In the year 2010, mankind's first space colony, 'Beyond Coast' was completed. The world had truly begun to advance into outer space. In 2013, immigration to the colony started. To maintain order for its hundreds of thousands of citizens, the five of us were selected and trained as astronauts. Gatse Becker, from Scotland Yard in the UK. Joseph Sadaoki Tokugawa, from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department in Japan. Salvatore Toscanini, from the NYPD. And from the LAPD, Ed Brown and myself.
Since we were chosen out of all the world’s police officers, and became astronauts with police authority, we were called the 'Policenauts'

JONATHAN'S OFFICE, OLD L.A., EARTH
"My name's Jonathan Ingram. 30 years ago, I was a Policenaut on the space colony Beyond Coast. Of course, due to that EMPS accident that sent me drifting through space, it feels like it was only yesterday. They're vivid memories. I had a wife, friends, a job... I left them all behind. That accident took my past away from me. Now I'm a private eye, and a negotiator, in this sinner's paradise, Old L.A. I negotiate with child kidnappers and traders, intermediate ransom exchanges, track down escaped convicts... It's dangerous work. But for someone like me, who's lost everything he ever had - if those kinds of people didn't exist in the world, I wouldn't be able to make a living. Well, I guess all I can do is keep looking ahead to the future...

"So, what should I do until this client shows up? I've got a lot of mementos of the past in this room. There are newspaper clippings and photographs up on the wall, and also some pictures of her and me on my desk. They're here to fill in the blank spots in my memory."

OK, so you've sat through the cool intro, and you're at Jonathan's desk in his office in Old L.A. For the moment, you can't go anywhere. Just sit back, relax, and EXAMINE EVERYTHING.

You might want to check the answering machine, though the messages aren't relevent to the game, except as scene-setting. Do this by moving the pointer over the flashing light, pressing the A button, and choosing the only option. This basically identifies the push-button playback mechanism, because when you push the A button a second time, you now have a new option available. Select this to play back the messages. There are 5 in total - 0ne is a wrong number, there's a message from the Water Department about an unpaid bill, a call from a friend, a threat from someone saying "It's not over yet!" and one from a client, firing Jonathan - and accessing the machine a sixth time rewinds the tape.

Also look at the gun/badge on the desk, the photos of Jonathan and Lorraine, and all the clippings on the walls. Note the music that played when you see a picture of Jonathan and Ed. Do you think they were good friends, then? The newspaper clippings provide additional backstory:

Top left clipping: "Astronaut Jonathan Ingram, who was presumed dead after an accident that occurred during a space walk in an EMPS prototype 25 years ago, was rescued by the unmanned reconnaissance vessel 'Propaganda.' At the time of the accident, Ingram was transferred to a self-equipped escape pod. His miraculous survival appears to be due to him having been in cold sleep for all this time. He is presently being observed to gather information on the effects of prolonged cold sleep to the human body."

Bottom left clipping: "Initial construction on the first space colony, Beyond Coast, which had been underway for some time at Lagrangian Point L5, has been completed. The first wave of immigration, which will be limited to scientists and engineers who will examine the colony and gather data, will begin 14 months from now. General immigration is scheduled to be opened to the public in three years."

Top right clipping: "Four astronauts, among them Jonathan Ingram, have landed on Mars, thanks to a joint-effort project between Japan, America, and Russia. This comes forty years after man first set foot on the Moon."

Bottom right clipping: "The EMPS prototype 'Urey,' which is used by the Policenauts when outside the colony, went missing during a trial run. The malfunction appeared to occur in the Vernier control. The Urey is equipped with a survival ball unit, but because an SOS signal cannot be isolated, the chances of test pilot Jonathan Ingram being found are slim. The official test of the unit had been scheduled for the following day."

Note that you only need to look at the photos on Jonathan's desk, the photo of Jonathan and Ed on the wall and the newspaper clippings to start the adventure off, the rest is just interesting detail. Once you've gone through everything which can be examined, you'll get a knock at the door...

"I'm not expecting you to forgive me or anything like that. That wouldn't be fair. But, there's no one else I can turn to... you're the only one I've got."
This is your introduction to Lorraine Hojyo, Jonathan's ex-wife. Her new husband - Kenzo - has gone missing, and she wants Jonathan to investigate. Your only clues right now are the name 'Pluto' (listen for "PRU-ATU"), a torn leaf and a set of capsules (listen for "CAP-SELL").

You basically have to question her, going through all the options, some of them a few times, to get all the information you can. You'll know you're on the right track when you get some speech, rather than just Japanese text. Note that you must go through some lines of questioning more than once to get the required response. By the end of the conversation, you will have seen a photo of Lorraine and Kenzo, the torn leaf and the capsules, the last two are added to your inventory.

