Distress Signal

All that glisters is not gold, often have you heard that told...

This article is about The Dark Pictures Anthology's first installment, Man of Medan .

Distress Signal
Installment	Man of Medan
Act	3
Chapter	2
Overall	21
Theatrical Cut
Playable Character(s)	Alex/Conrad
Time(s)	3:43 A.M.
Location(s)	Weather Deck
Collectibles	7 (Secrets: 6; Pictures 1)
Curator's Cut
Playable Character(s)	Fliss/Julia/Conrad
Time(s)	3:43 A.M.
Location(s)	Weather Deck
Collectibles	7 (Secrets: 6; Pictures 1)
Chapter Guide
Previous	Open Deck
Next	Depths

Distress Signal is the second chapter of Act 3 in Man of Medan and the twenty-first overall.

The player controls Alex/Conrad (Theatrical Cut) and Fliss/Julia/Conrad (Curator's Cut) as they travel to the bridge deck to use the radio.

Weather Deck, 3:43 A.M.

The surviving protagonists leave the control room and go through the weather deck to the main control room of the ship. Along the way, the group may find:

• An anti-aircraft shell casing. The protagonists assume that these are the same bullets used to shoot down the plane Alex and Julia were diving into.
• A boat with holes. The protagonists remark that if the boat was intact, they could have used it to escape.
• A corpse with a gas mask hidden in a metal cabinet. Next to him is a note about gas mask instructions.

The group found the path to the Control's room

Having found the destroyed staircase, the group collectively makes their way up.

• If Conrad is on the ship, ran from Fliss/Brad in Glamor Girl, and they survived, they will say that they were here earlier when the latter chased the former.

Once inside, the group can calmly explore the control room and the room that Fliss/Brad could’ve possibly ran through if they chased Conrad to find:

• Ship's Logbook. Scrolling through it, the protagonists can find part of the name of the ship "SS Ourang-".
• A door that Conrad closed if he is on the ship and ran from Fliss/Brad.
• A picture.
• Nautical Chart. The protagonists note that the map shows the strange route of San Francisco and assume that the military did not want anyone to know where they were going.
• Navigator's Notebook.

Going into the radio room, the group finds the radio operator's corpse, his suicide note, and the radio itself, which luckily still works, and by tuning it, they manage to contact the military. The protagonist at the radio may panic and ask for help, or keep calm and tell their coordinates.

• If the protagonists were able to find out the full name of the ship, they will tell the military about it if they can tell their coordinates.

Suddenly the radio goes off, followed by the lights going out. While the group is inspecting the radio, one of them notices a hole in the floor and informs the others. The protagonists decide that someone should go down to find the generator and restore power while the others stay in the radio room in case they get a message from the military. If Conrad is there, he says that he can't go down because of his injuries and the player is given the opportunity to choose two protagonists from among the rest:

• If three or four other protagonists are alive, the player is given the choice of two pairs, Alex or Brad and Fliss or Julia.
  • If Alex is alive, he says he's obviously going.
    • If Brad is alive, he intervenes, saying he can do the job. Alex either praises his brother for his bravery or scolds him (depending on their relationship), after which he makes a choice:
      • If Alex is forceful, he insists that he go down.
      • If Alex is encouraging or says nothing, he lets Brad go down.
      • In Curator's Cut, if Alex's Selfish trait is higher than his Controlling trait, he lets Brad go down.
  • If Alex is dead, Brad goes.
  • If Julia is alive, she says she's going too. Alex, if alive, is against it.
    • If Fliss is alive, Julia replies that he won't always be around and that she can stand up for herself. Fliss can choose what to say:
      • If Fliss is assertive, she says she will go down as she is still the captain.
      • If Fliss is sarcastic or says nothing, she'll say Julia can handle it since she says so.
      • In Theatrical Cut, Fliss is assertive if her relationship with Julia is lower than 40 and is sarcastic otherwise.
    • If Fliss is dead, Julia chooses her response:
      • If Julia is defiant, she says Alex isn't in charge of her and she is going.
      • If Julia is compliant or says nothing, she backs off, allowing Alex and Brad to go down.
  • If Julia is dead, Fliss goes.
• If only two other protagonists are alive, they automatically go down without the player's choice.

Once the two protagonists have been selected, they begin to climb into the hole. However, the floor around the hole collapses, causing the duo to fall down screaming.

Collectibles

Secrets

• Anti-Aircraft Shell Casing - Can be found on the left side of the weather deck, on a crate.
• Gas Mask Instructions - Can be found on the right side of the weather deck, in a rusty cabinet.
• Ship's Logbook - Can be found near the bridge entrance, on a table.
• Nautical Chart - Can be found in the bridge on a wall.
• Navigator's Notebook - Can be found before outside the radio room, on a table.
• Radio Operator's Final Message - Can be found in the radio room, on a table near Cooper's corpse.

Pictures

• Loose Cannon - Can be found on the left wall of the bridge.

Trivia

• Depending on Alex's status, the game finale branches off in one of two ways.
  • If Alex stayed in the radio room with another protagonist, the last chapter will be Matters of the Heart.
  • If Alex is dead, went down to find the generator, or is alone in the radio room, the last chapters will be Olson and Flooded.
• If the only living protagonists at this point are Conrad and Julia (due to a bug in the Curator's Cut of Revenge), Fliss will come back to life to accompany Julia down the hole. She will revert back to being dead after Flooded.