Children Caches

This entry contains potential spoilers for *Pathologic 2*. Read at your own risk.

*Come now, you haven't given us any time to change the set!*This entry contains potential spoilers for Pathologic 2. Read at your own risk.

## Description

Children's Caches are small, hidden boxes scattered throughout the Town in *Pathologic 2*. According to local children, they are used by the kids of the Town as part of a game.

There are 23 caches spread across the town. Caches reset at 07:30 each day, except for 5 particular caches on **Day 3** due to a scripted quest that remains available for all of **Act 2** (which ends at 07:30 on **Day 4**). Consuming Twyrine can reveal some caches' location on the map, however doing so will *not* change their contents. In terms of their spawned items, each day caches are assigned to one of two categories:

* *Normal caches* contain 1-5 "scrap items", which can be summarized as snacks, repair items, and items used in trading. The vast majority of each day's caches will fall into this category. Consuming Twyrine will *not* reveal normal caches on the map.
* *Rare caches* contain 3-9 items, which consist of the aforementioned "scrap items" as well as ammo, Fingernails, and most notably Shmowder. *All* rare caches contain at least 2 Fingernails. Depending on the day, rare caches account for 0-6 of all total caches (most often 5). Consuming Twyrine will *only* reveal rare caches on the map (in addition to other relevant plot events). Rare caches' spawn rate follows a scripted schedule that can be viewed below.

In addition to their usual items, both cache categories can sometimes contain kids' notes, however aside from the scripted kids' quest notes, notes' inclusion in caches appears to be inconsistent.

Despite the kids' instruction to leave items and notes behind in caches, quality and quantity of items left behind does not appear to affect future caches' contents (namely Shmowder's spawn rate, which has 20% probability to appear in rare caches.).

## Items

The following items can be found in caches.

## Rare Cache Schedule

Rare cache spawning follows a strict schedule, which determines where and when they appear. Their potential loot still appears to vary, in that reloading any given day results in inconsistent Shmowder spawns.

##### Day 1

On **Day 1** there is just one rare children's cache.
##### Day 2

**Day 2** does not feature *any* natural rare caches, however this is presumably because of **Act 2's** five scripted caches, which initially feature average cache loot, but will *refresh* their loot (often becoming rare caches) once the Haruspex has spoken with their respective children. Should they become rare caches this way, Twyrine will still not recognize them. These five caches are also exceptional in that they do not reset on **Day 3**.
##### Day 3

In addition to the aforementioned scripted caches, which may be investigated on **Day 3** rather than **2**, **Day 3** features two rare caches.
##### Days 4-10

**Days 4-10** feature five rare caches each day.\*
##### Day 11

On **Day 11** there are six rare children's caches.
* \* The first cache (or any quality) that the Haruspex inspects after 07:30 on **Day 7** will include the Mysterious Note. If caches are ignored entirely until the dawn of **Day 8**, or any days after that, **Day 7'**s cache spawn state will *remain* present until a cache is investigated (after which caches will resume their intended schedule, resetting on the following day's dawn). However consumed Twyrine will incorrectly mark caches for the *present* day, even if **Day 7'**s caches are still in place. As an example, if caches have been ignored until after **Day 8**, and Twyrine is consumed, then **Day 8'**s *intended* rare caches will be marked, even though their contents are actually those of **Day 7**, and therefore average.

* Rare caches on day 1.
* Rare caches on day 2.
* Rare caches on day 3.
* Rare caches on day 4.
* Rare caches on day 5.
* Rare caches on day 6.
* Rare caches on day 7.
* Rare caches on day 8.
* Rare caches on day 9.
* Rare caches on day 10.
* Rare caches on day 11.

## Plot

### Murderer Hunt

During **Act 2** (**Day 2** 07:30 - **Day 4** 07:30), children outside the Cathedral will introduce the Haruspex into their cache game. He is told that if ever he takes items from a cache, he must leave behind a note in addition to items of equal value. (As stated above, despite this instruction, items left do not appear to impact future caches' contents.)

