Story
From TestSubjectsNeeded
The Story...
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- As the game progresses, a video, hidden Traelekinstitute.com subpages and comics become available which tell a story. The following is a summary of events that are unveiled so far.
1604000000 years ago
A prehistorical humankind becomes extinct because of an epidemic that disconnects people from their senses. The Human Preservation Project retreats to underground test facilities to develop the mechanical icefly. They leave messages for our civilization. Natalia Suttinger at HPP sends out SOS messages to the world like this and this and the radio device received by Slashfilm:
1986
Professor Gerald Traelek founds the Traelek Institute to research Heightened Sensory Perception.(Official website)
1996
Eddie
Eddie Jalovich (medical report) lives with his parents in Rubillon Heights. He has lucid dreams (Biophysics Monthly article) about the future. He senses that their house is going to burn down but they don't believe him. They fortunately all escape according to a newspaper article about the tragedy. Afterwards he attends the Traelek Institute.
Bobbi and Maxine
Bobbi and Maxine Gnarsea are sisters. Bobbi is deaf, a lip reader and she often talks in parallel in American Sign Language. One July night with unexpected winter weather, they go out to the snow following an icefly but the ice breaks and their aunt rescues them. Their sick mother dies in hospital. Her death is witnessed by Bobbi. Their aunt, who has been looking after them, is contacted by Professor Traelek because he's interested in Bobbi. Bobbi has HSP and can sense future events which she makes drawings about. A drawing of Traelek's head somehow gets to him and he makes the call.
Bobbi is taken to Traelek Institute and is interviewed by the Professor. Max escapes the car; she has a habit of running away, probably because their father had left them. When found, she is sent to Hiltrecht (Military) Academy by her aunt, because she considers Max problematic, and the Academy offers a solution for that. Bobbi doesn't know where Maxine lives and is consistently sending letters to their old address which all come back returned to sender. Bobbi also gets into trouble finding the dog Scruff McGee for his friend, Eddie. They go after the dog into an old house, the floor collapses and the owner - an old man - saves them.
2008
Eddie returns to Rubillon Heights and founds Jalovich Labs (newspaper article).
2011
Will Holdstrom describes himself as a salvage man. He is blessed with the ability of perceiving Everyday Synchronicity. (Interview)
Will is driving his truck through the snow of Taymyr Peninsula, Siberia, Russia. He's just came back from an expedition which resulted in the finding of a golden ring - much less than expected. He receives a radio call that three hikers have been lost in the area. He follows the footprints in the snow to find them encircled by 3 (or 4) polar bears. He attacks them but falls and one of the bears swallows the ring. He finally manages to scare them off by detonating his car with a pistol shot. They then walk to a small restaurant. Here Will is approached by a woman (working for Traelek) who gives him the keys of a new vehicle capable of drilling through the ice.
Professor Traelek contacts Will and instructs him to fetch the icefly. Meanwhile he gives a lecture via webcam to the students of the Traelek Institute. This is interrupted by his assistant in order for him to witness the excavating of the icefly. (An icefly painting is hanging behind him. It is probably prepared with a drawing of the mechanical icefly put into the rear and sent to a New York art gallery. Will then puts the icefly into a briefcase and travels to New York.
He visits the art gallery selected for the exchange. Here the briefcase is exchanged - without him knowing - by Maxine. Traelek wants to reunite Bobbi and Maxine but Bobbi insists on waiting. Max then calls and tells Will that his 'payment is hanging in the corner'. Will attempts to buy the icefly painting but he's told that it was already intended for him. Outside, he finds the hidden drawing and that the briefcase is empty. Puzzled, he writes a letter to Professor Traelek.
Maxine is driven by car through snow and desert. When she gets out to call Traelek and inform him about the events, the car leaves her. She is led by her intuition to travel with the very unreliable service of Buford's Bus Bounty. Buford's remain loyal to their traditions: the bus explodes in the middle of nowhere. Fortunately, a guy warns the passengers and they all manage to get off in time.
This guy turns out to be Eddie Jalovich. He had already dreamt of the icefly. He takes Maxine to his lab, they examine the Icefly and tell each other their stories.
The icefly is taken to Traelek and starts to hover in his hands. It is examined in the lab.
Present
The mystery of the ancient HPP is solved and all 5 underground test facilities are excavated with the help of the player.
