors. Truitt says that the injuries suffered by the Tarakan crew are identical to the ones suffered by the crew-cut man. She adds that she did not think of the possibility of radiation earlier since it did not really occur to her and that this is really unusual stuff. Now, she could add another line here.
That line is – “Sometimes we don’t see the extra-ordinary even when it’s right in front of us because we just weren’t expecting it.” Why doesn’t she add this all the time? Initially, I thought that Willmore’s reading of the UFO, Northern Lights and Tarakan articles somehow triggers some line of thinking in Willmore. But there have been times when Truitt adds that statement regardless. One thing I know for sure is that Willmore’s “We need to focus on Mulder & Scully…” statement triggers Truitt’s additional statement. But what triggers that Willmore statement? I have no idea.
One thing that is clear throughout the game is that Willmore doubts the possibility of smuggling all the way. He’s highly doubtful of the “smuggling” theory. He knows something unusual is going on (he already knew it after seeing the three-figures). He expects unusual things to occur. He is not surprised by the occurrence of unusual events. So, why does he stand by Astadourian’s theory? This is because although he knows something unusual is going on, he has no idea how to explain it. Astadourian’s theory is the only available theory to him for that moment. So, he’s careful not to jump to conclusions. So what’s the purpose of the two different Willmore statements? Perhaps the first statement merely means that Willmore does not think that Mulder & Scully’s disappearance is connected to the flashing lights and burned corpses. It may just be that he believes in the possibility of unusual occurrences, but is not able to make a connection between these unusual occurrences and Mulder & Scully’s disappearance. The second statement is rather clear – here Willmore openly expresses his doubts regarding the involvement of smuggling. Although Willmore doubts the involvement of smuggling regardless, the second statement is perhaps an open expression of his doubts. It’s also possible that some particular action in the game has strengthened Willmore’s doubts about the smuggling theory, thereby causing Willmore to make the second statement. What that action is, I have no idea.
Willmore asks if there are any leads on the missing Tarakan crew. Truitt replies in the negative. Not a trace. The bodies vanished “Without a Trace.”
Important things to note here: We get a deeper insight into Truitt’s character here. Truitt has distanced herself from Scully. Truitt believes in the possibility of unusual occurrences and is willing and interested in hearing any unusual theories. She puts one forward herself – “Mishandling radioactive materials may account for Mr. Wong’s tumors. But a burn like this…would have to be a BLAST of some sort.” Scully’s a character who will never accept the possibility of a blast, leave alone put such a theory forward. Wong was a member of the Tarakan crew. Four bodies were recovered remember? The rest were presumed lost at sea. The rest need not necessarily have been lost at sea. Of the five that are missing, one definitely did not die on-board – James Wong. He was on board that ship when that fire (incident) occurred. The “Tarakan” slicker he had in his own boat’s cabin proves that. He escaped alive. But not unharmed. That industrial-grade-lead container had residue levels of radiation in it. It was used for the transportation of hazardous nuclear materials. Wong had played with the container (mishandled it) while on-board. That’s probably how he got those massive tumors. But that container did not cause any explosion. It’s only a container. There was no bomb on-board (there was a blast, but it wasn’t caused by a bomb). So, Wong was the only one who was affected by the container (there’s another thing that’s possible here regarding Wong, which is explained in the “Missing Links Interpretation”). Luckily for Willmore, the level of radiation left in the container was so low that it did nothing to him when he opened it. But, he was taking a huge risk by opening it. No doubt about that. So, the Tarakan crew were indeed smuggling radioactive materials. But that’s not what killed them. What killed them was something else. That lead container was just a container. It wasn’t a bomb. It can only cause tumors as it did to Wong. It cannot cause massive radiation burns. Only a blast can do that.
Of course, not all of the above may have occurred to Willmore at that moment. But, certainly some of the above ideas have occurred to him by this time. Time to visit Gordon’s Hauling. E-mail updates to Shanks and Skinner (and Cook if necessary). It is worth noting that Skinner asked Willmore to be careful in case Willmore suspects corruption in one of his replies and that although corruption is not likely, it has happened on occasion. He was probably referring to Alex Kraijeck here (character of the mainstream X-Files; not sure if that’s the right spelling though). Head to Gordon’s Hauling.
Willmore and Astadourian arrive. Gate is conveniently open. Willmore and Astadourian find that strange. Willmore notices the truck he saw in the dockside warehouse. That confirms that the place is indeed Gordon’s Hauling. Willmore and Astadourian decide to go inside the office. Astadourian proceeds forward and looks through the window. Willmore gets to the door. It is also conveniently open. Willmore and Astadourian enter. Astadourian and Willmore separately search through two different rooms. The room Willmore walks into is a mess. Papers are everywhere. All kinds of files, folders, what not thrown everywhere on the desk, floor, cabinet, everywhere. Willmore looks around. Make sure Willmore notices a shovel and a air-conditioning vent somewhere in the bottom.
