Spoilers QnA August (Patreon)

Sorry if this has been answered elsewhere and I just missed it, but If you end Retribution with enough suspicion from the Rangers to be revealed as a villain in the mc crash ending, but you end up puppet stuck (with Sidestep's body at the Rangers), will the Rangers still figure out that Sidestep is the villain and Sidestep themself just doesn't know yet that they've been caught?

Spoilers, but it seems likely. The clues are still there, but what the impostor might do is another thing.

Were regenes actively discouraged / warned against running away by the Farm staff, or was it assumed that none of them would get the idea to in the first place?

Very actively and sometimes painfully discouraged.

from the first fight with argent in retri we can see that she can turn her lower arm/hand into a sword, but how far can she stretch her limbs/change shape?

About twice the length of her normal limbs, so far Sidestep has seen lower leg and lower arm transform.

Since sidestep's nanovores eat inorganic things, could they eat argent's nanovores?

It would be a fiddly thing, but it is technically possible.

Is there anything other than like high stress/unconsciousness that could make argent lose cohesion?  Electricity/heavy vibrations/that sort of thing?

That is very spoilery, you'll have to try and find out.

Was puppet found in San Francisco or Los Diablos? (I mean, Lord Ember and Shroud are operating in SF therefore Ace met Shroud there?)

No, the puppet was found in Los Diablos. The hospital there bid highest for the spare parts.

I don't quite understand regene chip vs regene brain situation. Is chip more like "training/education hub"/storage device? Do regenes (Sidestep in particular) mostly operate with their brain or chip? In what condition is Sidesteps chip? If a regene chip was destroyed would that affect them somehow? 

You are right about the chip. It could be seen as a training/education hub, enabling quick insertion of memories and training, as well as easy access in case they needed to be scrubbed and re-programmed. The brain still does the processing, older ReGenes are less reliant on their chip since the knowledge has been "re-stored" in the proper memory pathways. As far as Sidestep knows, their chip is still working as intended, but they have no intention of letting anyone access it. Theoretically, destroying the chip should cripple the ReGene, but in practice, since it is located near the brain stem, that amount of damage would probably lead to death anyway.

Is somewhere in the chip any conditioning system regenes are not aware of? A code word, a combination of numbers, something to stun them in case some would resist their usual preventive measures?

You bet. Sidestep is terribly afraid of that, but also fairly confident that at this point, they would be able to resist. Things like that tends need to be reinforced to stay active. There was a tracking device, but Sidestep cut that out of their arm after the first escape. They found none after their second one, most likely because the Farm had never intended for them to leave their cell again.

Will it be possible for Step to have a cybernetic eye in case crazy mad (which is fair) Argent took their real one :( ? I guess regenerator won't be able to grow one. 

Yes, there is a cybernetic eye in some Sidestep's futures.

Is Dr. Halabi one of Mortum's informants?

Yes, that's a fair guess.

Guess that's a spoiler. Does Shroud have any will to blow up The Farm or she's okay where she is now/ doesn't care about Farm at all?

Everyone who has escaped from the Farm would probably like to see it destroyed. But whether they want to do anything about it, is a different story.

Hypothetically speaking, if one's a strong enough telepath is it possible for them to break regenes mental shields and control them (not directly but by telepathically giving them orders)?

Oh yes.

Was that HG or Rat King the one who helped Sidestep not to drown in HG's memory?

HG.

How come that Dr. Mortum recognizes Sidestep's face and their identity right away but HG doesn't? Rangers and everything associated with them are more important to Mortum than to HG?

Dr. Mortum is reliant on personal knowledge and information. HG has outsourced that, in most cases, Mitchell is the one who has the data at hand. HG doesn't have to worry about things like that in person.

What was HG’s initial reaction when they realized what kind of powers they had gotten? Did they ever use their powers for more mundane or “lighthearted” things or did they immediately focus how to use their powers to further their goals?

Everyone who gets powers plays around with them at first, HG did the same. In fact, that's how they figured out what they were. But very soon they also realized they would me much more effective if kept secret...

How much did HG tell their family about what kind of powers they had gotten? Did HG prefer to stay vague or were they more open about the nature of their powers with their family?

HG has always been very vague and cagey about it. The only one who knows the full truth is Nocturne.

