INSOMNIA: The Ark interludes

When travelling between locations on the global map, the game may interrupt the journey with one or more "interludes". Some interludes occur at fixed points in the storyline, and form part of it. The majority, however, occur apparently at random, and vary considerably. An interlude can vary all the way from a benign meeting with a merchant in a single room to a full-on firefight in a complex location. The same interlude may appear more than once during the game. Interludes never appear on the global map, so cannot be accessed at will.

This page, a work in progress, lists the various interludes by their location, as announced on the page giving the quest details. Confusingly, this location name may be different from the one that appears if the game is saved during the interlude.

Interludes marked as optional give the choice of not entering the location at all, or leaving immediately you enter it.

Interludes happen more often, and any combat in them seems to become more intense, as you go further through the game.

In interludes with combat, you do not normally need to take down all opponents; if you make your way to an exit, and are not in combat, you should be able to leave.

* Abandoned Block (save location "Zo Pse") (optional)
A long-abandoned residential unit comes to life before you: lights flicker at random while hazy silhouettes emerge from the walls. You hear voices, but cannot make out what they say.
If you take the stairs up, you will find the Watchmaker in one of the units.

* Abandoned Block (save location "18 Vermi")
You can hear revolting chirping sounds coming from the crioma-covered hallways. It seems it is too late to go back.
There are various crioma-loving beasties to tackle, including some chelicets. There's a Gunpowder Recipe behind a door.

* Abandoned Block
You open the heavy door and involuntarily start coughing—a strong scent of blossoming Crioma shocks your senses. Your head gets heavier and your legs won't cooperate, but there is no other way to go.
There are various crioma-loving beasts to kill. A door on the right leads to a terminal you can hack, which will clear the air; you need the Computers 2 skill and a UA Card. There's a generator to repair if you have the Maintenance 2 skill, 5 Parts and 3 Complex Parts. This will open a door to a room which contains an MAS Garon unit; you can loot it for an MAS Battery for the Back in the Saddle quest.

* Abandoned Block (save location "Zo Lo") (optional)
Your path leads through an abandoned residential block. Deep silence greets you.
Go into the first room on the left and break some plastic drums towards the back; you can then open a container with the key to Room 15. Go downstairs and repair two generators under the stairs. You should now be able to enter all the accessible rooms.

* Antique Shop
The sign leads you to a hallway that ends with a heavy door. Not without difficulty, you turn the bolt; through the noise of the ventilation system, you can hear echoes of orchestral music
You arrive at this location (which now appears permanently on the global map) after you have completed the Awakening quest. The only option is to talk to the Antiquist, which starts the Antiques Shop quest. You can then visit the Shore, or leave.

* Boiler Room
This boiler room became a temporary safe haven for a terrorist group. Perhaps your squad can get past them unnoticed.
Sneaking past the renegades, as suggested, is easier said than done, as they're split into several groups and well-armed; one of them may be playing the piano. However, an attack on one group doesn't cause the other groups to become alarmed.

* Boiler Room (save location "13 Renegade Ta") (optional)
You stop to catch your [breath] and hear a clanking noise coming from afar. It seems that a big machine is coming your way.
There are a couple of renegades here with guns, and an MAS Geron unit which fortunately only has melee attacks (but contains quite a lot of useful components when salvaged). You can leave immediately; or sneak past the enemies; or fight them if you're strong.

* Bypass (save location "Stop")
Your squad must go through a scarcely populated area. After another turn, the transport module suddenly stops working.
Talk to Riebel to advance the Vulture's Nest (quest). You don't have to do anything here; you can simply wait for one of your colleagues to fix the problem. However, if you want to speed things up, you can fix the generator yourself. Walk behind Riebel and go upstairs (a Citizen Soldier will give you a warning) and cross the bridge over the road. There are some Marauders to your left; eliminate the three minor ones, and "The Beef" (the boss). If you find this difficult, you can try luring the enemies back across the bridge for the Citizen Soldiers to deal with. You now have access to the generator, which you can fix without needing Maintenance skills or using any items. There's a ladder down to an area with a Locust and a few ticklers if you're interested.

* Cargo Compartment (save location "7 Renegade Militi") (optional)
From the doors leading to the cargo compartment come the sounds of shouts and weapons clashing.
If you want to get involved, move quickly through the vault door before it shuts. A firefight with several Renegades: the Ringleader has a lot of health. You can talk to a Citizen Soldier after the battle to hear his thanks.

* Cargo Compartment (optional)
Judging by the map, the hallway you picked leads to a huge warehouse. Perhaps you can find something valuable there.
This interlude has no combat. There are containers requiring Scammer 1 to open, and a terminal needing Mechanics/Maintenance 1 to fix it; this raises a lift to its left that enables you to access a locker. You are likely to visit this location more than once, by which time you may well have the required skills.

* Cargo Compartment (save location "Residential Unit")
Somewhere in the vicinity of the warehouses, someone is screaming, begging for help. You can hear cussing, fussing and the revolting sound of cracking joints.
Some marauders are beating a ghetter; you can either attack or ignore them. If you decide to fight, be aware that there are additional marauders whom you can't see at first.

