Tsunami does blind runs of visual novels

The setup
Starting in October of 2013, TsunamiXXVIII started a topic in which he went through a series of visual novels, with degrees of knowledge ranging from "vaguely knows some stuff about the characters, but no idea what effect his choices will have" to "completely blind". The initially announced titles were CLANNAD; 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors; and Eastern Starlight Romance ~ Eternal Dilemma, with Bliss Stage: Love Is Your Weapon being announced shortly afterwards upon the discovery that a new demo would be out at Christmastime. Around the end of the Eastern Starlight Romance playthrough, seemingly with only the rest of CLANNAD to tide the topic over until Christmas, however, he started dropping hints about there being another game on the playlist as well, which was revealed to be Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies. It's also quite possible that CLANNAD won't be the only Key Visual Arts title, either, but merely the first.

The topic had been claimed by the purge on a couple of occasions, and there seems to be a post that Tsunami forgot to archive near the end of Chapter 3. Also, all GameFAQs-mandated censorship has been removed from the collected version.

Chapter 1: Timid and Scared (CLANNAD--Nagisa route bad ending)
So, starting CLANNAD. This font is awful, must say; could barely even read the first word of the text although that may also be because of poor spacing.

Snow. The world's covered in snow. Is this where the whole "sad girls in snow" thing came from?

So I'm Tomoya. Tomoya Okazaki. And I'm kind of depressing to listen to, frankly. But what do you expect from a dating sim protagonist? Though I seem to take pleasure in tormenting Sunohara.

...Whoa? My first choice, and it's...whether to record over Sunohara's awful hip-hop or not. Seems like the in-character thing to do would be the former. Unfortunately, I'm not much of a lyricist.

The girl from yesterday is there again when I arrive for school the next day. She's interesting. Something actually happens at school today, though--I'm approached by a girl named Ryou Fujibayashi. Oh, she's the class rep! That explains why she'd bother talking to a delinquent like me--it's strictly obligation, I'm sure. And she has an older twin sister. She seems oddly shy for a class rep, and I can't help but tease her. She doesn't take it so well...

Decision time. Should I apologize to her, or just ignore her? Eh, abusing Sunohara is one thing, but being mean to a girl just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I apologize. And...she apologizes back, for bothering me. Last time I worry about such a spineless girl... And now...she's doing card tricks? Huh? Pick three cards...Oh, is this some sort of tarot reading?

Sunohara actually showed up to school today. Apparently I left the tape recording after I left. Calling it right now, that's totally going to be important later. There's a choice to skip out on a lesson; I decide to stick it out and mess with Sunohara again. At lunch, he manages to stick his foot in his mouth with the rugby club yet again. ...Oh, it's the girl from before! She's all alone...

...She says she was away from school for a long time because of a sickness. All of her friends have already graduated. Having had some experience with being alone, I feel like I should stick around to keep her company. She says she wants to join the drama club, and I encourage her to do so. I then return to class and kind of zone out for awhile, until there's a disruption outside. I'm not really interested in checking it out, though.

There's a choice after school. "I'm a bit worried" about the girl we met earlier, or "don't worry". Um...I don't even. Sorry to go out of character, but this is...definitely a thing. Well, best to go with what I'd do IRL--worry. I go to the place where she was going to be going. Sure enough, she's there, just waiting outside the clubroom. She's...not very proactive, is she? Back out of character for a moment, I can relate. Although I'm not sure if this means that she's definitely someone to go after or if it's really not what I'd do if I were me instead of Tomoya. I mean, I know that my passivity can be a flaw, so I think I'd rather have someone who will balance me out. But this isn't real life, and someone who's equally timid would probably be easier to approach, anyway.

...the Drama Club's been disbanded. Well, yeah, that was sort of implied by what she said earlier. I put my hand on her head, and she asks why. "Nothing, really", is my reply, and things just stay awkwardly silent for awhile, until I finally introduce myself. She introduces herself as Nagisa Furukawa. (OoC: Actually, the game's been introducing most newcomers in the Eastern order, but we were given our own character's given name first so that's how he was introduced and after that it's a matter of consistency to introduce everyone else to the topic in Western order.)

I think my brain is broken. I just keep repeating "Nice to meet you" over and over again. Of course, she keeps responding in kind every time I do. My lip-reading abilities apparently come in handy as I manage to "read her mind" regarding what she wants for dinner. I head home and change and head over to Sunohara's dorm, nearly getting trampled by a stampede of rugby players, who are kind of the designated "villainous jocks" of this game. The landlady of the dorms is chasing them. Apparently they were peeping in the girls' dormitory. I'm not really in the mood to chat, though, so I head into Sunohara's room. He sucks at crosswords. I ask about the commotion earlier. Apparently it involved a girl who was only admitted after spring? I end up staying way too late at Sunohara's dorm. So much for being able to get to school on time like class rep asked, or to be able to help the old woman like in her fortune.

"I'm watching it. A distant world. It's a gloomy place. I wonder, what is this place...? There should be people in here, but nobody is there. Nothing moves... I became frightened. Frightened of this world. I had already noticed ...that this world had met its end. Nothing is ever born, and nothing dies here anymore. At that moment, a light suddenly flickered. Something moved. Before long, the wall reflects the light… And in exchange, I see a lone girl before my eyes. She seems innocent. She looks intently at me. I wonder if she can see me? She tries to extend her hands toward me. However, the hand does not touch me; it passes through instead. That’s right… I haven’t been born into this world. That’s why I can’t touch anything. But, if that’s the case…why has that girl noticed me?"

...Clearly a hallucination from sleep deprivation.

Man, that hallucination goes on for awhile. Very morbid. The girl makes a "body" for my spirit to inhabit. Somehow I actually manage to get up in time to make it to school on time? Not healthy to miss so much sleep. Sure enough, Fujibayashi's fortune actually comes true. Well, I said that I'd be on time, so I'll just keep moving. Shortly after I pass, a female student stops to help her and gets frightened off by her voice. I did the right thing, I think. Fujibayashi comments on me actually being on time. I tell her that her fortune-telling was off. She seems relieved, and I ask her if she's not disappointed that her fortune-telling was inaccurate. She thinks it's a good thing, though. She shuffles her deck again, and once again she drops the cards, but today, she just stares at them. After a moment, she says something good will happen to me tomorrow, and then I'll have a "lovely encounter". Well, that sure sounds like an event flag! She sounds a bit unsure of whether her latest fortune-telling method is even valid, though. I ask what she means by good, and she calls it a "fiery impact". That doesn't sound good at all! I ask her to clarify, and she says that I'll be able to refresh my body and spirit and spend my whole day safely without being injured. Was that really an issue? Although, given the genre of game we're in, I think I want to make this fortune come true...

I then ask her about the second half, and she points to the Queen of Spades and says that I'll meet a very kind girl. She clarifies that spade means sword, so it's like a knight, or a protector. I interpret it as "aggressive" and "dangerous". I'm just starting to doze off when a voice pierces my thoughts. It's...class rep-san's twin sister, Kyou! (OoC: That's some peppy theme Kyou's got. I like it.) She's one of the few students who talks to me even though I've been labeled a delinquent. This isn't her classroom, though, so I'm confused as to why she's here. Apparently Ryou forgot her lunch box at home and Kyou brought it to her. Kyou woke up a little late today, so she was late to school, though she denies it. Should I just humor her? Nah, this is probably one of the only times I'll get to school before her, so I might as well bust her chops for it.

(But first, an aside to assuage my curiosity. Knowing that Ryou's fortune-telling said I'd be late if I helped the old lady, combined with Kyou being a bit late, has me wondering what happens if I help the old lady. I loaded an earlier save file to investigate, but it turns out that I'm still on time anyway; also, the old lady wasn't in trouble at all. Okay, reloading the other save file, and definitely pleased with my initial choice. I know that most choices in VNs have unknown and often inexplicable consequences much further down the line, but as per a blind run, I'm just going with my initial instinct and damning the consequences.)

Apparently Kyou's got a secret... she was going too fast and hit someone on the back yesterday? She gets defensive and then asks me why I'm here so early. I say that I decided not to be late for once, and she doesn't believe me. She thinks it more likely that I never left in the first place. Ryou believes every wild story that Kyou cooks up. When she finds out that her sister read my fortune yesterday, she suddenly gets a weird grin. Could it have been reverse psychology to get me to come in on time all along? Ryou doesn't seem capable of that, though... She says that she read my fortune today, too, but when Kyou asks what came up, she doesn't respond until I ask if Ryou's a bird brain and Kyou hits me.

"Fiery impact"... that sounds like Kyou, but I'm not sure about the "kind girl" part. Also, I was clearly injured here. She leaves the classroom.

"Fujibayashi and I were bothered by that comment for a short time before the bell rang. - Return to SEEN0416"

...Well. That just happened.

I'm lost in thought as the teacher drones on in the background. But am I thinking about the girl from yesterday, or the past? I'm surprised I'm not thinking about Ryou's fortunetelling, actually...the past seems depressing. I seem to be a rather depressing person, though...eh, let's think some more about Furukawa. She seems like a "kind girl", if a bit spacey, but she doesn't have a "fiery impact".

Oh, that's right, she said she was going to do her best not to be late today, too. She's not in my class, though, so I have no way of knowing whether or not she did. I'm not paying attention to the lesson anyway, and I don't plan on going to university, so there's no point in me being here. I slip out of class and go to one of the empty classrooms being used as a clubroom, but can't waste much time there before it becomes unbearable. I head towards the library, which has a sign saying "closed" but the door's slightly open. Perfect.

...Oh, there's someone here? A third-year like me, according to her badge. She's wearing childlike hair ornaments and sitting on the floor even though there are chairs available. She's...cutting up a book? And they call me a delinquent.

...Welp.

This is definitely a nice introduction.

I rush over without thinking, and she looks up. She's barefoot for some reason. Oh, she's got a lot of books around her...I guess they belong to her.

...No, they're library books. She snips a bit off and says "The tip is delicious". She's definitely weird.

...Wow. Those are some high-level books. Oh, they're not from this school. She offers me lunch. Every time I ask her about one of her non sequiturs, she says that she doesn't do that, and asks me if I want to do whatever it was I asked her about.

Argh it's another looping conversation!

Well, if there's one thing I've learned, it's that if you're a dating sim protagonist, you should always accept lunch from a girl if she offers it to you. She's a really good cook. "See you again tomorrow," she says.

Well there goes my chances of wrapping this session up any time soon. Haven't even gotten this girl's name, and the scene's over.

Furukawa's over by the entrance. I buy lunch for Sunohara to placate him and send him off to "make friends with" the rugby players. (I plan on making him pay me back, too.)

She wants to get something different, but it’s impossible, even though she did her best. The lesson ended late, and it’s tough to get the best items if you’re not the first one there, especially if you don’t have the strength to impose you will. Being strong, I help her out. The problem with VNs is that they're so hard to quit. I was planning on not going back to this until tomorrow, but there are definitely a few things that I'm thinking about.

One: There was an earlier option to skip class that I didn't take. Maybe I should see what happens there?

Two: Almost as soon as I saw Kyou and Ryou together, I was reminded of Lucky Star's Hiiragi twins, which definitely moves Kyou up my list but I still don't think she'll be the first one I go after.

Okay, sure enough, I can get the same scene a day earlier by skipping at the first opportunity. I'm not sure what protocol on a blind run is, if you just have to go with your first decision...I guess it's not really a blind run with trial-and-error gameplay. ...Actually, I just used the "skip previously read text" feature, and it turns out that you don't get that choice at the second opportunity if you took it at the first one; you just stay in class. So, reloading the original savestate.

Furukawa feels like she's imposing when I offer to get her whatever food she wants. I try to get her the most popular item, but I'm still too late. I forget to buy my own, and she offers to get mine...which means I'm left with anpan. Ah, well...

I confess to her that I'm a delinquent, and she asks if I smoke, too. She's happy when I say that I'm a delinquent who doesn't smoke, because she hates the smell of cigarette smoke. (OoC: As do I.) She's really cute when she smiles...but she doesn't smile much, unfortunately. Big choice here: Help Furukawa recreate the drama club, or let her do it alone?

...Eh, you know what? Maybe this is a good place to stop.

Stepping away and coming back made it easier to decide objectively, but turning down a sweetie like that feels like a bad end waiting to happen. I offer to help her find members, though I'm not exactly planning on joining the drama club myself...no matter how much she begs. And does she ever! We clean up the clubroom and leave the school. We talk about getting something to eat...she says she has to go home to cook the food. I tell her that there wouldn't be any food waiting for me if I went home, and she...invites me to dinner?

...I'm being railroaded onto the Nagisa path, aren't I?

She tells me how to get to her house, which is a bakery. No wonder she's always thinking about bread. There's no one inside when I enter. I try a leftover that's sitting out, and I'm told by Furukawa's mother (who looks far too young to have a child in high school--actually, if all of her peers have already graduated, that makes her even older) that it's supposed to be "calming". It's bread with a rice cracker inside, and it's not very good. Oh, right, Furukawa said she couldn't leave the cooking to her mother, didn't she? I tell her the truth. She's...crying. Then she leaves, and I meet Furukawa's father.

...This is getting so surreal. It's like he's sheltering her from the world, like a father to his young child.

Mrs. Furukawa apologizes for acting so childish in front of me. I get both parents' names--Sanae and Akio. Sanae is already speculating that I might be Nagisa's boyfriend. Akio doesn't seem to like that idea. He warms up when his daughter gets home, though. Of course, he's still completely nutters. Later, I leave and try to talk to my father, as Nagisa suggested. It...doesn't go so well. I storm out as usual. Suddenly, Nagisa is there, asking to accompany me to the place in this town where wishes come true. She's so cute! I ask why she's out, and she says she was practicing drama. Oh, so that's what that was...

...She's definitely persistent. Am I her project, or is it the other way around? I wonder. She seems to have figured out the truth of why I'm always late.

*Spit take*

She just asked me to live in her house. Nagisa, you're so innocent, don't say things like that to a guy you barely even know! I decline her proposal, and she says that she doesn't mind if I do whatever I like. Again, do you have any idea what you're actually saying?

The next morning, I receive that fiery impact, from a motorbike. I expect it to be the girl that I declined the chance to meet two days earlier, but, nope, it's Kyou. So that's what she was getting at with "sped up a little". She admits that she only got her license for it last week and she's still not very good at it yet. My god, so much tsun. Of course, I can give it right back to her. I demand that she give me a ride, even though it's only built for a single person.

...Definitely not a kind girl.

Nagisa's waiting for me at the bottom of the hill. She says she wants to go with me every day. Okay, this is...interesting. I receive the homeroom printout from Ryou and talk to her about her sister. Every time I try to mention the word "bike", though, something hits me. ...wouldn't you know it, it's Kyou. She threatens me, again, with rather graphic and anatomically impossible violence. I'm not without my own methods for revenge, though.

I think I'm going to die.

The option to skip out on English grammar class again arises. Naturally, I take it. Ryou catches me, though, and I'm forced to stay. I end up joining Furukawa at lunch. She asks for a "two-colored bread", a sweet bread with both cream and chocolate in it. The lunchroom's crowded because a new item is being offered. I get the bread for her, and we head off to eat. Afterwards, we head to the clubroom and make a notice that the drama club is looking for new members. We decide to illustrate the poster.

...Oh brother. Lots of options. Keep waiting, or search? And if so, where am I searching? I search the next classroom over, and there's a girl carving something in a block of wood. Best to leave her alone. I find Nagisa in the courtyard. She's on cleaning duty. She's...getting down on herself. She feels like she's been wasting my time. I end up wasting far more of it making her her very own Big Dango Family. Somehow this gets my father to actually talk to me, but it's still not right. I head over to Nagisa's...

...Really feel railroaded. But it could be worse...Nagisa is pretty cute, and sweet as can be. Even if her parents call me Cosmo Saito and Universe Tarou. They invite me in, but I decline.

...Uh-oh. Returning to the hallucination world. Why is it that my body parts are always in quotation marks when I'm here? What am I when I'm there? I actually get up in time for school, and yet, even though I'm normally late, Furukawa's already waiting for me. Somehow, absolutely nothing happens until lunchtime. We head to the clubroom so she can practice how to make speeches as the club president. Afterwards...oh, hello, it's Kyou! And she seems to actually be in a good mood for once. Wonder how long that will last... She's not even in our class, is she?! Yet she seems to always be here... Sunohara actually calls her on this.

...What the fuck. I'm acting like I didn't know that Ryou told fortunes, when I know she does and Kyou knows I know. And now...I don't know; I can't follow this.

...Ah. It involves Kyou and me teaming up to play a prank on Sunohara. Well, I guess that means we're finally getting along, sort of. And suddenly Kyou's grilling me on my love life. Sunohara returns and is in trouble yet again, and then he disappears and the teacher makes me look for him. I then head off to the first floor reference room for a nap.

...Hey. Someone's here. She welcomes me and asks if there's anything she can get for me. I ask for coffee and receive it, then play around, asking for a rice omelette, a haircut, and a dance--and surprisingly, she goes for the dance. She introduces herself as Miyazawa Yukine, then tries to say what her name means--"polite 20th century perfect beauty", or something like that? Do I stick around and continue talking to her? Yeah, why not. She leaves, and I go back to sleep. When I wake up, class is over and Miyazawa has returned. She makes more coffee. Finally, I join Nagisa in the clubroom. I help her practice being a club president, and we start to walk home. Suddenly, I see Sunohara, and for some reason I don't want to see him while I'm with Furukawa. Okay, time to make a bold decision and try to leave the railroad!

...She's such a fool.

...But she means so well. Eh, maybe I should just stick with her for the blind run and put off the other girls until I'm not on a blind run, since she's clearly the main girl and therefore the easiest to get on the path of.

