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The Hunt


The Hunt
Type Side Job
Giver River Ward
District The Glen
Region Heywood
Location NCPD Lab, Trailer park, Edgewood Farm
Previous I Fought the Law
Next Following the River

The Hunt is the side job in which River Ward asks V for help finding his missing nephew, Randy Kutcher, taken by a serial killer known as Peter Pan. It starts with a call from River some time after I Fought the Law, in the Glen. The search leads through an NCPD lab, River's sister's trailer and the dreams of the killer, to Edgewood Farm in the Badlands. Whether Randy survives depends on the clues V finds.

Story

River's Call

Johnny is not pleased. In the journal he mocks V for running like an obedient dog when a cop calls. Still, it sounds like a personal favour, and at least it is better than chasing dead politicians. When the details come out, he admits it looks bad: some maniac is kidnapping boys. Peter Pan is just another face of this rotten city, and the boys are probably already dead. But on the off chance Randy is alive, Johnny would save him, especially if it means breaking the law.

River picks V up in his truck in the evening and sends V a news clip. It shows the NCPD arresting Anthony Harris, the killer known as Peter Pan. A victim falls out of his car, Harris tries to run, and police shoot him down. The victim later died. River explains that Peter Pan was never his case, but his nephew Randy has gone missing, and the victim in the clip was wearing Randy's shoes. The detective on the case is doing little. River's idea is to view Harris's dreams as a braindance and look for clues.

The NCPD Lab

The lab where Harris is kept is closed to River, so V finds a way in. Inside, V searches the file cabinets for Harris's file and is caught by Dr. Yawen Packard. River blackmails her into helping, but she says Harris is not dreaming, so no braindance can be taken from him. On the drive, River talks about his suspension, Randy and the case. Johnny notes that River seems interested in a feminine V.

Joss's Trailer

River's sister, Joss, is not happy to see him, but she lets the pair search Randy's trailer. V finds a key to a locked drawer, Randy's computer and a hidden website. The site's files match a cartoon file on Randy's computer. River sends the cartoon to Dr. Packard in the hope that it will make Harris dream. V can also try to find Harris's address on the net. Joss offers V a bed for the night.

Harris's Dreams

River wakes V in the night: the cartoon worked, and Harris is dreaming. The braindances show Harris as a boy at school, as a child in his father's barn, and as an adult in another barn near Night City, with victims kept like cattle. Enough clues point to the right place: Edgewood Farm. A wrong guess sends River and V to Poppy Farm instead.

Edgewood Farm

The farm has no guards, but its yard is full of mines, turrets and cameras. A switch under a desk in the house opens a hidden room with a computer that turns the defences off. V climbs onto the barn roof and drops in through an opening. Inside, V switches off the braindance machine and helps the victims. River finds Randy alive. By morning, the NCPD and Trauma Team have arrived, and River is set on revenge.

The Hunt Map Location and Walkthrough

The Hunt map location:

The Lab

  1. Answer River's call after I Fought the Law and meet him at Pacifica Boulevard and Market Street from 7 PM.
  2. Get into River's truck and talk to him.
  3. Get out and follow River across the street to the lab.
  4. Find a way in: the alley door on the left with enough Technical Ability, the door on the right with enough Body, or over the wall from a container.
  5. Follow River and use the scanner to find the right cabinet in the room with the arcade machine.
  6. Search the cabinets and talk to Yawen Packard.
  7. Return to River's car, wait for River and talk to him on the drive.

The Trailer

  1. Talk to Joss.
  2. Follow River to Randy's trailer and look for clues.
  3. Take the key from the shelf near the table in the kitchen and open the locked drawer in Randy's bedroom.
  4. Unlock Randy's computer with enough Intelligence, or turn on the record player in the hallway to learn the password.
  5. Read all the messages and files.
  6. In the net tab, click the image of the red figures to find the hidden site, open "Join Us" and then "Files".
  7. Go back to the computer's own files and check the cartoon file.
  8. Get Harris's IP address with high Intelligence if desired.
  9. Talk to Joss and agree to stay the night.

The Braindances

  1. Listen to River when he wakes V, and watch the recording.
  2. School: scan the teacher, the two notice boards by the door and the trophy case in the corridor.
  3. Childhood barn: scan the cow from the side, Anthony's father, the control panel, the injection system and the dietary supplements.
  4. Adult barn: scan the solar panel, the clock, the electrical parts, the fuel barrels, the victims, the infusion pump, the certificate, the computer, the number by the barn entrance and the towers of light outside. Listen for the sound of flying cars overhead.
  5. Exit and plan the next move with River. Choose Edgewood Farm.

Edgewood Farm

  1. Drive to the farm with River.
  2. Avoid or disable the mines, turrets and cameras, or press the button under the desk in the house to find the hidden room and switch the defences off.
  3. Climb the ladder to the left of the barn entrance and drop in through the roof.
  4. Look around the barn and turn off the braindance machine.
  5. Return to River and help the other victims.
  6. Go to River and talk to him.

Map credit by Map Genie.

Choices

The Farm

Finding enough clues leads to Edgewood Farm. If V has already been to the farm, scanning the towers of light is enough to recognise it. A wrong guess sends V and River to Poppy Farm, where they fight Wraiths and find nothing. By the time they reach Edgewood, Randy is dead. River blames V, and his storyline ends there.

The Morning After

At the end, River wants revenge. Telling him not to do it, or that they will both go through with it, keeps the door open. Telling him to do what he must but count V out closes the romance for a feminine V. The story continues in Following the River.

Rewards

Completing The Hunt pays 2,598 experience and 3,896 Street Cred. It also rewards Tinker Bell (missable).

The Iconic club Tinker Bell lies in the hidden room upstairs in the farmhouse, behind the button under the desk.

Tips

The key for the drawer in Randy's bedroom lies on a shelf by a covered window. With Intelligence below 15, use the record player to unlock the computer. Leaving the farm area during the rescue gets both River and Randy killed, so stay until the end.

Characters

The characters who take part in The Hunt are listed below.

Name Image
River Ward River Ward
Yawen Packard -

Notes

  • A Death Stranding easter egg, a BB, sits in one of the side rooms of the NCPD lab.
  • A shard about poisoning lies on a counter in the main lab.

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