QnA for June (spoiler version) (Patreon)

When and how did Ortega and Hollow Ground meet each other? Did Charge suspect (or was aware of) HG's real identity at the time? Does HG knows why they couldn't thread Ortega? Did they felt something off (like the static for Step) while threading Charge, or they realized that their powers didn't work because of Ortega's behavior?

Ortega met HG a year or so before Hood's death, maybe 2006 or so? They had no idea who HG was. As for HG, they had no idea that it didn't work at first, and then why it didn't work. It was very infuriating, and ran the risk of ruining their plans.

If Ortega learns more about the farm and special directive can they end up hating it as much as Sidestep?

Depends on how much Sidestep hates it, but yeah. Sometimes even more I think.

If sidestep had told Ortega, Chen or Themmy they were ReGene back in pre-Heartbreak days, how would they have taken?

Not saying. Sidestep doesn't know that.

Do Argent's powers work on tech that normally requires psi-sensitivity/telepathy to use?

Yes.

If the regenerator worked for Argent, and she could return back to normal, would she continue being a ranger or go home?

Depends on the circumstances.

Does the special directive purposefully make “twins” or “triplets” for the purpose of seeing how the same physiology responds differently to training/the boost drug?

Yes, and sometimes even more.

What are some boost talents other than telepathy that the farm would consider ideal for their cuckoos?

Pheromones, enhanced senses, perfect memory, shapechanging.

If it’s not too much of a spoiler, what’s the motivation behind Hollow Ground letting a high infamy Sidestep’s puppet live (beaten up, of course, but letting them go)/possibly letting high infamy Sidesteps go without a fight if Sidestep refuses to work with them? Are they at all intimidated by higher infamy Sidesteps, do they just not want to incite a more violent reaction from them, afraid of what they might do, etc?

This is spoilery, HG's motivations will be uncovered in book three.

Did Ortega actually learn how to be sneaky by watching Sidestep and mimicking them, their wardrobe, their habits, etc, or does Sidestep just think they did?

Sidestep mostly thinks they did, Ortega was always sneaky. That being said, Ortega did pick up some tricks, just like Sidestep got a few from Ortega.

Did argent always have a giant sweet tooth or have the nanovores influenced that?

Is argents appetite due to the nanovores, or was she always like that?

She's always liked sweet things, but the nanovores didn't help. Carbs makes them easier to control than meat, but they do need meat as well to remain healthy.

If it’s not too much of a spoiler, if Shroud were to hypothetically touch Ortega and try to use her powers on them, what would happen?

Unknown. Shroud absorbs life energy as well as memories, that complicates things.

What kind of access does Ortega have to what's being said during Sidestep's therapy sessions? How are they aware that Dr. Finch's mind has been... politely... redirected?

Ortega pays the bills. Anything else is spoilers.

Can you tell us more about Dr. Vedard? How does Mortum know of them?

We will go more into detail in book three, but Dr. Vedard is well known in certain circles. It is a pseudonym, whoever was behind it was a scientist who used a pseudonym to publish due to the dubious ethics of their work. Rumor has it that the man behind it was a scientist originally working for the French military, but there is no definite proof. He is also rumored to be dead. Dr. Mortum is very familiar with his work. I will not detail what that work is...

Ortega sounds like he has some idea of what Argent would be like "unleashed" when you discuss the catastrofiend return with him, what happened that gave him that info (if something did) and does it have anything to do with why he said in an earlier scene that he trusts her with his life?

Ortega sees things and adds them up. Things that are better kept private, or talked about in hints.

Or is the trusting her with his life in reference to his generator and the hints that have been dropped about it?

That also ties into things.

Would you mind going in detail about some of the fallout of Sidestep succeeding in getting Harold to drop them? I can't imagine that would have been great for Harold or Ortega's mental health. Not to mention a ranger potentially causing an accident from a body falling out of the sky.

Hmmm... Since that doesn't happen, it's all speculation, but I think that would have led to the collapse of the current Ranger team. There's no coming back from that. Herald would have quit being a hero, and would be utterly traumatized. Ortega would have been the same, and might have attacked Herald over it. The bad press would have meant it would be easier to fire everyone else and start from scratch. Too many failures and accidents.

When are we going to make lady argent and mortum meet?

Book three.

When we go show the doctor that we are a regene in her lab what would have happen if the puppet had woken up right at that time as we are talking to her?

Probably a similar thing to some epilogues.

I've noticed that when we're an art thief but also decide to take the contents of Carter's safe after grabbing the Rothko, we seem to leave without the painting and only the safe's contents. Is that meant to happen or is this simply an oversight?

A bug. I'll look into it, thanks for letting me know.

If Sidestep is suicidal and causes the crash, we can have a rather heartbreaking scene with Ortega after waking up again. Will it be possible for the other ROs to find out what exactly happened/caused the crash or will that stay between Sidestep and Ortega?

It depends. I imagine that it might be shared with others, if the relationships means it makes sense. We'll see.

I've decided to track some values during a Rebirth playthrough and got a negative value for puppet_individuality. Would that be a valid value for Retribution after the release or would it be reset to 0 in the end?