Look below on the floor. Move your mouse around and click when the action-hand icon appears. Willmore picks up a manifest. Now, he sees what RR #1121 means – Rural Route 1121, Fante County, WA. It’s a place, which Willmore and Astadourian need to check out later. The manifest also has details about shipments between the dockside warehouse and the Rural Route. As he begins to read further, he’s confronted by a guy no larger than him. But the guy is incredibly strong. He lifts Willmore up in the air, like a child handling a toy, and holds him long enough for Willmore to notice a thin film of black oil swim over his assailant’s eyes. The guy throws Willmore out of his way. Willmore hits the cabinet and falls. Astadourian hears this and comes in, only to be knocked across the room. The guy leaves, locking the door behind him. Astadourian checks on Willmore. Willmore certainly got a heavier beating than Astadourian. But he’s alright- well Enough to recover with teary eyes. He’s a little out of breath. He tells Astadourian about the manifest and tears a sheet out of the manifest (a sheet that details the shipments between RR #1121 and dockside warehouse; the player has no access to this).
Willmore and Astadourian decide to leave, now that they know their next destination. Astadourian realizes that the door is locked. Turn right. Astadourian notices a bomb – “Oh my God, there’s a bomb in here. We have to get out of here now!” Move your mouse near Astadourian’s legs, to the left. The “eyes icon” should appear. Zoom in. Pick up the shovel. Once Willmore picks it up, turn left. Look below. The air-conditioning vent should be visible. Use the shovel on that. Willmore breaks it open. Willmore and Astadourian escape. The guy who attacked Willmore looks on at the blown-up building from somewhere nearby. All this should be done quickly or both Willmore and Astadourian will die. Bear in mind that there’s no way to disarm the bomb. It’s impossible. Willmore will know why a little later. The death version sees the Cigarette Smoking Man lighting his cigarette. My guess is that the cigarette smoking man is there regardless. He must be in contact with Astadourian’s and Willmore’s assailant. This is explained in “Missing Links Interpretation.”
Astadourian is in bad shape. She says that times like this makes her wish she still smoked. Willmore offers to drive (it was agreed earlier that Astadourian was going to drive on their way back). Astadourian is grateful. Willmore says that he has never been in a bomb-situation before. Astadourian says that she’s in bomb-situations all the time. There’s an option here for Willmore to kiss Astadourian. I mentioned in my review that a subtle romantic relationship develops between Astadourian and Willmore. I’d like to keep it subtle. I prefer not to use the option. I believe that not taking the option adds a touch of sentimentality – perhaps Willmore is still thinking of his Ex-wife and therefore doesn’t want express his feelings for Astadourian so quickly. It goes especially well with the “indifferent” character of Willmore. But… it is Willmore’s option (nothing vital to the game here).
Ask all questions (icons on top of the screen). Willmore tells Astadourian about the weird oil thing he saw in his assailant’s eyes. Willmore says “He seemed…there was something wrong with him. Almost like he was being controlled by something.” Willmore is 100% correct. He’s no Mulder (and he’s not Spooky either) but he believes what he sees, thereby maintaining his distance from Scully. Astadourian says that Gordon’s Hauling is owned by “Russian” mobsters (she’s wrong). Willmore doubts it is owned by the mobsters, surely. But he corrects Astadourian only with regard to the “Russian” part (he does this only if he read the Tarakan article in the media, remember?) – “Actually, they’re Georgian you know?…Well, I am assuming since the crew of the Tarakan was Georgian.” Willmore feels that the gate was left open for someone to go inside and set the bomb off (this is not entirely true; the gate was left open because someone was already in there. That someone was their assailant). Astadourian agrees with that possibility but wonders who the bomb was meant for – Willmore and Astadourian or their assailant (truth is that the bomb was not meant for Willmore, Astadourian or their assailant for that matter)? Willmore wonders what the bomb was meant to do – was it meant to protect something in the office or was it meant to kill someone? Protect what? – Information in the manifest, Willmore feels. Astadourian feels that the bomb was meant to trap and kill someone (she’s wrong again; Willmore is right about the importance of the manifest). Astadourian’s ready to leave. She reminds Willmore as to who’s driving. Get to Willmore’s apartment.
Willmore now knows what RR #1121 means. But he sure doesn’t know what “82434” means. Check in ING databases. No luck! Click Media. Willmore has some insight into Mulder’s interests by this time – UFO newsletter, Jose Chung’s book, etc. So, why not search about that? Type “UFO” and search. Read the article. Nothing interesting there for Willmore. Remember that the Captain of the Tarakan mentioned something about Aurora Borealis. So, once finished with the UFO article, type “Northern Lights” and search. Read the article. Pay close attention to the date the witnesses mention in their accounts of the “bright flash of light.” What’s the date? Around March 14th isn’t it? That same day, the Tarakan fire-incident occurred – Is that a coincidence or what? So, what’s the bright flash?
Remember the bright flash on the thing Willmore saw on the videotape? That bright flash is a nuclear radiation blast. But this one’s different. For one thing, it did nothing to the other guy in that videotape. A blast like that should have killed both men. Moreover, it didn’t do the same kind of damage a nuclear explosion usually does. It was contained to a specific area – Tarakan first, gas station next. I’m sure Willmore would have made the connections here. But he still cannot even begin to speculate what the source of the bright flash is. The bright flash did look like it came out of that guy’s body, in that videotape. But how can it? Did it really come out the guy’s body or did that guy use some kind of a weapon (a weapon previously unheard of). Willmore can’t conclude anything for that moment. One thing is clear – at that moment, Willmore seriously doubts the involvement of smuggling in the disappearance of Mulder & Scully. E-mail updates to Shanks, Skinner and John Amis (and Cook if necessary; let Amis know about the Charno explosion). Well, let the man sleep now.