Key & Compass presents:
Comrade
by Roger Carbol

• Maps
  • Map 1: Lunar base
  • Map 2: Duct system
• Walkthrough
• Extras
  • Characters
  • Evidence
• Thank You to my Patreon supporters
• External links:
  • This game at IFDB.
  • Walkthrough by the author.
  • Tweet about this walkthrough on Twitter.

Maps

Map 1: Lunar base

• Note: All directions from the Shuttle lead to Dock.
• Although grilles are available in most base locations, only grilles in quarters and the secret garden allow access to the duct system.

Map 2: Duct system

• Although grilles can be found in all duct locations, only grilles below quarters or the secret garden allow egress from the ducts.
• You must first show the photograph to Burlak before you can use the connection from the Greenhouse Duct to the Secret Garden Duct.

Walkthrough

Shuttle

You should ask DUFFY to analyze any evidence you find, then read the screen for its analysis.

There are four problems I had with DUFFY: it's not portable, the valid syntax for using it could be simpler, it removes your evidence from the game, and any previous screen message is erased without being summarized anywhere.

I also have to wonder why the previous zampolit doesn't have a DUFFY, and will this DUFFY leave with the shuttle, leaving you without one too? You can't do your job without it.

> x duffy. x screen. x me. i. out.

Dock

> se.

Quarantine Lock

> x coffin. open it.

> x body. x crucifix. take it.

> close coffin. se.

Mechanical Workshop

This game is rather austere with scenery; most locations are empty and a room with more than two items is rare, not counting the nigh-omnipresent floor grilles for airflow.

> x cabinet. open it. look in it. (Files are arranged by date.)

> sw.

Mechanic's Quarters

> x Tsygan. x cot. x grille.

> listen to Tsygan. ask Tsygan about Tsygan.

> ask him about composter. ask him about body. (The deceased's name is Sablin.)

> ne. se.

Mess Hall

> x Burlak. ask him about Burlak. ask him about Sablin.

> sw.

Kitchen

> x contraption. x belt.

> x Prokopenko. ask him about Prokopenko.

> ask him about contraption. ask him about Sablin.

> nw.

Communications Room

> x cabinet. open it. look in it.

> ne.

Astronomer's Quarters

> x bed. x Ivanovsky. ask him about Ivanovsky.

> ask him about telescope. ask him about radio.

> ask him about Sablin.

> sw. sw.

Greenhouse

Alas, the plants, shutters, and dome aren't implemented, so ignore them.

> x composter. search it. i. x belt.

> ne. se. ne. ne. se.

Zampolit's Quarters

This is your new home, and as you'll learn, where Sablin's body was found. However, there's nothing here to examine but a bed. You never find out where Sablin's stuff was moved to.

> x bed. nw. nw.

Zampolit's Office

Nothing to see here.

> se. n. w.

Psychiatrist's Office

> x Golovachev. ask him about him. ask him about Sablin.

> e. n. e.

Medical Bay

Dolmatov gives you a medical report when you enter.

> x report. x Dolmatov. ask him about him.

> ask him about report. ask him about Sablin.

All other rooms near here—Medic's Quarters, Psychiatrist's Quarters, Life Support Area, and Storage Area— are barren and utterly devoid of interest. Head back to the Zampolit's Quarters.

> w. s. s. se.

Zampolit's Quarters

We can go down through any grille that's in someone's quarters.

> d. nw.

Southern Sickle Duct

The ducts are very boring. This sticker is one of two interesting things in the ducts.

> x sticker. take it. se. u.

Zampolit's Quarters

Head back to the shuttle and DUFFY.

> nw. sw. nw. nw. nw. in.

Shuttle

> duffy, analyze crucifix.

> read screen. (Has black rubber compound contamination.)

> duffy, analyze belt.

> read screen. (Its black rubber compound matches that on the crucifix.)

> duffy, analyze sticker.

> read screen. (It has Prokopenko's partial fingerprint.)

> duffy, analyze report.

> read screen. (The hanging described for May 1 is impossible under lunar gravity.)

Head to the observatory.

> out. ne.

Dock Airlock

> wear suit. push button. n. n.

Observatory

> x telescope. x cabinet. open it. look in it.

> look up May 1 in cabinet. x plate.

> s. s.

Dock Airlock

> push button. drop suit. sw. in.

Shuttle

> duffy, analyze plate. (It ejects a photograph.)

> read screen. take photograph. x it.

> duffy, analyze photograph. (It's of Burlak and tobacco plants in the greenhouse.)

