The Wastes is the tenth and final district investigated in Criminal Case: Pacific Bay.
Primarily based on Nevada (specifically the Nevada National Security Site), The Wastes is a polluted no man's land at the outskirts of Pacific Bay, characterized for its deadly sandstorms, high levels of radiation, and close to zero chance of survival for whoever dares to enter it for longs periods of time, making it the deadliest place in Pacific Bay.
The Wastes, at first, focuses on chasing Frank and Karen after they become fugitives in the climax of the previous district, but rapidly switches into stopping a Mad Scientist pulling the strings of all the bad things that have been happening all over Pacific Bay (including Frank and Karen's betrayals), putting you on a Race Against the Clock to prevent him from destroying the world and ruling over the virtual utopia he has planned to enforce onto the survivors of his apocalypse.
- Into the Wastes: A tech genius is knocked into a puddle of toxic waste at the entrance of the district.
- The Sting of Death: A businesswoman is stung to death by scorpions near a secret base.
- The Final Countdown: A policeman is shot in the head at a look-out point in the middle of an apocalypse.
Tropes:
- Arc Villain: Albert Tesla, a Mad Scientist who has uploaded his mind onto a computer to survive forever and is revealed to be The Man Behind the Man of all the wrong things that have been happening in Pacific Bay, making him the Big Bad of the season.
- Back for the Finale: One characteristic of The Wastes is that, with the exception of Albert Tesla, every other person you encounter here are either suspects or outright culprits from previous cases who have come after being called by Tesla himself. The biggest example is Alden Greene, who you hadn't seen since the climax of the previous season.
- Bittersweet Ending: Tesla and Meteor Systems are stopped for good and Pacific Bay is saved, but Frank, Karen (who are revealed to be Good All Along) and their daughters are dead, many have perished during Tesla's all-out attack to the city, and the player leaves Pacific Bay to join The Bureau, leaving their friends behind again.
- Brain Uploading: The Big Bad's ultimate plan is to build a digital Utopia where everyone's consciousness is built around a computer, and everyone would be subject to his rule
- Continuity Cavalcade: Courtesy of the Back for the Finale gimmick of the district, you'll be seeing a lot of suspects and references to previous cases in this district.
- A Death in the Limelight: One for Frank, who gets his backstory and motives revealed in this district before perishing during the finale.
- Halfway Plot Switch: While you arrive to The Wastes to chase after Karen and Frank, soon you find out that a bigger and much more dangerous threat in the form of Albert Tesla has begun his master plan of destroying the world, leading you to fight against him during the latter half of the district instead.
- The Metaverse: The main focus of The Wastes is stopping one of these from happening, since Albert Tesla is planning to destroy the world and create a virtual utopia where the survivors will have to live under his rule.
- Out of Focus: Due to only Amy and the player entering The Wastes, the rest of the team get mostly relegated to the background (i.e. the lab) during the duration of the district until the finale when Amy and the player return.
- Race Against the Clock: The high levels of radiation in The Wastes immediately begin poisoning the player and Amy, and they only have a few days before they die of exposure. Amy insists on solving all of the crimes that occur in the district before she and the player leave, meaning that it's a race against time to capture the murderers before the radiation levels become fatal.
- "Save the World" Climax: The climax of the game is saving Pacific Bay and later the world from perishing at the hands of the Big Bad.
- Season Finale: For Pacific Bay.
- Sequel Episode: The whole district serves as a continuation for the plot of Innovation Valley, with Meteor Systems and Karen Knight returning as important elements.
