Quoted By:
“Four of my people are coughin' up white hair. All I need is enough to heal 'em. The one with the rash, I'll handle myself. As for this doctor you want to send our way... There ain't a need for that. We've always looked after ourselves an' that's the way it's gonna stay.”
“I hear that more often than you think,” Oberheim replies, having pursed his lips into a thin line. “Independence is important and I understand that you wish to preserve it. Yet in this day and age, cooperation is vital to the prosperity of humanity, if not its very survival. I do not wish for your tribe to have its soul stolen by Homo Degenesis.”
When you remain unmoved by his words, he lets out a quiet sigh and waves over one of the Spitalians standing guard. For a moment, the tension grows as you expect that the doctor might try to coerce you into accepting his deal. Instead, he makes a simple request of his comrade.
“Could you bring me four MDI canisters of EG-1 EX-Aerosol and four MDI actuators, please?” With a nod, the masked soldier turns around and strides off. The doctor looks back in your direction. “That will be eight hundred drafts. There is one more thing that I would like to discuss, however.”
“What would that be?” You fish out the fistful of drafts and count out the strips. This will leave you with 450 drafts – hopefully enough to purchase something useful elsewhere.
“The Spital is a humanitarian organisation,” he begins, “yet when the greatest threats to humanity are hostile and invasive lifeforms, it is not enough to offer medical support and hope for the best.” Big words. You do your best to appear nonplussed. Again, Oberheim sighs. “We are not just healers, we are fighters. As Homo Degenesis seeks to spread Sepsis and replace humanity – if not wipe it out entirely – we fight it in every way we can.”
“That's brave o' you. What's this got to do with my tribe?”
“You see, Sepsis infects everything. Not just men and beasts, but the very land itself. In places where concentrations of it are allowed to fester, it transforms the area into a spore field. These serve as ideal habitats for Homo Degenesis and their plagues. You mentioned that your tribe's outbreak of Sepsis was caused by an insect attack – it is likely that this plague was produced by a nearby spore field. For that reason, I would like to know the location of your village and the direction that this swarm came from. This will help the Spital identify the spread of Sepsis and take action against it.”
>Tell the truth. Let him know the location of the Voss village and the strange craters south of it.
>Lie. You don't want to risk anyone stumbling across your bunker in the mountains near the village.
>Refuse to answer him. You don't want to risk discovery, nor do you want to mislead the Spitalians.
>WIPE: Erase Oberheim's memory of this conversation as soon as you're given the medicine.
