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	Title: (Scorpion's Tale) Circuit's Edge: As Told By Scorpia
	Author: Scorpia
	Source: Computer Gaming World, v10(7)
	Date: Jul-Aug 1990
	Transcription by Steve Derby
-->

<div class="article-sidebar-box">
InvisiClues.org editors note: Portions of this article, like many of the
<em>Scorpion's Tale</em> columns from <em>Computer Gaming World</em>, may
include material plagiarized from other sources, including the original
InvisiClues and uncredited postings to online gaming forums.
</div>
<p></p>

<img class="float-left" src="/public/img/articles/cgw-scorpions-tale-amfv/scorpions-tale-logo-amfv.png" alt="Scorpion's Tale logo">

*Warning: Although "The Scorpion's Tale" is a warm and
comfortable tavern of the mind with a nice cozy fire
of vibrant images, our resident storyteller conjures up
illuminating hints about games. If the gentle reader eschews
hints, let him beware!*

Well, well, here we are in July already. The year certainly
seems to be moving along at a good clip... As usual, Fred is
looking forward to the annual Grues Convention in the Dark
Room of Colossal Cave, so he may be a little absent-minded
about orders right now. As long as he doesn't mistake your hand
for a snack, though, everything should be all right. If he should
happen to nosh on your knuckles, however, no problem; a quick
trip to the medical clinic in the Budayeen will set things to rights.

<img class="float-right" src="/public/img/articles/cgw-scorpions-tale-circuits-edge/circuits-edge-cover.jpg" alt="Circuit's Edge cover">

The Budayeen is the setting for *Circuit's Edge*, written by
George Alec Effinger and based on characters from his science
fiction books *When Gravity Fails* and *A Fire in The Sun*. You
do not, however, need to read them in order to play the game,
as the action in *Edge* takes place between them, so to speak.
You might learn a bit more about the characters, but it won't
help to solve the mystery.

Anything can happen in the Budayeen, and usually does. It is a
walled-off slum sector of an unnamed Arab city. Crime of all
kinds is rampant. Anything—from weapons to sex to the body
beautiful—can be bought for a price. This delightful place is overseen
by Friedlander Bey, popularly called "Papa", a man of great
wealth and power.

Papa, however, has a problem. Someone walked off with a
notebook of his, and he wants it back very badly. He has hired
Marid Audran, a sometimes private investigator, to retrieve it.
The twisting trail of treachery, bodies and even more unpleasant
things that leads to this notebook makes up the action of the
game.

It is a sort of mystery, then, although not of the usual variety.
You don't have to worry about collecting a bunch of clues for the
police. Papa could care less about that. All you have to do is find
the notebook and bring it to him. Should you need to kill a person
or two along the way, well, business is business (and action
is action!). As long as you have Papa on your side, the police are
the least of your worries.

There are some nice features here, and one that will set your
teeth on edge. Mapping is a breeze. The Budayeen is small,
being only sixteen blocks wide, so you can't get lost. You can
call up an overall map of the place at any time to see your exact
location (there is also a map in the game booklet). A little map
box in the lower right shows your location and direction while
you're walking around. So you can put away your graph paper
for this one.

Another neat thing is Marid's ability to "recall events". Choosing
this from the menu (everything except movement is menudriven)
allows you to scroll back through the last fifty events of
importance in the game. The only drawback is that you have to
go through them one by one, starting with the most recent; you
can't pick and choose. However, if you didn't take good notes
(for shame!), you can use this feature to refresh your memory.

Saving the game is another matter. You can save only in
Marid's apartment, and you get only one save position. Why only
one (especially when the save file is very small) is a mystery that
you won't be able to solve. . . just keep it in mind. On the bright
side, you can restore your position from almost anywhere in the
game; you don't have to be "at home" to do this.

Money is important in this game. Marid needs it to buy various
items, hand out bribes, and eat a meal now and then. He starts
with some, but it isn't much. Papa will provide some kiam (the
unit of currency in the game), and Marid can run a few errands
for a couple of the merchants to make more.

