Interviews

10 Questions for Kate Walker

Interview Conducted by Randy Sluganski

I’ve been privileged to interview some of the biggest and best names in this industry: Nancy Drew, George & Nico and even Jack the Ripper. And now my true heart-throb (sorry Nancy, but you’re too young for me!) – Kate Walker.

Ever since following her adventures in Syberia, I have – like thousands and thousands of other adventure gamers – anxiously awaited the completion of her journey.

It was an honor to sit across from the beautiful Kate Walker. The glitter in her eyes and the pure joy etched across her face were often the only response necessary for some of my questions:

• You were a hardened corporate New York who threw her career to the wind to join an old man on his quest to a mythical land populated by mammoths. Can you pinpoint the exact moment when you knew in your heart that something inside you had changed and there was no going back to your previous lifestyle?

Randy, it’s impossible for me to pinpoint with certitude an exact moment when I felt a definitive change inside of me. As my journey was progressing through the East, little things inside me started to change. A number of events had some effects on me. Meeting Helena Romanski was very special. She made me realize some things about my own life that I never stopped to think about.

When I learned of the “accident” that happened between Dan and Olivia I also felt something break inside of me. That was a difficult moment. I felt betrayed. It made me feel like there was more for me, as a person, in front of me than going back to New York. You know what I mean?

Any final doubts about my decision were erased in the train just before arriving in Romansbourg. But I guess, this is something the players will discover in the second chapter of the Syberia series…

• Was there ever a moment that you considered going back? That you doubted your decision to follow Hans?

I didn’t have a lot of time to think or to doubt. When I jumped on the train, I just went with my feelings. You know the type of decision you never make when debating a case with a corporate client…

• Can you tell us a little of your impressions of each of the following and what you learned from them:

  o Hans Voralberg
  o I’ve become so attached to Hans. Even before meeting him in Valadilene I had developed some kind of affection for him. Following his steps across Europe, getting to get familiar with his work, I mean, this man is so brilliant and yet so childish sometimes…

  o Oscar
  o It started so strangely and yet… ended so strangely… I don’t want to tell you too much. Who could have ever think that a stiff automaton like Oscar and a once-stiffed woman could get along and tie such strong bonds. I mean, overall, Oscar as been my closest friends for that whole journey. He’s the only one who went through every step of my road from Valadilene to… The only thing I want to say about Oscar is that I’m not the only who changed during this whole adventure…

  o Madame Helena
  o Helena gave me some strength to pursue my quest at a moment where I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. As I said earlier, by talking with her, I realized so much about myself, about the person I was and the person I wanted to be. She has achieved so much in her life and she became such a model to me…

  o The Patriarch
  o I wish I had only good memories from that journey…

  o Mr. Marson
  o Who? :-)

• You left your past and the hustle bustle of New York behind, yet hung on to your cell phone like a life preserver. Was there a subconscious reason behind this?

Randy, the only person I really wish to call me took forever to contact me… I mean, why did you wait so long? Did you know you were the only reason why I kept my cell phone with me?

• Ahem, please Kate, my wife may read this. You seem to have become the Laura Croft of adventuring: fishing, piloting airships and scaling cliffs are just a few of the activities we’ve seen you accomplish. What kind of shape were you in before your journey to Valadilene? Did you work out on a regular basis, were you involved in any outdoor activities?

Pretty much basic training… My office was paying for my gym registration. I was there 3 to 4 times a week. I use to like spinning but after my journey, I’ve discovered that there is nothing like the smell of fresh air when you are exercising.

• You had a team of over 35 people involved in bringing your newest adventure to the public. Can you tell us what it is like working with author Benoît Sokal and Project Manager Marie-Sol Beaudry?

I miss Sokal these days. He seems busy working on other new characters. I think I’m a bit jealous… Seriously, I don’t think I could any closer to somebody than I have been with Benoît. I’ve become an extension of his imagination through out my creation and I pretty much owe him every thing I have.

I have to admit he’s getting old and grumpy and that it seems that we have more and more arguments together but hey this guy is me and I’m him…

As for Marie-Sol, I think if you’d get to know Marie-Sol, you’d see a lot of resemblances between the two of us.

She’s an awesome young professional that invested so much in making this whole adventure happen. She’s so determined and yet so open and enthusiastic. I’ve learned a lot from her and particularly in these moments when you think everything is going the wrong way…

Just being around these two individuals as changed my life for ever and I hope we manage to keep a very strong relationship together even though we’re geographically all far away from each other.

• You’ve been privileged to see and visit many places and people that the average person will never have the opportunity to see over the course of their lifetime. How has this changed your view of the world?

Not only has my vision of the world changed, but my whole vision of history also changed. I’ve been meeting people that had such a role in the evolution of their local history. I mean Hans Voralberg is basically a pioneer for everything that has to do with robots, automatisms…

I’ve also discovered some places that had completely lost any connection with the rest of the world… places that are literally frozen in time. That makes you change your entire perception of how you see our “civilized” world, how we handle time…

You know, you get raised within some values but you never get the chance to see a completely different way of thinking and then, in your mid-20s early 30s you go through such an adventure… I mean it’s a complete shock. How can I not see things differently today?

• I can’t resist the comparison here: Paris Hilton, rich West Coast socialite who lived The Simple Life; Kate Walker – high profile East Coast Lawyer who traveled to the frozen tundra of Syberia. Are there any secret video tapes in your past that could turn-up on the Internet?

Unless you use Just Adventure to publicize our little secrets Randy, I don’t have any other souvenirs of video tapes that could turn-up the Internet…

• Is this the last we’ll see of Kate Walker? Or are there future adventures on your agenda?

You think I’ll be staying in New York after what I experienced the last few years? C’mon I hope it isn’t finish for me! The Kate Walker everybody used to know before my journey is gone. The person I am today has nothing left to learn by just staying home and letting my life go by. My whole body and my mind are hitching to go again… but where?

• One last question - panties or thongs?

Yours to discover honey… C’mon Randy… You’ve been married for a long time haven’t you? Most women my age are wearing thongs… Welcome to the 21st century Randy!