Syn-Factor

Syn-Factor

SYN-FACTOR Walk-Through

Episode 1: The Rident

Overview:

Your essential task on board the Rident is to find your way off. The Rident's 
propulsion systems are down, so you need to find another means of 
transportation. The answer is a craft you find in the shuttle bay. The shuttle 
is not equipped for long distance travel, however, so in order to make it off 
the Rident you must use the Rident to open a wormhole (something the shuttle is 
not equipped to do) and then fly the shuttle into the wormhole. Although your 
shuttle is low on fuel, wormholes connect two points of great distance in space. 
The wormhole will take you to the nearest space station (and the next episode). 

Gaining Access To The Shuttle:

There's a shuttle on Level 2 in the bay which is your ticket off the Rident. The 
first thing you'll notice is the shuttle's entrance is blocked against a window. 
On Level 1, among the missing passengers' items, you'll find a suitcase 
containing a pair of explosives-the belongings of a would-be terrorist on board. 
Take these. Returning to the shuttle observatory, place a bomb on the window. 
This will get you through the window. Before entering the shuttle, access the 
panel next to it. You need to route the bay door control to the shuttle. This 
system is locked out with an access code. You'll find this code in the next 
section. 

Activating The Wormhole: 

Wormdrive, the system that harnesses the power of a wormhole, has been taken 
off-line. First you must activate the system. Wormdrive is locked out at the 
moment, due to the attack, so you must find the code. This is found on the 
ship's computer in the flight room, which is also locked out. To gain access to 
the ship's computer, you have to crash it. Go to Level 1 and access the panel 
opposite the elevator in the hall. This is the environmental control for the 
ship. Find the code for the computer core (740) and using the environmental 
controls, raise the temperature a bit. Eventually, you'll cause a fire in the 
computer core and crash the system. Return to the flight deck level and access 
the ship's computer in the flight room. You'll find the system has experienced a 
core dump. Reading through the muck you'll discover the code for the wormdrive 
(2931). You'll also find the code for the shuttle bay door (5892). Make a note 
of it; you'll need it later. Onto Engineering, you find the wormdrive system. 
Enter the code, and activate wormdrive. Don't forget to re-route wormdrive 
control to the flight cabin (the system near the door on the way out). In the 
flight room, access the panel opposite the ship's computer. This is a star map. 
Click on the nearest object (other than the lifeboats) and your sym will record 
the coordinates. Go to the flight controls. Access the Nav system. Next, access 
the wormdrive control. You've opened a wormhole. Access the wormdrive control 
again to get the coordinates for the wormhole, so you'll know where to fly your 
shuttle. 

Piloting The Shuttle:

You can now access the panel outside the shuttle using the second code you found 
in the stray core data (5892). Route bay door control to the shuttle. Once 
inside the shuttle, you're ready to go. Access navigation to register the 
coordinates, and hit the flight systems. 

Episode 1: Things To Check Out:

Read the Senator's note in the passenger area. Read the terrorists' journal. 
Read the Weasel's journal (ITC undercover agent). Try out the Fulscan scanner 
just outside the passenger area. Read the shuttle pilot's note outside the 
shuttle bay. Check on the computer core near the ladder on the lower level. Link 
to the damage control system in the flight cabin. Read through the flight 
recorder in the flight cabin. Link to the propulsion status display in the 
engine room. 

Episode 1: Database Entries:

Farlemite, Fellows, Fulscan, Gravity Unit, ITC, PDA, Plastex, Proctus, Spriet, 
Sym, Symbiont, Terrnop, Terrorists, Wormdrive, Wormhole 

                               Episode Two: Plasfo


Plasfo Space Buoy was the nearest outpost and the only place you can reach with 
your shuttle. Once you explore the station, you'll learn that the vessels which 
attacked the Rident have just passed by. Your task here is to fuel and arm your 
shuttle and to find out which way these ships went. To fuel your shuttle you 
need to commit a minor fraud involving your credit computer. To get the vessel's 
coordinates, you need to get to the station operator's booth. 