It's a gloomy day as I head off to school. I'm greeted by Furukawa. She suggests we play basketball after school. I guess she's trying to cheer me up? Personally, I think this is a horrible idea. She's so tiny, and apparently very sickly as well. She's persistent, though.

Sunohara wants to go out and party after classes because it's Saturday. I point out that it's going to rain, and he's apparently shocked. What an idiot... Something's moving outside the window. An animal of some sort? ...What is that? It looks like a hairy pig. Something crashes into us, and Sunohara gets kicked again as he tries to get up.

...Oh. Should've known. Only one thing hits that hard. The furry pig-thing is apparently Kyou's pet. And sure enough, she does identify it as a piglet. Oh, it's so hairy because it's a boar, not a pig. She named it Botan. I comment on how it's a "yummy" name, and Kyou doesn't quite catch my comment but when Sunohara comes to, he's confused and talking about Botan-nabe, miso. And then he makes the mistake of mentioning catching sight of something light blue as he got kicked. R.I.P., Sunohara. Kyou volunteers me to walk her pet pig home, then tries to bribe me with lunch if I do it. I try to oblige, but the piglet's too fast and I lose sight of it. I lie and tell her that I got him home safely, but also that I bought food on the way back--I feel too guilty to take her lunch offer.

Furukawa's outside waiting for me with the basketball. And...I don't go out there. It's raining hard...do I go out and see if she's still waiting for me? She'll get sick if she does...This is a tough choice; both options are bad. Gah...sorry, Furukawa, but you need a lesson in common sense. If you don't know well enough to get out of the rain, there's really no helping you. Sunohara manages to say the wrong thing and I hit him hard for it.

...Fucking railroad. If I had said no to helping her with the drama club in the first place, would it have even made a difference?

...Apparently, yes it would have. Pretty much the rest of that day gets skipped if I turn her down. I guess I did already pass a crucial branching point, and trying to fight it now would just lead to a bad end. Okay, looks like there's a lot of branching paths in a short time so it's time to go back to our "reality", which is to say the path that we were on with my original decisions. I chew her out for her stupidity. She asks to see my shot, and I try to oblige, but my injury is just too crippling. I tell her the truth.

This time, I'm "Big Bang Yamamoto". Furukawa's father is really annoying. Mrs. Furukawa calls me "Grand Cross Okazaki", which is at least one name right. Akio gets mad at his wife for telling me that Nagisa's not home when he was trying to get me to buy bread before he'd give up the information, and when I tell her that that was the only way that any bread would be sold, she starts crying again. Sanae gives me permission to call her by her first name as the two of us go out looking for Nagisa. I help a kid find his lost puppy, and he says that another stranger, a girl, was trying to help him. Nagisa, I'm sure. I send the kid home and wait where she said she'd return if she couldn't find it...and she doesn't return. Still looking... finally she returns, with...Botan.

This whole town is nuts. Botan was apparently shivering under the guardrail...which means he definitely didn't get home earlier. I think I'm probably going to be in mortal danger, especially since I compounded my failure with a lie. Nagisa didn't even realize he wasn't a puppy. She coughs, and I offer to help her home. Akio's not there when I get there...

...Oh shit.

Thankfully, Sanae returns just in time to get me out of what would potentially be a sticky situation. Akio tries to force the leftovers on me. I decide to take Botan home.

...Well, the illusion world's a little less gloomy...wait, what? "Hand made of junk"? Am I...a robot? I'm so confused...

I visit the Furukawa Bakery the next day, eager to check on Nagisa. Akio's not happy to see me. He really needs to stop humoring his wife... Nagisa only has a slight fever. That's good... I head for the dorms to see Sunohara, when a young man calls out to me. There's a disagreement involving a dented car and a worker who was working with tools and allegedly dented it by dropping one. I leave. Sunohara's still sleeping, so I prank him, tying his clothes together and attaching one end to his foot and telling one of the rugby players that he wants to play tug-of-war.

I stay in bed on Monday, concerned about how I might have hurt Nagisa. Sunohara meets me outside...at lunch, he tries to hurry me along, but I hang back, look out in the courtyard...she's there. She gathers her courage and waves to me. I went down to see her, just like I promised I would.

Sunohara isn't in class when I return. So boring. I leave. After school, something's got Nagisa all worked up, and there's a new theme playing. Someone's taken down all of our posters. Furukawa's being called to the student council room. Oh no...she's going to get in trouble... She's not allowed to recruit any club members. She asks me to go to negotiate for her... Like that would really work. I'm a delinquent, remember? She tries again, and fails again. I guess it can't hurt to try...

Oh. So I guess that theme is the student council's theme. I'm immediately turned away, because my name's not on the poster. I leave, and after school, we put the posters back up like the delinquents we are.

Looks like Sunohara's caught on to me and Furukawa. The patch gets weird again. And then, so does the story.

"The girl created my body. Junk was its ingredients. There was a piece that fell and stabbed the dead grass in this giant field. It's as though it might be some kind of giant corpse."

Oh, that's right. She built a doll for me the first time I was here in this world. This illusion world is weird, though. Furukawa says she didn't get much sleep last night; she was thinking about how to get the Student Council to recognize her club. The posters are gone again, and it turns out that those were the master copies. No choice but to draw new ones. She tells me that the Big Dango Family always gets along; no matter how much they might fight, they always pull together. That's why she likes them. Nagisa...looks like there's more to it than just cuteness.

Sunohara interrupts a tender moment with his usual boorishness. Woo, RPG-style decision tree!

"Sunohara Youhei" wishes to join your party! What'll you do?

Attack

Steal

Magic

Attack!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sunohara breaks the fourth wall and asks why there isn't an option to let him into the party. And then comes the easiest choice ever. Even with Sunohara around, there's absolutely no way I want to face Kyou, so the option to talk to the Fujibayashi sisters is off the table. We talk to our homeroom teacher and learn what we need. Only three members needed...Sunohara and I offer to help, just until she can get enough real members. We find the former advisor, and he directs us to a second-year named Nishina. Damn fetch quests... I start to nod off in afternoon classes, only to be interrupted by Sunohara, who points out that Botan has returned. The teacher chews me out for my inattentiveness, so I leave. Botan recognizes me and crashes into me. Like owner, like pet, huh? He seems to like me a tad more than his owner does, though.

Amazingly, after I threaten the little piglet, Kyou nearly nails me with a thrown object all the way from the school. I end up playing nice...

...Huh. Botan doesn't like Ryou so much. Weird... Kyou shows up, and Botan calms down. Kyou's...not mad at me? Weird... she bribes me with lunch again to continue watching Botan. Ryou objects to me skipping class, so Kyou relents to taking Botan to class with her. Apparently Botan's got some skills, though, and disguises himself as a stuffed toy. I express skepticism that he can keep it up for a full 50 minutes and she thrusts him into my arms. Now I'm stuck with the little critter...ah, well, I'm just grateful to be alive. Come on, little guy.

...That's it, you're pork chops. The thing farted in my lap, and everyone thought it was me! I get a fruit milkshake from Kyou, though, so it's not a total loss...

...Oh. This "Nishina" wants to start a club, too, and also needs an advisor. Koumura-san was the one she asked. And she has actual members...Nagisa backs down. But he's the only teacher who isn't a club advisor, so...it really is a doomed endeavor. Man, all of this was for nothing? ...And she's still smiling.

Sunohara's got some new harebrained scheme. I want no part of it.

Next day. Furukawa got a threatening note telling her to give up on the drama club. Combined with the Student Council's reaction...just why is there such opposition to the revival of the drama club? I tell her to be careful, and we start back to class...she starts to fall over. I catch her. Sunohara saw...and misread the situation. I try to explain myself...and end up showing the threat to Sunohara. Shit, he's going to do something stupid now... The music's skipping.

...Oh. There's a ghost story going around, and someone mentions the ghost appearing at the school play. That could explain why someone's against the drama club returning. Sunohara went off and investigated on his own...it was a member of the chorus, but not Nishina. Another choice comes up...am I already too far down the railroad? If not, the wrong choice might push me too far...but if it's already too late, the other choice is probably disastrous.

...Well, it doesn't appear to have had any immediate consequences... I head to Sunohara's room at night. Misae, the landlady, calls for Sunohara; he's not there. Apparently Sunohara's got a phone call from his little sister...wait, what? Do I take the call? Misae says that Sunohara's younger sister is completely different from him...nah.

Another trip to crazy dead-land. We're creating a new junk-doll. It doesn't move the way I do. The girl apologizes to me.

The next day at lunch, Sugisaka, the student who made the threat, approaches us. She apologizes for the letter and explains Nishina's plight. She's...just like me. Sunohara tries to convince Nagisa not to fall for it, but of course she can't deny that request. I really want to hit Sunohara right now.

Feels like I'm already unavoidably on Nagisa's route.

Sunohara's...what. He wants to challenge the basketball club to a 3-on-3 to show the chorus club people that handicaps mean nothing. What a fool...

"No valid string, make a ticket about it!"

...Borky patch. Yeah, there it comes again. "What will you do, No valid string, make a ticket about it?" And a third time. "If that's the case, you could do it, No valid string, make a ticket about it."

...Hm...seems it happens every time Nagisa tries to say my name. Suddenly I've become the Patriots. Wait...

...the change...

"Tomoya-kun!" That's what she's saying, that the patch refuses to render. Not "Okazaki-san". "Tomoya-kun".

..Nagisa-chan.

It had stopped rendering her name in her text-boxes, too. But now it's back...yeah, no turning back now.

...And Sunohara's calling her "Nagisa-chan". But after class, the class rep tells me that Furukawa-san wants to see me. She apologizes and asks if we can go somewhere private. She says she was happy because it was me who said he wanted to be with her, and...there's one other thing she wants to confess. She says...that she likes me.

...And naturally I'm a cynic and believe that this is a Sunohara plot. But I get my revenge on him, regardless. And then I head home with Furukawa, and...return to the world of empty dreams.

The patch is weird, sometimes rendering her name and sometimes not. I tell her that she's cute, and we both get embarrassed, so I turn the conversation around and make meaningless small-talk until my mouth is dry.

...Bwah time-skip! And then, after Founder's Day...Nagisa gets sick and stops attending school. Damnit, just when my life was starting to look up... I check on her. Sanae tells me not to blame myself, and asks if she can call me Tomoya-san. I say yes. It really seems like she approves of me dating her daughter. I check up on her, and she falls asleep, and...

...what.

I'm at the title screen. That was an ending? That wasn't an ending! I reload from my last save and change my mind. It gives me another choice, a choice to embrace her when she starts crying. Well, then. I guess I was right about my impression about the implications of the choice, but I definitely was already railroaded.

It's weird...she's still calling me Okazaki-san at this point. That doesn't last long, and furthermore, I'm actually Tomoya-kun and not No valid string, make a ticket about it!

...That didn't last long, either. I guess the change comes at this point either way. But it returns to normal soon after...

Heheh...yeah, it's all but confirmed. When I got to the latest trip to the illusionary world this time, it told me I was starting Act VI, which it didn't last time. Looks like my first blind run ended up with a bad end...though for a bad end, it wasn't so bad. That's why it surprised me that it was the end.

It's funny. I wasn't even really in the mood to play today, but I figured that I should try to play a little every day because the purge on this board is so short. And now I've been playing for hours...

Again we're running to escape Sunohara. The moron's scheduled the match for Wednesday... I'm forced to tell Nagisa that Sunohara's gone homo.

...Oh god this is so adorable. Little moeblob...I'm forced to tell her that I lied about Sunohara...and that Nagisa was telling the truth when she announces that I'm now her boyfriend. Later, we remember that Sunohara's sister was going to visit. We accompany her back to the dorm. Mei's...really cute. Somehow she ends up adopting Nagisa as an older sister. And she mistakes Sanae for Nagisa's older sister. Akio ends up lightening the mood with his usual brand of stupidity...and Nagisa gets pulled right in. She has a way with misunderstanding things...

...please get to another decision so I can make another save state and head back to my "alternate universe".

Nagisa introduces Mei to her parents, and Akio introduces himself as the most handsome person here. Nagisa says I'm twice as handsome as he is. Finally I get one. Is it okay for her to stay back and watch the shop, letting her father have a break, even though we'd have less time together? Frankly, upon seeing her, I think she just needs some sleep... okay, load the alternate reality.

Chapter 2: Three’s Company (CLANNAD--Fujibayashi Sisters and Koumura routes)
This time, I take the time to talk to the girl with the carving. She speaks about herself in the third person, and her name is Fuuko. I fast-forward, and after that weird incident with Sunohara and the Fujibayashi sisters...Fuuko disturbs me again in the halls? This wasn't what I was expecting...She's weird. Even weirder than the girl in the library. But somehow it's not as endearing...

...How did I end up railroaded onto this Fuuko path? And then my next option is to revisit...no, to meet Yukine, because that hasn't happened yet in this timeline. Things progress the same as last time...it's the rainy day again.

...Bingo. Three-way choice--library, club room, or reference room? Library, of course. The note says "open" this time. The library's crowded...the girl from the other day isn't there. I seem to possibly be on Yukine's path now? I end up convincing Sunohara to go to the reference room. Naturally, Miyazawa says something that will lead him to the wrong conclusion. More skipping ahead...

I'm denied the chance to skip out on Sunohara's stupid porno scam. Damnit. Nothing of interest happens, and on the next day...well, this is new. Kyou greets me in the halls again (we're currently one day past the time when I brought Botan to class and he farted on me.) She shows me a letter and ask me what I think is inside. She's talking to me as I head to the washroom, and even when we get there, she's still trying to follow me. She waits outside for me, even though I spend a lot of time in there. She's angry at me for staying in there so long...but when I ask what she'll do about the fact that lessons have already started, she suggests skipping, even though she's a class rep...

...I'm a little scared to decline. She states that it's a love letter...but then she states that she was asked to deliver this. ...Oh, it's from a guy, and she's supposed to deliver it to her sister. Stop saying things that will cause such misunderstandings! ...Oh.

Oh.

I think she thinks I like Ryou. Or maybe Ryou likes me?

Sunohara's heading to the reference room again. I'm not given the option to go this time. I skip ahead, once again inviting Mei to come to see her brother. (Yeah, I'm already back to there.) And I definitely seem to have put myself on Kyou's path...

I still want to know where the option to end up with the girl in the library disappeared to.

"What were you planning to do if you lost?" "Rock's a fist, right? Don't you think I could easily throw a punch while like that?"

Okay, yeah, I like Kyou. And...she delivered me a box lunch?

...She's trying to set me up with Ryou. I take it back; this girl's a Grade-A idiot. She told her sister that I wanted to have lunch with her...and I can't bring myself to tell Ryou the truth. Well, at least not at first...but then Ryou noticed that the lunch box was the same, and I told her what happened. But...

...Whoa. Indirect kiss alert! And Ryou runs off...and I get hit by a book. Kyou was watching the whole thing...The misunderstanding is cleared up with minimal pain, though, and I complement her on the cutlets. She's...not so bad, I guess.

A new day dawns, and immediately skips forward to lunch time. And once again, Kyou has made lunch for me. Maybe Ryou's fortune-telling was correct, after all...

...Nope. She's still trying to set me up with Ryou. You're so dense, Kyou...Kyou pulls me to her chest, and I point out what she's just done, which makes her mad. She goads me into following her plan. Do I go through with it, or do I try to get on another path?

I mean, technically, since I got an ending, I'm not restricted to blindness...but I want to continue for awhile.

I edited back into the last post because now that there's a choice, it's time to make a save and go back to "reality". Not that stumbling around trying to get on another girl's path isn't fun, but it's time to tell Nagisa that she shouldn't be watching the store. It...leads nowhere, and...Act VII? Already?

The next option is where to search for a new member. New school building, or old? Hmm...I say old. The options are the empty classroom and the reference room...Fuuko and Yukine again? Well, in this timeline, I didn't even engage Fuuko long enough to learn her name, so I guess that's still a "safe" choice. It ends up being a dead end, and I'm given the same choice again. Argh, this option tree loops around on itself quite a bit...maybe the new school building will be luckier. Second floor or third? Um...third.

...Hahaha it's Kyou again. Nagisa manages to sweet-talk her into it, and we bully Sunohara together again.

...WTF we literally had an entire day summed up by "The next day, we spent the entire day practicing basketball. The practice distracted me from being lonely without Nagisa, so it was great."

Kyou's all fired up for the match. I knew it was a good decision picking her, even though I'm still curious...nope, nothing else is on the second floor. Back to the match...looks like we're going to play dirty. We get off to a fast start, but they put in their better players. They finally take the lead just before the end of the game. We lose by one point.

Another time skip, from May 1 straight to May 6. I guess no one came to drama club orientation? Wait...I recognize this dialogue. It was from where I was just before getting my bad ending. But things are different, so...it's a little different. And yet...still the meaningless small-talk. And then Founder's Day, and she gets sick. And...title screen.

I'm so confused.

The option to go waste time somewhere else is tempting, but I think I'll humor Kyou. I walk with Ryou and ask her about how she became interested in fortune-telling. She claims that girls like fortune-telling on a genetic level. I tell her I don't think that's true, and she continues that she really enjoys it, that she feels like it's her own fortune when she's telling other people's fortunes. She tells another weird fortune, and then asks if this is a date. I tell her that she needs to do something about her habit of apologizing all the time. Fortune-telling for two...what is our relationship? Well, we're just friends for now... But we still have to hold hands on top of the crystal ball. It says we'll understand each other's feelings, and we'll find a time when we can talk, and discover common interests, but not to be overzealous because trying to take control of everything may distance us.

...Sounds about right. She tries to tell my fortune for tomorrow, and says that I'll have a completely normal day tomorrow. So not normal at all, then?

