The first phone call with Richard is a short story beat in Silent Hill: Townfall that introduces Simon, sets up his connection to the CEG Energy Group, and hands control back to the player in first-person view. It plays out around a ringing payphone in a fog-covered square, and it establishes the goal that pushes Simon deeper into town.
Quick answer: Richard calls Simon at a public payphone, tells him the IV line in his hand is keeping him alive, and asks him to travel to Clara Tower at CEG Headquarters to convince the town that CEG did not cause the disaster.
The setting before the call
The scene opens with Simon standing on a raised walkway, looking down at a fog-filled courtyard. A large stone spiral monument dominates the square, and a body lies motionless on the ground in front of it. This first look establishes the mood: thick fog, a quiet town, and an early sign that something has gone badly wrong here.
Simon then walks down a set of brick steps toward a telephone booth that is already ringing in the mist. The booth’s digital display flashes an incoming call, marking the payphone as the object the whole scene is built around.
Who Simon is and the IV line on his hand
Simon is a predefined character rather than a blank avatar. He wears a grey-and-white CEG Energy Group cap, a tan work shirt, and a green padded vest carrying a CEG patch and badge, along with glasses, a beard, and blue jeans. The outfit ties him directly to the energy company at the center of the town’s grievances.
The most important detail is medical. An intravenous cannula is taped to the back of Simon’s left hand, and he reaches out with that hand to lift the receiver. This is not a cosmetic touch. Richard later states outright that the line is what is currently keeping Simon alive.
What Richard says on the call
When Simon answers, a man named Richard introduces himself and says he is relieved Simon made it through. The phone display reads Connected, and the conversation carries the weight of the whole scene.
On the other end of the call, Richard sits at his office desk, with an older beige CRT monitor and a desktop telephone handset. He offers help for Simon’s condition and identifies the IV line as what is keeping him alive.
When Simon presses him about an earlier message and about putting something to rest, Richard admits he cannot fix the crisis on his own and has failed repeatedly. Simon then asks why he is being pulled in, and Richard replies that he is already involved.
The town’s anger at CEG
As Richard explains that the town is watching Simon, the camera shows a locked gate covered in protest signs and memorials for victims. The messages make the conflict clear before any gameplay starts.
- A CRIME ON OUR COMMUNITY
- CEG WIDOWS DEMAND JUSTICE
- WE NEED JUSTICE
- THIS TOWN IS OURS
Richard’s core claim is that CEG did not cause the disaster hanging over the town. He wants Simon’s help to convince the angry residents of that, which frames Simon as a company insider sent to defend the very group the town blames.
The destination: Clara Tower at CEG Headquarters
Richard gives Simon a destination: Clara Tower, the CEG Headquarters located in St. Emilia, where they are to meet. That instruction establishes the goal for the gameplay that comes next.
The exchange ends on an odd note. Richard phrases the instruction as telling Simon to “come back,” and Simon pushes back, since he believes he is already in that place. Rather than answer, Richard hangs up and cuts the connection, leaving the contradiction unresolved.
The switch to first-person gameplay
Once the call drops, Simon steps out of the booth and the view changes to first-person. He is holding a wooden 2×4 plank as an improvised weapon, and the game autosaves as the transition happens, with a Saving… prompt appearing on screen.
The HUD appears at this stage. A cross marks the white horizontal status meter in the bottom-left, while a red grid icon sits beside the save indicator in the bottom-right. The area name, Shopping Precinct, identifies where the player takes control.
Silent Hill: Townfall is built from several interconnected stories, and this payphone moment folds Simon’s medical crisis, the town’s hostility toward CEG, and a clear objective into a single scene before the player is left alone in the fog with a plank in hand.