One of the children - Pup - tells the Haruspex that they know he is searching for his father's murderer and believe that they can help him find the killer. The children think the first and only other adult they've invited into their game has killed Isidor Burakh and say that the man has been leaving behind scary and threatening notes.

Pup will give the Haruspex the location of two caches: one located in the Cape and one southeast of the Bridge Square next to a broken bridge. Pup also tells the Haruspex that there are other children gathered elsewhere in the Stone Yard Quarter who will also provide him with cache locations. These groups of children can be found by engaging the "Focus" button, or listening for the poems they are reciting.

* One group of children, represented by Tatochka, is located northeast of the Crucible. They tell the Haruspex of a cache hidden in the Gut, south of the Lump. This cache will contain the Warm Note, which will direct the Haruspex to the Nutshell.
* Another group of children, represented by Ace, is located just south of Victoria's Tomb on the Cape. They tell the Haruspex of a cache hidden just southwest of the Bridge Square. This cache will contain the Tidy Note, which identifies the Train Station as a popular meeting spot for children.
* The third group of children, represented by Goldfinch, is located by the bell directly south of the Cathedral. Goldfinch tells the Haruspex of a cache hidden under a Stairway to Heaven located in the Gut. This cache will have the Dusty Note, which will direct the Haruspex to the Marrow district's Tadpole Yard playground (just west of the Theatre) where children can be found playing Hide-&-Seek.

If any these 5 scripted caches have been looted prior to speaking with the aforementioned children, upon speaking with the children, the caches' inventories will refresh, allowing the player to loot them a second time in the same day. In their *post-children* state, these caches have a high chance to contain rare quality loot, as described above.

#### Hide-&-Seek Game

During **Act 2** (**Day 2** 07:30 - **Day 4** 07:30), regardless of whether the Haruspex found the Dusty Note, three children can be found in the Marrow district's Tadpole Yard playground playing Hide-&-Seek. These children will remain available at all hours except for night time (00:00-07:30)- even when the bell rings on the evening of **Day 3** for the Town Hall meeting. The children will tell the Haruspex that they have something special for him, but he has to play a game of Hide-&-Seek with them first.

Once the Haruspex has agreed to the game, the three children will ask that he turn around and count to five so that they may hide in various places around the yard. This step can be inconsistent for players, in that the exact triggers for the children to hide are not entirely clear. Suffice to say it is best to face away from them and wait. The player will eventually see a notification appear denoting their map has changed, which will reveal a new map marker saying the children are hiding in the Tadpole Yard.

The children will be hiding around nearby corners, and can be located by listening for a song they are all singing. After finding and tagging each child, the Haruspex will be able to trade with them. These children will have a variety of nuts that they trade away for just (1) trade value, however they also accept all nuts for (2), which makes it easy to exhaust nearly all their supplies. In addition to nuts, one of the children will also have a Shmowder that they trade away for just (5) (compared to Teensy NPCs' usual [35]). The three children also accept *and* trade away Needles and Safety Pins for (2) respectively, and trade and accept Knives for (5) (however as with all traded weapons, their *accepting* value for a Knife scales with its current durability.).

### Meeting the Murderer

After 07:30 on **Day 7**, the first children's cache that the Haruspex finds will contain the Mysterious Note. The children say they have found the murderer who will be at Friday's Yard, but the Haruspex has to wait for "when pigs fly." After finding the note, the Haruspex's mind map will update automatically at 18:00 on **Day 8** to reveal the location of the alleged murderer in the Skinners district, just east of Peter Stamatin's Loft. When the Haruspex goes to this location, he will be ambushed by an Ouzel NPC. Killing the man will not cause any changes to reputation.

* Regardless of whether the Haruspex has found the Mysterious Note, the man will still be there after 18:00 on **Day 8**, and will attack on sight.

When looting the man who attacked him, the Haruspex will find a Suspicious Note. It is similar to one of the notes found in the children's caches, telling the man to meet a thief in the Friday's Yard. Realizing that he has been tricked, the Haruspex becomes angry and goes to talk to the kids at the Soul-and-a-Half Fortress. When he arrives, he talks to Yawn. Yawn asks him if he found the murderer and he asks why the children tricked him. They tell him that it was because he had been playing the game incorrectly.

