Main Plot (Act 1)

Kiba Reefings Map

When we last saw our Protagonist, he was wrongfully arrested after mysterious monsters attacked a trolley he was either inside of or found. The Kiba Reefings Overseer–Bu’leyg–releases the Protagonist due to not evidence being found against him, and encourages the Protagonist to go get some Habernettes, hinting that doing so might help the Protagonist get answers about what’s happening on the moon setting.

This leads into the Protag getting to walk around Kiba Reefings properly.

Kiba Reefings is an angular-shaped area with multiple dips and rises in the terrain, shown in the map with the higher areas being lighter and lower being darker. While you can’t do much with most of the area, you can still interact with most of it. Let’s go through each numbered spot.

1. Cargo and Passenger Docking
   This is where the game starts out. The ship which brought the Protag is gone now and if you try to go back to this area, guards will ward you off. There are concerns of suicide jumpers.
2. Receivings Office
   The building all coming and going visitors must be processed through which the Protag had to go through. You can enter it and speak to Bu’leyg but most of the other areas in the building are closed off to you.
   You’ll see above the office that there’s a guarded gateway. This leads outside of Kiba Reefings and into the non-protected shores. Only Kro’Enx Staff are allowed to pass through there. You can’t get through here yet.
3. Trolley Station: Meda
   The trolley station is guarded, with no one allowed to travel in it after the attacks, especially the Protag. There are trail gates people are allowed to walk to to go other areas but if the Protag tries to cross them, the Jaroko Guards will warn and then fire upon him.
4. Kiba Reefings Detention Center
   This is the building we stepped out of at the end of the Introduction. Once you’re out, you’re only allowed into the front lobby but nowhere else. You can interact with the guards here but they won’t tell you much.
   This building doubles as a guard housing area, complete with an armory.
5. Visitors’ Living Center
   This is a luxury hotel about seven stories tall. It has 3 tiers of living spaces, with the Protag being automatically placed in the base tier. You can rest on a default bed here, change clothes (though you don’t have different clothes yet), and order basic food services without being charged. You aren’t allowed in the higher-tier living spaces yet, nor the entertainment center.
6. Recovery Center
   This is the Kiba Reefings hospital. It also acts as a morgue so it gets quite a bit of activity. It houses a religious wing for services but unless you’re admitted, you don’t have access to most of it.
7. Kyslr Sa’y’s Shop
   This is one of the signature shops in the market area. People from all over the solar system can apply to own a shop in the many markets of Kro’Enx and they’re given certain benefits by maintaining a steady profit. Kyslr is a Miku’yiyi who will be talked about in a later section. Her shop sells knickknacks and religious items.
8. Currently Unnamed Market Shop
9. Currently Unnamed Market Shop
10. Currently Unnamed Market Shop
11. Currently Unnamed Market Shop
12. Kiba Reefings History Monument
    This is a narrow, octagonal hill built by the Karo Unity when the moon was colonized. It’s covered in exotic plants and has rich, tan soil. When you hike up to the top, you can access audio logs about pretty much anywhere in the solar system while looking at holographic scenery from different locations. When you visit this spot, you’ll automatically have its database added to your in-game computer. Then, whenever something new shows up on your glossary, it will be expanded upon by accessing this database.
13. Communal Garden and Park
    This is a well-maintained area with different vegetation. Certain plants can be interacted with and will inform you about if they’re safe to eat for different species. The plants picked here are elite choices from across the solar system.
    You can only eat one of the kinds of plants from here due to it having the same properties as meat. This will heal the Protagonist and give you a speed boost for as long as you’re in Kiba Reefings.
    This area will also have a playground for children. The Protag will refuse to enter this area but you can watch children play.
14. Veterans Memorial Center
    This is a museum and recently, a therapy expansion area from the Recovery Center. War Veterans are given free housing here as visitors but despite being a veteran, the Protagonist is not allowed housing here. This area also houses another Miku’yiyi character, Shureni Kolonpayo, who will come up soon.
15. Veterans Cemetery
    This is a VIP cemetery for veterans. It is only accessible through tours to ensure no one desecrates the many types of graves. You will be shot if you try to enter this area at this stage.

Getting some Habernettes

There are a number of ways to approach getting the Habernettes. You can literally stumble upon the different ways completely by accident but you’ll be encouraged by the nearest Information Board blinking to indicate it has important information. The board will display updates on the market area, including Habernettes being purchasable at a specific shop after a recent regulation was passed.

If you follow the hint from the Information Board, you’ll find yourself in Kyslr Sa’y’s Shop. It’s a well-organized tourist trap with snacks, religious items, and a variety of herbal substances. Kyslr is manning the register, intentionally standing out with her bright hair and jewelry. While you don’t speak to her, you can point to things to have her talk about them.

From Kyslr, you can learn that the Habernettes were just recently permitted for wider distribution on Kro’Enx. They’re an anxiety drug you put on your tongue but they can be addictive and give the same symptoms as drunkenness when overused. But with responsible consumption being consistent, vendors are now free to sell them more freely. Beforehand, they were kept strictly to the Veterans Memorial Center and Recovery Center.

