09:39 on Day 4
 
"I need to visit Julia, who lives nearby. However, her house is now located inside the actual quarantined area. I hope she's still healthy."

[infected zone]

Her house shows no sign of infection, which is strange.

[julia house, preferably infected zone version.]

Julia Luricheva: Maybe there's no more hope. There's no point in struggling. We just have to wait. It's going to take a miracle to keep us alive through this.
Bachelor: Tell me, how are you going to test those antibiotics?
Julia: Oh, you already know about that? I'm going to get myself infected and then use them to recover. You see, I have three kinds of capsules. They say that each type will have a chance of killing the disease at a certain stage of its development. In my opinion, it will be very fascinating to find out. Almost like a test of destiny, like in the old stories.
Bachelor: Julia, this is nonsense! My experiences and education tells me that this illness cannot be killed by just antibiotics.
Julia: Yes, that is true... I have a special idea about that. It may sound strange to you, since you like to have concrete evidence before you undertake anything, but I have done some calculations and I am sure it will work.
Bachelor: Then what is this idea of yours?
Julia: In case the antidotes doesn't help, Kapella gave me a box of the children's powder. It's a very valuable preparation. It ruins your liver, but it will cure any infection, even the Sand Plague, for certain.
Bachelor: Julia, let's do it in another way. Let me study the antibiotics and the powder. I know more about these things than you do. I'll carry out the test myself, and you can give me the powder.
Julia: No. Sorry, I have my own plans for the powder.
Bachelor: What about the other medicine you were given?
Julia: Here you are. There's some Feromicinum. It's the strongest of the antibiotics in the town stores. It burns out everything that's alive inside of you. If it appears to work, Olgimskiy can open up the stores and distribute it. Then you'll be able to find it in the stores.
Bachelor: Is that all?
Julia: There are also some other types of antibiotics, that are said to be less effective. But I guess they are all useful. I don't really know much about pharmaceutics.
Bachelor: That will be enough. I'll take care of everything.

"I don't really understand Julia. One moment she's talking about how doomed we all are, but the next she's all excited about some trivial detail. She gave me all the antibiotics, but as long as she has a box of that strange powder there's no telling what she'll do to get a chance to try it out. It's almost like she finds some morbid amusement in all this."




 On my way to pick up the last medicine from Anna Angel, I decided to visit one of the nearby stores to see if I could find some protective gear. They didn't have much, and all their actual clothes were extremely expensive. It seems like there wasn't much synthetic cloth in the town in the first place. However, they had some disposable pieces of cloth that can be used to cover your hands or your mouth. They were fairly inexpensive so I decided to buy some. This will help me battle the plague but unfortunately that isn't my only enemy here.



This item provides a small amount of protection against infection while worn. It's so inexpensive you can use them pretty much whenever you enter an infected area. It basically work as a 5-10% reduction in the amount of infection you get. It's not really that much on its own but combined with other clothes and medicine it can add up.

There were a pair of boots in the store as well but they are absurdly expensive so I skipped them. They provide protection against infection and physical wounds as well as fire, but generally you don't want to get hit by that in the first place.





: All is lost. There is no more hope.

Bachelor: Tell me, Anna. What this about testing medicines?

Anna: We were forced to test some strange tablets. Julia, for example, has to go to an infected house and then try out antibiotics. But they can't save her, and she'll die in there!

Bachelor: Forced? Vlad said you offered to help.

Anna: Yes, forced! The Olgimskiy arranged it all. Vlad secretly wants to ruin me and Julia. He loves Lara, and gave her all the safe ones. Morphine, it seems. There's no need to test that! It doesn't have anything to do with the infection.

Bachelor: But what are you afraid of? Aren't there volunteers who will actually test the medicines for you?

Anna: And what if the ones I give the pills to return and get me infected too? No, this is just a disguised murder. Even the so called volunteers were selected from sentenced criminals. Very much in the spirit of the Olgimskiy family!

Bachelor: What did Vlad give you?

Anna: I received three types of medication. All of them ruin your health.

Bachelor: Give them to me and I will examine all of them for you. Don't worry, you'll be safe.


Saburov's house is nearby. It would be a good idea to talk to him briefly about the recent events and see if there is something that needs to be done today.





: The gangsters are absolutely out of hand! Where did so many of the bastards come from? It seems like their number doubles by the hour... Knives shine everywhere! It's time to finish them, at last. Gryph must be caught and executed.

Bachelor: Why are you so angry at Gryph?

Alexander: His people are killing innocent citizens in the streets. All crimes committed in the town are known to him and some are by his direct order.

Bachelor: Then why do you hesitate?

Alexander: A group of patrolmen tried to do a round-up of the thieves and murderers this morning, but it wasn't possible to catch them unaware. Gryph and his brotherhood stopped the attack. Now I can't even gather a new group. There's just not enough people even for just keeping up the quarantine and making the streets safe.

Bachelor: Then who'll deal with Gryph?

Alexander: Any daredevil who manages to stop their revelry will receive a very large award! If things goes any further I'll declare an award for the killing of the criminals. Somehow, by any mean, this mass slaughter must be stopped!

New Task: Robber's own posted:

The Commandant does not yet manage to stop the orgy of robbers and killers. However, Alexander is sure that all threads reach Gryph, the leader of the warehouse smugglers.

I didn't want to let Alexander know I struck a deal with Gryph to get that revolver some days ago so I kept very quiet about that. It's not like I know Gryph well but he doesn't seem to be the type that would go for mass riots and outright killing. I better talk to him later, but I need to be careful about my choice of words.



