What murders?
There were forgeries, and people’s careers were ruined, but no one was murdered.
Though one person accidentally died during the Censor’s raid (and then came back).
Pretty sure the entire reason for your character looking into the forgeries was due to an unusual string of deaths/vanishings of a Machinesmith, Custodian and Danseur.
Same response as many others. Loved the story, disliked not being able to select a ruthlessly efficient or blackmail choice at the end. Still, one of my favorites so far other than Flint which is paramount in my mind.
I really enjoyed The Persona Engine, especially the part where you’re exploring inside the machine and have to find a way out. The three interviews, although repetitive in structure, were also charming; those three characters were very well done. I would have liked to see more of the Mathematician, though. It seems odd that the entire story revolves around him, yet he appears only at the very end and doesn’t even get a word in before you have to make the final choice. Hence my own decision not to allow him to be murdered.
I’m looking forward to more stories in the Season of Skies, and learning more about the mysterious conspiracy and the Dissonance…
does anyone have an echo of the option where you try to let the machine intact and they tell you "nope"?
edit: i can’t english
edited by ochrasy on 12/5/2016
[quote=ochrasy]does anyone have an echo of the option where you try to let the machine intact and they tell you "nope"?
[/quote]If you mean the 0-action option, this might be it:
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/dov?fromEchoId=10350188
Is there a way to review the beginning of this? I’m just now ready to procee with it and cannot remember what is going on…
The wiki should have the opening choice recorded.
Anything easier to navigate than the wiki? Or does anyone have a link to it?
The free part which starts this month’s Exceptional Story is here:
http://fallenlondon.wikia.com/wiki/An_Exceptional_Story:_Caught_Red_Handed!
Just follow the redirects. Of course, it doesn’t include anything past the point where only Exceptional Friends can trigger the actual story.
Oh this is perfect!
One of the two new home comforts available from the Incarnadine Robe looks, sounds, and functions exactly like a piece of the Persona Engine (and probably is). So with only a tiny amount of head-canon I can now achieve the second-best outcome for this story beyond taking the machine for my own, namely salvaging a piece of it after having most of it destroyed.
It might not be able to replicate perfect forgeries, but with a name like the Semi-Autonomous Scrutinizer Machine it might well do the opposite, of detecting forgeries or secrets in messages, and perfectly correct spelling mistakes, which can arguable be as important…
Quite a valuable little piece of engineering :)
.
edited by Akernis on 12/19/2016
I’d have to say this is my least favorite exceptional story so far. It’s really bland and quite a slog to get information out of people. I’ve spoken to all 3 people and then it just ends? I thought there was more to it than that but it just says to return when I have more clues?
Edit: Found the mathematicians house.
edited by Alyndah on 12/19/2016
[quote=Rook Crofton]
On the topic of the gender of the Persona Engine, and on the history of computing, I was wondering about something (spoilers & historical speculation within):
[spoiler] Where is Ada Lovelace? Assuming that the Reclusive Mathematician is Charles Babbage, who designed the Difference Engine(s) and the Analytical Engine (the first Turing-complete computer, were it ever built in his time), I wondered where Babbage’s correspondent, Lady Ava Lovelace (arguably the first computer programmer) was. And, on a related note, why does the Persona Engine write with a woman’s handwriting?
Well, it turns out that Lady Lovelace died in 1852, and Babbage was thus left without a brilliant correspondent, supporter, and friend. Maybe he made the Persona Engine write with woman’s handwriting because it’s meant as a substitute (or memorial, or homage) to Lovelace?[/spoiler]
I should also add how much I enjoyed this story especially. The interviews, mysteries, exploration, and final decision were all top-notch. This is one of my favourite exceptional stories.[/quote]
I have to say, I had the exact same thoughts on Babbage and Lovelace! The illustrations and description of the Persona Engine struck me as looking extremely similar to sketches and reproductions of the Analytical/Difference Engine.
A wonderful story!
A good and simple mechanics (we don’t have to guess how much of a certain quality we ought to gain, where should we go next etc.)
Compelling stories, VERY interesting lore.
Enjoyed this so so much. Really great work and thank you, FBG.
I’m loving all the information and lead-ins we’re getting for Sunless Skies! As someone still recovering from a slight addiction to Sunless Sea, this is awesome, and I’m stoked to learn more about traversing the Skies.
I’m not quite done yet (ran out of actions), and I’ve been waiting to play most of the story until I had a chance to really focus on it, and I’m glad I did.
I may have fallen in love with the Persona Engine. Oops.
I’d like an echo of the “Destroy the machine yourselves” please. I misclicked and didn’t get to see the result of my choice.
There really wasn’t any hesitancy in my mind about sparing them in the end.
[spoiler]It was the Mathematian’s last line that really solidified why that was though, and what my response would have been in character.
"I owe you many favours," he croaks.
"I didn’t do it for you."
I really do like the Persona Engine. ^^[/spoiler]
edited by Zoviir on 12/28/2016
Being brand spanking new to FL (I think I had played for a whole week before becoming an EF), I can say without hesitation that I found this story extremely confusing and was kind of at a loss when it was over. However, I’m aware that the content was not designed for someone like me. 7/10, would play again and still be confused.
Fantastic story, one of my favourites. I think I know what I have to choose (Frederick is not the kind of man to avoid his monstrous responsibilities), but I’m interested in what happens if you leave the house so that the others kill the mathematician and destroy the machine: did anyone journal it?
edited by Frederick Metzengerstein on 1/1/2017
I played this story over the last two days and what can I say? I’m in awe! This was beautiful, absolutely magnificent! I can’t really decide on best story ever, but it’s on par with my other favourites, The Frequently Deceased and Lost in Reflections.
First, I love the way this whole season is set up: three separate cases, and a diabolical plan connecting them. Then I loved getting to know these three people! I love the fact that we got to see a Decency Censor as a human being, as a character. I love the subtle nods to Sunless Skies. Correspondence and Discordance. I love the steampunkyness of the Machine… omg, I love the Machine! Of course, the final decision wasn’t hard at all for me - I would never countenance anything untoward happening to such a brilliant mind and his beautiful invention. For science! For progress! [i]
Ahem, sorry… got a little carried away there
[/i]Reading Rook Crofton’s post about Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace provided the icing on the cake. Thank you! FL players are the best-educated anywhere. ;)
Also, I think it’s huge. So many stages or chapters! So many words and I still feel like every single snippet of text was extremely interesting and deserved its place! (I save every ES into a text file, and Persona’s is the biggest yet (excluding Flint).)
I liked the mechanics, too, straightforward and easy.
Top-notch ES, all around! :)
edited by phryne on 1/4/2017