Motorized Investigators (Video Game)

General Info
Motorized Investigators is a video game written by Mihajlo Garić. It's divided in chapters and is largely story based, the choices you make early on will affect how the game plays out near the end. Solving crimes and missions successfully will earn you a better reputation, and will unlock more missions for the future. Failing will lock you out of playing certain chapters, will alter the main characters' relationship and might cause you to lose your job as a detective all together. The game starts off with a tutorial mission which is easy to complete. The choices and the differences made by them will be shown in the tutorial case here, however, the chapters after the tutorial will be written "canonically" with no regards to the different choices.

Settling in
Playable character: Cyberlife Van

It's a cloudy September day, about a month after the events of End of the Line. Cyberlife Bus 5 and Cyberlife Van are settling into the Detective Headquarters in Midtown Detroit. They have a conversation regarding Cyberlife United.

"CV: You got the call system figured out?""CB 5: Yeah I got it hun.""CV: ...""CB 5: Is something wrong?""CV: I just... can't stop thinking about what happened, with Cyberlife Car and Mercedes. He just... killed him, like he was nothing. Like he never even knew him. It's bizarre. Surely there was some other way.""CB 5: I don't condone what Cyberlife Car did, but something was wrong with Cyberlife Mercedes as well. But it wasn't really him I guess, too late to try and revert him somehow.""CV: Yeah, too late cause of CC's unnecessary bloodshed. We could've gotten something out of Silvie.""CB 5: Well, cut him some slack, he lost a friend-""CV: We've all lost friends, CB 5, and you don't see us killing even more of our friends because of that, do you?""CB 5: ... I guess not.""CV: Not to mention he indirectly killed that jet and ambulance, we had them under control, they weren't a threat!""CB 5: Right...""CV: He's unstable honey, I'm glad we got away from him. He needs some time to himself anyway. I just.. wonder if he can sleep at night knowing what he did. Anyway, that's enough of that, we need to finish unpacking."

Arrival at the mansion
It's a rainy night, the Motorized Investigators arrive at the Fordman Mansion, near North End, Detroit."CB 5: Are you sure this is the place?""CV: Well it's where the address lead us, and these police cars don't lie.""CB 5: Isn't this Henry Fordman's mansion? Like the CEO of Fordman Electronics?""CV: Looks like it.""CB 5: What do you think happened?""CV: Let's go find out..."They enter the mansion, dim warm lights light up the scene, Police Drones flying around the mansion focus their search lights on them, the body of Henry Fordman, the famous CEO, is found lying motionless on the living room floor.

Alongside numerous police officers and investigators, the CEO's wife, brother, daughter and Android Butler are present on the scene. The wife is in shock, the daughter in tears. MI (Motorized Investigators) notice that Fordman has been stabbed in the gut multiple times, however a weapon is nowhere to be found.

The player gets a choice to interrogate the household members or investigate the other rooms in the mansion. Different options may unlock depending on what the player does first.

Interrogations:
The player can question 2 household members, while Cyberlife Bus 5 interrogates the other two, obtaining different information related to the case.

The wife:

Cyberlife Van turns to the CEO's wife, Diana, she's in shock but she's able to speak."CV: Where were you at the time of the incident?""The wife: I was out in town, shopping by myself, and when I returned home I was notified that the police were called.. I didn't know why until I saw Henry's body...""CV: Do you think anyone is out to get your husband? Do you have any idea as to who may have caused this?""The wife: No, not any of us at least! Sure there are other competing companies, but my husband never told me about anyone in specific who could've done this! We've got the whole mansion secured, couldn't have been a break-in..""CV: Do other relatives that aren't present right now have access to the mansion?""The wife: Yes, they do. Henry trusted all of them, so I don't think-... I.. I don't know...""CV: Did Henry ever have any issues with his family or relatives?""The wife: No, no I don't think so. No one who would've done this.. My bet's on that fucking android!"The brother:

Cyberlife Van focuses his attention to the CEO's brother, Jimmy."CV: You don't live here do you? Why were you over?""The brother: I-I was over for dinner.. they called me over.""CV: Is there any family tension that you're aware of?""The brother: Well, nothing serious, I guess.. Sometimes Diana argues with Henry over his financial decisions.. They'd often talk about a breakup, but it never comes to that in the end.""CV: Do you think she did this?""The brother: Oh no, no! I'm just- I'm just talking about some tension here and there, but I don't know if she did it or not. Always seemed to me that she wanted to run away with her daughter, and leave Henry behind, but I don't know.""CV: She claims that she's been out shopping during the time of this incident, can you confirm this? [This option is unlocked after talking to the wife first]""The brother: Well she did leave at around 8 PM, never told me where though.""CV: How do you feel about this situation?""The brother: Well, it's a tragedy of course! Sorry if I don't sound affected, It's just that... I don't know how to deal with this.."The daughter:

