Chemist

On day 1 the Cartel Handler leaves 3× Dream Cap and 1× Chemical Supplies (Common) on the counter; take them. On day 2 the Security Officer asks about the cartel: choose [Don't report].

• This visitor is with the Sector 13 Cartel: choosing [Report The Cartel] gives no Security reputation, and the Cartel Handler comes back and lowers your Sector 13 Cartel reputation.
• Dream Cap and the vials are contraband. Keep them in the Mini Smuggler's Bay until needed; inspections do not search inside it.

Open the Chemical Supplies (Common) to get 2 Mini Alcohol Bottles, a Bottle of Acidic Solution, a Bottle of Basic Solution and a Bottle of Lipobond Agent. Put a container with free space in the Blender and blend the Dream Cap.

• A Blender without modules loses part of the contents when blending.

Scan the mixture with the Composition Spectrometer, then measure with the 100ml Graduated Cylinder, 50ml Graduated Cylinder, 25ml Graduated Cylinder, 5ml Dropper and 1ml Dropper you start with: add alcohol of at least 5 times the Dream Cap Mush, and Acid equal to the Protein. Scan the Bottle of Acidic Solution too: it contains impurities, so measure its Acid content and add it in small amounts, rescanning the mixture.

• With less alcohol than 5 times the Dream Cap Mush, you get less Dream Cap Extract.
• If alcohol makes up at least 40% of the mixture, the Microbes disappear.
• Acid turns Protein into Insoluble Debris that the filter can remove. Leftover Acid does not evaporate and stays in the product as an impurity, so add no more than the Protein.

Put the container on the Heating Plate and keep the mixture around 45°C (at least 40°C, below 50°C) until the Dream Cap Mush is gone.

• With fewer than 2 modules, the Heating Plate has no temperature setting. Watch the mixture itself and lift the container off before it reaches 50°C; put it back as it cools toward 40°C.
• Above 50°C the Dream Cap Mush starts to break down, and above 60°C the Dream Cap Extract does.

When extraction is done, fit a Water Filter or Kotton Fabric in the Water Pitcher and pour the mixture through it.

• Filtering before extraction also removes the Dream Cap Mush.
• The Kotton Fabric removes only large particles such as Plant Matter and Insoluble Debris. The Water Filter also removes Physical Contaminant and Mineral, so purity goes up; buy one whenever the Retired Chemist has it.

In weeks when you can make more than the count, blend a Nutrifruit in a Blender fitted with a separate container that has enough free space. Use a 1ml Dropper or 5ml Dropper to add small measured portions to the filtered mixture, rescanning after each addition. Its Starch increases the number of vials, but adding the whole fruit at once can put purity below the requirement.

• Dilute so the finished vials average between the required purity and 10 above it. A Chem Finisher without modules lowers purity by about 12%, so aim the pre-finish non-volatile contents about 15 percentage points above the requirement. The scanner includes water and alcohol in the mixture percentages: calculate Dream Cap Extract divided by the total non-volatile amount, then multiply by 100.
• The Nutrifruit also adds water, Protein and other components. Recheck the alcohol and Acid amounts, wait for the reactions, then filter again before drying in the Evaporator; the added water evaporates there.

Leave the mixture in the Evaporator overnight to remove the alcohol and water, and continue for more nights if it is still wet. Once dry, select the Vial of "Dream Dust" as the output of the Chem Finisher, make one vial and scan it with the Composition Spectrometer to check purity before finishing the rest.

• The Evaporator can only remove so much per night; a large batch takes two nights or more.
• The Evaporator runs on the Energy Cell in its power slot and uses charge each working night; your starting Energy Cell lasts about 6 nights. Buy charged spares at Dr. Jackson's shop, or recharge them in a Recharger with the Power Service. A Recharger restores about half a working night's use per night; Commercial Grade Power Supply Unit doubles that.
• You cannot finish until the volatile components are down to 100 µL or less. Each vial uses 2 ml of mixture.

On Monday, when the Cartel Handler asks for the vials, put every vial you are handing over on the counter before you answer.

