The Mystery of Esmerelda: The Most Infamous Thief in Sector Prime
Throughout the Infinite Space trilogy, there has been one minor character who has a knack for being especially mischievous. That character goes by the name Esmerelda, but it wasn't always thus. In the first game, there were two random events that could prove detrimental to your quest to fully explore the map, both of which were the work of then-unnamed culprits.
Esmerelda - a thorn in the side of every Infinite Space traveler... unless you manage to capture her, of course. You'll need the right items to do so, though.
The first one, called Thief, would take away a random item (except for the Klakar Beacon) from your cargo bay; however, if your cargo bays were empty, all of your towels would go missing. The second one, called Saboteur, removed a random item that was installed on your flagship (a Terran corvette), and would be particularly annoying if the item in question was a high-value one such as a Particle Vortex Cannon. Some ports of the first game even give the Saboteur the ability to instantly destroy your entire fleet if encountered, thus ending your game prematurely. Unsurprisingly, Digital Eel considered the Saboteur's effects unfair enough to warrant removal from all subsequent games.
For Weird Worlds, the thief would finally be given an actual name, species and gender: a Terran female called Esmerelda. This time, she was guaranteed to appear somewhere on the map, but to balance this out, she could no longer steal lifeforms, and you could even capture her if you have either (or both) of the following items in your cargo hold:
- Lookout Frogs: This lifeform has its origins in Garthan scientists' efforts to turn unassuming creatures into sentries, scouts, or even food for Garthans, according to their description. Being living things, they are especially valuable to the Zorg (and, in Sea of Stars, the Terran research facility on Gamma Station).
- Toy Robot: This piece of treasure is actually a mechanical sentry device that just happens to look like a harmless toy. Its description states that it can be wound up with a key, pre-programmed or remote controlled by its owner, and it has a powerful stun ray concealed in its head. It's not worth much to any faction, though - the shop at Haven Station appraises its value at just 70 credits.
The only two items that can be used to capture Esmerelda: the Lookout Frogs (top) and Toy Robot (above)
If you successfully capture Esmerelda, she will not be able to escape, and if you complete the game with her on board your flotilla, you will receive a 500 credit bonus. On the other hand, if she successfully steals an item, there is a chance that, instead of disappearing altogether, it will be moved to one of the home worlds on the map (including your own). In addition, her background states that she is also a smuggler, spy and saboteur wanted in five different star systems, lending weight to the theory that the Thief and Saboteur from the previous game are actually the same character, but with a different effect. However, Esmerelda does not provide any other benefits after she has joined your fleet.
The result of capturing Esmerelda with a Toy Robot and/or Lookout Frogs - the infamous thief decides to tag along with you. If you survive your adventure, you will also earn an additional 500 credits as a reward.
Sea of Stars made a few changes to Esmerelda. Not only are you no longer guaranteed to encounter her, the items required for you to capture her are no longer mutually exclusive (i.e., in Weird Worlds, if one of them spawned on the map, the other could not, unless you created that item from a Timeless Bauble). Thus, it became theoretically possible to obtain Lookout Frogs and/or a Toy Robot on a map that did not contain Esmerelda. Nevertheless, capturing her will still yield a 500 credit bonus at the end of the game as before. And if she does manage to steal an item, that item is now absolutely guaranteed to end up on a home world; thus, you can no longer lose it permanently if you have enough time to reclaim it. One of the possible in-universe explanations for this is that Esmerelda was either killed or captured just before landing on that home world, but the item she stole remained intact.
It is worth noting that some mods (such as Odd Adventures) for Weird Worlds reintroduce the Saboteur and her effects. Specifically, whenever the Saboteur steals an item, not only will it be one that is currently equipped on one of your ships, there will also be no chance of you recovering it later, as was the case in Strange Adventures. As a result, a modded game in which the Saboteur has been implemented will certainly be more difficult than a standard unmodded game. I have yet to see Sea of Stars receive similar treatment, however, but if it did, I would expect the Toy Robot and Lookout Frogs to retain their abilities if you were unfortunate enough to encounter the Saboteur - with the reward for a successful capture being increased accordingly..
As a further aside, Esmerelda is the only minor human character (apart from the player) to appear in every single Infinite Space game, and the only character who can board your fleet as a passenger to have held that distinction. The Zorg and Muktian ambassadors, on the other hand, were omitted from Sea of Stars (where it is easier to forge alliances without adding their respective vessels to your flotilla). Also, in that game, a crew of Calatian castaways replaced the lone Calatian emissary, and Yuri Smetlov's disembodied brain, which debuted as an artifact in Weird Worlds, was given a cybernetic body and reclassified accordingly as a potential passenger, just like the newly introduced Phredd, an alien creature of unknown species who takes a liking to your crew upon first contact. It should be noted that these passengers (except for the Calatian crew) will also yield a small credit bonus at the end of the game, but do not provide any other benefits.
One final note: If you have both the Lookout Frogs and Toy Robot in your inventory at the same time (which is more common than you think), and you manage to capture Esmerelda, only the message related to the Toy Robot will be shown on screen, implying that the Toy Robot will alert you to the thief's presence sooner than the Lookout Frogs can.
In short, Esmerelda may be the bane of the treasure hunters of Infinite Space, but there are foolproof ways to ensure she can't get away with her crimes - and if all else fails, leave the cargo hold(s) empty so that she can only take some towels instead of your valuable goods.