> take photograph.

> out. se. se.

Mechanical Workshop

> look up May 1 in cabinet.

> x work log. (Fan belt was replaced in kitchen; signature is poor.)

> se.

Mess Hall

> show photograph to Burlak. (He tells you that he and Sablin smoked tobacco; and that there's a loose panel in the air duct under the greenhouse.)

> sw. nw.

Communications Room

> look up May 1 in cabinet. x message. (It's encrypted, sent by Sablin, marked urgent.)

> ne. d. sw. sw.

Greenhouse Duct

The loose panel isn't visible unless you've been told about it by Burlak.

> x panel. n. u.

Secret Garden

> x pipe. (Has an inscription.)

> take pipe.

Head back to DUFFY.

> d. s. ne. ne. u. sw. se. ne. nw. nw. nw. in.

Shuttle

> duffy, analyze message.

> read screen. (It needs an encryption key.)

> duffy, analyze pipe. (A sheet of paper is ejected.)

> read screen. (The pipe contained the encryption key.)

> take paper. read it. (Sablin recommended that Prokopenko stay another year on the Moon.)

> duffy, analyze log.

> read screen. (The signature is Tsygan's.)

> out. se. se. sw.

Mechanic's Quarters

> ask Tsygan about belt. (He replaced one for Prokopenko's contraption.)

> ne. se. sw.

Kitchen

It's obvious by now that Prokopenko did it. His motive was anger at being recommended for another year of duty on the Moon. His method was strangling Sablin with a fan belt.

> arrest Prokopenko. (Back on Earth, a jury finds Prokopenko guilty of murder.)

*** The End ***

Extras

Characters

The base personnel (who are also your suspects):

• Burlak is the gardener. He looks "ancient" and is in the Mess Hall. You can ask Burlak about Burlak or Sablin.
• Dolmatov is the base doctor; he's in the Medical Bay. He hands you a medical report on Sablin as soon as you see him. You can ask him about Dolmatov, report, or Sablin.
• Golovachev is the base psychiatrist; he's in Psychiatrist's Office. You can ask him about Golovachev or Sablin.
• Ivanovsky is the astronomer. He looks "shockingly young" and is in Astronomer's Quarters. You can ask him about Ivanovsky, radio, Sablin, or telescope.
• Prokopenko is the cook; he's in the Kitchen. You can ask him about contraption, Prokopenko, or Sablin.
• Tsygan is the mechanic; he can be found in Mechanic's Quarters. You can ask him about belt/contraption, composter, Sablin, or Tsygan.

Also:

• DUFFY is an immobile robot in your shuttle. It analyzes items and displays a report on its screen. It's almost certainly an homage to Sargeant Duffy, a character in several detective games by Infocom.
• Sablin is the deceased former zampolit of the base. His naked body (except for a crucifix) is in a coffin at Quarantine Lock. The medical report from Dolmatov says that he died from strangulation either late May 1 or early May 2. He was from hanged in his quarters; his death was ruled a suicide.

Evidence

For each piece of evidence, use "DUFFY, ANALYZE item" to get an analysis of it.

• A silver crucifix is on the body in the coffin at Quarantine Lock.
• A medical report is given to you by Dolmatov in the Medical Bay. It states that Sablin died of strangulation on either May 1 or May 2, and that he was found hanged in his quarters.
• An encrypted message is in the Communication's cabinet, filed under "MAY 1".
• An old fan belt can be found by searching the composter in the Greenhouse.
• A photograph is produced by DUFFY when it analyzes the plate. It shows Burlak and tobacco plants.
• A pipe is in the Secret Garden. It has an inscription.
• A photographic plate can be found in the Observatory's cabinet, filed under "MAY 1". It appears overexposed.
• A sticker from some fruit was discarded at Southern Sickle Duct.
• A work log is in the Mechanic's cabinet, filed under "MAY 1". The signature for the replaced fan belt is illegible.

Thank You to my Patreon supporters

This walkthrough was funded via Patreon with

• the support of Christos Dimitrakakis, Ville Lavonius, Andrew Schultz, Jacques Frechet, Kenneth Hon, Jason McIntosh, and Mark Musante;
• the extremely generous support of Christopher Armstrong, Emily Short, Allen Garvin, Thomas, Jesse McGrew, Robb Sherwin, Jacqueline Ashwell, Doug Orleans, Justin de Vesine, and Marius Müller;
• and the invisible support of several anonymous patrons.