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== Synopsis ==
[[File:Conway's leg.png|thumb|left|''LYSETTE: It wasn't anyone's fault, Conway. That's what we mean when we say it's ... <br />CONWAY: An accident. ''/'' A tragedy. ''/'' A shame.'''']]
The previous morning, [[Conway]] sits at breakfast with [[Lysette]]. The two reminiscence about [[Ira]], Lysette's deceased husband and Conway's former boss, and her son [[Charlie]] who died in a tragic roofing accident. Lysette tells Conway of a mail-order delivery, the "last act" of [[Lysette's Antiques]] before she leaves that day to move in with her sister [[Cora]] due to her old age and poor health. As the ''Neurypnol TM'' wears off, the dream slowly vanishes and Conway awakens in [[Dr. Truman]]'s house.
[[File:The Lower Depths.png|thumb|left|''JOHNNY: Test. Test. One. One. One. Three. Fifty. Lamentation. La — men — ta — tion.'']]
[[Junebug and Johnny]] speed by the tree on their motorcycle. After some discussion, they decide to stop and help in hopes of gaining an audience at their performance to which they are running late. The two fix the truck's engine, and Conway, Shannon, and Ezra agree to accompany the musicians to a tavern, [[The Lower Depths]] tavern to watch their performance. At the bar, Junebug and Johnny sing the song "[[Too Late to Love You]]," as the roof of the bar seemingly disappears to reveal the full moon overhead. After their performance, the bartender, [[Harry Esperanza]], admits he cannot pay them, left with nothing but an I.O.U. from the [[Hard Times Distillery]] who traded his customers' debt for whiskey and the events in ''[[The Entertainment]]''. Harry suggests they head to the distillery to claim their payment, but notes that they must take the {{ZeroLink}} to get there. After hearing Conway is searching for [[Dogwood Drive]] as well, Harry confirms that heading to the {{Zero}} is their best course of action. Junebug and Johnny decide to accompany the trio, and Harry gives them directions: tune the radio until they hear something "familiar but ''strange''," and immediately turn around when it cuts out. Together, the group sets out in search of the {{Zero}}. Tuning their radio to a station that sounds like horses running, they drive until they see a team of horses standing in the middle of the darkened highway, and immediately appear on the {{Zero}}.[[File:Too Late to Love You.png|thumb|right|''HARRY: Well, that's just the ... dammit, I was trying to tell you two, I can't pay! They cleaned me out. I've got nothing left but a G.D. I.O.U. from the distillery.'']]
Driving on the {{Zero}}, the group comes across a large chamber dominated by a rock spire, known as the [[Hall of the Mountain King]]. Johnny waits outside with Conway's dog while the others ascent the summit. Climbing up the path, Conway, Shannon, Ezra, and Junebug find various types of vintage computers in large piles, many in states of disrepair, surrounding a tall, burning fire of discarded electronics. They come across a old man named [[Donald]] who appears fixated on a grand project – his life's work – named [[XANADU]], involving an old computer growing black mold inside, along with a piece of software and artificial intelligence designed as a simulation of his life's missed opportunities from long ago. He invites the group to take a look. Walking around the cavern, the group meets [[Amy]], [[Roberta]], [[Andrew]], Donald's former research assistants who helped work on the project, now in ruins. The group turns on [[XANADU]], but the text is garbled, unable to be read, and the audio distorted. Shannon attempts to use a portable degausser on the system, and they are able to make out the name "Lula" before the program crashes.
Lula gives Donald the information needed to find [[Dogwood Drive]] and asks him to perform the calculations needed to resolve the previously-mentioned street name collisions. Donald states he should have the results in an hour, and will forward the information to the Bureau. Lula and the group return to the Bureau to wait. As they descend from the Hall of the Mountain King, [[Emily, Ben, and Bob]] can be seen playing "[[What Would You Give]]" in the foreground. Back at the Bureau, Lula states that after sorting through the results and cross-checking references with their records, they were able to find a corresponding [[Silo of Late Reflections|mail stop]] along the [[Echo River]] route, and notes the night ferry is scheduled to stop by shortly, taking them where they want to go. Lula wishes them safe travels, and muses she's feeling impulsive, and may return to Mexico.
[[File:Hard Times Distillery.png|thumb|right|''DOOLITTLE: The Echo River is fed from [[Lake Lethe]], but you wouldn't recognize a drop of it. Lethe is cold, dark, and so very deep. And still!'']]
While waiting for the ferry, Conway reveals what happened while he was talking with the strangers: he and Shannon had gone via a hidden elevator to an underground [[Hard Times Distillery|whiskey distillery]] staffed by indistinct glowing skeletons, identical in appearance to Conway's new leg. At the distillery, Conway and Shannon meet [[Lem Doolittle|Doolittle]] who mistakes Conway for a new hire as a shipping truck driver. Doolittle gives them a tour, speaking only via a tape recorder around his neck. He hells them about The Formula, a revolutionary equation introduced to them by a [[Weaver Márquez|brilliant mathematician]] that allows them to simply plug daily numbers in and run it through an adding machine instead of compounding interest by hand. Doolittle introduces Conway and Shannon to many of the distillery workers, all of whom who fell into debt and were forced to work to pay it off. He tells Conway he hopes he is a better drive than [[Miguel]] a truck driver who got into an [[Act I|accident]] that evening involving bourbon and glass strewn across the interstate. Inspecting the truck he is expected to drive, Conway recalls stories of his past with [[Lysette]] and his former boss [[Ira]] in small vignettes. In one story, he recounts the accident that killed Lysette's son [[Charlie]]: too hungover to perform a roofing job, Charlie took Conway's place and, in performing the work in the hot sun, slipped and fell to his death.
On the way back up to logistics, Doolittle tells Shannon and Conway that the black mold from the Hall of the Mountain King is drawn to ethanol fumes which seep through the air into the cavern; not wanting even a drop of whiskey to go to waste, the workers come to scrape it off the machinery. Arriving upstairs, he shows them the adding machine which calculates each day's interest, and tells Conway he is hired, offering him a "shift drink" to mark the occasion. Shannon protests, but Conway, in a daze, cannot resist, and takes a sip of the alcohol (with the game's cursor slowly, automatically moving toward the "Drink" option, outside the player's control). Shannon firmly states that they have a delivery to make and that Conway will not be working for them, but Doolittle notes that the alcohol he just drank was very expensive, not to mention the time he spent giving them the tour. Doolittle says that Conway will start the next day, as the scene blurs and fades to black.
[[File:Mammoth.png|thumb|right|''EZRA: I'm confused. <br />CONWAY: It's just the way these things go, kid. <!-- <br />JUNEBUG: Huh. Well, that still gives us a few hours to roam, right? Where's that [[The Mucky Mammoth|ferry]]?-->'']]
Back in the Bureau, the group stands silhouetted in front of Conway's truck, mulling over what's to come next. A tugboat arrives. As it pulls into view, a horn blares, revealing a gigantic, trumpeting wooly mammoth.
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[[File:END OF ACT III.png|frameless|center]]
== Locations ==