Regardless of how the player has been playing the children's cache game up until this point, Yawn will tell the Haruspex he has been kicked out of the game. Yawn will mention that one of the reasons they've kicked him out is because he has not been leaving behind notes in the caches (which is impossible for the player to do).

This has no bearing on whether the player can continue to find and use the children's caches, which will function the same regardless of whether Yawn is spoken to.

### The Jerboas' Game

After the children have all been taken away by the Army on **Day 9**, the Haruspex will be approached by a townsman. The man asks if the Haruspex is the one the children call 'Cub' and hands him the Farewell Note left for the Haruspex by the man's daughter. The Farewell Note says that since the children have all been forced to leave the Town, all the caches and the cache game have been left to the jerboas. Her note will also mention that two of the children - Nyuta and Sleepy Head - left Shmowders in their caches and that the Haruspex should try to find them quickly, lest the jerboas eat them.

Regardless of how the player has been playing the children's cache game, they will always be able to receive the Farewell Note. This interaction is largely flavour text, as receiving this note does not guarantee that the player will be able to find two caches with Shmowders in them.

All of the notes found in the children's caches after **Day 9** will be the Kids' Farewell Notes.

## Poems

These poems are said by the children gathered in groups during the cache game in **Act 2**. Different clips will play randomly when the player is near a group of children.

### Poem 1

>
> Cuckoo counting:
>
> Broken eggs, broken eggs!
>
> Lark a-counting:
>
> Chosen stones, chosen stones!
>
> Raven counting:
>
> Frozen legs, frozen legs!
>
> Owl a-counting:
>
> Stolen bones, stolen bones!
>
>
>
> Eat our feast:
>
> Eggs are stolen!
>
> Leave our home:
>
> Stones are broken!
>
> Ride our mount:
>
> Legs are chosen!
>
> Close our eyes:
>
> Bones are frozen!
>
>
>
>

### Poem 2

>
> No food, no sleep, I seek a treat:
>
> of grundly sneeds and bander-meat.
>
> Devour it all and feel so strange,
>
> as all my limbs begin to change.
>
>
> I spurn in cruel pantagony
>
> and feel my legs turn hexady
>
> with wings that bear my teeth a-vise,
>
> and mouths aglow with sneeching eyes.
>
>
> I jomp and jurl, harromph and wail,
>
> as bones unfurl into a tail
>
> it snicker-snacks, all fulguraire,
>
> as I dewhorl pearlescent hair.
>
>
>
>

### Poem 3

>
> We all watch as the bear gets his paw in a snare
>
> as he tries to untangle his tangled affair.
>
> He can try as he might, gripe and growl in his grove,
>
> but he still can't untangle the tangle we wove.
>
>
> We all drag our own nets, we all catch our own fish,
>
> we all tug our own strings, we all watch what we wish.
>
> We all keep all our blood trapped tightly within
>
> all the veins you instructed we hide beneath skin.
>
>
>
>

### Poem 4

>
> Mess with the bull, you get the horns,
>
> my only rose is naught but thorns.
>
> I wrap myself in claws and teeth!
>
> You better hope you're fleet of feet!
>
>
> A muddy foot has made a mess;
>
> the guilty party'll soon confess.
>
> Whose mess is this inside my house?
>
> A swing, a miss, a running mouse.
>
>
>
>

### Poem Variations

* Poem 1
* Poem 2
* Poem 3
* Poem 4

* Poem 1 read by NT (Sticky's English voice actor). Version 1.
* Poem 1 read by NT (Sticky's English voice actor). Version 2.
* Poem 1 read by Avery (Murky's English voice actor).
* Poem 1 read by Daniel Wood (Taya's English voice actor).

* Poem 2 read by NT (Sticky's English voice actor). Version 1.
* Poem 2 read by NT (Sticky's English voice actor). Version 2.
* Poem 2 read by Avery (Murky's English voice actor).
* Poem 2 read by Daniel Wood (Taya's English voice actor).