Getting A Few Extra Credits Out Of Your Credit Computer:

With 100 rin., you'll learn from Rendel (the station's drone) that you need 105 
rin. to fuel your shuttle. An ancient station, Plasfo has some obsolete systems. 
An example of this is poorly shielded conduits on Level 2. Your sym will remind 
you here that stepping too close to the conduits may cause your credit computer 
to magnetize. To get an extra five credits, use your credit computer (found in 
your inventory) with the conduits on Level 2. Some areas will actually deduct 
your credit total, so be careful. You're aiming for the area just above the word 
"with" in the sentence "Use Credit Computer with what." Click five times to 
increase total to 105. 

Getting Into Rendel's Booth:

Rendel keeps a log of passing ships, but he's not volunteering his information. 
First, you need to get him out of his booth. To do this, you must provide a 
distraction. Go up to the bathroom on Level 2. Attach the other bomb you found 
in Episode 1 to the mirror. This will keep Rendel busy for awhile. Rendel, a 
suspicious sort, has locked his booth. Before returning to Level 1, stop by the 
bridge. On the side on the right of the stairs, you'll find a section of loose 
piping. Take this. Back at Rendel's booth, use the pipe to break the lock. 
Inside the booth, read the log. Your sym will record the coordinates of the "dog 
ships." From here, return to your shuttle and move on. 

Episode 2: Things To Check Out:

Read Rendel's journal (on the table outside the booth). Try to spot the Majestic 
passing by. Chat with Rendel. Annoy Rendel by: Trying to enter his booth, 
placing your explosive on his window and turning off the station power from the 
conduits upstairs). Blow yourself out the window with the explosive (in the 
little room with the window upstairs). Read the fliers in the bathroom. 

Episode 2: Database Entries:

Conduits, Dog Ships, Drone, Majestic, Plasfo 

                            Episode 3: Carswell Colony


Apparently, the next place the dog ships hit was Carswell Colony, an uncharted 
colony of "rebels" from the ITC. Your task here is to find out what happened to 
the colonists and to try to connect this mystery with the missing passengers on 
the Rident. Unlike the Rident, there is one living survivor left on Carswell 
(other than you). You can communicate with him via a monitor in the hall on 
Level 3. He'll need you to get him out of the control room. To free him, you'll 
have to get the elevator on-line, but you can't get to the utility room without 
figuring out a way past a barricade. Once you've "freed" the colonist, you'll 
have to track down those pesky dog ships again. 

The Barricade:

One of the colonists has locked out a room on Level 3 by disabling the conduits 
which control the doors to the room. One of these doors is found in the 
bathroom. Here, you'll notice a section of conduit has actually been removed, 
cutting off power to the door. Take the tool the colonist used to slice up the 
panel. Go downstairs to the kitchen. Here, you'll have your first glimpse of an 
attack drone, left behind. He leaves you alone. Apparently, he's been programmed 
to ignore you. Inside the kitchen, you'll find more conduits. Using the tool, 
cut a piece out. Say Hi to the cat! Back up stairs, use your new piece of 
conduit with the bathroom door's conduit. You can now enter the locked-out room. 

Getting The Elevator On-Line:

The guy on the monitor in the hall on Level 3 tells you to get the elevator on 
line. He may be able to answer some questions so you need to help him out. The 
utility room which controls station operations is accessed via the vents in the 
room you just opened. Explore the vents until you find the utility room. You'll 
also find a camera in the vents. Take this; you'll need it later. Inside the 
utility room (there's that annoying drone again), link to the controls. You'll 
notice the elevator has no power going to it. Route the source power from SL to 
the destination power for EV. The elevator is now on-line. Don't forget to talk 
to the guy in the hall again before going downstairs. He'll need to take the 
locks off the elevator. 

