Overview
Walkthrough, not including achievements or “how-to-play” stuff.
Part 1, because Steam won’t let me textdump everything
The game starts in Blaine’s Apartment. Alicia won’t leave without a way to get back in. Click on the stairs to go to the Upper Floor. Upstairs on the right is a bookshelf Alicia says is good for hiding magnetic ID cards, but doesn’t want to search by hand. Downstairs is a model maglev train. Take the “Glass Egg” from leftmost upstairs shelf. Use the egg on the model train to derail it. Click on the broken train to take its magnet. Use the magnet on the right upstairs shelf to get the keycard. You can check the wastebasket by the door manually, or Alicia will check it as she leaves.
First you need to go to the University. Blaine’s apartment exits to the Cafe. Go to the Residence Halls and then to the University. You will pass Bolizei, a nerd, a fat burger-eating vendor, and Blaine along the way. As you pass the nerd, pick up a stick from underneath the purple ash tree. You will also pass a few transport terminals. Activate them; it’ll save time later. Inside the University building there will be a “Studious Girl” with a book who needs you to find her friend. Accept her request. The corkboard next to the rightmost stairs can be checked manually, but will be checked automatically as you go upstairs. When the FMV is done grab a wrench from the toolbox in the foreground.
Open the PDA menu and right-click the dialogue icon that looks like a set of papers with AA++ on it. Alicia says Reitherman won’t let her pass. Another dialogue icon appears as a set of papers with magnifying glass. Use it on the burger-eating vendor outside. He will say something about the headbanger. Another dialogue icon will appear with the headbanger on it. Go back to the residence halls, to your apartment. Use the wrench on the rocking toy on the desk in the foreground. You will get a sound chip and a microphone. Remember to click on the rat outside the Residence Halls for a dialogue icon you will use later (the rat is the woman’s friend.) It’s worth noting there’s a new area outside the Residence Halls: The Alley on the right side of the screen, next to the Bar. Frankie is painting a wall, and there’s graffiti that says “Rising Warriors.” Go inside the bar.
The headbanger from episode 1 is the barman. Click on the bag under the table; it has a wirecutter. Talk to the barman and “guess” that he likes rock n’ roll. He’ll ask you which band you like, say “Rising” and “Warriors.” It doesn’t matter which song you pick so long as you don’t admit to lying. Give him the soundchip and he’ll give you a big burger. Use the headbanger dialogue icon and he will ask for a porn magazine in exchange for cheat-sheets for Reitherman’s exam.
Go back into Blaine’s Apartment and use the microphone on the jacket next to the door. Go to the University and give the huge burger to the fat burger-eating vendor. He will get sauce on Blaine’s jacket and Blaine will leave. Pick up his cup, marked “Glasses,” and combine it with the stick. Go to the cafe and trigger the FMV there. It reveals the existence of a hidden district that Alicia will want to infiltrate and a partial code. Use the “__2460” dialogue option on Bolizei to get a hint: the code is 082460. All transport terminals will need 082460 keyed on them. Frankie’s is broken for now and will need fixing eventually.
You now need a rat. You will need Ambar to help you. For that, Ambar needs to come out of Alicia’s room. The FMV triggers when you leave the Residence Hall hallway for the Residence Hall exterior, but only once. I’m not sure what specifically triggers it. I’m reasonably certain it requires triggering the FMV at the cafe, having clicked on Ambar in Alicia’s room, having the cup+stick in your inventory, and talking to Nuno as you leave. When you talk to Nuno, use the CILF dialogue option to ask for a magazine. Once Ambar’s FMV triggers, Ambar will appear as an item in the inventory. Ambar as an NPC appears in the Alley next to the Bar. The Narrator can walk you through this with the dialogue icon, but you need to:
1: Use the cup+stick on the rat to set the trap down.
2: Use Ambar to bark at the rat.
3: Click the scared rat once and it will scurry inside.
4: Use the rat dialogue option on Bolizei to get him to trap the rat.
5: Pick up the trap and congratulations, you have a filthy sewer rat!
If you have problems clicking the rat, look for the intersection between the shaded foreground and the line in the street near the burn marks.
Part 2, and that’s probably for the best.
