Ah yes, that fixed it, thanks.
It was on day 9, after waking up after the summit, and talking with Mac and Taavi. I had to go back to a save point before Killigan... had his... episode? Otherwise the controls were all still in "berserk mode", and I could not access the equipment in order to put on clothes.
Since there are no posts here, I might be the only one with that problem... but the game seems stuck on a loop at the line "Gotta put something around my loins, at least." It won't let me access equips to do something about it, though.
Then again, I have been continuing through several builds now without ever starting from scratch again, maybe I ought to do that.
I've been wondering about the bedrock, too. And yes, it's strange that Asterion cannot hear the noises... but he is weirdly cautious about us getting too close to the crystalline rock, or touching it. He definitely knows something about it that we do not, and he's worried. Either for us, or the rock, or both.
It's interesting that you said the realm might be running out of power. Maybe the bedrock really is an energy source. It also seems to possess some kind of intelligence, since it can emulate machines if you "explain" their function properly. It's almost like it's alive, or a magical equivalent to an AI, keeping the realm up and running.
There is also the issue of the sky showing completely unknown constellations, as Luke noticed in his conversation with Asterion. And the fact that spacetime seems to be behaving weirdly: people seem to be able to reach the hotel from all parts of the world with little trouble, the corridors of the hotel seem to be infinitely long and never turn back into themselves. And the fact that some basic laws of physics, such as thermodynamics, don't apply there (at least by appearance).
Now, I am probably totally overthinking this, and maybe I should just accept these things, because this is a fantasy story where the supernatural exists. Therefore these things are possible, because magic. But what if that's not quite true? What if the whole realm only appears functionally magical, but is ultimately some type of unfathomably advanced technology? The realm really some sort of bubble universe with slightly different laws, connected to (but apart from) our universe? The gods just the last heirs of an ancient advanced civilization, wielding godlike technological powers even they don't understand anymore? Playing cruel games, torturing mortals for mere sport? Creating genetically engineered creatures such as Argos to do their bidding?
Running and maintaining a whole mini universe would require immense amounts of power. What if that power really is starting to run out after a couple of millennia?
I should preface this by saying: I really love this game. The following is not meant as criticism and certainly not as a bad review.
So, confession time, and SPOILER ALERT. I have now tried a few variations on sending Asterion out to the valley. And let me tell you, it was a very rough read, especially since I know the morally right variations from several previous playthroughs. Even if you just send him out one time, and do your very best afterwards to make all the right choices, it just makes your heart sink in your chest. He won't trust you, and his mental health takes a serious turn for the worse.
And it worsens with any further morally wrong choice, which is just pityful and frankly difficult to watch. In one version, his sanity is utterly destroyed in the end, and I cannot even fathom how things are supposed to proceed from there.
The thing I didn't quite expect to happen at all though is that the MC can change as well. Not just making mistakes because he's naive, mind you. Given the wrong choices, he is starting to give off some unsettling Clément-like vibes, which is pretty much Asterion's worst fear. And it made me feel extra seriously bad, because it was my choices that made this happen.
("What do we say if someone gives us a gift?" AAaaargh, nononono, ick ick ick, I need a long shower to cleanse myself of this!)
Again, all this is very well written, and clearly a lot of serious work has gone into this, but consequently it just left me feeling genuinely bad for Asterion.
I guess my recommendation is... if you know you react sensitively to any of this, and, like mine, your original instinct was to never send him to the valley... well, that might just be a good instinct.
Again, love the game, can't wait for the next build - but as far as I am concerned, Asterion is staying the hell out of that fucking valley from now on.
Yes, about that... for some reason, Article 4 doesn't say anymore what the MC says it says. I seem to remember, on my very first playthrough of the previous build, it did say that Argos could inspect the hotel premises. But on all subsequent playthroughs, that section is suddenly missing from Article 4. Is that just me? Could that be a bug? Like, once the MC calls Argos out, Article 4 is changed, even for unrelated future playthroughs?
