A Man of Influence

"A Man of Influence" is the 13th level in Monolith's Game of the Year The Operative: No One Lives Forever. It is the seventh mission of the game and consists of three scenes.

Briefing
''It is possible that the reclusive Baron Archibald Dumas is somehow connected to the disappearance of Dr. Schenker. It will be up to you and Agent Goodman to establish the link, if it even exists.''

''The first step is to meet the Baron in person and size him up. Whatever you do, don't blow your cover.''

Scene 1

 * 8:30am, September 20
 * Offices of Dumas Industrial Enterprises, Bumberton, England

Cate Archer and Tom Goodman persuade the receptionist at the front desk that they have an appointment, hoping to access the Baron's private office. Asking the receptionist to recheck the outlined schedule, Archer slips some laxatives into her coffee, prompting her to use the bathroom. After a brief argument with Goodman and a coin toss, Archer searches the offices for evidence while completely avoiding detection. Disabling the alarm and camera system, she finds a hidden area behind a bookshelf in the Baron's private office. The stairs lead to a small penthouse which contains a model of the nearby compound. Upon attaining this information, Archer returns to the front desk just as the receptionist reappears. Before going off, she and Goodman lie to her that they will reschedule for a new appointment.

Scene 2
Archer and Goodman arrive at the Dumas Industrial Enterprises compound. After another argument on who should investigate (and another coin toss), Goodman helps Archer to sneak inside. She photographs various ledgers scattered around the facility, taking care to raise the alarm. Proceeding further in, she spots Magnus Armstrong, confirming his affiliation with H.A.R.M. Archer calls Mr. Jones about her findings and gets the go-ahead to interview the Baron in his private residence.

Scene 3

 * One Hour Later...
 * Residence of Baron Archibald Dumas

Following yet another coin toss between her and Goodman, Archer proceeds to the Baron's front door. She introduces herself as a reporter named Mia Haig interviewing the Baron for "Men of Influence" magazine. After persuading the butler, Archer is shown into the living room where she encounters the Baron and his grumpy wife shortly before she goes off. She then interviews the Baron by asking him eight questions. The player is given a choice which questions to ask, either about the Baron's occupation or with regard to his safari adventures (he clearly prefers the latter). Soon she notices that this man is not a very bright person and appears to lack any experience in business and big-game hunting, in which he is supposedly an expert. Depending on how many "good" questions are asked, the Baron will be more forthcoming with extra information at the end of the interview. In either case, he mentions a safe containing paperwork. Archer then concludes her interview and takes her leave.

Memorable quotes
"You like The Beatles?" "Sure." "I wish they'd go on tour again." "Don't hold your breath." "Well, as long as they keep making records, I'm happy. I just hope they don't break up."
 * Dumas Industrial Enterprises Guards

Trivia

 * This marks the first mission of the game to be set in the United Kingdom, where UNITY was originally founded.
 * The receptionist describes the Baron's routine as being "quite established" in which he reserves Mondays for Golf, Tuesdays and Thursdays for Skeet shooting, Wednesdays for Fishing and Friday afternoons for Backgammon. Friday mornings from 11:00am to 11:15am is the only time slot reserved for business matters. September 20, 1967 was a Wednesday. Thus when Archer and Goodman arrived at the office of Baron Dumas, he would have been fishing.
 * When the player uses the Cigarette Lighter on the bin in the restroom, the guard from the security office immediately leaves his post to put out the fire. He will then remain in this room for the rest of the scene without returning to his post.
 * In Scene 1, getting spotted by the staff will cause them to immediately run for the alarm button. If a worker is shot or attacked, the mission is failed due to "Unacceptable Civilian Casualties". If a security guard is shot, the alarm goes off immediately and Cate's cover is blown.
 * There are several conversations between staff and guards in the first two scenes that contribute to the "office scenario" of the mission's first scene: Two scientists argue about methodology, a worker spends all her time on the phone while her colleague "eavesdrops" from the canteen, and an executive asks his secretary to ring a colleague for him.
 * There is a secret elevator in Scene 1 (accessible only through cheats) around Baron Dumas' private office that would have taken the player to the space just outside the conference room. There is no way to use it, and it is unclear what it would have been used for.
 * At the industrial compound, two guards can be overheard talking about The Beatles, who broke up in 1970 (three years after the game's events took place) with its members subsequently producing music as solo artists.
 * The compound in Scene 2, contains several chemical containers which strongly resemble those found on the Finnish Cargo Freighter from A Tenuous Lead.
 * Two employees of Dumas Industrial Enterprises are overheard talking about an episode of the British espionage adventure TV series, "The Avengers" entitled From Venus with Love. Archer observed them talking about Diana Rigg.
 * If the player takes too long standing on the moving train within the compound, a cut scene will commence in which a red line, probably representing the train, approaches several different cities on a world map. This is a reference to the Indiana Jones films where a similar gag is used. The cut scene lasts for only a few seconds and the player is allowed to continue the mission without having to reload the game.
 * A file encoded "pmlxp vn lfg gsv ylc ofpv" translates to "Knock em out the box Luke". This is a line from the Star Wars Gangsta Rap that was released in 2000.  The video can be seen here.
 * If the wrong responses are selected when Archer is speaking to the butler, the mission will end abruptly with a message stating that the player failed to interview Baroness Dumas. This is the one of few times in the game that a mission is failed through means other than dying or having your cover blown.
 * In the PS2 version, Baron Dumas' residence features an extra hidden room on the left side, accessible by distracting the guard dog and lockpicking the door leading to the elevator. Archer will come across some storage room, a safari shooting range (With a Sportsman EX Crossbow nearby) and a normal shooting range (with a Braun 9mm Parabellum nearby). Taking the last elevator will bring her back to the main lobby, coming out of the large statue.
 * This marks the first appearances of Baron and Baroness Dumas.
 * The Baron is in-fact very lazy, childish and stupid as revealed by his obliviousness to all of Cate's rather obvious questions. His safari lifestyle is also revealed to be somewhat of a scam as he has clearly never been hunting in his life. Last but not least, his surname "Dumas" is might be a clever play-on-words of what the Baron's main quality: that of a dumbass.