Rosemary James

"Warn them.. End it... Now... I... rest..."

**Rosemary James** is a character encountered by Dr. Desmond Wales in *In Sound Mind.* She serves as a major guiding force to Desmond during his ventures through Elysium State Park in order to save Lucas Cole.

She was presumably murdered by her employers Mayer Pharmaceuticals due to their agreement with the Central Intelligence Bureau, after she attempted to terminate all research pertaining to Agent Rainbow.

## Backstory

An employee of Mayer Pharmaceuticals, Rosemary was among the seven high-ranking employees tasked with the synthetization and research of the company's latest livestock-lure medication.

After Mayer Pharmaceuticals changed operation sites for an unspecified reason, the drugs' testing and production began at Mayer Distribution in Milton-Haven, Washington, previously the site of the Minos Quarry and Factory. Here, Rosemary built a repertoire of corporate acclaim, with her proposition of integrating electromagnetic-radiation via radio signals into the livestock-lure's production.

Soon after her proposition, Rosemary James was made Project Lead of the beginning production of Agent Rainbow, a prototype fear-based weapon designed to utilize in warfare. Rosemary's ingenuity and leadership skills led to Agent Rainbow's beginning fabrication being a massive success thanks to investment by the C.I.B., but Rosemary herself began to grow skeptical of the chemical's production as she witnessed the inherent risk it brought, and the volatile nature of the unrefined concoction. Despite her hesitance, the creation and transport of the chemical was under full-swing in an instant, with Mayer Pharmaceuticals shipping the hazardous chemicals without regard for caution.

When the crash of the USS Thanatos at Icarus Point, and the subsequent leakage of its Agent Rainbow cargo into Milton-Haven's water supply occurred, Rosemary was among the members of Mayer Pharmaceuticals sent to the secure Fort Sonder Underground Bunker at Elysium State Park by the Central Intelligence Bureau. The attempt to relocate essential staff to a safe location was also likely spurred by Max Nygaard's breaching and subsequent vandalism of the company property at Minos Quarry following his termination.

Within the bunker, Rosemary was given time to perform further testing, and seemed to have used the time to explore her cautions and curiosities regarding the material. She felt that her team's research may have been to blame for the crash, but reinforced her motivation with the hope that the highly-volatile chemical may be a net-positive in the future, capable of saving thousands of lives by ending conventional warfare. She believed that with her team's expertise, Agent Rainbow would become *more* than just a weapon.

During her down-time researching at the bunker, Rosemary began to hear distorted voices over the radio, and pondered if they were the voices of those affected by Agent Rainbow. She soon hypothesized that Agent Rainbow bestows its users with involuntary, powerful radio-communication abilities. In her notes, she remarks that those afflicted with Agent Rainbow have constant uploading and downloading of peripheral information to what she called *the Collective Unconscious*. She likened the connection to one having the internet streaming data within their very mind, and remarked that it would be enough to drive one insane.

After coming into radio contact with several affected individuals (eventually including Lucas Cole), and progressing her teams research, Rosemary gained new understanding of the breathtaking new abilities Agent Rainbow afflicted upon those affected by it. Witnessing the wealth of information the chemical bestowed to those who ingested it, Rosemary grew fascinated as her hypothesis seemed to be correct- and worked harder than ever to shape the chemical into a vessel for the greater good rather than simply using it as a weapon of chemical warfare. Because of this, Rosemary instructed her team to keep quiet regarding their most recent discoveries until the team can fully understand the lengths Agent Rainbow could reach. This notion met outcry from presumably most of the team, notably Ash Holm, who wrote Rosemary a personal letter rejecting her "No Talk" policy and ridiculing her.

Immediately following her request to her team, Rosemary put out a request to terminate all research pertaining to Agent Rainbow. When the request was denied by executive level Mayer Officials, she accused her subordinates of reporting their massive findings to the higher-ups, who now had heightened intrigue regarding the project.

She understood that she no longer had allies within Mayer Pharmaceuticals, and took it upon herself to locate someone she could trust with her information, in order to warn the people of Milton-Haven. Through her exploration of the Collective Unconsciousness's inter-connected web of Agent Rainbow-affected persons, Rosemary reached out directly to retired Army radioman Lucas Cole to plead for help. Lucas heard her message, and was likely told every detail of Agent Rainbow's conspiracy, Mayer Pharmaceutical's involvement with it, and the string of events that led to the contamination of the towns water supply.

Shortly after her communication with Lucas, Rosemary met a grim fate as she was promptly replaced as Project Lead by her subordinate, Ash Holm. Due to her violation of company policy and the sharing of top-secret government data, Rosemary was killed within the grounds of Elysium State Park.

## Afterlife

On several occasions within his journey through his Patients' tapes, Desmond witnesses what appears to be a young woman in a dirtied or bloodied dress, with her head hunched over, and a bright blue light emanating from her. The psychological manifestation of Rosemary's power, now known as "The Empty" also has bright blue radio waves emitting from her, showcasing the scientists abilities and connection with the Collective Unconscious's Radio-Communication qualities granted by Agent Rainbow. When The Empty attempts to communicate with Desmond, her voice is affected with thick radio-static, and she seems to be struggling to form her sentences. The audible difficulty speaking while within Desmond's mind could be due to Rosemary's power waning due to her death.

Her first appearance occurs during Desmond's exploration of the USS Thanatos shipwreck, where she attempts to directly communicate with him. Within Tape 3, she appears several times inside her previous workplace of Mayer Distribution at Minos Quarry. Finally, she is the sole aid of Desmond during Tape 4, where her psychoactive abilities seem the strongest within the grounds of Elysium State Park, her final resting place. Within Tape 4, she is seen using remote electrical manipulation to point Desmond towards the reveal of digit of the Bunker's 4-digit code. Throughout the level, she frequently speaks with Desmond, and even powers a generator within the Blessed Eyes Church Cemetery to allow Desmond to pass through to the final digit of the code. In doing this, The Empty seems determined to help Desmond find the truth regarding Agent Rainbow and Mayer Pharmaceuticals, exclaiming that there is no time for him to waste fueling the generator. Due to Agent Rainbow's previous interference with Desmond's progress through the Tape, it is arguable that Rosemary herself was the sole reason Desmond was allowed to pass through the impossible puzzle. After revealing the final digit to Desmond, it is revealed that she had used the last bit of her paranormal energy to guide Desmond, and finally rests after she urges him to warn Milton-Haven about Mayer.

It is thanks to Rosemary James that Desmond Wales was made aware of the conspiracy surrounding Agent Rainbow - a martyrdom that ultimately led to Desmond being saved from his Rainbow-induced psychosis by Lucas Cole after the former learned how to communicate through the Collective Unconscious. Through her Vinyl "Whatever It Takes", it is shown that Rosemary holds a deep guilt regarding her hand in the production and alteration of Agent Rainbow. She holds immense regret for her crimes against humanity, and is determined to give all she can to right her wrongs, while urging Desmond to learn from her mistakes- for the better good.

Her body is buried at an unmarked, freshly-dug grave in the Blessed Eyes Church Cemetery in the park, where her glasses still remain.

## Vinyl

Rosemary James' Vinyl "Whatever It Takes", can be found atop her grave at the Blessed Eyes Church Cemetery. After the player reaches the church, they may use the Mirror Shard to view the small church-side graveyard directly outside the church. After approaching the Vinyl, use the Radio Device to reveal the Vinyl to collect it.

Other than Dr. Desmond Wales himself, Rosemary is the only other non-Patient character to have a collectible Vinyl.

1. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mJbuA11efs