Zero Parades: For Dead Spies doesn’t start like most RPGs. Your main objective is, well, unknown. The Unassigned Assignment is one of the first tasks to become available when you enter the city of Portofiro. As it turns out, the person who was supposed to walk you through said assignment is incapacitated.
Your controller, Melita, tries to call off the assignment. But you’re there to prove yourself as a spy once more. In order to finally stumble upon the main objective, which essentially marks the start of the game, you’ll have to do some reconnaissance first. Here’s everything you’ll need to complete The Unassigned Assignment in Zero Parades.
How to Complete The Unassigned Assignment in Zero Parades
It all starts with Pseudopod, your incapacitated double. Your other task will literally be called What’s Wrong, Pseudopod? which has its own list of subtasks. Some will intertwine, but by and large, if you don’t manage to wake him up, don’t worry. I was able to finish The Unassigned Assignment before completing Pseudopod’s own questline.
First, you’ll have to piece together what Pseudopod did before you arrived. Since this will be early hours, you’ll likely be advancing through this step naturally as you explore the city. Some notable spots to visit are the bazaar, the bar, and ultimately, the old docks.
Of course, you should also exhaust all possible conversations with the receptionist at Foto 24. And, in case you haven’t yet, make sure to try and investigate everything related to your room, searching for items in Pseudopod’s clothing, and reading through your file on the kitchen counter.
The key character here, however, is The Boatman. You can find him at the aforementioned old docks, all the way on the western corner of it. Before you do, some tips: if you inspect the cargo that is around the docks themselves, you’ll find a particular brand of smokes. Also, when interacting with The Boatman, make sure to trust him and tell the truth about who you are and who Pseudopod is. It’ll help avoid getting any penalties.
During your conversation with The Boatman, there’ll be one particular check that you should overcome–a prompt that asks, “Why couldn’t Pseudopod get past this man?” For this, you’ll need 11 shadowplay. Some modifiers to keep in mind are the aforementioned smokes, which actually belong to Tempo, and to have read the phrase ‘All will be forgiven’ already. Without spoilers, the clue is in your room. Make sure to inspect everything and then consult with Cascade’s file again.
After some additional conversation, you’ll be tasked with finding out what Tempo has to do with the assignment. For this, you’ll have to investigate Tempo’s office. It is located northeast of where The Boatman is situated–you can’t really miss it.
The problem is that you’ll have to break into the office. For this, there’s a 14 doppelgang check. It’s a high number, but there are multiple modifiers to take into account.
- If you have Animal Magnetism enabled, you’ll get [+3] (if you don’t, you’ll find it by interacting with the balloons at the bazaar)
- If you’ve done your due diligence looking into Tempo, you’ll get [+1] for Tempo’s turf
- If Pseudopod is down, which he still likely is at this point, you’ll get an additional [+1]
- If you’ve been investing into doppelgang, there’s yet another [+1] for having the skill, encouraging to bust the door in
- Make sure to test if a kick is possible first for another [+1]
- Lastly, do this at night to gain nocturnal impunity, yet another [+1]
Once you’ve let yourself into Tempo’s office, you’ll have to do a little bit of investigation of the scene. Toward the end, once you’re ready to leave, make sure to inspect the window. Cascade will notice that someone has been keeping an eye on her the whole time.
You’ll then be asked to lose your tail. For this, you’ll have to move furtively through the bazaar. Make sure to do a manual save here before you get near the area.
This sequence will require you to pass multiple checks. All in all, how you tackle each one of them is up to you–there are two options per instance during the chase. Coordination and nerve are two of the main skills in use here, which will, of course, be affected by your previous actions up to this point, with plenty of modifiers along the way.
On my end, I chose coordination to jump down to the lower level, I marched onward rather than opting for a diversionary tactic, and when prompted, I chose to confront the target head-on rather than moving toward the escape route.
Once everything is set and done, you’ll appear in a new location with a mysterious teenage girl. This marks the end of The Unassigned Assignment, granting you 30 XP and 15 sol. From here on out, the events of Zero Parades will advance quite a bit, so make sure to drop manual saves as often as you can, and to spend your skill points so you have the best chances when performing dice rolls.