...Nope, not at all. Kyou nearly crashes into me with her bike again. And, of course, she was spying on us the entire time. I try to catch her by giving an obvious lie, saying we kissed. She admits to spying on us. I try to get a ride from her again. Somehow, I still manage to get to school before her, despite walking. She's got...eight love letters? Kyou...oh, wait. They're all from girls... She says it's annoying getting letters from girls because it's hard to turn them down without hurting them, and I call her a hypocrite. Then she gives me a love letter from Ryou, though Ryou apparently forgot to put her name on it. Kyou writes it on...

...I'm confused. Thankfully, Sunohara comes at just the right time to misinterpret the situation. We bully him away together and forget to explain the situation. Keheheh...maybe Sunohara's right. We are a perfect match for each other, aren't we? For a moment, Kyou looks like she wants to say something, but then she sends me off to be with Ryou.

...And Ryou confesses! I'm a little stunned...And then she asks me out. Can I really... I mean, she's not the one I like. As usual, Kyou was eavesdropping and calls me out, but I tell her that it would've been even worse to go out with her when I didn't actually have feelings for her, and Kyou admits that that's true.

"Geez, to think I went through such trouble to make you my little brother." I knew it, I knew you had planned this whole thing. Geez, be more direct next time.

...Shit, that's a bad ending. Reload and change...

And she cries just as much, if not more so, if I say yes. And again, Kyou gets angry at me for making Ryou cry, but this time, Ryou's there to explain the misunderstanding.

A new day, and Botan manages to get underfoot again. I accidentally knock him out, so I take him with me. He wakes up. He seems hungry. I bring him to Kyou, and find both Fujibayashi sisters together. Kyou puts me on the spot...I hate love triangles. Best to answer truthfully...and wouldn't you know it, I do prefer long hair, apparently by genetic mandate. I apparently have a date, on the 29th--the day that passed in the blink of an eye in Nagisa's timeline.

...Well, at least Kyou's not hiding and spying. Because she's right out in the open. Oh, Ryou asked her to...she's too nervous.

...Stupid breakers of the fourth wall. "Event flag" my ass...of course, what you don't know is that this is your route, not your sister's.

Kyou's really a troublesome girl... but has Ryou actually grown a brain? ...Nah. Well, I definitely know what route I'm on...but I'm still as confused as ever. Also, isn't this supposed to be an H-game? Anyway, I'm being threatened more than ever...

...But Ryou asked me to eat lunch with "us". Not "me". So Kyou will be there too... Sunohara tries to interfere, so I lock him in a bathroom stall. Kyou apparently made the boxed lunches...Ryou's not confident in her cooking. Kyou's...definitely really pushing hard for us to be lovers. If only I weren't stuck on a dialogue tree, I'd point out how she seems to be more invested in the success of our relationship than Ryou is. Poor Ryou, though...she's caught between her sister and her boyfriend. The next day plays out much like the previous one, complete with locking Sunohara in the bathroom stall. Except this time, Botan's here too. And...Ryou made the box lunches! Oh, wait, not all of them...and the one I reached for was one of Kyou's. Ryou's doesn't look as good...but of course, it's the thought that counts, so I'll eagerly choke it down. But...it's truly awful. Can I tell the truth? I shouldn't, but if I lie, I might have to eat more of it...I vomit easily when food disagrees with me, especially if it's the texture that's disagreeable. Um... "It's delicious..." Before I can spit out the lie, though, Botan eats the omelet and goes rigid. Thanks, little guy; you spared me from having to tell the truth or lie to protect her feelings.

...Thanks so much. Sorry for calling you pork chops earlier. Kyou's got Phys Ed next, so she needs someone to take care of him...namely, me.

Another day, another Sunohara-locked-in-the-washroom lunch hour. I ask Ryou why she didn't make another lunch. Kyou starts to get on my case, but I explain that while yesterday's wasn't so good, the only way it'll improve is with practice. Poor Ryou's getting so flustered right now, and apparently Botan was still sick. Together Kyou and I try to get Ryou to be more assertive.

"Come on Ryou, a little closer, just put it in that hole!" Stop saying such things, Kyou. I end up biting down just as she sticks the chopsticks in, and I bite the chopsticks...and then she eats using the same chopsticks. Kyou points out the indirect kiss. Ryou gets embarrassed and runs off. Kyou tells me to go after her, but I say it'd be of no use. So...it's just me and Kyou. Eheheh...

On Kyou's advice, I ask Ryou to walk home with me. After I leave, she does a fortune-telling because she's nervous, and...well, I don't know what happened, but it seems like I have a date. Just whose route am I on, anyway? Also, I find out about Ryou's career goals. She wants to become a nurse.

Oh...it was a bad fortune.

The next day, I wake up past noon, go into town, and encounter--wouldn't you know it, Botan and Kyou. The latter invites me to come with her, and the former seems to approve of this suggestion heartily. I finally find out why Botan dislikes Ryou...one time, she got him to take a bath, but the water was too hot and I suppose Botan thought he was going to become stew. I find out that Kyou wants to be a kindergarten teacher. I...did not see that coming. I laugh at this and end up with Skill #2: Rugby Ball right in my face. I then learn skills 3 and 4: Pillow and Massager. Kyou then does another tsundere thing, pointing out a revealing dress on a mannequin and asking me what I'd think of Ryou in that dress, then threatening to feed me to Botan when I actually do what she asked. Kyou heads off and...buys something for me to give Ryou. I really wonder about you, Kyou.

...Kyou tells me the story of how she and Botan met. Apparently he got separated from his family and was all alone, and Kyou found him.

That piglet...he's the key, isn't he? When I tell her that Botan has a new special place now, she seems impressed, that I really do have a soft, caring side. I think I just scored major points with her. But...I've just been given permission to kiss Ryou. I try to push Kyou on what she means, and she starts getting all flustered, kind of like her sister does so often...

...What.

All of a sudden, she asks if I want to try kissing. I react with the appropriate degree of shock. She claims it's just for practice, so I don't screw up. Suuure it is. And...there's actually an option here? Normally, it'd be obvious what to do...but I get the feeling Kyou would get mad at me if I actually did it. And yet...to get a chance to kiss her... I'm going for it.

She's...not angry. Though she insists I call her Ryou, for the sake of the practice...

...Don't tell me that these two are like the Sonozaki twins, who did a permanent twin switch at one point, and that the real Ryou is the brash one while the shy one is actually Kyou? Nah...that's so worn out. Still...I'm kissing the girl I love. That's all that matters.

...And she stops me before I can get my lips to hers. Of course she does. Luckily, Botan's clinging to me, so I have an excuse to walk Kyou home--it's the only way we'll get Botan to go home with her, after all. She thanks me for...various things. The next day, I head back into town, unsatisfied with the gift that I didn't actually buy for Ryou, and head to the store with the accessories.

...Damnit, game. Making me pick like this. The tanzanite, or the amethyst...time to play nice, or to finally open the dense one's eyes about my true feelings? ...I'll play nice. For now. Besides, tanzanite's a much prettier stone, anyway.

I'm late! I'm late! For a very important date! Oh no, and I forgot the pendant! ...Eh, well, it's a gift for another date. At least I have the tarot cards from Kyou. It's...awfully nice. How much did Kyou spend on that? Ryou's a different person when she's doing her fortunes, though...I think I made the right choice.

...Arcana 0, The Fool. It means the future isn't really going to change. Then...things will keep on going, with me and Ryou...that's not a bad thing, and yet...would I really be able to make it work forever?

...We should pick lovers this time, shouldn't we?

...It's a bad fortune. This week, we have to deal with a small problem, but as someone who wants to think seriously about everything, our partner might get tired of our solutions.

...Wait.

...I think...the opportunity's rising. Time for a...kiss...

...That just made things awkward.

...Oh. There are rumours around the school. Rumours about me and...Kyou. Heheh...

...Ah, FUCK!!!!!!! That "practice kiss"...we were caught! That's why...

After class, Ryou's doing her fortune telling. A card flies all the way over to me...

...Arcana VI. "The Lovers".

Kyou confronts me, and convinces me to walk Ryou home. But Ryou thought she was in the way, and waited in the classroom longer than usual. I definitely feel like I screwed up somewhere...

The horoscope was true. "A small problem"...

...I kiss her again. She gets really embarrassed. The next day, we go our separate ways at lunch, and Sunohara intercepts me. Kyou interrupts us, drags Sunohara off...

...I'm reloading from an earlier savestate, I think. Amethyst. Nothing else seems to be changeable, though...even without the kiss...

...Except Sunohara's not such an idiot, after all. Only...this state is even worse... I continually switch between the two states... I think the second set of choices is better. I'm...really thinking about Kyou a lot. I had a dream about her...but Ryou was there, too, watching. Kyou gets careless, crashes into me with her bike, then wrecks it on a telephone pole. I'm quick to make sure she's okay.

...Kyou helped Ryou make lunch? I know it's so that I'd be able to eat Ryou's lunch, but...it means it was made by Kyou, too. And the one thing she made was...the pork cutlets that I praised so much. I head to the washroom after lunch, and on the way...I meet Kyou. It's...awkward, but mercifully brief. Ryou's getting a bit bolder by the next day, but the whispers...back to the one where I'm not on track to break Ryou's heart, I guess. Heh...maybe the rumors are true. I am two-timing, and using Time Lord powers to do so. But...Ryou's so much more bold... Would it really be so bad?

...Erm. It's...that is...we're back at the jewelry store. Ryou wants to buy that tanzanite pendant...but in this continuity, I've already bought it! And it's not like either Fujibayashi girl knows that I did that, so...

...and this is the same clerk, too. She remembers. I give Ryou the pendant, but...I feel guilty.

...Heh. It's a lot more expensive when it's not the one I'm buying as a gift. But I prefer this timeline, I think. Yet...no matter which timeline I'm in, things never seem to change...unless I were to reload to a timeline when I didn't even do the "practice kiss". Heh, some of the background voices had the same "twin switch" idea I did. And...now things seem happy between me and Ryou, so...gah, time to switch again?!

...No. Shit. I made a mistake. That happiness...eh, but it's the same either way? No matter what I do, I have to break someone's heart...

...B'Duh? I make...that suggestion...on the route where I'm more leaning towards Kyou, and yet Ryou says yes? The fortune gets worse...so it's unavoidable, then. Then in that case...there's only one thing to do. Reload from the stone choice, choose Amethyst, but make every other choice like I did originally. Being kind to Ryou, or at least as kind as I can, yet having the amethyst there, too...it's better.

...She hurt her hand somehow? Oh...it was making the lunch, I'll bet. She injured herself...

...Oh, hi, Botan. Botan's hungry, and all I have is Ryou's homemade lunch...Kyou arrives at just the right moment. She tells me that no matter what, I have to eat all of Ryou's lunch. I find it ironic that she's trying to play matchmaker between Ryou and me while Botan's trying to play matchmaker for the two of us. I'm right on the money as to how Ryou hurt herself. But...it really is good. But...Kyou-chan left early? Another rainy day...and Botan's here?!?!?! But then...where is Kyou?!

...stopping time.

Er...eh? Okay, fine, I admit it...I decided to look more closely at the walkthrough...and apparently, I'm already past the final choice in Kyou/Ryou's path? And...aside from not being willing to lie about Ryou's food, every choice I made is in line with Kyou's path. But...the only choice I made that wasn't in line with the Ryou path was the long/short, and yet the final option never should've come up, so...I guess that really is a major choice? Ah, I can't just stop now...

Something's wrong. I follow Botan. And...it all comes pouring out. Kyou has had feelings for me all this time, and she's been feeling the same pain inside that I have. Ryou...she'd understand, right? Kyou...all this time...you're the one I really loved. But...I can't say it, and...

...the next day, a scooter passes by. It's not Kyou's bike. The sisters wave at me during lunchtime...it's as if yesterday never happened. But...there's a pork cutlet in my box lunch. Oh, Ryou's trying to learn how to make it?

...

I'm losing the will to do this playthrough topic. Ryou's becoming popular...her fortune-tellings. And I blab about which of us confessed to whom...I end up getting my fortune read. Kyou shows up before we get there.

The past...reverse of "Death". The second card, representing the present...reverse of "Strength", meaning weak-heartedness and hesitation. The future...reverse of "Hanged Man". Selfishness and desperation. The fourth card, the solution to the problem...reverse of the Hierophant, meaning assistance and support. The fifth card, representing the state of being around me... reverse of the chariot, meaning a rival, a dilemma, and defeat.

...The sixth card represents my unconscious, my desires. The reverse of "the Hermit". Meaning is... mistrust and unrequited love.

The last card, in the middle. Wheel of Fortune. Fate, chance, or a new development...

B-but...it, too, is reversed. Disagreement, jumping to conclusions. She...advises me to be true to my feelings.

I feel sick.

Kah... this is...

...I can't do this anymore. I'll get back to you when it's time for 999, or whatever.

Which....might not be far off. These are credits...the first time I'm seeing them. I guess...I still wasn't able to get a good ending for Nagisa, was I? But...this "good ending" sucks! Even though we're together...everyone's still hurting inside.

Oh. There's post-credits stuff. Everything works out okay...I make peace with Ryou, and in the epilogue, she's got a new boyfriend, and I'm with Kyou... And I think...eheheh...

...Way to interrupt, Botan. Well, anyway, that's one Orb of Light. Tomorrow...I guess tomorrow we start 999.

Sceptilesolar posted...

i can't tell if you were overcome with happiness, despair, disgust, or confusion at clannad's ridiculous branching path structure 

it's pretty funny though

Mostly confusion. I mean, I was completely blind from a gameplay standpoint, but I am a troper, so I wasn't quite as blind as I at times pretended to be...

I'm sure it's obvious that the next playthrough will be following the walkthrough to the letter to get Kotomi's ending. Man, didn't even get properly introduced to her within the game...I didn't have any preconceptions going in, but that first scene made an immediate impact, and then I get cockblocked.

I'm more confused than ever, though. Choices that I've already made are considered the final choices on one route. Of course, following the earlier choices on that route to the letter are taking me through new paths...

...What.

Don't tell me that watching the freaking argument between the nameless characters with the dented car was actually important.

...Welp. Okay, that's different then. Yoshino Yuusuke, huh? Ah, and on my original Nagisa run, I ignored Fuuko, so it wouldn't have been the same, anyway...Not to mention recording over Sunohara's rap in the very first choice, since "Bomb a Head" keeps popping up in here.

..WTF she's helping us with the student council? Little Miss Phoenix Wrong over here...oh, no, it's just a little sketch. Funny, though. Heh...I'm no longer given the choice to take care of Botan, either.

...I get the feeling that my very first choice after returning from my first trip to "alt-world" was the wrongest one of all. Well, other than the one that got me bad-endinged without ever officially becoming Nagisa's boyfriend.

...Huh. So there were other mistakes made, too...I had to get close to Tomoyo, to change the situation with Student Council... and it continues, just a little further, after Nagisa gets sick. Koumura-sensei is retiring...and I actually graduate, properly. Um...whatever. It's another Orb of Light... I have no idea why this is considered a "good ending", given that this is supposed to be an H-game... But I've got two Orbs of Light, and with Koumura's ending out of the way now, I won't run into any problems...the walkthrough says that near the end of Koumura's route, you could end up temporarily losing Fuuko's Orb.

th3l3fty posted...

kotomi's actually not my favorite character, but her route is pretty easily my favorite

(fyi the best character is AKIO)

''also out of curiosity, what are you using as a guide? the 300 hour guide has a lot of stuff you'd probably miss otherwise, although it's missing the baseball route for some reason''

...Eh? There's only one FAQ here...

Come on, you haven't forgotten what site we're on, have you?

Chapter 3: Nice Boat. (999--Coffin Ending)
Good morning. Today, we begin Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors.

The opening cutscene features a countdown and a cruise ship exploding. The loud noise startles Junpei awake. Is that me? Junpei is unfamiliar with his surroundings and hits his head on something metal. He falls out of what seems to be a bunk bed. A 3-level bunk bed, no less, and he fell from the top bunk. He's in pain. The room's shaking, and not just because he hit is head and bruised his body. It's shaking too fast for an earthquake... Junpei has no idea where he is.

The tremors cease, and a cold silence falls over the room. Junpei looks around the room. There's a stove that looks more antique than functional. The mattresses on the bunk bed are "so thin that they're little more than blankets". On the other side of the room was an identical bed, and set in the wall behind the beds was a dirty iron door. The number 5 is emblazoned upon it in red paint. It doesn't open. There's a device next to it that reminds Junpei of a card reader. So, the door's locked...

So far, this game looks cool, something I definitely want to play, but not necessarily something I'd want to do a playthrough topic for. Too many fine details.

As Junpei knocks on the door, he finds a watch-like bracelet on his left wrist, bearing the same number, 5. Well, this just got more interesting. There's no way to take it off...

...Prison. This is a prison.

A window. Round and riveted, like from an early 20th-century ship. Oh, right, I heard in the summary that the 9-hour time limit involved water closing in or something like that. We're on a sinking ship.

...The window's cracking. Water's pouring in. And suddenly, playability begins. The game recommends using the stylus because many parts require exact selection. I continue getting my tutorial. I obtain a card from a bulletin board in the room. I then obtain a picture frame, and inside the antique stove, a screwdriver. Using it on the picture frame allows me to get the picture out, obtaining me "picture of an old cruise liner". Under strange adventure game logic, though, this means I have neither the screwdriver nor the frame. Inside the pot on the stove is a small blue key. There's a suitcase on the lowest bunk of one of the bunk beds...combination style lock, set to 0101 at the moment. There's also a keyhole, and the briefcase is blue. The key fits inside, but without knowing the code for the dial, nothing will happen.