* Poem 3 read by NT (Sticky's English voice actor). Version 1.
* Poem 3 read by NT (Sticky's English voice actor). Version 2.
* Poem 3 read by Avery (Murky's English voice actor).
* Poem 3 read by Daniel Wood (Taya's English voice actor).

* Poem 4 read by NT (Sticky's English voice actor). Version 1.
* Poem 4 read by NT (Sticky's English voice actor). Version 2.
* Poem 4 read by Avery (Murky's English voice actor).
* Poem 4 read by Daniel Wood (Taya's English voice actor).

## Tadpole Yard Song

* Audio of the Tadpole Yard Song

This is the song the children are singing during the Hide and Seek game in the Tadpole Yard. It is only in Russian and was not dubbed for English. It is likely that the song is Что Приходит Ниоткуда и Уходит в Никуда (What Comes From Nowhere and Goes Nowhere) by *4 Позиции Бруно*.

>
> У котёнка мокрый нос,
>
> И гладенькая шерсть,
>
> У него забавный хвост,
>
> И быстрых лапок шесть,
>
> Две задних, две средних,
>
> И двее передних лапы,
>
> Такая многоножка получилася у Папы,
>
>
>
> Ученый Папа мой, зверушек изучает,
>
> Гуляет по помойкам, ловит крыс и чаек,
>
> Две крысы белокрылые,
>
> И чайки две унылые,
>
> Покрытые пупырчитаю кожей лягушат,
>
> Без перышек тоскуют, и ускакать спешат
>
>
>
> А ещее, есть муравей,
>
> Большой размером с гуся,
>
> Он пугает всех зверей, и я его боюся,
>
> Когда он ковыляет на лапках на своих,
>
> И в двери ударяет, и начинает стих:
>
> Я муравей,
>
> Воды налей,
>
> Не меньше ведра,
>
> Напиться мне пора…
>
>
>
>
>

In English the song reads:

>
> A kitten with a wet nose and silky fur,
>
> He has a funny tail,
>
> And six fast feet,
>
> Two hind legs, two middle legs,
>
> And two front legs,
>
> That's the millipede papa has come up with.
>
>
>
> My father is a scientist, he studies animals
>
> He walks by the dumps, catching rats and seagulls
>
> Two rats with white feathers,
>
> And two dull seagulls,
>
> Covered with pimply frog skin,
>
> They yearn without feathers and want to run away
>
>
>
> Also there is an ant,
>
> So large it's the size of a goose,
>
> It frightens all the animals, and I am afraid of it,
>
> When it hobbles on its feet,
>
> Then knocks on the door, and reads the poem:
>
> I am ant, pour me some water!
>
> No less than a bucket, it's time for me to drink.
>
>
>
>
>

## Gallery

* A children's cache hidden in the Bone Stake Lot.
* A children's cache hidden in the Cemetery.
* A children's cache hidden in the Cape.
* An opened children's cache, located by the Shelter.
* Inventory screen when looting a children's cache.
* Map of all children's cache locations (in green).

## Notes

* In the Credits, two children - Carter and Jon Taylor - are also credited as having performed voice roles for "Children's Rattles". However, there is currently no record of which poems they performed.
* Caches are not to be confused with external "scavenge" cabinetry, the locations of which are also shown on this page's map. "Scavenge" cabinets *receive* a random array of rations, drugs, and other items each day at midnight, and retain any items left in them from prior days (until they are full, at which point they cease to receive items.). Notably, the northern-most "scavenge" cabinet in the Hindquarters district remains empty the entire game, and one of the two just southwest of it *looks* like a Children's Cache but is actually a "scavenge" cabinet.

## References

1. ↑  https://twitter.com/NotBrunoAgain/status/1265282043476238339
2. ↑ Lewis Carrol pastiche, Poem 2
3. ↑ "(...) the kids are screaming the plot at artemy all along but he is too dense to pick up on it."
4. ↑  https://twitter.com/NotBrunoAgain/status/1265282043476238339