Susan Novak
Return to University Heights.
- Susan Novak is an NPC who first shows up in the level 4 quest, Protests Aren't for Amateurs. She has the player ID #21.
- Susan Novak can be found and spoken to in University Heights.
- After completing the quest, Novak sends you a private message when you next gain a level. The message contains the book 77 Habits of Highly Effective Heroes
Text from Susan before Just Deserts -- when does this first show up?
Susan asks if you ever patrol out of town. When you mention that you've spent time in the desert, she suggests that you may want to keep an eye out for anything interesting. Particularly if you can get an elevated view, that may be a good way to scout out strange activity in and around the mysterious Area 54. "I don't really buy the conspiracy theories, but your reports of giant insects out there make me think there must have been some nuclear testing at some point."
If you speak to Susan after encountering the Just Deserts adventure:
You stop in and tell Susan about the mysterious mechanical ruin you found in the desert. She listens thoughtfully, first seeming skeptical but then growing more interested as you fill in the details. When you're done, Susan has you go over everything a couple of times, to make sure she understands. Finally you ask, "So, what do you think?"
Susan pauses to collect her thoughts. "As always, I'm skeptical until I have more data, but this sounds intriguing. There are any number of possible explanations, and in the limited light it makes your observations all the more suspect, but I'll definitely send out a team tomorrow to investigate. I don't know if I mentioned, but I'm not only faculty here at the university, I'm also a founding member of an 'abnormal occurrences' research team."
"You mean something like the S.U.I.T. researchers?"
Susan laughs. "No, those guys are a bunch of quacks. We like to collect stories of all sorts of unusual occurrences--paranormal investigation, U.F.O.s, you name it. We're open-minded skeptics, so we don't have an agenda to prove people wrong, just apply good science. Most of it still involves telling crazy pepole they're delusional, but it's an interesting hobby."
Susan suggests you check back in tomorrow evening and she'd let you know what she's found.
If you come back and speak to Susan after waiting for rollover to occur:
"[Player]! Come in. I've got exciting news! That crash site you found out in the desert, it's amazing! Whatever it is, it's not of human origin, you're right about that. It was mechanical, but it's not like any kind of machinery I've ever seen, and what little bit of language could be found is no earthly language. Plus it's got to be hundreds or thousands of years old--again, too old for humans."
"Did you find anything significant?" you ask.
"Other than the discovery of non-human life out in the universe? It's too early to say for sure. There's one thing that's particularly interesting, and I'll get to that in a moment. Most of what's in there was badly damaged--it looks like whatever it was crash landed and barely survived complete destruction, and time has not been kind to it since. There's no sign of life, either, which is strange. Either it was an unmanned ship, or the beings inside it escaped before the crash."
Susan continues, "There's all kinds of things we can learn from this technology, given the time to piece it together again. But there's one thing we got out of there, though, that's particularly intriguing. We found a large crate that was damaged on the surface, but the inner contents were exceptionally well padded. Layer after layer of strange materials: foams and harnesses and whatnot. Inside were two large devices, shaped like hollow triangles. We have no idea what they're for, but at least on the surface they appear to be in perfect physical condition. They're our best hope for learning something about this technology. We've brought them back to the lab for investigation. Check back in tomorrow and I'll tell you what we've found."
If you come back and speak to Susan after waiting for another rollover to occur:
"We've got amazing news!" Susan says before you can even say hi. For someone who likes to talk about being calm and rational, she looks like she's about to explode. "Those triangles? They're portals! To each other. You go in one, and you come out the other."
"Wait," you say, "like a tunnel or something?"
"No, like teleporting. Instantaneous matter transmission. You know, 'Beam me up, Scotty.' Or something right out of Stargate. The triangles aren't connected, and it doesn't matter how far apart they are. Here, watch."
Susan turns on a TV in her office and starts playing a DVD. "This is a recording from earlier, when we still had both of them in the lab." The scene is a large garage or warehouse. Two large metal triangles are set up 30 feet apart. The space inside the triangle shimmers oddly. As you watch, a woman approaches one of the triangles, steps inside, and steps outside of the other one. "Wow ..." is all you can think to say.
"Exactly. We've driven one out to the edge of the city, and the results are the same. Instantaneous travel."