Hmm...the second and fourth digits can only be set from 1-5, instead of 0-9 like the first and third digits.

There's a memo on the bottom bunk of the other bed. It looks similar to the note on the bulletin board. Can't do anything with them, though. There's a cabinet with another small key, red. Wait, it's got a mirror...Junpei's concerned with his face, with the way he looks. And then he remembers...

He came home past midnight. He shuffled up the stairs and opened the door to apartment 201, his apartment. He moved into it when he entered college and had been there for 3 years and 7 months. He turned on the lights, and one thing didn't belong. A breeze. The window was open. He closed it, then turned to find himself face to face with a figure in a gas mask and a dark hood. He tried to approach the figure, but couldn't, and instead collapsed. White smoke filled the apartment.

"Consider this a privilege. You have been chosen." A cold, harsh, raspy, obviously distorted voice emanated from the gas mask. "You are going to participate in a game. The Nonary Game. It is a game...where you will put your life on the line." That was the last thing Junpei remembered before waking up in the bunk. Junpei realized that he had no way of knowing anything about his attacker, even if it was a man or a woman, because of the thick cloak covering its body and the way its voice had obviously been modulated.

...Oh, there was something written on the back of the photo of the ship?

Open

2_3

_5

1_4

Closed

7_8

_0

6_9

(That's a shorthand from me.)

So then the memo from the bed states that the first two digits of the blue combination are 02, while the last two of the red one are 85. The one from the bulletin board says the first two of the red one are 74, and the last two of the blue one are 63. So the briefcase code is...6302 ...it didn't work? Oops, I messed up. It's 0263, not 6302. Inside is a file in red. It explains how to calculate a digital root. Add all the numbers to one another, then keep doing this to the result until you get a single digit. In other words...you're calculating its equivalence class modulo 9. On the back of the file is a notebook, a calculator, and...a stack of key cards. They're blue. They have the numbers 6, 7, and 8 on them. Oh, the file screen is basically a list of my tutorials. Okay...

Well, they picked the wrong person to mess with. I doubt I'll need the calculator much; I have a degree in mathematics.

Finally, upon using the birds-eye view, I realize there's something I missed. I find a cabinet with a red briefcase. 7485, right? Red keycards, 123. So, I need to slide three keycards with a digital root of 5... Obviously I can't add up to 5 with any more than two, so I need three that will add up to 14...167! Junpei shoots out of the room and into the opposite wall. Another door is at the top of a short staircase, just 5 steps tall. It opens, and Junpei exits, only to freeze in his tracks.

A polished floor, ornate staircases...the stairs and pillars were wood, Art Nouveau embellishments covering the walls. A wave of water came towards him from his room. He heads up the stairs. C Deck...B Deck... he runs into four other people. And on the right side, three more.

"I guess there's another one of us now." A woman, dressed like a dancer. Junpei immediately notices how little her clothes cover. She urges him to hurry up and heads through a door behind Junpei. The other six people follow. A young man with silver hair...An older man, calm and without fear, who reminds Junpei of a lion. He says that going up won't do any good; there are two doors, but both are locked. Next is a pink-haired girl with a high voice, who urges Junpei again to hurry. She's leading a man whose eyes are closed, dressed elegantly for his age. Junpei thinks he looks noble, almost like a prince. The "prince" says, "That's nine of us, then. All of the cards are in hand. But...there's only seven others here. That makes 8, right? And what did he mean by "All of the cards are in hand?" Junpei watches as two others pass by, one with hair like a bird's nest and a frail frame, and the other a veritable mountain of a man. The mountain urges Junpei to go, now. The doors on A Deck are no good, so we have to search B Deck. Two pairs of large iron doors. Each had a handle, and a number painted upon them in red. The pair on the right had a 4, and the pair on the left, a 5. Everyone apparently woke up in a similar room...similar to the one Junpei had. (Man, it's actually tougher to do this in third person; I keep wanting to use a first-person pronoun but the game hasn't been using them, so I'm apparently not actually Junpei here.) Silver curses as the door with the five refuses to open. Mountain throws him aside and tries his luck. No luck. Junpei heads to door #4 and notices a box just like the one next to his own door. Still, Junpei decides to check. Junpei remembers the C Deck plate, but he's scarcely taken a step when he notices another person. A girl, probably around Junpei's age. She's pretty cute. Junpei seems to recognize her, but he can't remember where he's seen her before. The girl seems similarly stunned. Junpei slowly approaches her. As he got to the landing where she stood, the ship shook again. The girl stumbled and fell, and Junpei instinctively leapt to catch her...

Her face was far closer than it should have been, mere inches from his own. He was flat on his back, and she was on top of him. Both were confused. Finally, the girl speaks...and yes, she does seem to recognize Junpei, though she calls him "Jumpy". This triggers a memory. The girl's name is Akane Kurashiki, and she'd gone to elementary school with Junpei for six years. A childhood friend. Then a speaker crackled to life. A mysterious voice welcomed everyone aboard. This broke the spell, and Junpei and Akane got to their feet.

The voice identified itself as Zero, the captain of the ship, and the person who "invited" them all there. Junpei recognized it as being the person in the mask. Silver curses at it. Zero again states that he means for us to participate in a game. The Nonary Game. The rules of the Nonary Game can be found upon our persons, or so Zero says. The rules are simple, and Zero demands that we read them.

Silver finds something in his pocket. The others find similar slips of paper in theirs. At the Lion's request, Junpei reads the instructions aloud to the group.

"On this ship, you will find a handful of doors emblazoned with numbers. We will call them the [numbered doors]. The doors in front of you are a pair of the same. The key to opening these doors are the [numbered bracelets] that each of you possess. Should you total the numbers on your [numbered bracelets]...and find that the [digital root] of that number is equal to the number of that door, the door will open. Only those who have opened the door may pass through. There are, however, limits. Only [3-5] people can pass through one numbered door. All those who enter must leave, and all who enter must contribute. The purpose of the game is simple. Leave this ship alive. It is hidden, but an exit can be found. Seek a way out...Seek a door that carries a [9]."

If we each have a different number, then all nine of us combined would have a digital root of nine. We'd have to go through in two groups--one containing five people, including #9, and one containing four people. Zero speaks again.

"There is one last thing I must tell you. As you have no doubt surmised, this ship has begun to sink. On April 14th, 1912...the famous ocean liner Titanic crashed into an iceberg. After remaining afloat for 2 hours and 40 minutes, it sank beneath the waters of the North Atlantic. I will give you more time. [9 hours]. That is the time you will be given to make your escape."

Then the speaker went silent. A bell chimed, which the people traced to an antique clock. It chimed nine times. So, we have until 6 o'clock to escape.

The lion takes charge and urges us to get moving. The dancer is skeptical that we actually plan to do what this "Zero" says. The lion says that's not what he meant. He wants to find another way. They split up and re-converged, finding themselves trapped and D Deck completely submerged. The flow of water seemed to have stopped, though... There were three metal doors on C Deck. None were numbered, but all were locked. One had a keyhole. There were also two elevators, but they did not work. There was a card reader with a strange mark. I recognized it as an astrological sign. Akane confirmed that it was the symbol of Saturn. So the mark on the door with the keyhole was the symbol of the sun. A door on A Deck had a similar symbol. Earth. Metal plates covered every window. So, our only option is the numbered doors on B Deck...

All together, we total 45. So we must split up into groups of 22 and 23, or potentially 13 and 32 or 14 and 31 (only works if smaller group has smaller number). The dancer thinks we shouldn't do what Zero wants us to do. This creates dissent, and everyone starts shouting at each other. Junpei finally snaps and tells them all to shut up. He then suggests we all exchange information. Why is everyone here? Where did they come from? Akane agrees and speaks up, but the mountain tells her to shut up, because Zero could be listening and if it turns out that he only kidnapped random people, we don't want to give him too much information. Akane says we still need to have names so we can easily talk to each other, and the mountain suggests we have code names. He suggests that he should be [Seven], and Junpei calls him on this--why Seven? Sure enough, his bracelet says 7. Silver decides to be "Santa", because "San" is Japanese for 3, which is his number. Lion has a 1, so he's "Ace". The dancer is "Lotus", which has 8 petals. The prince goes by "Snake", like the number 2. Or rather, like dice--"snake-eyes". Particularly relevant, as he is blind. The pink-haired girl was the only one who didn't seem surprised by this...she declares herself "Clover". 4, of course.

Junpei's next, and he shows his number 5, but before he can create a codename, Lotus cuts him off, saying there's no point since everyone knows his real name. Akane steps forward and says that she should go by her real name too, then, since it only seems right...it's only fair, since she blabbed Junpei's name. Junpei steps forward, though, and asks for he bracelet number, then gives her the code name June, based on the number 6. Akane's nervous, but agrees. That left the skinny man with glasses and messy hair to be number nine. I'd almost forgotten about him, but I knew that everyone had been revealed. He seemed unstable. He stuttered as he finally spoke. He says he doesn't need a code name because he isn't staying with the rest of us. He has a plan of his own...and then he takes Clover hostage. He's got a knife. Snake asks if she's alright, and she shakily says she's fine, but her voice is unconvincing. He says he won't do anything to her if she does what he wants. He makes her put her hand on the device. An asterisk appeared on the device. The number on the door was five. Next, he asked for Ace. That's all he needed to get to five...and then his nine would allow the three of them through. But that wouldn't help him in the end, since he'd need three or more people to get through the 9 door, too...

He's not thinking this through. And all must go through...

Well, he's already broken the rules. Lotus notices a beeping noise. Heh...sounds like he's getting his comeuppance. Junpei tries to open the door, but the scanner doesn't even register him. It says "Engaged". Someone says "Listen! I was lied to! He put me in here! It was him! He killed me! It was him!" and screams. The beeping gets louder, then what sounds like a gunshot, and it stops. No, an explosion... The door says "Vacant" again. Junpei is able to put his own number in, but he needs others...which two should he take? Among those that I'd find both useful and trustworthy, Ace probably tops my list, so I'll go with 1 and 8. Sure enough, 9-ball blew up. June screams and falls to the ground. Junpei catches her...she's feverish. Junpei helps her over to a chair...she's crying. The clock strikes 10. Santa's eager to go; Lotus refuses, afraid of ending up like the 9th Man. The sight of his corpse had been gruesome... Santa figures he just screwed up and set off a trap. Santa says he won't do that. Snake starts to laugh. Santa asks what's so funny, and Snake points out the obvious--the 9th Man broke the rules. Snake pulls a card from his pocket and hands it to Ace, who seems confused. Santa likewise. Of course it confused them; it's Braille. It's a message from Zero...

"Bracelet number 2. Since you are not blessed with sight, I shall bless you--and only you--with information. I shall tell you the function of the RED, of the DEAD, and of the bracelet. The [RED] is the Recognition Device. It will verify your number. Beside every numbered door, you will find a RED. The [DEAD] is the Deactivation Device. It does exactly what it says. Once you have passed through the door, you must use the DEAD to stop the [detonator] in your bracelet. But perhaps you are wondering...what does this detonator detonate? I am afraid this may be something of a surprise.

I have placed a [small bomb] inside of you, and the people whom you are about to meet. You swallowed it while you were unconscious. I have no doubt that by the time you read this note, the bomb will have passed your stomach and found its way to your small intestine. In other words, you will be unable to regurgitate it. I suggest you do not try. As I mentioned before, the bracelet on your left hand contains a detonator. Think of it as a remote fuse, or [timer], for the bomb in your body.

There is only 1 condition which will cause it to detonate. That condition is that you enter a numbered door. Once you have done so, the timer will activate, no matter who you may be. You will have [81 seconds]. If, after that time, the detonator has not been deactivated, it will send a signal to the bomb in your body, instructing it to explode. In order to deactivate the detonator, [every person who verified their number at the RED] must also verify their number at the DEAD. Once all numbers have been verified by the DEAD, you need only pull the lever at its side, and the countdown will cease. Anyone who does not verify their number at the RED will find themselves unable to verify their number at the DEAD. That is to say, if you should pass through a numbered door without first verifying your number at the RED, in 81 seconds you will be dead. You must also keep in mind that the numbered doors will close automatically after [9 seconds] have passed. So long as the door is open, the DEAD will not function. You would do well to remember this.

Lastly, let us discuss [how to remove the bracelets]. There are only two ways to do so. One: You escape from the ship. Two: Your heart rate reaches zero. In other words, once the bracelet is taken outside the confines of the ship, or detects that its wearer's heartbeat has fallen to zero, it will shut down automatically. There is no other way to remove your bracelet. If you attempt to force it off, or disable the detonator, the bomb within you will immediately explode.

This is all the information which I can impart to you. How you choose to use it is for you to decide. If used wisely, you can eliminate those who might be a danger to you. For a time, you would be able to control your fate. I wish you the best of luck."

Santa and Seven both defied Zero's suggestions and began to gag themselves. Junpei asked again if anyone knew anything about Zero. Everyone saw the figure in the gas mask. All of them had been abducted at home, at midnight. All saw the white smoke and awoke in a three-bunk room on D Deck. Seven's story lacked the detail of the others. Snake and Clover, oddly, had been abducted from the same room and woke up in the same room.

...Oh. They're siblings. That explains their familiarity with one another. The others decide to try to connect the dots--Junpei and June have a connection, too. Ace suggests that this seems more like the work of an organization than an individual. By the time everything was sorted out, it was 10:30. This time, Santa's suggestion to get moving was heeded.

8 people, totalling 36...the lowest total we could make for a group was 6 (1+2+3), so the only totals that could get us through the 4 and 5 doors would be 13 and 23 or 14 and 22. Lotus refuses to enter Door #5...Santa does the same. Seven volunteers to go in the group that goes through Door #5. Snake volunteers to join him, and Clover protests. Snake says that while they may part now, he's certain they'll meet again. Clover asks how he knows.

...Yeah, I don't see it either. Best way to split this up, given who's already committed to which doors, would be 7+2+1+4 = 14 and 3+8+5+6=22. Which keeps Snake and Clover together. Clover insists that she'll go through Door 5 too if Snake's going, and Snake asks what he'll do with her...and Ace speaks up, apparently coming to the same conclusion I did. Junpei realizes the same thing, and it's decided. Junpei's wondering if that's what he really wants, though...part of him thinks it would be unwise not to examine the 9th Man's corpse a little closer. And he's reluctant to part with June...bringing her through Door #5 would probably require taking Seven and nobody else.

What to do? I can't avoid everyone that I find the least agreeable--Santa, Lotus, and Seven. Seven and Lotus seem the least trustworthy...

Well, 3 and 8 refuse to go through Door #5, so whoever else goes with them has to total 11 unless Snake and no one else accompanies them. If we want to make the groups even, which seems wisest, that either means June and Junpei, or Seven and Clover.

Door #4 it is. I'd feel bad about splitting Snake and Clover up, and Junpei seems unwilling to let June go. The beeping begins as the group passes through, and they find the DEAD and deactivate their bombs. It stopped. Clover tells us about the DEAD; it's just like the RED, but it's blue instead of red. The others headed through Door #4...Damn! It's hidden! There's a long hallway, full of doors that can't be opened, probably cabin doors. Junpei notices a red light flashing at the end of the hallway. Urgently, they rush down to it and deactivate the device. Junpei inspects the double doors at the end of the hallway, and they remain closed. A small keyhole...the symbol for Mars. I'm able to figure that out before June even confirms it, since it's the symbol for "male". Santa checks the other doors, and none of them open. Only the two doors nearest the double doors remain. B92 and B93. Both open. June and Junpei search Room 92 while Santa and Lotus search Room 93.

A strange painting yields no results. An expensive-looking vase...next to it is a door to what looks like a bathroom...A shower. Nothing happens when we turn the knobs on the shower. Nothing suspicious in there...only awkward moments. Finally, we find a book of matches on the table.

...Yeah, I can't use third-person pronouns any longer. I am now officially Junpei. I express my concern for June when I find them, but her fever's gone. She suddenly seems suspicious of me, though, asking if I'm hiding something regarding how I got here. She wonders why two childhood friends who hadn't seen each other in a long time would suddenly bump into each other, and I point out that she could be hiding something. She makes a non sequitur about the number of men she's dated. 18...times 0.

...A curious choice of numbers. You could multiply anything by 0 to get 0, so why a multiple of 9?

We continue searching, as Junpei tries to remember anything suspicious about elementary school. (Figures that right after I switch to first person, something comes up that would give me reason to separate myself from Junpei again.) Finally, we find a map of the ship's interior hanging over a bed. This opens up the map screen. June remembers how Zero mentioned the Titanic. I suggest that it could be a replica. She asks if I believe in curses. I don't. She does, and says she thinks it was a curse that sank the Titanic. The curse of the Egyptian mummy...supposedly the Titanic had contained the mummy of a priestess of Amon-Ra that had been stolen from a pyramid. The story she tells reminds me of the story of King Tut's curse. June goes on. Supposedly, this mummy wasn't shriveled up at all, and still looked...pretty. Junpei mentions a process where if a dead body is put in the right environment, it turns to something like candle wax. June says that that's saponification, but that's not what this was. Rather, it was frozen solid. Ice that didn't melt even when carried through the desert...

This game only has one save file. So all decisions are final. The battery's running low on my 3DS, so I think we're stopping for now.

Oh, right. TV Tropes pointed out one thing I'd forgotten--the digital roots aren't exactly the same as the congruence groups for modulo 9, because the congruence group for multiples of 9 is not 9, but 0. Basically, it's the same as the ones digit of a number in that base.

Well, I won't be playing from 8 to 10 regardless, so why not continue for a bit more now? Actually, it looks like the charge is complete anyway. Okay, so the map screen's only available during the story sections...

