iStory:The Private/chapter summaries

The Private/chapter summaries
The Private is the second volume of iStory.
First mentioned:	January 14, 2009
link

The following is a list of chapters of the "The Private" volume of iStory, with summaries and appearances noted.

Heroes Evolutions

The following summaries are for each chapter as to what must happen to complete the mission successfully.

Chapter 301

Chapter 301: The Private (released 1/14/2009, 1/16/2009)

Last summer, Rachel Mills was just another Marine trying to stay cool on the front lines of Iraq. But then a bizarre attack occurs at her unit's checkpoint, and she finds herself fighting for her life. She and the other survivor have only minutes to figure out what happened...

click "show" to view summary

In this iStory volume, the player acts as Rachel Mills and chooses actions for her when she has to make a decision. Rachel Mills visits the the remnants of Pinehearst Headquarters, which is in ruins due to the explosion that happened there and then leaves the area in a cab. Some time later, she is in an office, interviewing for a civilian job. The interviewer asks her from behind a desk about her time as a U.S. Marine, and why he should even consider employing someone who screwed up their career so badly. Rachel then begins explaining what happened on her last tour of duty in Iraq. While stationed in Iraq the previous summer, the then Corporal Mills arrives by Humvee to a makeshift outpost that serves as a checkpoint in the town of Ghanaf, Iraq. Rachel's commanding officer, Barton, orders her to search a woman in a stopped car on a blazing, busy street. Rachel hears something beep and recalls how her grandfather used to tell her she had great hearing skills, and that they would save her life one day. Rachel approaches the car and hears someone walking away from the scene. By the time she gets there, the person is gone, and Rachel finds a piece of a local newspaper with a strand of digits written on it: XOO OOXO / XXX XO OXOXOX / XOXO XXX XX O / XXO O X / OOOO O OXO OXOXOX Suddenly, Rachel hears a bang and goes back to the checkpoint, where Barton and the other Marines have been ambushed and subdued. Thick smoke is hissing out of canisters on the pavement. Rachel hears a shooting start, and makes out the sound of both sides' gunshots. She also sees a group of shooters wearing full-body hazard suits and heading her way. Rachel runs into an alley, pursued, and turns around to face her pursuer, who turns out to be Ammar, the Marines' Iraqi translator. Rachel takes him deeper into the alley before the enemy fighters capture him and kill him as a traitor. She advises him that they need to escape the area, and to run and not look back. Rachel then takes off running and must choose whether to go in an apartment building or head down a side street. Rachel needs to choose to continue down the side street to outrun her pursuers. Choosing to run down a side street, Rachel hears radios and running feet, and thinks they are still being pursued. Ammar is tired from all the running, despite Rachel being the one carrying 40 pounds of extra weight, and Rachel spots a civilian passing by in his car. She gets the opportunity to steal the car, or push Ammar into a side alley. In this case, Rachel needs to duck into the alley directly to gain more information. She is then able to spot two of the men in hazard suits pass by. One starts to tug off his gas mask, but the other gives him an order and the first man pulls it back on. However, before he does so, Rachel sees that the man isn't Middle Eastern. Rachel also notes to herself that the order sounded very much like English. Rachel then takes out the piece of paper from before. She tells Ammar about it and mentions the erratic beeping sound she heard before finding it and that she suspects the two things are connected. Ammar tells her that they should be worried about surviving, and Rachel tells him that she has a hunch and to let her study the digits. After looking at the paper again, she says she thinks she knows what it means. Rachel notes the first six decoded letters as "DFONCO" and explains that the message is in Morse code--that the Xs are the dashes, the Os the dots. She recalls that she learned Morse code from her grandfather, who was also a Marine, then starts to tear off her body armor. When Ammar asks what she is doing, Rachel explains to him that the message translates to "DF on. Come get her.", that DF likely means directional finder, and the "her" has to refer to herself. Ammar replies that he thinks she must be crazy, and asks if she is seeing a psychiatrist. Rachel then ignores Ammar and, a few seconds later, finds a black disk the size of a silver dollar, stuffed in the lining of her helmet. She drops the disk and stomps on it, noting that someone must have placed it there while she was asleep. Ammar asks who she thinks would do that, and Rachel realizes that it must be Ammar who placed it there. However, when Rachel looks up from the note she sees Ammar pointing a pistol at her. Ammar forces Rachel out into the street at gunpoint, and some of the men in hazard suits begin to rush over. Rachel gets Ammar to confirm he really does like the Lakers, and is turning Rachel in to the enemy for a monetary reward. Rachel and Ammar are soon surrounded, and the men place a smelly bag over her head.