"What are you going to do with them?"
"Oh, that's obvious. We send it to space. There's all kinds of potential uses, but the greatest energy challenge we face is getting materials into orbit. If we can essentially get up there for free, it opens up space travel in a way nobody has ever imagined. It's hard not to sound over dramatic, but this could be the most valuable discovery in history." Susan pauses, and grows more serious. "We have to hurry, though. The other implication of this discovery is it's clear there's other life out there. Not only that, but they have the means to reach Earth, because they've already done so. And instantaneous transportation changes everything--they could be here any day. So we've got to move fast. We've got to get one of these portals into space as soon as possible, and start building a space station. We've procured funding for a space launch, and we're scrambling to get it ready. Construction on a space station should start tomorrow--stop by and I'll make arrangements so you can go up there and visit if you're interested."
Visits thereafter:
Susan is working on a spreadsheet when you stop by her office. "Oh, hi, [Player], I'm just wrapping up the project budget. We collected around twenty-four million chips in private funding, which should be enough for the initial construction. I'm just tabulating the final donation amounts so we can dedicate the station to the private contributors who made it happen.
There's not much up there yet, but I've made arrangements for you to go up there any time you like. The portal is here at the university. Construction will go on for a while, but I think the results of some serious anti-gravity research ought to allow us to quickly make use of a number of manufacturing techniques that aren't possible here on Earth. You may find it worth your while to investigate.
Day 1 of the Robot Invasion:
Susan is visibly shaken when you enter. She says, "We're still trying to figure out what happened, but it's a disaster up there. Earlier today some kind of machinery entered the space station, like a robot with tank treads. Nobody at the space station thought much of it initially, but the thing is, we didn't send it up from down here. We don't know where it came from. At first the robot seemed to roam around for a bit, like it was scouting the area, especially by the pond. Then some other machinery--this one more like a tall, skinny, and somewhat humanoid robot--came through the portal, and almost instantly attacked the treaded robot."
"Most of the people aboard the station quickly evacuated, while several more robots of each type appeared in the station. The fight swiftly escalated to a serious battle, with the robots tearing each other apart. We've got the the campus police and a volunteer militia of sorts guarding this side of the portal, but so far the robots haven't shown much interest in us or doing anything but fighting each other. We're watching them fight via video uplink. Still, I'm really worried. I don't know anything about these robots: where they came from, what they might do to us, or where it will lead us. But I do know that if we don't put a stop to the fighting they'll tear the space station apart. Can you go up there and try to put a stop to it?"
After defeating the first day's robots, Susan will say:
"I'm glad you could put a stop to the rampaging robots. I'm worried we might have more serious issues to deal with soon, though."
Day 2 of the Robot Invasion:
I'm glad you could put a stop to the rampaging robots, again. I'm beginning to think I may have made a terrible mistake. I think activating the portal may have alerted the robots to our presence, and drawn them here. At this point all we can do is prepare ourselves for the worst.
Day 3 of the Robot Invasion:
I'm glad you could put a stop to the rampaging robots, yet again. We've got to find a way to stop them, but we've also got to keep our plans going. It's far too late to pretend that we're not here. We're going to keep the gates closed as much as possible to try to reduce the window when anyone might come through, but we've got to keep working on projects up at the station, and we'll let you through whenever you need to go up there.
Return of the Robots:
"The robots are back! It's a little different this time. There are more of them, many more. But there seems to be a different set, with greater variety. Still, they're making a complete mess of the space station."
Fighting Robots
(If you talk again to Susan Novak before (?)
The Only Thing Worse than a Love Triangle is a Hate Triangle)
"Any luck with the robots?"
Location
Notes
The message shown on the second day of resarch used to include:
"We're trying to get funding for an emergency space launch. We've got to get one of these portals up there as soon as possible, and start building a space station. The problem is, we're also trying to keep somewhat quiet about it. If the government finds out about it, they're likely to shut these things up in a basement somewhere for perpetual study. My colleagues and I believe we have to act quickly, so we're trying to track down private funding for the expedition. We think once we can get the portal into space and get a significant station built, the momentum will carry the project forward. We need millions, though, so if you happen to know any potendial donors, please come back and let me know."