I point out a bottle of water on the dresser. June says it's probably because your throat's always dry when you wake up. I agree that my throat's dry, but that's probably nervousness more than anything else. June says that we've been running around a lot and asks if I want to take a shower...together. "Whoa!" is right. She giggles and says, "Just kidding!" My throat's even dryer, though, picturing the scene. If we get out of this alive, I certainly wouldn't mind. We look at a dresser. June's fixing her hair in the mirror, and I say we haven't got time for this and there's no one here she needs to impress. She says otherwise, then gets very quiet.

...Forget it, I can't use first-person pronouns for this guy anymore. How can Junpei be this dense? She's practically throwing herself at him...A small key is found in the dresser drawer. Nothing else I haven't checked, I don't think...I head to the other room. The back room in there is dark, and the lights don't work. ...Bingo, a candlestick! And I have matches... Lit candle get! The key from the dresser in the first room opens the dresser in the other one. We get an odd square plate that looks like it would fit in with the picture in Room 92. A curtain sits atop the bed in Room 93... The candle went out. Wait, the candlestick is a key? Weird. The display case in that room is locked, and there's a plate inside that resembles the one in the dresser. The candlestick key opens it. Santa then gives Junpei a bookmark with a four-leaf clover on it. Said he found it between the couch cushions. Junpei asks why he doesn't hold onto it, and he says that the four things he hates in the world are Hope, Faith, Love, and Luck, which are the meanings of the four leaves of a four-leaf clover. He says that he hates them because they can betray you...He also doesn't like the number 4. Santa says he prefers the number 9, even if it's a last-place number, because it's better than some lame middle number, and asks if I play. "Like gambling"? Or "like the stock market"? I choose the former, and he says, sure, what else would he be talking about, and starts talking about baccarat. Lotus then says that if you think about it, the Nonary Game is a lot like baccarat. ...She's right. Though baccarat uses base 10, not base 9.

Wait...there are three empty spaces in the frame of their portrait. Which means I'm still one plate short. The curtain I found was a shower curtain, which we hang up in the shower in Room 93. There's a pretty big hole in it, though. Looking at it from outside...fifth from the top, third from the right. I head back to Room 92 and loosen the corresponding tile, and that reveals the final plate. I arrange the tiles in the proper order, and the frame moves, revealing...the Mars key! Lotus seems to recognize the picture in the frame, mentioning a British biochemist named Sheldrake. Something about morphogenetic fields and morphic resonance. Basically, the shapes of living organisms and their behavioral patterns are transmitted through an invisible field...telepathically, if you will. Santa's immediately dismissive, but Lotus doesn't rush to defend it. Anyway, that picture was in his book. Oh, it's kind of like a Rorschach test...but what does it look like? I don't even recognize what one of the options is...and it apparently isn't anything, because googling it only brings up references to this game. Okay, then, that's the option I take. "Funyarinpa". Lotus asks what the hell a funyarinpa is, and Junpei says it's blasphemous that she doesn't know, calls her a rude woman, and makes her apologize to the funyarinpa.

Lotus says it's a dog, which admittedly was the only other thing among the options that made sense. Though, oddly, the dog she revealed and the dog I originally saw weren't quite the same. We head to the hallway and through the Mars door.

A metal grate stretches across the new hallway that we enter into. Nearby is a pair of elevators. Thy don't work. A single door was accessible other than the one we'd previously entered from. It opened. It was a kitchen. Another door, with a key card reader. Junpei takes out the map, and Lotus confirms that if we could open that door, we'd be on the other side of the grate. Looking at the map...we could also probably join up with the other group again if we did that. I begin investigation. Looking at some plates, Lotus says they're probably for seafood. Junpei asks how she can tell, as they look the same as any other plates from the 99-cent store. Lotus says that Junpei would embarrass himself if he ever took a lady out to dinner, and said she felt sorry for June. So, Lotus sees it, too... We look at other plates, and learn about soup plates and meat plates. I find a whetstone, but nothing else that I can use. There's also a cabinet that looks like it needs a code to get into. Oh, wait, there's a door I can enter... A pantry...a bottle of oil, hidden behind some cheese. That allows me to open the door with the rusty bolt. It's a freezer. Santa and Lotus complain about the cold, unsurprisingly given their attire. Junpei tells June she doesn't have to be in there, given her fever, but she claims she's fine. The door closed...it was cold to the touch. Too cold to touch. The pipe near the door had burst, and it had frozen solid on contact. Santa, Junpei, and June were locked inside.

Dry ice. June knows its sublimation point. Unfortunately, she's have trouble speaking clearly due to the cold. No, wait, she's just joking around. June mentions a type of ice that allegedly won't melt until 96 degrees...[ice-9]. That was a made-up substance invented by a science-fiction author, though, wasn't it? June compares it to the difference between graphite and diamonds, then tells us the story of the crystallization of glycerin. It's...weird. It was as if the crystallization point changed rather suddenly. There's water coming from a pipe...it actually seems rather warm. Could it be ice-9, and therefore a solid despite being above 32 degrees? No, it's actually water. We also have a chunk of pork with a tag in it, a sturdy rope, a water bottle... Can I combine these items in any way? Also, there's one more item. A frozen chicken. ...Ah. That's why no combination worked. I didn't have the frozen chicken, which I needed to break the dry ice to fit it in the water bottle. Tie the rope on, and we get the water bottle bomb. Junpei picks up some more dry ice chunks with his sleeves and tells the others to hide in the cellar that had held the rope and water bottle. Then he threw it at the bomb and triggered it. They escaped...but where was Lotus? Junpei quickly found her, lazing around. She claimed there wasn't really much she could do...which was true. We try to defrost the meat...but the paper's stuck. We need something to cut the meat open. We realize that the voucher next to the plates is using hexadecimal. But...I'm all out of things to search.

Hmm...the whetstone's for sharpening something...so I need to find a dull knife. Damn pixel hunts...

Bingo. Figured it had to be in the pantry. June starts acting creepy, talking about a book called Futility, written in the late 19th century, that essentially predicted the sinking of the Titanic. Junpei gets her back on task, claims the rusty knife, and sharpens it.

C + 10 + F...12 + 16 + 15. 43...or rather, 2B. But the keypad only operates in Base 10. Yep, "43" opens it. And that gives us a Saturn key card. Wait, wouldn't that also open the door back on the other side of the numbered doors? We headed down to C Deck and found the elevators, but these ones had a card reader. Mercury. We head down another path and enter an unlocked door...an infirmary? And in the back, two numbered doors...7 and 8. Given the party we have now, and the three-person minimum...we could send three of our people through a door. Lotus, Santa, and either June or Junpei, depending on which door we would take...

...No. There were four doors. One unnumbered, and also a #3 door. No three-person party here that could get in there, though. But the displays on the REDs were unresponsive.

...And the party's back together. The bases for the REDs were gone when they'd arrived. The hallway had more hospital rooms, and the door at the end of the hallway required a Jupiter key. Junpei asks why a cruise ship would have a hospital like this, and Seven responds that it's probably a hospital ship, most likely the [Gigantic]. ...! That's one of the Titanic's sister ships! According to Seven, it had been pressed into duty as a hospital ship during World War I, and was damaged by a German mine in the Aegean Sea, whereupon it ran aground and disappeared. One theory stated that it was purchased by an obsessive collector of things related to the Titanic, a Titanic survivor named [Lord Gordain]. Santa asks for proof. Seven can't produce any, and Lotus says "I guess your memory isn't back yet." Junpei keys on this. He's apparently the only one who was shocked, though, as everyone else had learned this before meeting Junpei. Then...midnight. They decided to split up to search rooms, and to meet at the next chiming of the clock. When 1 o'clock came, they all met back up...all except Snake. And Door #8 had already been fixed. So had the other two. Clover runs off to look for Snake. Everyone else splits up to search. Where to go, though? ...Junpei's alone with June. I'm still bothered by the fact that we have a Saturn keycard, but can't go back to the place where we saw a Saturn Keycard door. Um...to the hallway with all the rooms!

Ace is already there. Okay, then, to the casino! Lotus is there, and she's got a proposal. We should team up to go through a numbered door.

...8+6+5=19. We can't get through any of the ones we've already found with that number. Lotus wants to add Snake in and go through the #8 door.

...Interesting...With such a group, she'd be the odd one out if the next door we came upon was #9. But I guess she's assuming that wouldn't be the case. No...that's her plan, isn't it! Damn... Before, all eight of us would be able to get through in two groups, but with the current doors being numbered 3, 7, and 8, someone's going to have to stay on the other side of both doors. To the first class cabins!

...Clover's there. She seems really depressed...she wants to be left alone. Back to the large hospital room. Santa's near the #3 door...odd how these people seem drawn to their own doors. No one was in the hallway with all the rooms when they returned. We needed to get going.

...1+3+4+5+6+7+8=34. Digital Root...7. So we couldn't split into two groups and get all seven of us through two doors. Lotus gives us the cold math--no matter what, one person will be left behind.

8+7+1

8+3+5

7+3+6

So the one who gets left behind...is either Ace, Junpei, or June. June doesn't want to sacrifice anyone...but Lotus tells her that that's impossible. It was impossible with 8 of us, too...

...but it wouldn't have been with all nine of us. If the 9th Man and Snake were both still here...we could've split up into three groups of three. Lotus proposes a vote on the issue, and gets the support for her plan. Ace offers to be the one who stays. He then says he trusts the rest of us to come back for him. Seven says he's nuts. Ah...the doors are 1-way. That's why I can't use the Saturn Keycard in the elevator in the area where we all met up.

So. 8 and 7. We're working with numbers 3-8 to get to it... um, I guess it's 3 and 6 together and 4 and 5 together, one group with 7 and one group with 8. Alternatively, you could go with 3-5-8 in the 7 door and 4-6-7 in the 8 door. No matter what, though, our little lovers will have to split up. June desperately tries to find a way to get everyone through...and Ace falls over. He anesthetized himself...

...I had a feeling when Snake read that letter that at some point in this story, someone would try to lower their heart rate to zero in order to escape their bracelet. But it seems all Ace was doing was trying to force the others to leave him behind. Sure enough, Lotus chooses door 8, and Seven says he can't get along with Lotus and chooses door 7. Junpei is given the next choice...Door 7, I say. There's really no way around it. 3 and 4 have to split up, 5 and 6 have to split up, and 7 and 8 have to split up. Neither June nor Junpei wants to leave the other. Seven points out that the doors have to connect again somewhere, because otherwise the game's over. Bah...it would be so much easier if that idiot hadn't tried to rebel against the system...Junpei and June share their goodbye and head through the doors. Seven's relieved when they disable the detonator. Clover sasses him, saying that she'd have thought a guy his size would have bigger balls than that.

Oh, hey. Here in the real world, it's 8:00. Stopping time.

Junpei examines the inner part of the numbered door. On the left is a single hallway that quickly ends at a thick iron wall. He gives up and returns to Seven, tapping on the wooden door. A plaque above the door labeled it "Operating Room". Seven opens the door, and Junpei enters, followed by Seven and Clover. Part of the room is obscured by a screen. Clover darts ahead to look behind it, then screams. The boys dart forward to see what scared her. A corpse on an operating table? No...looking at it, the joints look wrong. A dummy, I think. Yes, as they approach, they confirm this. Probably used for teaching. Clover relaxes, and Seven sasses her back for her earlier comment. Clover responds by calling him a fatty. Junpei steps in to try to keep them from coming to blows. The doll has a visible heart. Search time!

The name "John" is on the operating dummy. "John Doe", no doubt. Under a cloth, there are pieces of another dummy. A head and an arm. "Lucy". How creepy...There are scales attached to the operating tables. A table near Lucy's resting place has surgical tools. I grab a Kocher forceps; it seems to be the only thing I can grab. I then grab a fake chest--Lucy's, probably. A bunch of bottles of medicine are on a set of shelves. Seven wonders if any of them are laxatives, and they discuss how, gross as it might be, it wouldn't be worthwhile to try crapping out the bombs.

A locked door. We need to find the key. Another locked door...Oh, there's another medical model, guts showing. Something's lodged in its chest. The forceps take out a fake organ. Another tray of medical tools yields a scalpel. And...already I feel like I've checked everything. There's hardly anything to check. Oh...I examine the fake organ closer. It's a lung, and there's something rubbery in back. We can cut through it... there was a key hidden inside. Unlock the left door...A medical chart adds to my file screen. Oh, this device is weird...it has four lights, a beaker, and a device that emits light. When I switch it on, only the white light lights up. Probably need to put something in the beaker to dilute the light. Three doors, each with a plate in the color of one of the other three lights. Another locked door...I want to examine the keyhole more closely, but can't. A light switch that doesn't work. ...Wait, the organ key's still in my inventory! The other door also opens!

...Seven's kind of a nerd. Although personally I prefer "hydrogen hydroxide" to "dihydrogen monoxide" for "nerdy ways to refer to water". A can filled with carbon dioxide...

Note on a table. Iron=1 Salt=2 Water=3 Carbon dioxide=? Ammonia=? Ethanol=? A clue to the locked box on the table, I'm sure. A blue liquid and a red liquid...and blue and red makes purple. Fake right leg in the red locker...the blue bottle empties. I add the red liquid again afterwards to make purple. More parts in the other two lockers.

C2H5OH. Ethanol... NH3, Ammonia...we've got everything on the note in here, don't we? But how to decode it...

...We still have purple liquid in our inventory. I'm back to stumped.

...Wait, no I'm not.

Iron = Fe. An element. Salt = NaCl. 1 atom of sodium and 1 atom of chlorine. Water = H2O. 2 atoms of hydrogen and 1 atom of oxygen.

CO2, NH3, and C2H5OH. 3 atoms, 4 atoms, 9 atoms. 349. A fake heart and a fake arm are inside. That should complete Lucy!

Before we head back, though, Seven seems to have something. Ethylene Diamine Tartrate...an industrial-strength detergent? It seems to have jogged Seven's memory. --- 50 years ago, there was a factory in America making EDT crystals. A year after it started up, Something strange started happening with the EDT they were making. Water molecules started attaching themselves to the crystals, making a mutation known as a hydrate. This made them useless as a cleaner. After that day, though, the same thing started happening in EDT factories everywhere. That sounds just like the story about the glycerin... Junpei notes it, too. He tells Seven the stories of the glycerin and the ice-9, and the latter sounds familiar to Seven. I ask him if he knows about ice-9. Somehow, this reminds him that there's someone on this boat named Alice. The woman who won't melt at room temperature. Wait, what?

...And now we're talking about the Titanic again. Seven asks about boat that was sent to collect the corpses. Junpei asks if that was the RMS Carpathia, but Seven says that that was the boat that collected the survivors. The corpses were collected by the CS Mackay-Bennett, which showed up two days after the accident, setting out from Halifax and recovering 306 corpses. They were frozen solid. They collected other things, too...among them, a coffin. An airtight wooden coffin, no nails or anything. I bet that's the priestess of Amon-Ra! The rest of Seven's story seems to match up with the story June told us. "Alice" was a pun on "All-Ice". But one day, she just up and disappeared.

Junpei notes something strange, though. Why would Seven say that she was on this ship? He says he knows what happened to her after she was stolen. He mentions a black market in New York, and says he heard that she went up for auction there. She was won by, of course, Lord Dashiell Gordain. Yeah, saw that one coming. So apparently Alice was hidden on the Gigantic. One close friend of Gordain's received a clue to Alice's whereabouts.

"Alice sleeps in a small chamber past the forest of knowledge, beneath the navel of the Gigantic." "Forest of knowledge"...sounds like a library. Clover interrupts us, hurrying us onward.

We reassemble Lucy, but nothing happens. Someone suggests swapping parts with John's to get it to a specific weight, since the scale is there. But...how would I know what weight to make it?

Switching hearts changes the weights by 0.3. The chests, 0.2. The right arm, 0.5. The torso, 0.6. The right leg, 0.4. And the left leg, 0.5.

Oh, wait, the medical record...it says Lucy should be 53.2 kg, and John 51.3. So the only thing that's correct is the heart! The lid on John's scale opens, and the Jupiter key is revealed. But...now what? Oh, right, the door in the prep room. Seven stops me before I can put the key in the door. Clover's gone missing. She's still standing next to the operating table, staring at the mannequin. Junpei asks what's wrong. She's unresponsive, and then she whispers that she's afraid that Snake might be dead. And if he's dead, she says, she's going to be next. I give her the four-leaf clover that Santa gave us earlier, and explain the meanings that Santa had ascribed to each leaf. We give her a pep talk. She thanks us and starts crying. Then she asks us a question. What do you think when you hear the word "experiment"? Junpei seems confused, and Clover says that it must have just been a coincidence that he knew about the four-leaf clover. She tries to change the subject, but Junpei presses her on it. She makes us promise not to tell. Then she tells us of something that happened on this ship, 9 years ago...

...Oh shit. This isn't the first Nonary Game, is it?

"It was an experiment, to test some sort of psychic thing. Something about...communicating through these fields that you can't see."

...Well, everybody seems awfully consistent. Junpei's been locked out of the loop, though. Although Clover's a bit loopy right now. She points at John and asks if it's really John, and asks if it isn't like Locke's socks, or the Ship of Theseus. Junpei hasn't heard of either of them. The second sounds vaguely familiar to me, but...I'd still like Clover to refresh my memory.

Oh. They're both paradoxes. She explains.

"Let's say I've got a pair of socks. They're my favorite socks. One of them gets a hole in it. What would you do if that was your sock?"

...Oh, wait, this is actually a choice. Throw it away. Clover tries to make a point, and if it was really something you loved that much, you'd patch it up. But what if another hole opens up? And so on, until the original cloth is completely gone. The Ship of Theseus is the same thing; keep fixing something, and eventually it doesn't have any of its original parts left. And what if you take all of the old parts from the first ship, and build another ship somewhere else? Which is the real Ship of Theseus?