The quickest way to build up cash, however, is to gamble at
either baccarat or roulette. I preferred baccarat, as it played
faster, and you can make higher bets (the games, as far as I
could tell, were honest). Naturally, you should save before you
start a gambling session, in case you have a run of bad luck.
However, with a little good luck and some patience, you can
build up your initial two hundred or so kiam into quite a tidy sum.

Since the game is set in the future (although not too far), you
need to become familiar with "moddies" and "daddies". These are
little chips that Marid can plug directly into his skull. They provide
him with skills and knowledge he doesn't have on his own,
and also have effects (good and bad) on his physical attributes.

Moddies provide special skills, and minor personality changes.
They are very minor; Marid never forgets who he is, or what he's
doing. He *does* get some odd thoughts and impulses from time
to time, however. Daddies can also provide skills, or do other
things such as monitor body functions or project the current time
on his vision. My favorites to have chipped in were Kung Fu
Master (a moddy) and Alpine Jack (a daddy) which did very
nice things for Marid's stats, as well as making him a darn good
fighter (which is handy when jumped by muggers).

## The Story So Far

So here's Marid just hanging out in his apartment when his
good buddy Saied calls and asks him to pick up a package. The
package business is just to get Marid out of the house and into
the game. Shortly after he finishes this little task, the real action
begins when he's directed by Papa to see a man about a
notebook.

Unfortunately, the man is dead (*very* dead). Not only dead, but
horribly mutilated in a way that would make Jack the Ripper
wince. Get used to these gruesome descriptions, because there
are more to come.

Naturally, at this moment, a cop walks in the door, and things
look bleak for our boy Marid. But he has Papa on his side, so he
doesn't get arrested after all. Instead, he ends up taking a trip to
see Papa in person and getting some background info on his assignment.

Now it's time for some detective work. Marid has a few clues to
work with, and the police will cooperate (if reluctantly) to a point,
by providing Marid with a couple of items.

After a little work on his part, Marid's got an answering chip but
no answering machine to play it on, a holodisk, and a pawn ticket
for a shop that went out of business. Terrific stuff, eh? Well,
there's a place you can view the holo, and it wouldn't hurt to ask
around about Mustafa's.

It wouldn't hurt to ask people about other things, either, like certain
names you've come across. This is something that's very important
in the game; often Marid will pick up interesting or important
information by questioning others. Check out the street
dealers, too; sometimes they have interesting items for sale.

While Marid's making the rounds, a hooker will ask for his
phone number. She has other things on her mind than the usual,
however, so it might be a good idea to find out what she's up to.

Sooner or later she calls and tells you where to meet her.
Guess what you'll find when you get there? Right, another
corpse, in just as delightful a condition as the last one. No items
to grab this time, but you need to take a closer look (though
your stomach may protest) at the body for a clue.

You may have noticed a computer in the police station (and
been kicked off when you tried to use it). You need something official
before you can go snooping into the files. When you have
it, pay attention to what you see on the screen.

By this time, Marid should have bought the answering machine
and discovered, not surprisingly, that it's in a language he can't
understand. Well, there's one person in the Budayeen with skills
for sale, so you might want to ask there. Of course, you have to
know what language you want. Did you look at the holodisk?

## Ring of Truth

So, now Marid is set on a different path, tracking down a thief.
This is a long trail, that leads from place to place (all of them obvious,
once you get started with the right one) until it ends at a
warehouse, with (of course) another body in extremely unpleasant
condition. (Boy, the population of the Budayeen is certainly
thinning out fast).

The only object to be found here is half of a ring. It would be
nice if Marid had the other half. Come to think of it, he should
have the other half, too. In that case, you know when and where
Marid needs to be, so be there.

It wouldn't hurt to show that half ring to a few people, either.
Someone might recognize it. Marid might even learn something
helpful. Too bad that when he tries to use the computer again,
he's recognized and tossed out of the police station. Ah, well.
Tough luck, Marid, but you're a canny guy and you have other
ways of getting on that machine.