Lorraine then leaves and, watching from his windows, Jonathan notices a masked man across the road from Lorraine's car. When he realises what's going on (footprints leading from the car, guy across the road holding some kind of trigger or control), Jonathan shouts a warning to Lorraine. The masked man panics and sets off the bomb with Lorraine still outside. As Lorraine is thrown away by the force of the blast, Jonathan runs outside... Now you move on to one of the sub-games in Policenauts: the shooting gallery.

STREET, OLD L.A.
"Am I not hitting him, or what?"
You're presented with a view of the street outside your office, and the masked fellow pops up from somewhere and takes a shot at you. You get in a couple of shots before he moves, then a couple more before a van moves across between you.

When the van has left the screen, the masked man appears to have vanished. Look around carefully, he is still there. Need a clue? How many legs are there on that sign to the left of the screen? How many were there before the van went by? Take a shot at his legs and he'll move around behind the sign, popping out from either side now and again, before running off to the left, and down an alley. Click with the A button on the alleyway and choose to examine it, then click again and choose the second option, go down alley.

ALLEYWAY #1
"Is this his blood? There's a trail leading ahead."
Examine the white trail on the ground (A button, select first option), I've read references to 'Milk Bloods', which I assume are some kind of android or something. This would be it's 'blood'. Once you're done here, move ahead again (ie. Click ahead, select examine, click ahead again, select option 2 - continue down alley). If you can't seem to go straight on immediately, examine the alcove to the right, then try again. If it's still not working, try other bits of scenery  (the wall on the right and the dumpster) which could be a hiding place.

ALLEYWAY #2
"The trail of blood stops here. Is he around here?"
The trail just... stops, but don't panic. Examine the trail, the dumpster and the bags on the left, then the drum and the two doorways on the right. This seems to trigger one of the bags to move, and Jonathan brings out his gun. Shoot the bags. A rat runs out, but the masked guy is sufficiently spooked to pop off a shot in your direction. Shoot him some more - he obviously doesn't want to give himself up just yet... He'll put up with a few more hits before trotting off down the alley. Pursue him.

ALLEYWAY #3
"What's he trying to do, challenge me?"
Notice he's left you a message? Read (examine) it, then examine the areas ahead of you and then to the right. You'll be treated to a cartoon cut-scene, in which the bomber, bleeding from his right arm, escapes on a motorbike. Jonathan sees police and an ambulance arrive, and this section ends. When a menu is displayed, the first option is 'Continue after Save' - the other is 'Quit after Save'.

Make your choice then, when you continue, you'll get to see Lorraine's death:

L: It's stopped snowing. Good... At least now I was able to look at the stars with you again. I wanted to see you all those years...
J: Lorraine...
L: You... you still have that watch I gave you.
J: You gave it to me so I'd stop losing track of the time.   
L: It looks like our time together's about to run out. Jonathan, please... Karen's sick. Please, help her. Karen's...

PASSENGER SPACECRAFT
"I had an accident in space a long time ago. I've had cosmophobia since then..."
A stewardess will tell you about the call button by your seats, then you'll find Jonathan sat next to some guy with grey skin and purple hair. This guy introduces himself as Tony Redwood. He seems to further explain the two buttons on the far left. Note also that Jonathan looks a little worried, perhaps space sick. You might want to call the stewardess.

First of all, hit the button panel on the far left of the screen. You'll first have to examine it to determine it's function, then you'll get a choice of  'Call Stewardess' or 'Activate TV'.

Select 'Call Stewardess', examine her, and you'll sometimes find that you have a whole three options next time you click on her. The first and last are the usual 'Examine' and 'Talk to'. The middle one? Try it. That's all I'm saying.

Chat to the stewardess to get all sorts of probably useless information about the flight, and Beyond Coast. One of the options (line 2 followed by line 1) ends up with a rather strange sound effect, which I'm guessing is 'swallowing a sleeping/space sickness pill'. When you're done talking, she'll ask something and you'll have a choice of two options. The first keeps her there, the second lets her go back to work.

You'll want to watch the TV to see a bulletin about NARC, though there's a TV at the spaceport on BC. There's a total of three reports (two on the Playstation), from what I can tell. NARC (drugs), AVR (Virtual Reality babes?) and something about body organs.

Talk to Tony for a while, as well. Though it doesn't seem to be necessary, it's good practice for those times when progress is dependent on the right lines of inquiry. Essentially, he explains that he's a Frozener with artificial blood ("My red blood cells are white"). A Frozener is a person created from an artificially inseminated egg that is cryogenically preserved by the government. The egg is incubated, and then later transferred to a surrogate mother who gives birth to the baby. On the whole, he seems reluctant to talk about himself, and is particularly touchy about being stared at ("Are Frozeners really that rare to you?").

When you're finished, click at the edge of the screen and select the 'BEYOND...' option. Jonathan will drift off to sleep. It's worth noting here that sometimes Jonathan will automatically fall asleep if you make certain dialogue choices after taking the pill. You'll be confronted with that old 'save/continue' menu. Make your choice, and you progress to...

ACT 1 - BEYOND>>>

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