Terror along the Tracks

Terror along the Tracks

Quest giver

Cosmoliner Engineer

Location

Oizys (X:16.0, Y:24.1)

Quest line

Records of Unusual Endeavors Quests
┗ Cosmic Exploration Sidequests

Level

10

Requirements

Disciples of the Land or Hand

Experience

 0

Gil

 225

Previous quest

Memory's Orbit

Next quest

A Manager's Power

Patch

7.41

Links

EDB GT TC

“

The Cosmoliner engineer would rather do anything but his job.

— In-game description

Related NPCs

• 
  Cosmoliner Engineer

Steps

• Inspect the Cosmoliner station at Cape Geras.
• Inspect the Cosmoliner station at Erg Eris.
• Inspect the Cosmoliner station in northern Erg Eris.
• Speak with the Cosmoliner engineer.

Journal

• The Cosmoliner engineer would rather do anything but his job.

Dialogue

ENGINEER: Y-You there! Could I have a moment of your time? The situation is grave beyond measure...
ENGINEER: You have traveled far and wide across this star, so you must know─or at the very least, can imagine─how dreadful it is to traverse without aid of the Cosmoliner. It is no exaggeration to say that the success of the initiative entirely hinges upon the reliable transportation it provides!
ENGINEER: Yet, despite the importance of regular inspections, when I'm out there...I can't... I simply can't...
ENGINEER: Open my eyes!!!
ENGINEER: ...Ah, but I am getting ahead of myself. It all started, you see, when someone claimed to have seen a strange...<gulp>...figure pursuing them while riding the Cosmoliner.
ENGINEER: Some say 'tis the vengeful ghost of a Voyager... Some say 'tis the unholy union of man and sandworm...
ENGINEER: But all say 'tis the last thing you see before you die! A horrible pale f-figure that no cosmoboard can outpace...
ENGINEER: Call me craven if you will. Call me anything you like─just please, conduct the inspection in my stead!
ENGINEER: ...Really? Er, great! The stations with equipment in need of examination are along the westernmost line, from Cape Geras to northern Erg Eris. Precisely the route the f-figure is said to haunt...
ENGINEER: Eep! Er, yes, if you begin at the Cape Geras station and take the Cosmoliner north, you should pass through each inspection point.
ENGINEER: You inspect the Cosmoliner station. Fortunately, all appears to be in working order.
ENGINEER: You scan your surroundings, but nothing resembling a pale figure catches your eye. Perhaps you should move on.
ENGINEER: You inspect the Cosmoliner station. You notice the “replacement needed” lamp is lit, but otherwise, nothing seems amiss.
ENGINEER: As for a pale figure...there is a Loporrit present, but you are unlikely to be in any danger. Perhaps you should move on.
ENGINEER: You inspect the Cosmoliner station, and─is that a bloody handprint!?
...Upon closer examination, you determine it is in fact a dirt smear.
ENGINEER: This is unmistakably the route you were told to inspect, yet you've found no ghost or mutated sandworm. The rumor remains unsubstantiated.
ENGINEER: In any case, the Cosmoliner engineer will be eager to learn the results of the inspection. You should return to Terra Firma.
ENGINEER: Y-You're back! Thank the gods! So you scrutinized every last ilm, and...?
ENGINEER: ...No mind-shattering sight? No race for your life? Huh. What could have inspired such vivid rumors, then?

Q: What will you say?

> A mech pilot racing to a red alert zone!
> Could be a ghost─but one that picks its battles wisely.
> Probably just a high-speed drone.
> A sandworm in pursuit of an especially unlucky Loporrit?

ENGINEER: Our mechs do have the speed to keep pace with the Cosmoliner. And come to think of it, they are rather fearsome...
ENGINEER: Y-You jest! ...You do jest, don't you? Please, I cannot bumble about with my eyes closed when it's my turn on maintenance for the rest of my life...
ENGINEER: There is something unsettling about those lifeless machines, isn't there? I imagine they fly at the same speed as a cosmoboard, too...
ENGINEER: Could that explain why some have heard guttural screams? Yet there's been no missing personnel report, and surely the Loporrits wouldn't fail to notice if one of their number had been devoured. Surely...
ENGINEER: Ah, to the hells with my imagination! Each new possibility conjures horrors I had never before considered!
ENGINEER: Yet my work is too important to allow them to rule me forever. For the Cosmoliner system does more than facilitate travel─it serves as a conduit for the rainbow crystal, extending its power across the star.
ENGINEER: This is why we often must establish stations in dangerous locales. Regulating the environment is much more important when one is atop a levitating landmass or deep beneath the surface.
ENGINEER: And conditions aren't static, so each station is designed to be installed and uninstalled as needs dictate, with minimal impact to the surrounding environs.
ENGINEER: ...Nevertheless, I'd rather not add “ghostly apparitions” to the list of variables! Our work is hazardous enough.
ENGINEER: That you remain alive is a hopeful sign, at least. Perhaps when I venture out in the future, closing my mind's eye will be enough.