What's it all about?

An Introduction to Mousetown

“I don’t mind a reasonable amount of trouble...
It pays the bills. Problem is the rents overdue. What goods a town with no crime? What goods a private eye, when there is nothin’ dirty going on?
Somethin’ ain’t right, in fact it’s so wrong it stinks, thing is, seems only I can smell it.”

This the opening line of the first chapter of Mousetown, in which you play as Michael Smoke, a private detective struggling to make ends meet. There’s no crime in Mousetown, all the criminals have been caught and well, who knows what happens to them once they are in the hands of New Law, a secretive new law system imposed to curb the rising tide of crime. No crime means no work for a mouse like Michael. The rest of them, like him, are either out of business or in hiding. The only reason Michael is alright is the guise of his new office, an old barber shop (the rent was lower). The New Law use automated sentry bots to patrol the streets and spy on potential suspects. The sentry bots are made by C.A.T.S (Central Automated Technology Systems) a big corporate robotics business empire, now the biggest business in the whole of Mousetown. Michael doesn’t like the New Law, he preferred the old ways. There may have been more crime but it all just seemed a bit more honest.

With all this, Michael is finding it quite hard to advertise his business. After all who thinks of going to a Barbershop to hire a P.I.? Fortunately Michael isn’t alone in his despising of the New Law. Aequitas, (meaning justice in Latin) an underground rebel group thought to be merely an Urban Legend, find Michael and need his help. Michael is tracked down by Josephina Caroli, an Aequitas operative. Josephina explains that a head Aequitas agent has been assassinated, her peers think it was an inside job and sent her to find a neutral sleuth to bring into the organisation, someone fresh. She gives Michael some time to decide if he wants to get involved leaving him with the details of a first mission. Of course Michael Smoke P.I can’t resist and so the adventure commences...