And that's the point. We had the two Lucy parts that were already there, and we had six other parts, but to get the weights right, we switched five parts. So our "John" used more Lucy pieces than John pieces. Is it really John, or is it Lucy now? And yet, it still has both John's head and his heart. So by conventional wisdom, the mannequin's John.

"We're just like these mannequins." A wham line? No...she goes on that the cells in our body change every day. Old ones die and new ones are born. And those cells are made using energy obtained from the food we eat, so in a way, they're made from those organisms, which in turn are made from the stuff they ate...and that's how we're all connected, through fields that can't be seen with the naked eye. That's...deep. Seven interrupts us, asking us what's taking so long. Clover seems to want to tell Junpei more, but doesn't want to do so with Seven around. Clover heads off towards the exit, "too fast to be entirely innocent." We head through the Jupiter door. It led to a simple white hallway. After a number of locked doors, they find a pair of doors at the end of the hallway, but before Junpei can open it, a voice interrupts him. June's. Looks like the 386 group's here. Clover calls us to look over at a small hallway branching off to the right. A map of C Deck. It showed the routes they both took. Looking at it...it looks like the path behind Door #3 would've been the shortest, at least in terms of space covered. But the door that they'd be going through...was the very door that they'd encountered, unnumbered, when they'd split up. We fill Ace in on what happened. He understands quickly and admits that he feels a bit silly about his show of altruism now. Oh, right, we can do something with the Jupiter Key now...oh, and the other group found the Earth key in the laboratory! Then I bet we'll be able to use the Saturn keycard where I wanted to, too. But the Jupiter key's the only one that would be used on this side of the 4-5 doors. Seven says that according to the map, it'll connect with the central staircase. Clover wants to go through Door #3 first... Ace offers to go with Clover and asks Seven to come with him. Lotus says to be careful, and Seven's surprised, but Lotus points out that there's no way for 3, 5, 6, and 8 to open the 9 door. The three of them head through, and Lotus suggests that we should set off for the Jupiter door now rather than waiting around for them to return. That's true; it's not like it'll re-lock like the numbered doors do, and time is of the essence.

Sure enough, we're back where we started. Santa asks if it's really such a good idea, since we've already searched this area, but we remind him that now we have the Saturn keycard and the Earth key, both of which could be used in this area. Santa seemed confused, so June filled him in. The Earth door was on A deck, and the Saturn keycard unlocked the elevators on C Deck. Santa suggests we split up. Junpei's alone with June again, searching the Saturn elevators. Only a brief, 10-minute search. But...there's no up button, only down? That'd be problematic...though it'd explain why the elevator wasn't visible from A or B Decks. June suddenly gets scared. She's realized the same thing we have--that the only way the elevator can go is towards the flooded decks. But Junpei points out that the elevator had to have come from somewhere, because there was a motor noise and it didn't open right away, but it wasn't wet at all.

There were only two buttons: E and C. Junpei pressed the E button, then left the elevator before it closed. They then re-summoned the elevator, after it had opened on E Deck, and it was still dry. Junpei guesses that E deck and the elevator shaft are watertight and separated from the location of the puncture. So even though D deck is flooded, E Deck isn't!

...Okay, battery's running low again, and it's probably about time to be having lunch here in the real world, anyway. So that's all for now.

Junpei explains it to June and then says he'll go ahead and check it out, telling her to wait on C Deck. She's a bit reluctant, and at the last moment, decides to go with him, waiting long enough that Junpei can't react in time to stop the elevator from departing with her on it as well. June apparently started holding her breath inside the elevator, afraid that E Deck would be flooded.

Another thick set of iron bars separates the two elevators. A long hallway around the corner from the elevator room leads to a numbered door--6. Hmm...yeah, first we had the 4 and 5 doors, then 3, 7, and 8, so we'll probably have 1, 2, and 6 all available now. Junpei notices a map on the way back. A burnt map of E Deck. Sure enough, Santa and Lotus found door #1. I wouldn't be surprised if door #2 is behind the Sun Door, and the Sun Key is found behind Door #3. Hmm... if, as I expect, Ace, Clover and Seven return with Snake in tow, we'd be back to having 9 as our total digital root--which with only eight people would be problematic should we all require to go through doors. If Snake's still missing, though, our digital root as a group is 7, so we could split up into two groups (of uneven size) and go through the #6 and #1 doors. June suggests we get moving. Lotus jokes about the fact that she, June, and Junpei could open the #1 door together if they were to leave Santa behind. Seven asks where we went. Ace and Clover were behind him. Something seemed...off, about them. Both of the men looked like they'd seen a ghost, and Clover seemed on the verge of passing out.

...Snake is dead. He died...in the same manner as the 9th Man. Lotus wants to check to make sure and heads for the #3 door, but Seven says not to go that way--he put a screwdriver in the unmarked door to keep it from closing all the way and locking. He did the same with a broom in the door to the room where Snake died. It smelled awful. As per usual, Junpei's quick to try to shelter June. The other three look at the body...it's described in gory detail. I'll spare all of you from having to read it.

One thing I noticed, though, was the letters "LLR" written in blood on the wall. I'm sure that'll be relevant later.

Seven thinks that Snake was murdered, in the same way that the 9th Man was. The killers most likely got Snake to authenticate the door, then shoved him through alone and waited until the door shut. Because at least three people are needed, there need to have been at least two killers. Snake's number is two, so the two of them would need to have numbers adding up to 1...Aside from his status as the player character, Junpei's out because his 5 would need a second #5 to open the door. June was with Junpei the whole time, and her #6 would need #4, which is Clover's number. And Lotus is clear because she'd need a second #2 to do it. So assuming that there are only two killers--which, admittedly, is not something we can necessarily assume--the only ones who could have done it are...Santa and Seven. So why the hell is Seven bringing up this theory?

...Ah, no, wait, Snake was killed at a time that we all split up; the time that June was with Junpei was when we were searching for Snake. So technically the 46 pair is also "live", though I have a hard time believing it given that #4 is Clover and I can't see her murdering her brother, not when she's clearly devastated by his death. Unless she's a really good actress.

Ace tells Seven to calm down--getting suspicious of the others would be playing right into Zero's hands. As always, Ace is the voice of reason. Ace thinks that Zero is the one who killed Snake. But then that means Zero's still on the ship? ...Yeah, probably.

Clover says she thinks that Zero is one of the participants in the Nonary Game. Is that possible? Zero wouldn't put himself at risk...which means that unless this sinking thing is a bluff, Zero's not trapped here. (It's quite likely that if Zero is one of us, he or she doesn't actually have a bomb in his or her stomach like the rest of us, so that's not an issue here.) But...I don't know. I guess it's possible...and it would definitely make sense as to how Zero can monitor all of us so closely. Junpei points out another thing--the bracelets. If Zero's hiding somewhere, just watching us, he could just detonate the bracelets by remote control if someone broke the rules. It would be more precise, and easier. That...makes sense. He then goes on to say that you could apply the same ideas to the Nonary Game. All of the puzzles here run by themselves. Zero doesn't have to be controlling them for the game to move forward. Santa gets what Junpei's suggesting--it would be hard for Zero to keep track of everyone or to run the puzzles remotely if he's among the group, so he'd have to let the puzzles run themselves. Junpei then tries to make sense of Seven's and Ace's assertions. Seven said any of us could be the killer; Ace suggested that Zero was the killer. Those two theories actually complement each other. But...this obviously means Zero had help, if he or she used the door to kill Snake. Lotus pokes a hole in this theory, though: what would Zero's motive for hiding as a participant in the Nonary Game be?

Three AM. Only three hours left. Ace says that we need to put that aside and trust each other.

Okay, 6 and 1...lots of possibilities here.

145/3678

136/4578

168/3457

1356/478

1347/568

1378/456

1468/357

1567/348

...Absolutely nothing is locked. Pick any two people, and there's at least one possibility where they're together and at least one where they're apart. Pick any one person, and there's at least one possibility where they're in the group of four and at least one where they're in the group of three; at least one where they go through door #6 and at least one where they go through door #1.

...Sure enough, Seven found the Mercury keycard in the shower room where they'd found Snake. June and Junpei were chosen to investigate the elevators, because they'd been to E Deck. The only working buttons were "C" and "Bottom". Ominous... Unsurprisingly, it led to a short hallway terminating at Door #2.

There's a scene cut. Seven folded pieces of paper, each bearing a codename and a door. Why had they voted that way? They decided it wasn't fair to ask everyone at once, because that would allow people to force others to go through certain doors. But Junpei had another plan when he'd proposed the voting system.

Ace requests door #1. He offers to explain why, but Junpei says we haven't got the time and decides to keep going. Santa wants Door #6. Already, for everything to work out, either the first scenario I mentioned or one of the last two has to be the outcome. Clover wants 1, and Lotus and Seven both want 2...interesting. Wait, has Junpei figured out what I've figured out--that given the current makeup of our party, 2 is a door we won't be going through right away? Lotus protests the idea of going anywhere with Seven. True, they've never been in the same group. Junpei says there'd be no point in the voting if we let people change their votes based on stuff like that. Seven and Lotus start fighting. June also requested door #6...

If Junpei's is anything other than Door #6, there's actually a legit group for that door. And...I get to choose what he wrote. Well, I see the inherent problem with Door #2, and Door #6 would create a standstill, so...Door #1 it is. Besides, I haven't been in a group with Ace yet.

Heh...Santa's suspicious of the fact that Junpei, the one reading the votes, had his own revealed last, and it turns out he's justified. Junpei had prepared three pieces of paper, one for each door, and the one he'd initially put in was Door #6. He marked his own, and put the other two pieces of paper in each hand. Then he used whichever hand he had the paper he wanted to switch to draw the lots and used sleight of hand to switch them. Lotus sees the answer and volunteers herself and Seven to go through Door #1.

I can't help but wonder what would've happened if I'd picked Door #2...should've used a savestate. Seven's still sniping at Lotus.

Countdown begins...the DEAD is right next to the entrance. Another door...it leads to the wheelhouse. Junpei assigns Ace to investigate that room, and Clover to investigate the one we're in...the chart room, I guess. We quickly find a stack of nautical charts, then a map of the world on the wall with 7 red pins in it. Words next to each one...although the words for the most part look more like they're next to the lines than the points. There are arrows on the chart. Japan is at one end, then to the northern coast of Australia, then to Madagascar, then the Cape of Good Hope, then to...somewhere in North America, probably Canada? Given the way things that pop up once in this game tend to reappear, it wouldn't surprise me if that's Halifax. The sixth point is in Western Europe, looks like the northern coast of Spain. And finally, England. The words are "FULL", "HALF", "SLOW", "FULL", "HALF", "DEAD", "STOP".

More new files. A ship's log. The directions given seem to suggest this same route. Left port, headed south and west, turned southwest to steer around the continent, proceeded northwest, made port, changed heading to east, now heading due north towards this vessel's homeland, the United Kingdom.

Junpei finds a pocket watch, and Ace asks to take a look at it. Junpei didn't expect him. He asks about it, and Ace says he thought he'd check up on us and asks if there's a problem. I say no, but...it's a lie. Junpei wanted to ask something of Clover, privately. Ace seems to understand and leaves again.

Oh, right. The story Clover was telling Junpei back in the operating room before Seven interrupted. About the experiment 9 years ago. Clover says she doesn't want to talk about it right now. She just keeps thinking about her brother...and she says that whoever did that to him is going to pay. She's biting her lip so hard that it's bleeding. She asks Junpei who he thought did it. Junpei says the same things I said before. But, as he points out, there's the possibility of it being 3 people, not 2. Clover says that's not very likely...she says she'll tell Junpei why later. Hmm...

The combinations for 3 or 4 people doing it would be whichever combinations were able to go through the #1 door in this latest split-up. And the only such teams that include neither of the two people holding this discussion are...136 and 1378. Yeah, I see what Clover means...I give the answer that Seven and Santa is the only viable pairing. Again, she came to the same conclusion I did. And Clover feels like she can trust Junpei...and if there were four killers working together, they'd outnumber the others now, and besides Ace and Seven would've been able to kill Clover when they went to the shower room. So 1378 is out (besides, that overcomplicates things, since 37 is part of that anyway), and of course Junpei wants to rule out 136...well, regardless, as long as Junpei didn't do it and Clover herself didn't do it, Santa has to be one of the killers. Clover thinks she knows why Santa and Seven might have done it...but then Ace comes in, asking to speak to Junpei.

I think that's all for now.

Okay, maybe not. Looks like I won't be getting my game here, so back to this game.

Junpei follows Ace into the other room...and he says he wanted to check something. Seems Ace caught on to Junpei's earlier deceit. He said he didn't care, though, because he got through the door he wanted to. The compass in the wheelhouse is broken. There's a locked door with a strange indentation, which the pocket watch fits into, but nothing happens. Probably need to set the pocket watch to a specific time... There's also an engine-order telegraph. It's weird...seems like there are two wheels, and two compasses. The handle's been removed from the engine-order telegraph. There's also a more modern addition, kind of like the arrival board at an airport. Wait...the other steering wheel moves. And it moves the compass as well. Let's see if we can input this like a combination lock... Damnit, went too far the first time on the final turn. And sure enough, it works. The handle comes off, and I apply it to the engine-order telegraph...and that has the same set of words as the map! I put it in, and the arrival board shows the names of ports. Only one of them has a timestamp, though...the final one. 10 seconds past 3:00...I have to examine it a second time to get anything to trigger, though--Ace gets the idea of moving the hands of the pocket watch to the time shown. It opens the door. We call Clover in and exit the door. We find ourselves in a space too narrow to be called a hallway, then head into a room filled with old electronic equipment. One of them Ace recognizes as a telegraph key. This must be the communication office...and there was another door, labeled "Captain's Quarters". They all remember that Zero called himself "the captain of this ship". The door opened easily enough...and there was a man on the floor, covered in blood. He realized that he hadn't checked for a pulse...but the man was dead, and...wearing a bracelet similar to that of the Nonary Game participants? He hadn't exploded, though...an ax lay next to him, obviously the murder weapon.

His bracelet read "0". So, clearly this man was meant to represent Zero. Junpei started to laugh, having realized that it was too simple, too straightforward, too obvious.

An old-style music box...it sounds all weird. Probably altered in some way... A camcorder, pointed at a door with a keypad... There are screens showing different parts of the ship. So then this really is meant to be Zero's quarters... We switch something on the screens, and suddenly, it switches to the view of the door, along with two blank screens, across the top, and the bottom four screens each have a letter, spelling out "zero". Junpei's now certain that the dead man isn't Zero. Clover says that it's true; only an idiot would fall for that. Junpei says that he doesn't think Zero did think anyone would fall for it...but then what was the point? To mock us. It seems childish...like it's all just a game. But who is the dead man? Junpei flips him over, and the bracelet fell off. Junpei says that in a way, this guy has it better--he at least looks like he could be alive, whereas the others got exploded into walls... He realizes too late what he's saying; who he was talking to.

Wait. That's not what Clover was keying on. When Junpei said there had been a broken bone sticking out of Snake's left arm... Clover says she didn't take a good look at the body, She makes Junpei repeat what he said, and make sure he was remembering correctly. Clover starts crying and thanks Junpei, and throws herself into his arms. Junpei is very confused. But...Clover is now certain that the body in the shower room isn't actually Snake's.

...I don't think I want to think of the implications of that. I think they're even worse.

See, if Snake's death was faked...my first thought is that he's actually a conspirator. Although, I suppose the fact that it's not really Snake means that we can't get too suspicious of anyone anymore. Junpei asks why she'd think that the body wasn't his, and she starts to say something about his left arm, but stops herself. Clover pulls out the bookmark and says she only made it this far because of what Junpei said to her. Junpei says that if she should be thanking anyone, it's Santa, because he was the one who gave it to Junpei. The words for each leaf, too. Clover breaks away suddenly. She asks if Santa really told him those things, and when he answers in the affirmative, she says it could be good news. And then she talks about the experiment again...the only people who should know about that are the other subjects, from the experiment nine years ago with her brother and her. But he's blind, and she was part of the Nevada test group...so neither of them would be able to recognize the faces of the other people who had been on this boat. Junpei demands a time out and asks her to start from the beginning, instead of starting from the end and jumping to the middle. She nods, and he asks about the experiment and what happened on the boat 9 years ago. She asks if he knows about morphogenetic fields. He recounts what Lotus told him earlier. It was indeed a Nonary Game...two of them, in fact, one on the boat and one in a building in Nevada. Apparently, the ability to access a morphogenetic field is affected by "epiphany" and "danger". ...Oh. Yes, actually, I do know this phenomenon...that's epiphany. And it gets easier to telepathically transmit the epiphany when there's danger. Someone actually did die in the last Nonary Game. She was on the boat with Snake. Clover never met her, but she heard her name. Before she could tell Junpei, though, the door opens and Ace comes in, asking for help. Clover says we'll talk about this later.

There's a drawer with an electronic lock. A blank piece of paper in another desk drawer. A set of small screwdrivers, and an ink bottle.

Another note, in the desk drawer below the "zero" computers. Four lines, one running from 0-8--base 9--one going up to f, that's hexadecimal, one all the way to n, and one to v. Bases...24 and 32? Okay...nothing left to do but examine the inventory...oh, right, the music box! I dismantle it with the screwdriver set to get a cylinder. Oh, I know! I use the ink on the cylinder and then the inky cylinder on the paper. That should form a Morse code message! I enter it on the telegraph key, and it unlocks the drawer. A red file, ALLICE. Alice, the corpse that wouldn't thaw. The inside of the file is full of hieroglyphics. A keycard falls out. Uranus. Three words on the card, too--BOTTOM DECK LIBRARY.