• Every vial on the counter is taken, so keep the ones you want to sell off it.
• No vials at all, or an average purity far below the requirement, ends the run on the spot.
• If you meet the count and the average purity is above the requirement minus 5, you also get 1 Chemical Equipment Module. Separately from the count bonus, purity below the requirement loses reputation by the difference; up to 10 above earns the difference; any higher earns only a quarter of it. Fractional differences and the result of division by 4 are discarded before the difficulty reputation multiplier is applied. Reputation is capped at 200.
• Handing vials over is not a sale, so it does not raise your suspected crime level.
• Next week's requirement rises by 5 vials and 5 purity; purity stops at 70.

Set aside Monday's delivery, then scan the remaining vials with the Composition Spectrometer. A vial sells at the price of its purity level, so when you make vials to sell, dilute the batch until the finished vials land just above the lowest purity of the level you aim for.

• Purity levels step up at 30% (Junk Grade), 45% (Cut Product), 60% (Street Standard), 80% (Near Pharma), 90% (Pharma-Grade) and 99% (Lab Pure) purity, and each higher purity level sells for more. Below 30% is Starch Grade.
• Customers refuse vials labelled Junk Grade or Starch Grade, so keep vials for sale at 45% or more.

The Dealer comes on day 3 and then every Tuesday and Friday from day 9. Put out vials and sell.

• The Dealer pays below market and refuses retail markups, and the budget grows as the days pass.

When the Cartel Soldier comes on days 9, 18 and 27 to buy medicine, sell vials.

• Sales to the Cartel Soldier add no suspected crime. This customer's base trade reputation multiplier is 3, against the usual 1, helping build Sector 13 Cartel reputation.

When a Shady Merchant drops in, sell spare vials there too.

• This normal customer comes at random as a Black Market customer and buys any contraband, at a discount.
• As a Black Market buyer, the Shady Merchant halves the suspected crime added by contraband sales. Intimidating reduces it further.

When Officer Lun asks for medicine on day 12, sell him medicine that is not a narcotic, never vials.

• Each narcotic sold deepens his addiction. If it remains on day 24, he disposes of every narcotic left out in the shop; items in containers are not found.
• If he is still addicted on day 16, each Synaprest Injector sold cuts his addiction sharply. Reporting him on day 20 so he is arrested stops the day-24 visit.

Do not sell too much at once: spread sales across the Dealer's visits and keep an eye on the Security Record.

• Suspected crime falls each day while investigation progress is below 80. Higher suspected crime makes the daily investigation advance faster, so stop selling early enough to let it fall.
• When the investigation progress reaches 100, an officer comes to carry out the expected sentence: a Fine can be paid if you have enough cash, but refusing it when you cannot pay, Incarceration or Execution ends the run.
• Unlock Wild's Fixers, then select the service at closing and pay its nightly fee. It lowers your suspected crime level faster on the nights you use it.

Keep out only the vials you will sell that day, and put the rest and your Dream Cap in the Mini Smuggler's Bay. Never put contraband in the Display Case.

• Contraband in the Display Case brings an inspection.
• Vials and Dream Cap found in an inspection are seized, and Security reputation drops.

Collect the Chemical Equipment Module. The Retired Chemist always sells 1 every Tuesday (up to 3 more by chance), and the Cartel Handler gives 1 in weeks you qualify.

• Dr. Jackson also sells them, on Friday visits from day 12 and at his shop on nights with normal stock, while Lower Levels reputation is above -80: often 1, sometimes 1 more. Jackson Investment I and Jackson Investment II each often add one more.

Put the first 2 into the Heating Plate and use the Target Temp buttons to select an available value at least 40°C and below 50°C, then heat on Low.

• Target Temp changes in 5°C steps.
• With just 1, the plate still cannot be set and heads for an even higher temperature, so wait until you have 2.
• A 3rd and 4th module make it heat faster.
• Use a Module Extractor (Basic) or Module Extractor (Advanced) to remove fitted modules without dismantling the machine.

Put the next 4 into the Chem Finisher. Less Physical Contaminant gets mixed in when finishing, and none with 4.

Buy an Evaporator Solvent Recovery Module when the Retired Chemist stocks one, fit it to the Evaporator and place a collection container with free space. It recovers part of the evaporated alcohol for the next batch.

• Use the recovered alcohol for the next extraction.