This is the intake for the water system. I can't see any obvious fault with it, so it must be something rather technical. The water in the river isn't looking very clean so I hope Young Vlad can get something up and running soon.



: Did you come for the test of the pharmaceuticals?

Bachelor: I have agreed to play that role, yes. You should know who I am, Executor.

Executor: I bow low... We unceasingly watch your exploits.

Bachelor: How are we going to test the medicines?

Executor: The conditions are simple. I let you into the house, and wait for one hour. Practice shows that it is certainly enough to... Hmm, to definitely establish the effectiveness of the pills. Do you have them with you?

Bachelor: Yes, both immunity boosters and antibiotics.

Executor: First prepare your immunity system. Be cautious, they are fatally dangerous in large dozes... Sooner or later you'll feel dizziness as the first symptoms of illness. Eventually the fever will become intolerable... That will mean the illness is passing the crisis stage.

Bachelor: I know.

Executor: You can still survive if the infection is kept at the latent stage. But in such an environment as inside this house, a person will inhale and absorb the infection again and again, and it will start to progress rapidly. In that case, take antibiotics. They will kill the microbes breeding inside you.

Bachelor: Are you giving a lecture on microbiology to a doctor?

Executor: No, no... No need. I only summarize the data obtained after the First Outbreak and from the last few days. I hope you will be lucky.

Bachelor: Luck means nothing here.

Task Update: Tests of medicines posted:

I need to prepare with the maximum dose of immunity correctors. Then I shall stay one hour in a contaminated house and use antibiotics to ward off the infection.

The medical details of these pills doesn't tell me much. They seem to be from the same manufacturer, and are marked with Greek letters, indicating some sort of scale of effectiveness. Since I needed to prepare as well as I could, I took a dose of the Delta-tablets. I was bracing myself for some awful bouts of nausea, but I quickly realized these didn't have any side effects at all. The other types lists a few possible downsides to them, though.



You want to keep your Immunity maxed out for this, and your Health as high as possible. You have enough medicine to lower your Infection quite a bit, but it's probably better to wait until afterward to use that.

Don't forget to actually equip your clothes! You can see their total effectiveness in this window as well. As with everything else in the game, you basically figure out what things does by using them, but the vitals window gives you rough numbers for everything that affects your bars.


This is the only way to be absolutely certain that the medicines are working. I'll spend an hour in the infected house.

Task Update: Tests of medicines posted:

One hour has passed. It can now leave. The Executor is waiting outside.

My lungs aren't feeling very well, but I got out of these in much better shape than I expected. These immunity boosting pills are providing to be quite effective, although their effect does not last very long. I took a few antibiotic pills as well. It's sometimes hard to tell if all the dizziness and nausea is because of their cleansing effect or because of the plague, but after a few minutes that passed. It seems like all the medicine I've tested are still okay to use. The Executor will report the results to Young Vlad.

Task Complete: Tests of medicines posted:

These medicines needs to be applied in large doses, harmful to your health, but they provide temporary effectiveness. Immunity drugs gives incomplete protection and should be complemented with antibiotics, that will slow down the disease and in rare cases even kill the infection at an early stage. All the types of medicine provided are fit for distribution.

Considering we spent a full game hour in an infected house and inhaled a good couple of plague clouds, I'd say we got out of there in pretty good shape. We also got a chance to find out the effect of many of the pills!

Alpha-tablets, +10% Immunity at the cost of -3% Health
Beta-tablets, +15% Immunity at the cost of -3% Health
Gamma-tablets, +30% Immunity at the cost of -3% Health
Delta-tablets, more than +50% Immunity at the cost of -3% Health

Neomycinum, -50% of current Infection at the cost of -15% Health
Monomycinum, -65% of current Infection at the cost of -30% Health
Feromycinum, -80% of current Infection at the cost of -40% Health

Note that, sadly, none of the antibiotics can completely cure the plague. They will always leave some left, although if you suppress the infection enough, it will be days before it will become an issue again on its own.

We still have a few of the more rare types of antibiotics (I used quicksaves to get a full list), which is great because they are very expensive to buy. We also have lots of painkillers and we only use up like two per day at most.

We also looted a lemon. Yay!

Executor: Incredible! It was possible to leave the place alive... Let me examine you more closely. Show me your pupils.
Bachelor: There is nothing wrong. No one is able to describe my state better than me.
Executor: We all execute our duty. I was asked to give you this preparation. Keep it with you wherever you go. Only use it when you are convinced that it's absolutely needed. Even if it won't show on the outside, the impact on your health will be monstrous.
Bachelor: A box? Give it to me, please.

"It was another box of powder. It looks just like the other ones, so I don't know how you are expected to know which ones are safe. If any of them are safe, that is. A lot of people seem to be ready to bet their lives on their miraculous effects, although if you are infected and almost dead anyway I guess you are not too worried about any possibly fatal side effects."

"If only I had time to study these, or a way to observe their effects without putting myself at risk. For now I will hang on to any boxes of powder I can find."

"I also picked up a syringe while I was, ehm, exploring the house. I don't know exactly why I picked it up, because I can't imagine a dirty syringe being very useful to anyone."

[syringe!]

Summary: We have collected and tested the medicine in a very direct manner, and got some very interesting results! Now Lara, Anna and Julia don't have to put themselves at risk. I'm a bit worried about what Anna said, though. I would say she's being silly, but on the other hand I wouldn't put it past Big Vlad to actually do something like that.

Alexander had a task for us, so we'll go see Gryph sometime later and see if he's the person behind all the robbers (or rubbers as the game calls them) that are running around town.

We still have to examine the Cathedral, and we also have to visit Victor Kain and see what he wants.