Cyberlife Van interrogates the weeping daughter, Sarah. He wants to make it quick, so he has 3 questions at his disposal."CV: Where were you when this happened?""The daughter: I- I was in my room.. I was listening to music, and I.. I heard some yelling downstairs, I didn't know what was going on, so- so I just.. Ignored it.""CV: Who do you think did this?""The daughter: I... I don't know!""CV: Was there anything leading up to this? Any arguments?""The daughter: I don- I don't think so..! Dad and Jimmy would sometimes argue about... money or something, Jimmy's always asking dad to borrow some money, that's all!"The daughter will always break down before being asked the last question, and will be taken upstairs by police officers to calm down. This will let the player know to prioritize certain questions over others.

The Android butler:"CV: Where were you during the time of the incident?""The Android: I was in the kitchen preparing food.""CV: Did you witness the murder?""The Android: I'm sorry, I am not allowed to answer that question.""CV to CB 5: Why's it saying that?""CB 5: I don't know. It's possible that Fordman limited what questions could be asked to it? He was probably hiding something.""CV to CB 5: The more you know about this company the more likely that seems...""CV: Has anyone tampered with your memory recently?""The Android: ...""CV: Huh... Honey, can you probe this thing? Maybe we can get something out of it.""CB 5: I'll try."Cyberlife Bus 5 attempts to access the android's memory, however it's encrypted."CB 5: Nothing... it's encrypted..""CV: Encrypted? Why?""CB 5: Seems Henry didn't want anyone snooping on him, by any means.""CV: Of course... well seems like he fucked up his own murder investigation by doing that."

Investigating the rooms:
The police have already investigated the upstairs, it's up to MI to investigate the rooms downstairs.

If the player chooses to investigate the rooms of the mansion first, new dialogue options would be unlocked when questioning the household members. Once again, Cyberlife Van will be able to investigate one of the rooms, while Cyberlife Bus 5 investigates the other. They look around the kitchen, living room and garden together.

The living room:"CB 5: Looks like it was a quick death... definitely not painless though.""CV: Yeah, there seem to be no signs of a struggle, Fordman must've not been expecting it.""CB 5: Likely meaning it was someone trustworthy, someone he knew, not a break-in.""CV: Yeah, already found out that the mansion is highly secured, couldn't have been a break-in. [Unlocked after interrogating Diana before exploring the living room]""CB 5: Did you check for fingerprints on his clothes?""Police officer: We did, got nothing."MI investigate other rooms after finishing with the living room.

The library:

Cyberlife Van enters the library alone. He notices an open book on the table, it's about business management. Cyberlife Van assumes the daughter was reading that in plans of continuing the legacy of the company. He can ask Sarah about it if he chose to explore first, Sarah will tell him that she hasn't been in the library that day.

Cyberlife Van doesn't see anything else of notice in the library, so he leaves.

If Cyberlife Bus 5 explored the library instead of Cyberlife Van, she would tell CV she found an odd line of tampered, unorganized books on the shelf, all thriller genre, possibly to help the murderer get away with the crime.

The bathroom:

At first, Cyberlife Van sees nothing of notice in the bathroom, however, he notices rubber gloves tucked away in the cupboard. Nothing too suspicious, although CV decides to check for fingerprints anyway. After about 30 seconds of scanning, the scanner names multiple fingerprints, the glove is way too inconsistent to count as evidence.

If the glove is asked about to Diana, she will claim that she'd often wear those gloves when washing dishes and the like. CV can also ask Jimmy, the Android and Sarah (if she's still downstairs) about the glove, however no one will be able to tell him any useful info on it.

He also notices a pair of wet shoes in the bathroom. He can ask Jimmy about the shoes. He'll claim he put them in there to dry after they got soaked in the rain.

Cyberlife Bus 5 couldn't find anything in the bathroom.

The dining room:

MI check out the dining room together. The dining table has been set with plates and silverware, likely by the butler.