When Shroud uses her powers, can she choose what memories and information to take from her victims, or does she more or less devour everything? Can she choose what memories/information she wants to remember more clearly?

She takes everything, and then it fades over time. The stronger the mind, the longer it lasts, but eventually it will fade and she'll be hungry again. She only retains what she actively memorizes or writes down. She's got a little recorder she uses when she digests people, talking into it as she traverses their memories to help her with later information.

Could the red threads make someone boosted believe they are powerless? Or if someone took the hero drug and showed signs of being overwhelmed by their powers, could the red threads be able to make the person think they can survive it/take control over their powers? Or would the hero drug override the red threads influence? 

They could make you believe you had no powers, but if they have a reflexive component they would still be there. A telepath would still read minds, a flier who fell off a cliff would still fly. And yes, the read threads can help mitigate the effects of the hero drug, that was Nocturne's theory, and she took the risk of taking them herself to test it. It worked.

Hollow Ground has hidden their existence and powers pretty well, but wondered how well are Jake's and Nocturne’s existence or powers known in the villain/hero circles?

Jake is well known as one of the organization's most powerful lieutenant. However, most people think his powers are just strength and armor, he keeps the phasing bit as an ace in the hole.

Nocturne is known as HG's girlfriend to a select circle of people, people knows she has the power to blind people, but no details.

Was HG’s mother’s death related to the family’s dangerous life? Was she much involved in HG’s criminal organization after they became the kingpin or did she prefer to try and live a quieter life? Did she and HG meet often or were they more in contact through phone calls? Did they have any main topics they liked to talk about? 

No, she died of a heart attack, she was quite old at the time and had a heart condition for years. She lived a more quiet life, aware, but not actively involved. They met often, HG liked a reminder of their normal life. I think their conversations mainly was about utterly normal things in life, like old memories of relatives, local gossip, what she had been up to lately. HG was probably well known in her neighborhood as her child, and they liked pretending to be normal. Before Nocturne, that was their pressure valve, where they could be themself and not have to be a crime boss.

what was chen’s motivation for lying about having destroyed the photos? 

He didn't want anybody else to see them, they were utterly gruesome, and he didn't want those images in anybody elses head.

How were the documents found against the mayor used? Since they were obtained illegally, it is unlikely that they can be used to initiate criminal proceedings against her.

I haven't gone into that in detail, probably by scanning people close to her for clues, then following said clues until incriminating paperwork could be found. At this point, it's less about criminal proceedings, and more about gaining allies.

What does Hollow Ground and his minions think about the similarity of the MC and the puppet?

So far in the story it hasn't come up. HG will have their theories later, but that is spoilers.

Would dampeners have any effect on argent's talents talking to machines?

Less than on Sidestep, but they do affect her. However, that also makes it possible for her to tell them to blink off momentarily and then back on if she needs to do powerful stuff.

Are the Rangers aware that the local telepaths are going missing? Do they have any theories about the cause / who might be responsible for the disappearances? Are any of them worried that (known telepath) Step might be a target?

Dr. Mortum is aware a lot of telepaths have been going missing, but wondered have the Rangers or HG trio noticed telepaths have been going missing as well?

I don't think anyone has put together the clues quite as well as Mortum has.

How do argent and her nanovores communicate? Like pictures/words/images/something else?  Is it "noisy" in her head all the time with so many of them?  Or do they mostly act as one entity? Do the nanovores enhance her tech control or is it all her?

The tech control is all Argent, and the way she communicates with with the nanovores. I'm not going to spoil how they interact, that is something she might share in game.

Is argent still able differentiate similar textures with the nanovore skin? Like her mind being able to register how soft or coarse fur might be or are the sensations too muted?  Same with flavors, are some too mild to pick up/strong to be enjoyable with them like regulating her nerves and receptors?

It is more of a conscious effort, and like with Chen's hands, it's not what it once was. Her taste is good though, that hasn't been very affected.

Did Argent's mindscape change because of the Nanosurge? And if yes, in what ways is it different now?

Yes, it did. But you have no idea what it was before, so that's spoilers! People's mindscapes do change over time.

When step first visits HQ in retri they can notice that Ortega has a slight limp (and also seems pretty tired iirc), can we ever find out what they've been up to exactly to cause that?

Maybe. It was mostly intended to show that Ortega has a life outside of what Sidestep knows.