* Gralem-Hall
You have to go through an abandoned assembly hall of Gralem, the ancient computer manufacturer. You notice that the moss-covered machines around you [begin] to awaken and the air fills with a strange metallic smell. Your companions seem to have all fallen rather sick. You'll have to leave them behind and continue your scouting expedition alone.
You arrive at this location (which now appears permanently on the global map) after you have completed the Bane of Mills quest. Follow the only path. Talk to the Antiquist, enter the Rupture to talk to Gway, and then leave to talk to Genaro. Gralem Hall will then appear permanently on the global map.

* Maintenance Block interludes have been moved to a separate page

* Maintenance Tunnels interludes have also been moved to a separate page

* Old Snack Bar (optional) (save location "Old Eatery")
You've come across an old snack bar. You can smell food and spices—a trading caravan has stopped to rest here.
An entirely benign interlude. Merchant Briggo is here; there are folk to talk to, a terminal to hack, and a generator to fix (which enables you to access some quite valuable loot). Very unusually, there's also a picture here.

* Old Snack Bar (save location "2 Hobo with Shotgu") (optional)
Your squad stops on the outskirts of a small reservation[] to rest in a cozy place.
Gerhard, a ghetter, intends to attack a group of Tyrang soldiers. You can try to reason with him or attack him immediately. There's a generator to fix, and a door to hack, but both require items to do so.

* Overpass
You path lies across a transport bridge littered with the remains of pre-war vehicles.
The most complex and challenging of the interludes. Start by working all the way forward and eliminating the Pyramid mercenaries, including two Pyramid Stormtroopers. You will need to use guns and melee weapons; there are some red gas cylinders close to the earlier opponents which you can shoot to cause an explosion. There is a sniper with a laser sight shooting from your left; if you're careful, you can kill him from the bridge.
Viewed with your back to the entrance, there's a walkway to your left (ignore the one to your right) leading to a lit door; head for it. Inside is Rezo, who seems to clone himself (though the effect is presumably drug-induced). His "clones" have less health than he does, fortunately. Leave, go on to the security room, disarming the mine outside it first, and use the terminal. You can now retrace your steps, cross the bridge and leave.

* Residential Unit
The radio transmits the following message from a nearby military patrol: you are being ordered to stop for an inspection. You decide not to try your luck and obey the command.
This interlude is part of the quest A Simple Job; see that page for the options for talking to Sergeant Aspers.

* Residential Unit (optional)
A message from HQ: "A tribune squad just rid the area of renegades. A group of rebels was detained. We continue the work according to orders."
You can talk to the Tribune in charge of the squad.

* Residential Unit
Bea Kera cultists have blocked the passage into the area. We need to figure out what's going on.
Talk to the Preacher. You can bribe him, intimidate him (if you are an Ordinator), or start a fight. Two cultists with guns near the exit make the fight more tricky than you might expect.

* Residential Unit (optional)
Unsightly, sickly-looking vagrants are rummaging in garbage heaps. Hearing the noise, they back up against the walls in fear.
A ghetter is going through a pile of junk near the far exit; if you search it yourself, he will take offence and use his fists to attack you. He's not hard to defeat.

* Residential Unit
You can hear nasty laughter and desperate cursing—it seems the lobby of this residential unit now houses a gang of marauders.
Deal with the group of marauders, but be warned that once you have, a door will open behind you (if you're still in the starting position), and a boss will appear with a few security bots.

* Residential Unit (optional)
You have to go through an abandoned residential unit. You hear a horrible, hacking cough and cursing coming from one of the cabins.
You'll meet up with Savic the Wild, who claims to be the "true Kravayah champion of 84". You can ignore him, but if you defeat him in combat you'll get Savik's Axe and Savik's Cup. Any companions will hold back, so it's you one-on-one against Savic.

* Settlement Outskirts
An urgent message comes on the radio: "A Tyrang Division crawler was hit by rebel forces. All free units in the area must provide immediate assistance to the crew!"
A tough fight with several opponents; the Ringleader has a lot of health. If you fix a generator, you gain access to a room containing Kir's Hatchet, one of the better melee weapons.

* Settlement Outskirts (optional)
You come out onto the winding street of a godforsaken reservation. There's almost nothing there—you can see a few peaceful ghetters who are trying to avoid making eye contact with you. It's very calm here, but you can't shake off the feeling that you are being watched.
Of course it is too quiet, and a firefight will start if you linger here. You can hack a couple of doors, and behind one of them is a workbench.

* Transport Tunnels (optional)
This debris-littered tunnel has become a refuge for a dozen or so poverty-stricken people. A wandering merchant has now come to visit.
An entirely benign interlude: the merchant is Merchant Yosha, frequently found in Reservation D-106.

* Transporter Tunnels (optional)
The destroyed transporter tunnel became a haven for vagrants. It is littered with rubbish top to bottom, but you can find something useful in any pile of garbage, can't you?
You can't interact with the residents, but you can scavenge some junk, as the description suggests. The location seems very similar to tunnel B52/79S, which appears in one of the quests.