MI notice that the fireplace has burnt out, weird to them as it was 25 degrees that day, no need for a fireplace to be lit in the first place. If the player investigates the fireplace carefully, they can find traces of burnt silk in it."CB 5: You think it's an attempt to dispose of evidence?""CV: Could be...""CB 5: Maybe they were gloves or something, to hide fingerprints?"There's nothing else of notice in the dining room, MI leave. The player can ask Jimmy and Diana about the fireplace, they both assume the Android lit it, the Android gives no replies on the other hand.

The kitchen:

MI check out the kitchen and see an unfinished meal on the stove. They also notice that a knife is missing from the knife rack, they deduce it's where the murder weapon was held.

The garden:

It's still heavily raining outside, MI notice a pair of shoe prints leading to the fence and into the woods. MI can tell the police about this, who will investigate the woods. They head back inside. If the player saw the shoes in the bathroom, Cyberlife Van would connect the shoes with the shoe prints.

After heading back inside, CB 5 will tell CV that she spoke to the wife while he was investigating one of the rooms by himself."CB 5: I've talked to the wife, Diana, while you were doing your own thing. She said that Henry made it so his relatives would inherit his money after his death, you think this could be a possible motive for the murder?""CV: Mostly likely scenario I'd say.""CB 5: Didn't that guy tell you about how the wife was unhappy about Henry's financial decisions? You think this murder could be related to that? [Only unlocked if the player chooses to ask Jimmy about family tension]""CV: I don't know, best not to judge that yet."The Police return from the woods and find the missing knife from the knife rack that was thrown away. The fingerprint scanner didn't register any fingerprints. There's no blood on the knife, it's possible that the suspect cleaned it, or that the rain washed it off.

Motives and involvement
Every household members involvement in the case is registered in CV's program, which the player can see. It's updated whenever CV finds new clues. Motives and involvement after fully exploring all available rooms and interrogating are as follows:

Diana (the wife): Sarah (the daughter): Jimmy (the brother): The Android butler
 * Was shopping downtown during the incident
 * Never told anyone about her leaving to shop
 * Was not the one that called the police
 * Gets in arguments with Henry due to financial decisions
 * Possible motive: Inheriting the company's money and living alone with her daughter
 * Was in her room listening to music, heard yelling from downstairs
 * Seems devastated by her father's death
 * No known involvement or motive
 * Was called over for dinner
 * Jealous of his brother's wealth, often wants to borrows money from him
 * Shoes match the footprints in the garden
 * Possible motive: Inheriting his brother's money
 * Doesn't leave fingerprints on weapons
 * Has encrypted memory, refuses to answer certain questions
 * Possible motive: Deviancy, being mistreated

Making arrests
After the player has gathered enough clues, it's time to decide on an arrest. The candidates for an arrest in this case are Diana, Jimmy and the Android. Making a false arrest will lower MI's reputation, and might cause tension in the relationship of Cyberlife Van and Cyberlife Bus 5. Sometimes it won't be known if MI made the right decision until later on.

Cyberlife Bus 5 believes the Android did it, due to its denial to answer key questions and having an encrypted memory, however it is up to Cyberlife Van to make an arrest.

Arrest the wife:

Due to her frequent arguments with Henry over finance, Cyberlife Van has a reason to believe that the wife is the one who murdered Henry. Diana panics, as she tries to convince everyone it wasn't her. Her daughter is in shock and tears, as she's now left with no parents to look after her.

Arrest the brother:

Cyberlife Van has a reason to believe that the brother is the one who killed Henry, due to his financial situation. Jimmy knew about Henry's inheritance, so he killed him in order to get the money he needed. Jimmy is visibly stressed, he denies having anything to do with the murder and tries to break free but to no avail. Diana is in shock knowing that her brother-in-law was responsible for her husband's death.

Arrest the Android:

Due to its encrypted memory and denial to answer certain questions, Cyberlife Van suspects deviancy. He makes an arrest for the Android. It cooperates with the authorities as it's being walked to the police car in handcuffs. The family seem relieved knowing that the murderer has been arrested. Cyberlife Bus 5 agrees with CV's decision.

After making the arrest, MI leave the mansion and head back to the detective headquarters. Players are left to speculate on whether or not they made the right choice, which will be revealed to them in later chapters.

The chapter ends with a flowchart showing all the decisions the player has made, as well as other locked decisions and world stats.