Finding The Next Destination Of The Dog Ships:

In the control room, you'll find the attack drone got to the colonist before 
you. Link to his sym to find out some useful information. Now you need to track 
down the dog ships. Link the camera you found in the vents to the computer in 
the control room. The camera has weeks of footage, and somewhere on it there's 
some shots of the attacking dog ships. You don't have weeks to wait around, so 
you'll need to find the exact time the dog ships attacked. To find the time of 
attack, go to Carswell's room. Ignoring the colony leader's corpse, read the 
speech he was dictating. The attack struck while he was recording the speech and 
at the top of the PDA is the time the speech was logged (2034.12.1). Back in the 
control room, link the camera to the computer again. Jump to the counter entry 
matching the time on Carswell's PDA. From the footage of the dog ships, your sym 
can calculate the vessels' trajectory. Apparently, their next target is 
SYNSYM-the corporation which designed your sym implant. Return to your shuttle 
and take off. 

Episode 3: Things To Check Out:

Read the residents list in the lobby. Transfer some funds from the lost credit 
computer (main hall) to your account. Read the news-wire link on the PDA in the 
main hall. Link to the bulletin board at the end of the hallway upstairs. Play 
with the Majestic model in Carswell's room. Find Jack Reynolds' note to 
Carswell. Pick up the noose in the sleeping quarters. Link to the downed drone 
in the mess hall. Visit the cat in the kitchen. Jump down the elevator shaft a 
few times. 

EPISODE 3: DATABASE ENTRIES:

Carswell, CON22, Mittener, Padley 

                               Episode 4: Synsym


This branch of SYNSYM, the original office, has long since closed, but for some 
reason the dog ships were heading this way. First you need to get inside the 
building. To do this, you'll have to use the delivery entrance. Once inside, the 
various office memos left by the partners, Reynolds, Lowery and Debrise, will 
shed some light on the inner workings of the SYNSYM corporation. Someone also 
left you a hologram message here, indicating you have an ally in all this. His 
identity will be revealed later. As you explore, you discover Reynolds' log book 
is missing. Finding it will lead you to a hidden laboratory-a discovery Reynolds 
made herself a few days before her "accidental" death. When you try to leave 
SYNSYM after completing all this, you'll find the dog ships waiting for you. 

Getting In:

The front door is locked, so begin by hopping over the wall on the right. Around 
the back of the building you'll find another door to which cargo was once 
delivered. Search the cargo crates on the side of the building. On top of one, 
you'll find an old clipboard once used to inventory cargo shipments. The 
delivery computer which controls this door works on a basic principle: a 
shipment clipboard like the one you just picked up tells the computer what cargo 
is being delivered (its description and weight) and a scale by the door weighs 
the cargo to confirm the inventory listed on the clipboard. You need to pose as 
cargo. Examine the clipboard in your inventory. You can select items on the list 
which together add up to various weights. The magic weight you're looking for is 
the player's weight.-To find the player's weight, bring up the STATUS screen. It 
appears you weigh 2.7 Pelists. Returning to the clipboard, select the items 
which weigh 1.9 P, 0.6 P and 0.2 P. Together they weigh 2.7 P. Use the clipboard 
with the delivery computer and step on the scale. You're in. 

Memos And Finding Sandra's Missing Log:

Jacques Debrise and Christian Lowery both kept logs of their office memos. 
Sandra Reynolds, the late CEO, has no log book, however. In Lowery's office, 
you'll find an "antique" computer in the corner which Reynolds gave him. On the 
computer screen, Sandy typed a hurried note instructing Lowery to "check out the 
Coleridge." In Reynolds' office, you'll discover she was something of an art 
collector, with a particular focus on the artist Jolfoar. One painting behind 
her desk is especially interesting because your sym will tell you that Jolfoar 
based the painting on the poem "Kubla Khan" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. On her 
desk, you'll find a button to release this painting, revealing a hidden safe. 
The password for the safe has to do with her message and the nature of the 
painting hiding it. Both your sym's database and Lowery's memos will remind the 
player that the poem "Kubla Khan" was about a magic place called Xanadu. Enter 
"Xanadu" to open the safe. 