If you point out wrappings on Kyslr’s hair, she’ll talk about how they’re marriage-related. She’s only been married for 2 years and her husband doesn’t live on Kro’Enx but she’s working her way up the employee ranks so she can get a citizen rank rather than a business rank. That way, she can have her husband move in with her. She’ll also mention how she had to fight hard for the shop she runs, referring to its previous operator as a witch.

Kyslr knows about what happened at the trolley as well. If you got results 1AB or 1B (where the boy died), she’ll tease you about being some secret ruffian and getting everyone restricted from traveling, but otherwise, she won’t have an opinion of you.

Kyslr will act peppy and friendly but she’ll stutter here and there, with something clearly bothering her she won’t talk about.

Intentionally, you’ll be left confused as what to do next. Your quest log will update after you get the Habernette, as you’re only allowed to purchase one at a time by law. You can consume the Habernette or leave it in your inventory. Then the quest log will update again, suggesting you get another one.

This is when Kyslr gets upset. She realizes what Bu’leyg sent you over for and tells you to go bother the witch at the Veterans Memorial Center. She adds that she’s only telling you where to go so you won’t come back to her shop. If you go back into the shop, Kyslr will be crying. If she sees you, she’ll call the guards and have you thrown out.

This path leads you to going to the Veterans Memorial Center. You’ll end up at the gift shop where another Miku’yiyi works. This is Shureni Kolonpayo. She’s taller and older than Kyslr, and has a religious garb piece on. When you say you need a Habernettes, she prompts you with what’s clearly a code phrase. When she sees that you can’t speak, she just nods and asks you to come with her.

Shureni will take you to a back area of the center where a hologram hides a secret underground tunnel. She warns you not to let this get back to her. Before you go through the tunnel, however, she says that you can talk to her. “I know you can. I know what you are.”

This is the start of Scenario 2: Path A. Following the tunnel will bring you halfway between Kiba Reefings and another plaza. However, there’s a different option if you got result 1:AA where the young boy lived.

If the boy lived and you choose to go to Kyslr‘s shop, her dialogue will be friendlier. She’ll even thank you for saving the boy. She’ll bring up the boy when talking about her marriage and how she wants children. Then, when she realizes what you’re after with the Habernettes, she’ll help you. She’ll tell you that you came to her shop by mistake but she believes the Protagonist is trying to help by finding answers behind the monster attacks.

Kyslr has access to a special receivings gate behind her shop that leads into the non-plaza terrain. It’s used for special transports bringing products. She explains that it’s harsh out there but it’ll lead the Protagonist to the fastest path back to where the attack happened. This will be the start of Scenario 2: Path B.

We’ll leave where these paths lead for later.

Some Character Intros

The Bug Rivals

These two hate each other. It’ll get fleshed out over time but here’s the rundown for now. Shureni Kolonpayo is a pious practitioner of her peoples’ main religion. She ran a shop in the market area for multiple years and prided herself in maintaining integrity. While every shop is a tourist trap, she avoided commercializing any cultural aspects in favor of providing educational products. And she was especially responsible when it came to consumables like Habernettes.

Shureni had her position challenged due to her sales declining slightly. Kyslr arrived on the moon as a younger upstart with a more customer-friendly attitude and a lot of ideas for improving business in Kiba Reefings and the moon of Kro’Enx in general. It didn’t help that Shureni was not as healthy. One of her third-arm-stubs had to be amputated years ago, leaving one of her remaining arms with nerve and muscle damage. Kyslr was also recently married while Shureni was not.

Shureni was concerned about respecting her peoples’ traditions and the dignity of Kiba Reefings. Kyslr was knowledgeable about her peoples’ culture and other cultures on the moon but wasn’t nearly as religious as Shureni. In the end, Kyslr’s story as a young wife putting herself out there to make a home with her husband won the higher-ups over. Shureni was redeposited as the vendor at the Veterans Memorial Center. The two have hated each other ever since but both gained a positive relationship with Overseer Bu’leyg. Bu’leyg was sympathetic to Shureni and shared his own troubles with her, leading to their secret tunnel situation. Meanwhile, Kyslr was great for business and morale.

Big Beard Man

Bu’leyg is an older Jaroko Guard who wears older model armor tailored to his rank. He became Kiba Reefings’ overseer around 3 years before the start of the game, having worked his way through the ranks at other areas. He’s an overall pleasant but pessimistic old man, going through the motions. Like many Jaroko, he has a strong sense of species pride but he’s not nearly as racist or hateful of the Reenashim or Rekshay. He’s seen a lot, having been active during the Parasite War. He’s been disillusioned by some things but continues to man his post out of obligation.

As implied throughout, Bu’leyg has an inkling of what’s really going on in Kro’Enx and will be secretly helping the Protagonist.

Today’s Glossary

The only real important word this time is Habernettes: A legal herbal substance designed to relax one’s nerves.  While not alcoholic, its symptoms are similar.  This has led to strict regulation of use, with breathalyzers and/or blood tests required from those suspected of ingesting too much of the substance.  Persons are only allowed to purchase one at a time unless otherwise specified.  However, Kro’Enx has become lax in its regulating of the substance lately.