February (mission)/Transcript

*[James is in his apartment watching the news, but the screen is not shown. Instead, we hear the audio.]*

**NEWS REPORTER:** And the explosion rocked Interface City, that’s how bad it was. Almost every single window in Lonshan is shattered. It has disturbed residents in the city but fortunately, the Ululators’ secret drugs and firearms base is destroyed, thanks to the works of James Derettas.

*[James shuts the TV off with the remote. He then jumps out his window and lands on the street below. It is now sunset. The snow has stopped but the city is covered in ice. Residents can be seen outside their homes shoveling the icy sidewalks.]*

*[James then gets a call from an unknown number.]*

**JAMES:** Hello? Who is 713-1040?

**JOEY:** That’s my mother’s house’s number.

**JAMES:** JOEY???

**JOEY:** Yes, it’s me. I’m not dead.

**JAMES:** But… but, you said you couldn’t…

**JOEY:** Just head on up to February.

**JAMES:** That town north of Interface City? *[Joey hangs up]* Hello? Well, better go get my car out of the garage in my building.

*[After that, the screen fades black and the shot reappears, showing James driving a teal sedan down a road in a snowy forest, away from the city. James is driving when all of a sudden, a deer jumps out into the road, and James gasps. He sharply turns the wheel but the car hits the deer and flips over twice and James falls out in the process. The car then goes on fire. The deer is dead, lying in a pool of blood. James gets up off the ground and brushes himself off. The player can now take control of James. James must walk (or use his Speed Run) down the road. If he tries to go back from where he came from, James will say one of five things.]*

* **JAMES (DIALOGUE):** Why am I trying to go back?

* **JAMES (DIALOGUE):** No, gotta get to Joey.

* **JAMES (DIALOGUE):** I came all this way, I’m gonna turn back?

* **JAMES (DIALOGUE):** I’d much rather be here than the city.

* **JAMES (DIALOGUE):** I’ll have to return eventually, but for now, no.

*[Once the player heads far enough down the road, lights will start to become visible. Then a house.]*

**JAMES:** That must be it.

*[Once the player reaches the house, James knocks on the door. A man in a Santa costume answers.]*

**JAMES:** Um... *[awkwardly]* this isn’t the Dmitri residence, is it?

**SANTA:** Nope.

*[The Santa guy slams the door.]*

**JAMES:** *[Sigh]* Well, guess I should keep going.

*[When James gets further down the road, he sees another house.]*

**JAMES:** Gotta be it.

*[Once you reach the house, James knocks on the door. Joey answers and a cutscene plays.]*

**JAMES:** Oh my God! Joey! Good to see you, bud!

**JOEY:** You too! Now come inside, it’s cold out there!

*[James, Joey and Joey’s mother are all sitting in the living room, on separate sofas. James and Joey’s mother are drinking hot cocoa. The room is very large and open, with a fireplace, kitchen, large, old-timey television, and wall paintings.]*

**JOEY:** And this is my mother, Aida.

*[Aida is an elderly woman in her mid-to-late 60s. She has white/gray hair and round, thick glasses.]*

**AIDA:** Hello.

**JAMES:** Hi, Mrs. Dmitri.

**AIDA:** Ya think I’m like one of those mothers who like formality? I oughta teach you somethin’, boy.

*[James chuckles, taking this as a joke. Aida chuckles too.]*

**AIDA:** Y’know, all this, what’s going on in the city, it’s chaos down there! And it starts with you!

*[James stands up violently out of utter disgust. Joey stands up, trying to break up the tension]*

**JOEY:** You know what? That’s enough. James, why don’t we head upstairs and we can discuss things, alright bud?

*[Joey leads James upstairs while James and Aida are staring at each other with death looks. Aida growls. Upstairs, they are sitting at the edge of a bed in a room.]*

**JOEY:** Y’know, James, we have a lot to discuss.

**JAMES:** Yeah, and it starts with whatever happened, with that guy getting murdered on the tracks and all that.

**JOEY:** Well, after I called you and said life was too tough…

**JAMES:** I thought you committed suicide at that moment.

**JOEY:** It may have sounded like I was going to end my life, but I was really just going to come here for a few days, to get away from all the chaos at Interface City.

**JAMES:** If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have been able to come here. There aren’t any cops blocking the way out of Interface City from Feldis anymore, ‘cause I cleared them out. Now what was up with that guy that was killed then? He looked just like you.

**JOEY:** I know, but it wasn’t. It was an Ululator disguised as me. He was purposely killed on the tracks by another Ululator to make it look like the Ululators killed me.

**JAMES:** Those Ululator bastards! They’re all dying now.

**JOEY:** So, that’s basically it. Oh, and I heard on the news that whatever Underscore did, about, like, letting the government know about the PX-41 Project the cops had, and the FFUB stuff.

**JAMES:** They found out it was Underscore who ratted the cops out?

**JOEY:** No. You said Underscore claimed he couldn’t be tracked.

**JAMES:** He couldn’t. He was a grey-hat hacker. But he’s dead now.

**JOEY:** That may be true, but what he did’s not dead. Whatever he said about the FFUB, that secret organization? It’s all true.

**JAMES:** What?

**JOEY:** The FFUB are coming to Interface City soon, and they are not amused by you, or the Ululators, or whatever other shenanigans are going on in the city.

**JAMES:** When’s this all going down?

**JOEY:** Soon.

**JAMES:** Well let’s get back to the city, then. Now. We better prepare.

*[James and Joey walk out of the room and the screen fades black, and the mission ends.]*