Finding The Hidden Lab:

The log in Reynolds' safe speaks of a hidden lab she found one night, a 
laboratory she knew nothing about. Repeat what she does in the log entry. First, 
go to the laboratory on the bottom level. Inside the lab, there are some more 
work drones. Activate them with the computer behind them. You'll notice one 
drone is down and appears to function on a different subroutine. You're going to 
need a routine disk for the separate drone in the lab. You'll find one in the 
trash can in Debrise's office. Use the routine disk with the dormant drone in 
the lab. A schematic will come up. Repeating the procedure outlined by Reynolds 
in her log, connect E1 to A7, E2 to A2 and E9 to A5. This will activate the 
drone, who will open a hidden door in the back of the lab. This reveals yet 
another keypad. To figure out this password, you'll have to remember all signs 
are pointing to Debrise. The disk for the drone was in his office, and in her 
log Reynolds hinted that Debrise knew about this secret lab. By reading through 
Debrise's memos in his office and Lowery's logs, you'll learn that Debrise's 
favorite term was "monumental." Enter "monumental" to open the door to the 
secret lab. Inside the lab, you'll find some curious and frightening equipment, 
including a bed with hand restraints. Here, your sym malfunctions and appears to 
have "flashbacks" of some sort, presenting you with some strange images that 
neither of you can explain. These flashbacks allow your sym to lead you to a 
PDA, hidden in a nearby table. The PDA, a note from Debrise to an unknown 
person, refers to "experiments" and "a secret base." From the PDA you get the 
coordinates for the secret facility. 

Taking Out The Dog Ships:

Curious about the secret base mentioned in the note, you return to your shuttle 
to take off. Unfortunately, the dog ships show up. You can't outrun the dog 
ships, so you'll have to stand and fight. Access your weapons system. Firing on 
the dog ships produces no effect. Their armor is too strong. You'll notice 
SYNSYM's power generator is in view, however. Fire on it. The chain reaction 
will take the dog ships down. On your way, you hear a voice communication from 
the mystery ally who left you the holograms. He's going to meet you at the 
facility-the final episode. 

Episode 4: Things To Check Out:

Try going through re-packaging. Read the corporate bulletin board and various 
messages on the lower level. Read Sandra Reynolds' note to her husband Jack. 

Episode 4: Database Entries:

Autofacture, Debrise, Ecalp-Tew, Jolfoar, Klosfor, Kubla Khan, Lowery, NOCR, 
Reynolds, SYNSYM 

                              Episode 5: The Facility


Crash landing on the planet, you'll find an entrance to the facility. First you 
need to get inside, with a little help from your sym. After bypassing a series 
of security drones you'll find kept here, you'll learn SYNSYM's secret. With no 
where to go but onward, you have to bypass a PhysioScanner. At this point, you 
meet up with your ally from Episode 4. Together, you and he will destroy the 
facility. Before doing that, your sym will insist on having some questions 
answered, which leads to a confrontation with Debrise face to face. Finally, you 
have to destroy the base. 

Getting Inside:

Getting inside is relatively easy. Linking to the elevator controls, your sym 
will make some suggestions of possible security codes. Although it might not 
seem so at first, your sym does have the right code. 

Bypassing First Drone:

Once inside, you'll find a security drone (like the one left behind in Episode 
3) is blocking your progress. First, you need a blunt object. You'll find a 
section of loose piping in the utility closet. Take this. You can't attack the 
drone just yet. You need to distract him. To do this, videotape him. After you 
make your movie, use the camera with the panel near the video monitor in the 
hall. This will upload the movie and play the footage you recorded. The drone, 
noticing the image, will fly toward the monitor. Quite taken with his likeness, 
he'll keep his back to you as he watches the movie. Sneak up behind the drone 
and hit him with the pipe. 

Bypassing Second Drone:

Remembering that the drones run on a network, link to the downed drone in the 
hall. Apparently, there is another drone waiting for you in the next room. 
You'll notice this new drone's batteries are low. Instruct him to recharge. 
You're now free to enter the room on the left. A panel in the back, a doorway 
for the security drones, will lead you to the drone recharging center. 

Bypassing The Third Drone:

Stepping out into the hall off the recharging center, you find yet another drone 
waiting for you, and they seem to be getting meaner and meaner. To take it out, 
you'll need to fight fire with fire. Link to the drone you sent to recharge. 
From the local menu, you can select a target. Don't select the target on the 
left-that's you. Select the target on the right, and you'll get the drone's 
perspective as it flies off and shoots down the last drone. You're now free to 
explore. 