Wait, library... "Alice sleeps in a small chamber past the forest of knowledge, beneath the navel of the Gigantic." That's got to be it! Junpei tells Ace everything he learned from Seven, and then from June regarding who Alice was. Ace takes in all of the information and asks if Junpei has ever heard of the term CAS. He hasn't, and neither have I. He says it stands for "Cells Alive System", and it's an advanced technology for freezing and preserving organic matter. A method of freezing things without forming ice crystals. Normally, when something is frozen, water in its cells freezes, damaging the cell membranes, but in CAS, magnetic fields are used to supercool an object and then instantly and uniformly freeze it, giving ice crystals no time to form. There are rumors that it can be used for other purposes...including space travel? The hell?

(note: there seems to be a missing post here.)

Seven stops suddenly. There's nowhere else for us to go...they head through a single door, the only option. Yep, there's the #9 door...

Wait. Santa tells Junpei to turn around. There's another #9 door... Both have REDs next to them. Ace suggests that perhaps one is the "right" door, and one is the "wrong" one. Lotus thinks that's unlikely, because all of the rooms they've been in so far have had hints as to how to solve the puzzles. Such a scenario as Ace is suggesting would run counter to the established rules of the game. Santa says that they're both "right" doors...Zero never said there was only one exit. Junpei says that if we split it up right...but Clover's quick to say that it won't work, for the obvious reason--without Snake's #2, the sum of the group has a digital root of 7. The room goes silent...Junpei looks around. The room's full of flickering candles...the room was filled with wooden pews, almost like a church. There's even...an altar? With a coffin...and a keypad on it. Seven breaks the silence, saying that he gives up and he was hoping someone else would volunteer. He says Clover was mostly right, but...

1+3+5=9

4+6+8=18

Remaining...7. He was the one who said it. He says even if not for Ace's show of altruism in the hospital room, he'd have said the same thing. Lotus asks why he's acting so heroic all of a sudden. Lotus says she'll be goddamned if she has to owe Seven for getting out of here. June, of course, is also against it. Clover says there's gotta be other options...

...I can think of one.

Ace, too, disagrees. Junpei says that the motion is denied. Seven tries to pretend that he thinks we're all being foolish, but he's moved. Santa then speaks up--he's the only on who didn't say no. Wait...he says he doesn't want to leave Seven here "alone"... He wants to leave three people behind. And now he's got a gun to June's head. Seven seems angry at himself for not seeing this coming...he knows where Santa found the revolver. One of the other rooms behind Door #6...then he moves over, puts his hand on one of the REDs and forces June's onto it as well. He then decides that Ace and Lotus will be the other two to leave with him. Clover seems to feel betrayed. She confronts him with the leaf words. Santa gets angry and tells her to shut up, cursing all the while. Junpei tells Ace and Lotus to do what Santa said. As always, he's putting June's safety first. June protests, but Junpei insists he'll be fine, and Seven and Clover say that they'll be fine, too; Clover saying she still has something to take care of. Yeah...agreed.

"The RED doesn't need a person, you know. All I need is the bracelet." I knew we should've taken the 9th Man's bracelet...

A noise echoes through the room after the other four leave. Someone pounding on something...Clover tells us to be quiet. ...It's coming from the coffin! They try to open it, but to no avail. They notice the keypad...no clues to even know the length of the passcode.

...whaddya mean, "To Be Continued"?

Chapter 4: Chapter Four Means Death (999--Bad Endings)
"Unfortunately, that's the wrong answer. Actually, I'm Santa". There's a flurry of images, and it tells me that I've reached one ending and need to save now in order to experience everything. I'll be able to skip through text I've already seen. That's...well, whatever. I've been told that even when I already know the combinations, I still have to trigger the event flags...I speed through to the first choice. Meaningless choice, I think...this time I'll take Santa and June, just to be different. Do I still want to go through door #4? ...No, I really want to go through door #5. June asks to go through, too, but Junpei protests. So...it'll just be Snake, Seven, and Junpei. Clover protests having to split up with Snake, but Snake tells her not to be selfish. Hmm...not sure if I expected that. But I guess, if Santa and Lotus refuse to go through door #5, there's really little other option. The countdown begins, Seven and Junpei hurrying in after Snake. Of course, the DEAD was right near the door. We reassure the others, on the other side of the door.

Dead end; thick iron wall. First class rooms. Junpei looks back at the body of the 9th Man before stepping in. The bracelet's visible on the floor, the 9 still showing. ...I feel like I made the wrong choice, like I should've done "begin with memories" instead of "continue". I save and then try this, without saving. Nothing changed, though, so I went back to the saved file, since that was what the game originally indicated I should do. Another locked door...and a new puzzle.

When I examine the canopy bed, Snake mentions that Clover's always wanted a princess bed. This takes Junpei by surprise. I find a score plate under the pillow, and Snake starts to move, searching for something. He mentions that his hearing is quite good and he can run quite fast, and says that he's confident that he could handle himself in a fight should it come to that.

Upon the piano is a map of the ship. I try to use the score plate, but it's hard to see the notes. I head through a door, then another. The bathtub is filled with ashen water. In another room, a piece of paper on the table says "SCORE". Aha! Get the vase, fill it with water, put out the fire, and there's the score. Now we have three score plates--two glass ones, A and G, and the main one. Seven suddenly loses his balance, and says he felt dizzy. Then he brings up the memory loss.Another room I missed...there's another glass plate, C, but that's not enough. Also a locked safe that we can't open. What am I missing?

...Well, shoot. Once we used the water from the tub, we had to drain it; there's a D plate under the murky water! And that's all we need. But...Snake says that the piano is not what it seems. C won't be C, D won't be D...

Ha. The game helps out by showing where each note actually is.

D

E

F

A

...this site's censors aren't going to let me continue labeling the keys in order.

G

Low C

High C

B

Got it.

...Fuck you, game. You said these plates had A, G, C, and D notes on them, but the notes I played were A, G, C, and F. And, yes, it had a treble clef, so I wasn't being thrown off like that. You cannot fool me I have music in my blood.

The Westminster Bell tower chimes--Big Ben--although as Seven notes, they're also often used by schools. That's the melody that was playing. I'd give you the full note sequence, but again, GameFAQs would censor it. (Also, I scrolled it off-screen already).

Wait...the exit's already been found? But we haven't unlocked the safe yet! ...Oh. Seven's jamming the door open with a plate, so we can return. Snake asks why he'd want to come back. Seven said he "might want to play a little piano". A lie, of course. We come to the metal grate. A lock with a Venus symbol. Seven had headed down the hallway, and found an unlocked door. The casino. The door in locked behind them, though. Puzzle time...we've found some playing cards. 4 of spades...7 of spades...5 of spades...a frame with a blank canvas, which we can't do anything with...slot machines with playing card suits in the displays...An ace of spades is attached to a display panel near the number 9. I think we're one card short, then...

...3 of spades. That and the 5 should do it. But first, the table we found the 3 at seems to be a baccarat table.

There's an 8 of diamonds under the glass, and three spots on the table. I can't beat an 8 with three cards, though I could with either two cards (4 and 5) or all four. I turn on the lights near the blank canvas and get shadows. Clubs, diamonds, hearts. Also, there was a card I missed on the mantle; 6 of spades. 3-4-5-6-7...still can't beat an 8, but I can push with it. I get one of the machines to work and hit the buttons in the order, clubs, diamonds, hearts. Jackpot. A playing card and the Venus key are inside the drawer. 2 of spades...

2+3+4=9

Turns out it was spades, not diamonds. Of course. I put the 8 of spades into the slot next to the ace, and a panel moves to the side with three more slots, again asking for 9.

5+6+7=18

1+8=9

Success. They exited back into the room they'd been in before and unlocked the Venus gate. This opened the way to C Deck. Elevators and the Mercury card reader. More jokes are made at Lotus's expense, just like last time. Then came the hallway with all the doors...I want that to end up different, but I'm sure it won't. And...already we're seeing the inside of the hospital room. Didn't we rejoin the group from Door #5 before any of us saw those doors when I was in Group #4? No, I guess we didn't. It was in that room that we met up. And once again, we meet up.

...Why can I not fast-forward through the explanation of the Gigantic? Okay, after the split-up, we fast-forward again. Back to searching...I search the casino first. I think we'll ignore Lotus's proposal this time...Next, the hallway with all the rooms. This time, we'll go to Ace. Junpei asked if Ace thought Snake and Clover were really siblings. They don't look alike at all...Ace says that now that he mentions it, that's true, but it's not rare for siblings to look nothing alike. His face seems to tighten as he spoke. To the first class cabin! And again, Clover just wants to be left alone. Finally, I should head over and talk to Santa. Santa asks who I think fixed it. Well...Zero, probably. Santa disagrees, and suggests that one of us is the one who fixed the REDs. But what about shouting for the others?

Santa says that you can't trust anyone in this game. The person you trust the most could turn out to be the person who stabs you in the back. Junpei and June look awkwardly at each other.

I finished the search, and we reconvened. Hmm...I wonder what happens if I choose door 3 this time? Ah...Santa points out the impossibility of it. Hmm...there's still an option to take the risk and go through 3. I wonder... Junpei makes Seven authenticate, then June. Then he authenticates...he's going to play Lotus and Clover against Santa. What's he up to? Santa's angry...and Lotus takes action. But...Santa's quicker, and bigger, and he gets there first. Did we just break Zero's game? Santa gets angry at Junpei, but Seven tells him to shut up and search for the DEAD. Only one room was available to enter...it was dark. The blinking red light was there, though. The DEAD. The room is slippery...Santa's retching at a vile smell. No...was Clover wrong last run? LLR...whoever's body is there, it wasn't planted during the interim between entering the 7 and 8 doors and entering the 3. It was already there. The same graphic description, but because it's coming under different circumstances, I can't fast-forward. Oh...something I missed when trying to ignore the gory description last time...the body's bracelet's display was shattered. No way to confirm that it was #2 at all. June's freaking out and running for the exit. Junpei tries to calm her down, and she collapses, exhausted by her outburst. She's crying. Oh...Jumpy had a nickname for her, too. Kanny. It's just a whisper, so only she can hear it. Awkward romantic moment, then search time.

The message obviously isn't Snake's. Of course.

"Drainage valve operation. Note: Please don't flush this pipe. Doing so may cause the drain to overflow." Two locks, a thermometer screwed to the wall... The Mercury Keycard, but it's too deep. Bloodied toilet paper and a bottle of...luminol. *smirk* Well, we all know what that's used for. That'd explain why we're allowed to switch the lights back off, too.

LLRLRL. That causes the drain to overflow, and the card to float to the surface. There's tar in one of the toilets. June suggests boiling water to get it off. I examine the water tank, and Seven starts talking in cop slang, including a certain prevalent misuse perpetuated by Hollywood. The tank has a screwdriver in it. Another tank gives a red keycard...unmarked, but it should work in this room's card reader. The third stall has only a bucket and a broom. The bucket enters the inventory, but as Junpei reaches for the broom, June says something about the rabbit hutch. Oh...it's a memory of their days in school together. Junpei overslept one day when the two of them had been assigned to take care of the class pets...Blood. The hutch was filled with dead rabbits. And June was crying...and Junpei tried to comfort her, said he'd catch whoever did that to the rabbits. And then June said that they would catch the killer together. June giggles at this memory. They decided to ambush the killer near the other animals' cages--roosters and guinea pigs. They waited at dusk together...it was a warm summer night. But the murderer never showed up. They waited all summer vacation. Junpei says that thinking about it now, if the killer had showed up, they probably would've been in over their heads, but June says she wasn't scared because Junpei was with her. She blushes and tries to change the subject. She mentions how she was the only one who volunteered at first, but then Junpei did. Junpei claims that he only did it because they'd assign some task for him regardless, and he'd rather work with someone who wouldn't tell on him if he felt like blowing off his duties. This is, of course, a lie. He did it because he wanted to be with June, even then. But he's too embarrassed to tell her this. The broom also enters the inventory.

Junpei starts to unscrew the thermometer, and Santa asks if he knows why thermometers only go up to 107 degrees Fahrenheit, or 75 Celsius like this one. Those...aren't equal. Apparently, the former is the point at which human cells start to die. Santa's staring at the wall as Junpei retrieves the thermometer. Inventory check...oh, it's not mere stains. The bloody toilet paper is actually symbols...Seven calls it a scytale cipher and explains how it works. A stick the same size as the original, huh...maybe the broom?

634+

Only one problem: There's no "+" on the keypad! Also, the blue light goes off when the red one came on. Oh, I just swiped them in the wrong order...

...Oh, the showerhead has water coming out! Hot water.

"185=". But that's...only 819. Three digits...and we have no more hot water, so we can't open the thermometer. Unless...we use the showerhead again!

957+. That brings the total to...1776. ...!!! ...And it opens. Seven props the door open with the broom handle. Looks like that's the only puzzle room...back to the hospital room. As I thought based on the map...

Lotus slaps Junpei for his stunt. Seven, again, used the screwdriver to prop the unmarked door open. And...we actually get the fast-forward option this time, even though we haven't been through doors 7 and 8 yet? Do we still believe Zero is here? ...Yes, I think we do. But we no longer believe that one of us is Zero. ...I suddenly get a foreboding feeling about the ending I'm heading for.

...and it chimes 3 again! That's...crazy. Last time, we managed to go through the 7-8 pair, then send half our team through the #3 door while the other half investigated the Saturn keycard and the Earth door, by 3 AM. Everyone goes into the elevator this time. Seven, Junpei, and Lotus go through the #2 door...a door we failed to investigate last time. June tells Junpei to be careful, and Seven teases the two of them about how lovey-dovey they are.

...Where's my menu screen? Sun toilet, moon toilet...toilet paper roll holder comes off the screen, but doesn't enter the inventory...a handle does. There's a tile that we can't get out of a drain, hidden under a drawing of water, and a suspicious drawer that we can't open. No, seriously, Junpei calls it suspicious. Another drawing of water, this time in a wavy shape rather than a whirlpool...and a square drain, the same shape as the tile in the other one.

A towel on the bed, with the combined symbols of water.

The drawer comes out of the desk in this room. Third room's too dark to see anything; the mirror's high up, and the desk drawer doesn't move. Another door has tiles reading EMERGENCE. No knob on the faucet in the second room...wait, the knob on the broken sink in the first one looks like the handle to the drawer! I'm stumped, though...wait, Seven said the bottom of the drawer I'm holding has a mirror! I use the drawer on the beam of light.

Sun and moon correspond to 4 and 7. Looks like...flush the toilets that number of times? Something from the dark room...14=E. Oh, I know this, it's the higher bases again! Lotus hears something from the dark room...and now the drawer opens! Two other tiles...wait, they have the number 14 on them! All that's left is to get...two more, one of which we already know the location of. Oh, the other locked drawer is screwed together...we can't unscrew them yet. Also, something needs to be screwed into the handle we have. ...I want to save and quit.

...fuck!

Of course. The empty roll didn't enter our inventory, because the toilet paper holder was the suspicious object! It's a screwdriver shaft...combined with the handle, it makes a Phillips-head screwdriver. Nothing inside the drawer...so the drawer itself must be our prize! It has a weird bump on the back... Nope, I'm stumped again. ...Oh. It goes in the slot where the mirrored drawer was. Tile #3...but we still need to find a way to fix the sink in Room #2 so we can get the last tile out of Sink #1. Ah, I was right about the mirrored drawer. I unscrew it with the screwdriver. It leaves my inventory, but the mirrored drawer itself is still in there. I turn on the water, and the last tile is dislodged. But then...Seven is kneeling on the ground, sweating and pale. Dizzy again. He says he feels like he's been here before...

...! As has Santa! And Snake, too, according to Clover. Which might explain why Santa wants to leave Seven behind...but what about stranding two others with him? Since Junpei's clearly new to this game, and Clover was in the Nevada group...

..."Aoi, Light, Nona". Um...Light's an English word. Aoi's Japanese for blue...and Nona-, of course, is the prefix meaning "nine".

And now Seven remembers. An experiment. But his details are still a tad fuzzy. But...he says those were the names of the people running the experiment, or at least some of them?

...No. That can't be right.

Oh, no, that's not it. Those were other kids in the experiment. There were four or five more...now that sounds right.

"Experiment...Cradle Pharmaceutical... Those kidnapped kids... Was I working that case...?" So, that confirms what I thought I'd figured out in the shower room. Seven's a cop. He says there was a hole in this room, or maybe an identical room. 16 boys and girls went missing...kids around Junpei's age. Cradle Pharmaceutical was involved, and they led him to a ship headed for the Gigantic. Men in black suits carried bags that obviously held the missing children. Seven acted on instinct, but someone else told him not to move and to drop his gun. He was drugged...and when he came to, he was in a room just like this one. He heard voices..."There! It's 9!" A ventilation shaft was the source of the voices. Somehow, Seven was able to get into it. That's all he remembered, though. He says he feels like one of the kids died. A girl. That's...exactly what Clover said! Hmm...

Sceptilesolar posted...

foolm0r0n posted...

Sceptilesolar posted...

''You had the worst luck. You aren't supposed to go for that first ending you got.''

What, the coffin ending? That's a perfectly fine ending to have first, I think.

No, it's an ending to have never. There's no reason to ever get that ending, that's why I said you aren't supposed to go for it at all. It spoils a lot of things unnecessarily and ruins the tension of a number of the other routes. I wish the game was designed better so that ending didn't exist, but it seems it'll perpetually screw over playthrough topics.

Actually 999 really should just be linear since the mystery really suffers if you don't do it in the right order. But oh well.