Once alcohol is no longer short, put the next 4 into the Blender. It loses less when blending, and nothing with 4.

• With less lost, you get more Dream Cap Mush and need more alcohol to keep it at 5 times or more.

Scan the mixture, add Acid in small amounts to match the Protein, and wait for the reaction before filtering with a Water Filter. Use measured portions of separately blended Nutrifruit to dilute only as far as the required purity allows, then recheck the components and filter again before drying.

• The Water Filter wears out with use; restock whenever the Retired Chemist has one.

Once the purity requirement stops at 70, only the count keeps rising, by 5 a week. Get more Dream Cap from Thursday's extra materials and the Shady Farmer on Wednesday and Saturday.

• Asking for extra materials on Thursday costs Sector 13 Cartel reputation; the reputation 50 perk Reliable Chemist halves the cost.

Set aside the materials, charge and drying time needed for Monday. Put a container with free space into the Blender and blend the Coffee Beans. Scan the mixture with the Composition Spectrometer.

• You have one unit of Coffee Beans at the start. Extra raw material still costs money, so compare the finished pills with selling the beans unchanged.

Measure water or alcohol into the mixture, then heat on the Heating Plate until the Coffee Bean Mush is gone: at least 80°C for water, or at least 50°C for alcohol. Extraction yield also depends on the solvent amount, so add it gradually while reserving the alcohol needed for deliveries.

• Water extraction yields up to 12.5%, alcohol up to 75%. These percentages describe extraction from the mush, not the purity of the finished pills.

Use measured amounts from the Bottle of Acidic Solution to turn Protein into Insoluble Debris, and measured amounts from the Bottle of Lipobond Agent to turn Fat/Oil into Insoluble Debris too. Scan as you add small amounts, wait for the reactions, then filter through a Water Filter fitted to the Water Pitcher.

• Both reagents come from Chemical Supplies (Common). Match the Acid to the measured Protein; leftover Acid does not evaporate and lowers purity.

Dry the mixture in the powered Evaporator. Select the Caffeine Pill in the Chem Finisher, make one pill and scan it before finishing the batch.

• Buyers reject the two lowest purity levels; keep finished purity at 45% or more. Drying time depends on the amount of water and alcohol, so check that the delivery batch can still finish in time.

Display the legal pills with other Medical goods to attract the Mid-Level Nurse or Upper Level Hospital Supplier, or as Household Goods for the Citizen. The selected Display Case category and its total determine who comes.

Buy Chemical Supplies (Restricted) when the Retired Chemist has it and open it for the Bottle of N-Methylol Base and the Bottle of Reducing Agent. Keep Chemical Supplies (Common) for the cleaning reagents too.

• The restricted supplies are often, not always, in stock on Tuesdays; do not count on a new pack every week.

Scan the Bottle of N-Methylol Base, then measure a portion into a separate container with room for the reagents. Add small, measured amounts from the Bottle of Acidic Solution or from the Bottle of Basic Solution to turn the Stabilizing Agent into Insoluble Debris; wait for the reaction, then pour through a Water Filter fitted to the Water Pitcher.

• Remove Stabilizing Agent before synthesis; it limits how much N-Methylol Base can react. Rescan and neutralize leftover Acid with measured Base, or leftover Base with measured Acid.

Heat on the Heating Plate and add measured amounts from the Bottle of Reducing Agent in small portions, rescanning the remaining N-Methylol Base and Reducing Agent. Keep the actual mixture from 110°C to below 130°C; synthesis is faster from 120°C. Stop adding reducer when the precursor is gone.

• The product degrades at 130°C or hotter. Use at least 2× Chemical Equipment Module in the plate for temperature control and still monitor the mixture.

Filter after the reaction and dry the mixture in the powered Evaporator. Select the Phanta Pill in the Chem Finisher, finish one pill and scan its purity before making the rest.

• The two lowest purity levels are refused, so the product needs at least 45% purity to sell to ordinary buyers.

Sell to the Dealer after reserving Monday's delivery cash and materials. Keep unsold pills in the Mini Smuggler's Bay and out of the Display Case.

• These pills share the same buyer budget and drying equipment as the main product; make small batches while checking demand and the crime record.