It is entirely valid, there are no maximum/minimum values for some stats. The only ones that have a 0-100 scale are the stats I use fairmath for, but some of the hidden stats don't use that. The one exception is the scar stat, which is fixed to 0-100, but doesn't use fairmath for reasons. 

Will it be possible to reunite our suit nanovores with argent's nanovores? 

Hehehehe or maybe the other way around?

How did the catastrofiend get into mortums gun, or will that be explained in book 3? Similarly, who was the catastrofiend before it become the way it was?

The Catastrofiend's origin is a mystery. So far, the most likely one seems to be a military experiment gone wrong. Since it seems to have the ability to regenerate and add modifications on it's own, it's impossible to know what the starting configuration was. The taste for nibbling on boost drugs doesn't help either.

It was in Mortum's gun because someone owned that gun, got cornered and desperate and shot it. Probably died of their wounds afterwards, and the gun eventually got put up at the auction.

How many people does HG currently have threaded?

I don't have an exact number, many, but there are limits. Maybe three dozen or so?

If Hollow Ground had been at ground zero for Heartbreak's attack how would they have fared? Would they have been able to escape relatively unharmed or would they have been another causality?

Hollow Ground would most likely have gone down fast, too much baggage and not strong enough defenses.

What do the rangers’ think of Argent and Sidestep’s relationship provided Step is in good standing with all of them, and is relatively wholesome as a criminal?

Ortega: Good for them! (makes a note to keep an eye out so she doesn't jump ship and becomes a villain too)

Chen: Oh no. Double trouble. (same thoughts as Ortega above)

Herald: They look good together. (and a bit of wistful jealousy)

To activate Chen and Ortega's poly route, do you NEED to hang out with Chen both of those times in order to lock it in? Or will there be opportunities in the next Book for people to lock in the poly route if they decided to eat dinner with Ortega during one of those times instead? (I ask bc you made me LOVE both of their scenes so much; I would love to know what the requirements for the poly route are)

Will it be possible for the book 2 poly routes be triggered in book 3? For example, if my endgame is a Chen/Sidestep/Ortega poly relationship, and I date Ortega in book 2 but show no romantic interest in Chen throughout Retribution, will I still be able to trigger the start of the poly route in book 3 or later? Same with the other poly routes; if I "friendzone" Herald in book 2, would it still be possible to start a poly with him and Ortega later?

Romantic relationship, as well as friendships and poly romances will be able to be triggered on and off during book three and four as well. You won't get locked in or out of things, but depending on previous decisions, things can be easier or harder. All the polys can be started in book three (or four), the ones in book two are just gets the briefest head start. I don't like locking romance routes, life is rarely that simple, especially not in this game. Some characters will reveal new sides of themselves that might make you change your mind too.

And will we find out who rahim thinks the villain is working for in book 3? any hints? :)

Yes, you might. I won't give any hints.

There's mention of Chen's new shoulder joint bothering him in the demo, that's he's still adjusting to it. How recent was the replacement/how long did he look for Step?

The shoulder was originally put in 2016, but there are continuous upgrades yearly, both due to wear, and due to technological advances. At the time, he had that particular joint for a few weeks. He looked for Sidestep for about two years or so, the first time after Heartbreak was rehab and trying to deal with the rest of the team.

How much, if anything, do the Rangers know about the farm and/or how Re-Genes are created? Did Sidestep ever tell anyone anything about their childhood/life at the farm in any context? If not what did they tell people, particularly Ortega with their unrelenting stubbornness when they want to know something, about their past? 

I won't say for certain what the Rangers knows. Sidestep said nothing that could be incriminating, but some Sidesteps might have made comments that could be seen in a different light once the truth comes out. It is very much up to headcanon exactly how things were dealt with, might be given choices to elaborate on in book three.

Am I using the wrong link or is the scene at the beach where MC urges Ortega to choose between puppet and MC different? There used to be stat checks to determine whether they pick MC or puppet but now it seems like they automatically pick MC?

I removed that option recently. Why? Because I more and more realized that it was changing so much of later interactions that I either had to sit down and write a LOT of additional content to make it justice, or remove it altogether. I did not have time for the former (as it very rarely happened), and I was not satisfied with doing something halfway. So in the end, I opted to remove it. I have done the same with several scenes in the book that I felt I couldn't give the space they deserved at present.

How does Jake feel about the part of his role that includes playing the muscle and having to remove people on HG’s bad side or making examples of them? 

He's at ease with being seen as the muscle, he likes being underestimated. As for roughing people up/killing them, it's not something he particularly enjoys, but he'll do it. Most people he deals with are very far from innocent, it's a dog-eat-dog world as far as he's concerned. Sometimes he feels bad, though he's good at suppressing those feelings. he wouldn't have come this far if he wasn't.

Did Nocturne pick her current name after she got boosted or did she already go by the name Nocturne when she started her new life with HG?

It was after she was boosted.

How does it feel for Lady Argent when she loses cohesion? Does she remember what happened afterward or it just a blank spot? Does it depend on the situation? 

It depends partly on the situation, but mostly it is a blank spot. Some things might resurface, as in a dream.

Do the telepathic boosters give better control over nanovores? 

Yes.

Why did the nanovores listen to argent, but no one else?

Well, eventually they listened to Sidestep too. But for Argent, it was that she's a technopath, she can "talk to" machines and connect to them.