This part uses “adventure game logic.” Nuno startles easily and you need to get to his porn stash. You have a filthy rat. You cannot give the rat to the woman yet, because it is filthy. The rat becomes clean after startling Nuno for some reason. Use the rat on Nuno’s door and then click on Nuno’s door to steal a porn magazine. Give the porn to the headbanger. As you approach the University Alicia will remark that the workers have stopped working. Give the clean rat to the woman and she will give you a magnetic bracelet. On the second floor of the University, in the same room as Reitherman and the wrench you found earlier, is a crowbar hanging off the security fence. Take it.
You could optionally mention to Bolizei that Ambar is being disobedient, he will say that police dogs have code words to ensure compliance. This creates a whistle dialogue icon. Go back to Blaine’s Apartment. Go upstairs and use the magnetic bracelet on the levitating table. The table destabilizes and is sent through the glass into the Square JA Bossman is speaking. The falling debris thins the crowd enough to talk to Bossman. Before you leave use the wrench on the telescope to adjust it downwards. Click on the telescope to spy on Bossman’s lectern. Leave the Apartment and use the crowbar on the plaque that says “CINCO” in the Cafe. Go to the Square. Talk to Bossman and pick the bottom-most option, about radiation leaks. He will use the code word “Basilisk” to summon a helicopter. Alicia learns the code word, which appears as a golden whistle dialogue icon. Talk to the reporter to get a disc with Bossman’s speech on it.
Go to Alicia’s Room and she will set down the letters from the CINCO plaque. Click on the “heavy letters.” Drag C, I, and C to the lit portion. Click the leftmost “C” until it is facing right, the middle “I” until it is sideways. The letters will look like a disjointed wrench. You will notice there is a burn mark on Alicia’s floor where Ambar was playing with the sphere. Grab the pants from Alicia’s locker if you haven’t already. They are immediately next to the dress. Leave Alicia’s Room and go to the Alley and use the gold whistle dialogue icon on Ambar. You will get the golden sphere. It isn’t obvious, but it needs to be powered. Apparently during Bossman’s escape he damaged a transport terminal at the University? Where the purple tree is. Use the golden sphere on the broken terminal and the sphere will become powered. Go back to Alicia’s Room and use the powered sphere on the letters to weld together a giant wrench. You might have to try it twice. Leaving the room give you an FMV. Blaine gives you a box of small round things, possibly marbles.
Who is big and a handyman, who could use a giant wrench? Frankie. Go to the Alley and give him the wrench. Frankie’s terminal will be fixed after the FMV. I’m guessing there was cut dialogue there or something. Alicia will eventually infiltrate District 8. Use the pants on the white paint bucket to make white pants, like police uniform pants. Go to Frankie’s terminal (next to the bar door) and use the code 082460. If you haven’t missed using 082460 on any terminals, an FMV will trigger. If one was missed they are located:
1: Near Bolizei, on the same screen
2: At the cafe near Blaine’s Apartment
3: The Square in front of the lectern
4: Near the purple tree, where the orb was powered.
Optionally talking to Bolizei will reveal that next time the card is used, the culprit using it will be caught. Go inside the university. Use the wirecutters on the broken coffee machine and get a piece of yellow reflective tape. Use the card on the drinking bird. An FMV will play and Wallruce will be forced back to his job. Go upstairs and use the marbles(?) on Reitherman, Alicia will create a tripping hazard behind him. Use the disc from the reporter on Wallruce and he will play it. The locker upstairs will be open after the FMV. Click on it to get gloves and boots.
Go back inside Blaine’s apartment. Upstairs there is a white helmet underneath the rightmost shelf. Use the crowbar on it to pry it off and combine it with the yellow tape. You now have a helmet that resembles a police helmet. Use the golden sphere on the robot butler. It will start acting erratically, and a policeman will come inside to subdue it. Go downstairs and turn on the heat. The policeman will take his jacket off. Go upstairs and use Ambar on the jacket. Alicia will distract the policeman while Ambar steals it.
If you’ve gotten everything, you will go to Reitherman’s class. Use the notes from the headbanger on the Footballer with a laptop. Make sure Reitherman is facing away. Reitherman will be distracted by their apparent cheating. Click on Nuno and finish the game.