Finally, Marid has tracked down the thief (yeah, another body,
but at least this one is in decent condition for a change) and gets
the language chip he needs, although whether or not the message
is really helpful is another matter. There isn't time to worry
about that, however, because, soon afterwards, a frantic call
comes in from Muhammad.

It looks like somebody just kidnapped Abdul-Hassan and wants
a pile of kiam for his return. That midnight deadline is a real
DEADline, and the boy will certainly be killed unless he's found
in time.

Ah, poor Marid. He's done so much, yet he seems farther than
ever from that elusive notebook. Every time he turns around,
something else happens. Hey, at least it's an interesting life.

Anyway, time to track down Abdul. The ransom note is a good
place to start. Interesting scent it has. Of course, Marid doesn't
know much about such things, but there could be a place or two
where he might learn more.

After a little breaking and entering, then, before long, Marid
gets a call. The suspect only left a phone number. Why not call
it? Maybe it's not what you're expecting, but going there and asking
a few questions can't hurt.

Following up on this lead nets Marid the advice that he has to
come "very close to death". Gee, hasn't he been there since almost
the start of the game? Well, in this instance, you want a
place, not a condition. There're only two places that fit the bill; if
one doesn't pan out, try the other.

Hah! Nasty fight, although the guy got away before you could
finish him off. Fortunately, he left a clue behind. This is pretty
easy, especially if you have the right item from Electroniques.
Still, blowing off the door may take a little skill (and something
that goes "boom!"). Has Marid been showing things around?

After a quick dash around the Budayeen to buy a few needed
items, the door is history, and so is the kidnapper (okay, so you
have to fight him again; this time he won't get away). Abdul is
rescued, and you get a couple of things from a grateful Muhammad.
Now what?

Well, you never were able to track down Tamara, right? Moved,
no forwarding address, and all that? Although, if you played the
holo and talked to the landlord, you should know pretty well
what it was that Tamara had in mind to do. And there's only one
place in the Budayeen for to do *that*.

However, Marid will have to run one more errand before he gets
the information he wants. Luckily, this is pretty simple, and there
are no bodies to worry about (for a change). Just a few questions
on the street, and a certain purchase (did you read the
description of the jewelry carefully?), and at last, Marid gets to
talk to the very elusive Tamara.

As they say, "It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings", and the fat lady
hasn't even opened her mouth yet! Once again, Marid has to
wait for a phone call telling him where to go (heh). When he gets
there, he finds. . . a *note*. Surprise! (You were expecting another
body, right).? Well, if you don't go where the note directs you,
there just might be another one.

Finally, Marid is face to face with the perpetrator of these outrageous
murders. In the time-honored fashion of all villains at
these penultimate moments, he gloats over his victory, and adds
a little more information for Marid's benefit. He then goes on to
explain, in disgusting detail, exactly what he plans to do to the
helpless Tamara, who is tied to a torture machine.

There is only one thing to do, which is to kill this despicable person,
so don't waste any time about it (why do you think you
were given the gun?). However, before he dies, he starts his infernal
machine. Boy Marid, I sure hope you have the black key, because
there isn't much time to free Tamara. If you don't have it,
you better move fast to get it.

Whew! Tamara is saved, the notebook (at last!) is found, and
Marid is Papa's fair-haired boy, at least for the moment. Take a little
rest, Marid, you've certainly earned it (and you'll want to get
your strength up for the promised sequel).

Well, I see by the old invisible clock on the wall that it's that
time again. If you need help with an adventure game, you can
reach me in the following ways:

On Delphi: Stop by the GameSIG (under the Groups and Clubs
menu). On Genie: Visit the Games RoundTable (type: Scorpia to
reach the Games RT). By US Mail (remember to enclose a self-addressed,
stamped envelope if you live in the United States): Scorpia,
PO Box 338 Gracie Station, New York NY 10028.

Until next time, happy adventuring!