Learning Synsym's Secret:

The most important information to find on this level is Professor Miller's log, 
found in the first room on the left. From this log, you'll learn the fact that 
sym implants, like yours, are actually copies of another human being's brain, 
and that in order to create a sym implant the person's life is taken. Also on 
this level, you'll find one of the passengers from the Rident, Senator Fellows, 
who appears to have been prepped for a sym implant. 

Tricking Physioscanner:

At the end of the hall, there is a door locked off by something called a 
PhysioScanner. A PhysioScanner scans your genetic profile to determine if you 
have access. Your sym reminds you that if you had a record of some DNA of a 
person who did have access, the sym could trick the scanner. In one of the 
rooms, you'll find a DNA sampler and a computer to identify DNA. Currently, a 
sample of Senator Fellows' DNA is on the sampler. You need to find a sample of 
DNA of someone who has access to the rest of facility, however. In another lab, 
you'll find a coffee cup. Scan the coffee cup with the DNA sampler. Return to 
the lab with the DNA computer and upload the sample. Apparently, the beverage 
belonged to Norma Miller, the missing professor and mastermind of sym 
technology. Back out in the hall, try the PhysioScanner again. By tricking the 
computer into thinking you're the professor, you can now pass. 

Getting Off The Dog Ship And Finding Some Answers:

After another nasty spill, you black out and have another flashback. Awaking, 
you find yourself inside one of the dog ships. The voice of your ally from 
Episode 4 tells you you're safe, however. Apparently a busy man, your ally left 
a PDA in your inventory explaining himself. Reading the PDA, you learn that your 
ally is none other than Christian Lowery, Reynolds' other partner. Suspicious of 
Debrise's activities, Lowery found out the truth about sym technology, too. His 
plan is to destroy the base. He won't admit it, but he needs your help. After 
you leave his ship, you can explore a wormhole room and the reactor room. From 
there, you can take another elevator (by entering the code Lowery gave you on 
the PDA, "conscience"). The only room you can get to via the elevator at this 
point is a room that contains a database of all those victims who died to become 
a sym. Once inside this room, your sym will not let you back out the door until 
you look up its identity. Check your status screen again to get your sym's ID 
number (SYM001103). Enter it into the computer. Ironically, your sym was once 
Sandra Reynolds, the CEO of SYNSYM, whose death was anything but accidental. 
Once she found out Debrise's secret, he had her eliminated. No wonder Lowery, 
Sandra's long time friend, wanted to keep your sym implant safe. 

Taking Debrise Down:

Now you can go to the observatory room. On your way in, you're nearly shot by 
Debrise who sneaks up behind you. Hiding behind his desk, Debrise taunts you. 
Your only exit is over the railing behind you. It's quite a fall, but luckily 
the gravity is low because the room serves as a shuttle bay. Having made your 
escape, you return to the passage way, but find there's no where to run. 
Returning to the wormhole room, you'll find Debrise waiting for you. You can't 
run, but you'll notice a control panel across the room. Thanks to the ingenuity 
of sym technology you can link to computers over a great distance. Link to the 
panel and turn on the gravity in the room using the code your sym gives you. 
That takes care of Debrise. 

Leveling The Base:

To destroy the base, you'll need to sabotage the wormdrive. Like the Rident, 
this facility can harness a wormhole, the only difference being that the 
facility can open a wormhole within the base, inside the room where you smashed 
Debrise. There's a wormhole beacon in the wormhole room. You need to move it. 
Return to the observatory room and access the panel on the desk. Release the 
beacon. Go back to the wormhole room. Pick up the beacon, and take it to the 
reactor room across the hall. Place the beacon on the reactor. Back in the 
observatory room, activate the wormdrive. Opening a wormhole in an improper 
place will cause a reactor meltdown. Lowery's dog ship will show up and take you 
out of there in the nick of time. 

You've completed  SYN-FACTOR, prepare to watch a useless ending. Games with bad 
endings piss me off!

Episode 5 Things To Check Out: 

Get yourself shot at by the drones. Active Jacques Debrise's hologram. Examine 
the Drones' task list. 

SpinelesS