[edit] Character Appearances

Rachel Mills Interviewer

Barton Ammar

Chapter 302

Chapter 302: The Private (released 1/23/2009)

Kidnapped from the streets of an Iraqi village after a gas attack, Rachel Mills is now the prisoner of a mysterious group. Her confusion deepens after her first interrogation. Who are these people? Why have they taken her? What is the compound behind her prison? The situation becomes even more complicated with the arrival of a fellow prisoner with a secret. Is Jim a friend or foe? Does he know more than he is telling? Is it even possible that they are connected in some way?

click "show" to view summary

Rachel takes a break from her story when the interviewer leaves temporarily to fetch some coffee. When he returns with his cup and asks Rachel if she wants some, she declines and continues her story when prompted to. Rachel notes that next, her captors dump her in a deep and narrow muddy pit that she cannot climb out. She also realizes her captors had taken some of her blood some time before then, and she waits by herself there for about 12 hours until a rope ladder is lowered to her sometime around sunset and someone says something in Farse. Rachel climbs up the ladder, and upon reaching the surface, observes her surroundings. Rachel sees just a couple of guys and a woman, tribespeople. Behind the three people in front of her is the small village she has been hearing. The village has many low buildings and lots of civilians in jeans and robes walking its dirt streets. Above the roofline, Rachel spots a bunch of boxy, metal buildings outside town. Rachel is lead to a mess hall where she is interrogated by an Arabic man who introduces himself as Harry. She tells Harry that her people will come for her, and learns from him that she is in Iran and that there is an Iranian army medical facility in the nearby village. When Harry then asks her about her mother, Rachel chooses to just stays silent and learns that she has been under surveillance from an unknown party for some time. She is then taken back to her pit and finds she now has company inside it. The man sharing Rachel's pit, Jim, and Rachel introduce themselves to each other. Jim asks if they said why they brought her there, and Rachel must decide how to respond. She chooses to comment on Jim's appearance and gets Jim to open up about how he came to be there--that he is a freelance security consultant for a paper company, and his boss, Jeremy Woo, gave him orders to travel somewhere on his own. Jim adds that he was picked up outside Baghdad the same day she was captured, and Rachel asks how he knew when she was captured. He tries to explain that he was just guessing, but Rachel says she doesn't buy it and to tell Harry their plan isn't going to work. However, their conversation is then interrupted by Ammar, who announces his arrival above their pit. Ammar claims that Rachel's captors plan to kill her, and she asks for his help. Rachel pauses telling the story when the interviewer makes a note, and she asks him what she said that interested him. When the interviewer replies that Rachel seems to have a Type E personality based on her responses, Rachel asks if that is the best type. The interviewer says it is excellent if she has a balanced team, but makes a point of noting to her that she doesn't have the job or a team just yet. Rachel then asks why she gets the feeling that how she tells the story is more important than the story itself. The interviewer doesn't answer Rachel, but instead notes that Ammar has a proposal for Rachel and asks Rachel to continue the story, which she does after wondering aloud how her interviewer knew Ammar had a proposal. In Rachel's continued recollection, Rachel listens to Ammar's proposal for them to use his motorcycle and make a one to two days drive on a road that the U.S. military is watching to the Iraqi border. She replies that it sounds like his plan is to get them blown up by a Predator drone, but Ammar says that she will signal to her people that they are escaped prisoners when they get close. Rachel then asks Ammar about bringing Jim, but Ammar says that there is no room and he can't be trusted. Jim whispers to Rachel that they will jump him and take his bike. The player is then given the following choice to vote to affect what happens in the next chapter: Vote for the plan you want to follow... Jim's Plan Ammar's Plan Vote carefully: your choice affects what happens in the next chapter. Discuss your choice at the 9th Wonders "Friend or Foe" forum. Poll ends and story continues on Monday, 1/26/09.

[edit] Character Appearances

Interviewer Rachel Harry

Jim Ammar Sam

Notes

• The first iStory chapter for The Private, Chapter 301, was released on Wednesday, January 14, 2009.
• The above summary shows the optimal case for Chapter 301. For a complete listing of all options and outcomes for Chapter 301, see The Private chapter summaries/chapter 301 alternatives.
• Most of Chapter 301 was released on January 14, 2009, and the chapter ended with Rachel looking at the coded message and the player was given the opportunity to vote to affect what happened in the next chapter, and choose either "DFONCO" or "GOTOFI" as the first six decoded letters. On January 16, 2009, the polling was set aside and the story continued in the same chapter. Individual users were allowed to choose either "DFONCO" or "GOTOFI" for themselves. However, on January 20, 2009, the "GOTOFI" option was removed and users were left with only the "DFONCO" option.

See Also

• For a summary of the The Private series of iStories as a whole, see The Private.