Yeah, I see what you mean. I'd be a lot more still in the dark if I'd done this first...but on the other hand, I've been intentionally violating common sense this run.

I swap the E tiles with the 14 tiles. The door unlocks.

When I load the game, it says my location is the "torture room". Um...okay, yes, this looks like a torture room. Everyone wants to get through it ASAP. There's something involving an experiment... Once preparation is finished, place subject in chair. It's a freaking electric chair...there's a cover bolted over a hole, and a bunch of buttons with a yet-unknown purpose. I find a wrench to remove the bolts. ...the Sun Key! That's right, this was the door they found the Sun key with...Oh, and that unlocks the manacles on the electric chair.

"Please fill tank with water".

Okay...I press some buttons, and one of them seems to trigger the power. I pull a lever, and the tank is filled. I think the experiment's ready! Lotus volunteers to be the guinea pig.

...Ha. Looks like it was all four buttons that I pressed, and I just happened to stumble on the correct button combination by accident before actually tripping the flag to allow me to see the hint. Luck, thine name is...never mind. There's also a dead shark under the glass. Lotus then says that if something should happen to her, we should tell her daughters that she loved them very much...no, that she will always love them. Both men are surprised to hear that Lotus has children. She says they're twins, around Junpei's age...she had them when she was young. Their names are Nona and--Junpei doesn't even let her finish. That name, we've heard it before! Seven remembers, and asks about Lotus's real last name...and he's dead on. Kashiwabara. Lotus gets indignant, and Seven tells her the story of nine years ago. So, Lotus had been searching for answers...as to what had happened to her girls.

...Hm. So Clover and Snake were both part of the experiment 9 years ago...and so were Lotus's twin girls? Santa, too, if Clover is right...and based on Santa's reaction, I'm pretty sure she is.

Lotus goes on that she tried to investigate, but the police were unconcerned. Lotus suspected a cover-up. Seven mentions Cradle. Seven said that he investigated what the victims had in common...every single one of the missing children had gone to this one hospital at some point. It was controlled by Cradle Pharmaceutical. A kid at the hospital told a weird story...Seven asks if Junpei has heard of the Ganzfield experiment. It was passed off as some sort of counseling, and all of the kids at the hospital had to go through it.

Subjects Q and A are put into separate rooms, far away from each other. A series of video images are shown to Q, who is told to send the images to A by thinking about them. A is put in a large reclining chair and given a blindfold, and with their senses cut off, they're asked to guess what images Q is looking at. ...Morphogenetic fields! Lotus has heard of this experiment. A mechanical voice interrupts the musings, asking them to put a subject in the chair in the next 60 seconds or all power will be cut off. I screw around with some switches until it matches up, and the door unlocks. That should be the last puzzle room...but no one was waiting for them. They headed for the Sun door...only to be stopped by the Jupiter door. No, wait, it opened! The others must have found it...

...What.

What the fuck is this...

...Three dead bodies. Clover, Santa, and Ace. But that makes...absolutely no sense... Seven confirms that Clover is dead. Lotus panics and takes the Sun Key from Junpei. It...does nothing. But then the door opens anyway...was it unlocked already? Another hallway...a massive metal door. No known way to open it. Lotus refuses to go back. Then it opens automatically. Seven's got a bad feeling about all of this. A ladder...a catwalk...June's dead, too. No...dying. She's dying. Kanny's dying...There's a yellow submarine. She wants Junpei to know how much he meant to her when they were kids. Augh...

And now Seven and Lotus are dead too. Lotus's bracelet is gone. Junpei heads for the sub, and is stabbed. Bad ending; cue credits. Next up, a speedy run full of fast-forwards. Going to take my original choices up until the 612 split. Well, okay, maybe some minor differences...apparently Santa does stocks, too. He made a killing on stock in...Cradle Pharmaceuticals. Well, well, well, this just got interesting. I reassemble the funyarinpa...I mean the dog. Wait, where did I find the whetstone, again? Well, I'll find it after the freezer segment. On advice, I examine the frozen chicken, and am treated to June making some double entendres seemingly without even realizing it. "It's really hard...Junpei, your chunk of meat...It's rock solid." And then in a later one, she even starts going "nom nom nom".

...Already here. Okay, now I've seen the puzzles behind both the #1 and #2 doors, and furthermore, I'm interested in seeing what would happen if, like in the 378 split, I forced there to be an issue. So, 6 it is. We come to a standstill...Clover suggests that Seven and Lotus join her in going through the #1 door. So, it's Ace, Junpei, Santa, and June in the #6 door...

More later, or maybe tomorrow.

The DEAD is located quickly. They go through to a huge room made of metal. And by "huge", I mean "two stories high and several hundred feet across". A massive rounded building stands in the center of it. More catwalks. Ace identifies the room as the steam engine room. The boiler isn't boiling anything, though. Junpei hears a noise behind him, and June collapses. Her fever again...why now? June says she's fine; she just needs to rest. She doesn't seem "fine". Junpei looks at Ace and Santa. They share his concern, albeit perhaps not with the same level of emotion. A button does nothing, and a square...hole, with three ports in the back. A huge oven, with three holes, each with a gear in it. The gears are also huge...there's a rusty gear near a huge bronze gear. A door at the back of a tunnel is rusted shut, as are the ports for putting the coal into the boiler. Another one has a silver gear...I wonder if the last will be gold? Although, as Junpei points out, it's probably not pure silver, which would be too soft to make machinery out of. Yep, it's golden...and it doesn't look like it was always that way. Zero's doing, then...the door in back of it is welded shut.

...Wow, Santa actually has a silly comment. Ace plays the straight man. A device with four sliders--three down, which won't move, and one up, which can be pushed down but it does nothing without some yet-unknown "preparation". I find the opening for fueling the furnace, but we have nothing to fuel it with. I've...searched everything, as best as I can tell, and have no inventory items. Oh, wait, I can go further up the stairs! Looks like door "A" opens. And we're on the catwalks now...behind door "B", I find a hand-operated winch, and winch up some...nothing, as the wheel comes off in my hand. Behind door "C", a winch with no wheel. I use the one I got from "B" to fix it. I can't reel it up, though; have to go downstairs afterwards and retrieve the contents of the box after lowering it. Its destination is near June...she's not getting any better. Ace wonders if it's illness; Santa says confidently that it's exhaustion due to the intense circumstances she was put into, and that it's weirder that the rest of us aren't freaking out like she is, suggesting that we're being used in an experiment. Hmm...now where have I heard that before?

The box is a control panel for something. That's literally what it says in the inventory, "control panel for something". Three terminals on the back...there's a spot I didn't see, with a device that needs something inserted into it, evidently safeguarding the exit.

...Wait. Three terminals...the square hole! The button that did nothing now starts the conveyor belt. We get a box of coal. I put it in the furnace, and nothing happens, but it triggers an event flag. The three of them agree to work together to fill the furnace with enough coal to power the turbine...and June says she wants to help, too. Junpei insists she rest, as she still looks ill. Now we just need to ignite the coal...

...the red lights have turned yellow? The slider should work now! And the gears start turning...ha. There were discs in each gear, of matching metals. Looks like silver goes on top, gold on the left, and bronze on the right. I line the discs up, and the exit opens. Man, in the end, that was the most linear puzzle ever. The only time I ever had multiple inventory items at once was at the end with the three discs, and they were essentially the same item anyway. Ace sends Junpei to get June; Santa asks why the two of them need to watch the door, but then refuses when asked if he'd rather all three go get June. She seems better now.

She blushes, and Junpei is unsure if she's embarrassed or still feverish, and checks. She's better, but still not what Junpei thinks is normal. June calls him a warrior, then corrects herself and says worrier, and giggles. Yeah, back to normal, alright...

Santa's sitting on the stairs, staring at a note. Junpei asks about it, and it turns out it's not a note; I only thought that because I was seeing it from behind. It's a photo...of his sister. June seems surprised to hear that Santa has a sister, and asks about it. Hmm...I don't suppose... Santa nods and says "Yeah... Kid was cute as a button..." June takes him literally and thinks she was only an inch tall. Santa continues, "I was her Santa Claus". He asks if we'd ever heard the story of the 2 Santa Clauses. It goes that a long time ago, there were 2 Santas. One wore white, and the other wore black. The white Santa gave presents to good kids, and the black Santa played tricks on bad kids. ...Why did referring to them as "white Santa" and "black Santa" suddenly sound like the game was unintentionally being racist? They went on like that for awhile, but eventually the black Santa's tricks started to get worse and worse. Pretty soon, the white Santa couldn't stand it anymore, and stabbed the black Santa to death. When he did, the white Santa got blood all over his clothes, and that's why these days, his clothes are red. You could say that red is all that's left of the black Santa. That's...sick, and wrong. "I wonder...which Santa I am." Then he says we should move on. Something seems...unsettling about all of this. Here's what we've got so far. Clover and Snake were both part of the experiment 9 years ago. So were Lotus's twin daughters. Santa was also part of the experiment...and according to Clover, a girl died during the last experiment. Adding in the knowledge that Santa is indeed not an only child, but he only refers to his sister in the past tense...one has to wonder if Santa's sister wasn't the girl who died. This would go so much more smoothly if everyone wasn't so distrustful of everyone else...we've confirmed five of the nine participants to have a connection to the previous Nonary Game. Only Ace, Junpei, June, and the mysterious 9th Man have no known connection...and it's doubtful we'll ever really know the answers regarding that last one given how quickly he dies off. Although, if he does have one, we might learn about it from someone else. Another metal door a short distance forward...looks like the cargo hold. A bunch of bags here...

...Well, damned if I wasn't prophetic. There's a card with a picture of the 9th Man on it. Another bag...there's Santa's face on a card! And here's Seven's...also a bunch of boxes with numbers on them, 1-9. We find a bunch of crates that could be used to get over a fence, but...Santa's genre savvy and throws a screw at the fence, revealing it to be electrified. Two more cards...Clover and Snake. A panel with 9 lights...only the "9" is lit up. There are headphone-style jacks in the base of the device. Hmm...looking closer at the cards, the bottoms of them look like they can insert into something, but they're the wrong shape for the headphone jacks. Examining the numbered boxes more closely reveals Lotus's card. Well, I do have six cards now...nope, nothing. Wait, looking a bit more closely...I can look into that box. There's Junpei and June's cards!

...Wow, June's insecure about her looks. Her figure, too. I think both of them are just fine. Wait, on the other side of the fence...a coffin! But, that's not where Alice is supposed to be...is it? Looks like we can look down from above...fat lot of good it does us, though. Where could Ace's card be?

Ah. A small box near where I found Snake and Clover's. Ace asks if we know which cards go into which boxes. Junpei says it's simple; just match the faces with the numbers of the bracelets. Ace seems to stiffen and nervously says he sees. Hmm...Ace is normally the sensible one, so what's going on there? Junpei notices how strange it is, too. All nine box lids open at once, and each has a pin with a matching number. Junpei puts the 2, 4, and 6 pins on top and the 3, 5, and 7 pins on the bottom, and the 3 and 6 lights light up. Digital roots again, then. Santa tries putting the 1, 2, and 3 pins up top and the 6, 7, and 8 pins on the bottom, and it turns off those lights. I see... I put in 925 and 431 to light the 7 and 8 lights, then 245 and 136, then 436 and 527, then 123 and 678 again to re-light the 3 and 6. The shutter opens, and an F appears over a 3x3 grid of pins. ...F means "15". The sum of a 3x3 magic square with numbers 1-9. Yeah, there's even a design to hint at it. I start by assembling, from top to bottom, 951 in the center column. Only way to make the top row work is with 2 and 4, so in they go...then 6 and 8 opposite them on the diagonals. And 7 between 2 and 6 with 3 between 4 and 8 makes it all work. Santa found an instruction manual. Seems the device is a remote control for the box with the light on it. Is this going to be a block-moving puzzle? Yep, it's called the Pushmaster 5000. 50-move limit, can't move the metal crates. Wait, how...oh, right. We can go through the area that we eventually want to fill with crates as long as it's not full yet. DRDRRURUULULLDRRLLLDDRRRDRULLLLUURDLDRRRLLUURRDD...crap, this solution would need 51 moves! Let's try again... URURRDULLDRR...nope, already messed up. URURRD...wait, why does it say "moves out of 51" now? Okay, so I was right the first time...DRDRRURUULULLDRRLLLDDRRRDRULLLLUURDLDRRRLLUURRDDLDR. Santa claims there's a mummy in there, frightening the others, then reveals he was just joking. A rusty key and a...gold-plated revolver. Santa asks why Junpei put it back, and he says it would just cause more trouble, shifting the balance of power. June suggests that Zero put it there with the intention of making us fight. We get the rusty key. And...out we go. ...Endgame time, right? Wait...unless the rusty key had a symbol on it, we still haven't discovered anything. Not like the #9 doors that the #6 door group discovered back when Junpei went with the #1 group...and have we even discovered any non-numbered doors we can't get through yet? Oh...there's more down this hallway. Okay, then...

I actually took a break from playing at this point because I had some other things to do, and something strange hit me. Why, in the lead-up to the submarine ending, when due to Junpei's stupidity we were denied access to the #6 and #1 doors (and by extension of the former, the #9 doors), did Santa and June stay with Ace and Clover instead of joining Junpei, Seven, and Lotus in passing through the #2 door? And then when I thought about my plan for my next playthrough, it hit me--Seven and Lotus are the ones who asked to go through the #2 door even when we had the option of all three, but the cold equation is a bit different there--only one person has to wait. Santa, June, and Ace could go through the #1 door together! I feel bad about having to leave poor Clover alone, though, especially since that path branching comes right after she thinks her brother has died...well, it probably leads to a bad end, but we'll find out as soon as we're done here! Said playthrough will also involve checking out the #8 door for the first time. We'll see what happens after that, since it looks like there are six endings to get and we'll only have four when that playthrough is done.

Santa finds a door. I recognize that from the coffin ending...it leads to the chapel. Junpei notices the #9 door...and June points out the other #9 door. This time, the typo is corrected. The last time we had a flashback, the game said "seek the door that carries a [9]", but this time, it correctly states that he said "seek a door that carries a [9]". So no one would get left behind, should everyone survive...I don't think Junpei even explicitly realized that last time. So now he gets it. Zero had never lied, but anyone put in the game would assume that there would be only one door, and so they'd fight. That was the plan all along...and yet, at the end, everyone would be able to be saved. And they'd be overwhelmed with guilt at what monsters they'd been. Fortunately, they hadn't started to fight with each other yet...But one misstep would raise the stakes. And, of course...that misstep had already happened. Snake was missing, presumed dead--and had we reached this path first, we'd still believe that, too. Santa asks Junpei what we're going to do. Junpei did the math and realized the cold truth--that three of the four people in that room could escape right now. But the one who would be left behind would be...June. Junpei insisted that we couldn't do that. Santa and Ace agreed. June says she wouldn't mind staying, but she doesn't mean it. She's shaking and tearing up. Santa says there's no way we'd leave her, and Junpei cracks a joke about how he'd rather drown than escape with this sausage-fest, and then says something weird about maybe getting to go to Atlanta. Oh...I think he meant Atlantis. Ace corrects him. But there's still that little problem that one person would have to be left behind... They're about to set off...and then Junpei starts looking around the room. Santa yells at him to get moving. There's that knocking again... Seven and Lotus say we have a problem. Clover is gone! She didn't talk to the other two much when she was behind door 1...just insisted that she'd handle one of the four rooms beyond it on her own. She blocked it, wouldn't let them in. Hmm...could this be the ending I was accidentally spoilered towards when I Googled "funyarinpa"? Anyway, when Seven and Lotus finally got in, the room was empty and another door open. Ace suggests splitting up to look for Clover. June and Junpei search the hospital room. When they reach the stairs in the hallway, Junpei suggests that the two of them split up, too. Junpei will head for E Deck, and June will head up to B Deck. June asks Junpei to stop calling her "June" when it's just the two of them.

There was a reason why Junpei persisted in calling her "June" even when they were alone. He was embarrassed to call her by the nickname he'd used when they were children--which we already learned in another route. 9 years ago, it came naturally, but now that they were adults, it felt strange. Of course, nothing else exactly seemed better to him. So calling her by her codename was just easiest.

...There's that number again. 9 years...

...Whoa. "Tragedy always strikes when one least expects it", over a black screen. That was a rather abrupt cut to bad end, isn't it? "But to wait for a man to stand before striking him down seems almost crueler than dealing the fatal blow while he lies on the ground. A light in a dark place, June's smile had given him hope--both for escape, and possibly...for something else. It was that hope that raised his spirits just enough that they might soon be fully dashed." Lotus sits, slumped against the wall...dead, covered in blood. A deep cut on the left side of her chest. A knife to the heart? Her bracelet is gone...Junpei flashes back to the explanation of how to remove the bracelets.

So, Junpei reasoned, the person who would gain the most from obtaining the #8 bracelet is the one who was most likely the killer. But that's...Ace? He was one of the ones who traveled through the #5 door, so it's possible that he has the #9 bracelet, too, although seeing as how we weren't allowed to take it ourselves when we went through the door, that seems kind of cheap. But with 1, 8, and 9, he could exit alone. Best case scenario, we find Clover and Seven's the only one who gets left behind. Worst case scenario, with Clover missing, Seven, June, and Junpei escape, and Santa is left behind, with Clover also failing to escape. Before Junpei can reach his conclusion, though, he is stabbed. He is unable to see his assailant. Finally, he sees his attacker. It brings no emotions. We don't get to find out who it is, though.

KNIFE END

This time, I decide to say that, yes, I heard the story of the book predicting the sinking of the Titanic, and find that Junpei had heard that those passages of Futility had been added in a later version to capitalize on the vague similarity of the original book to the actual disaster. Okay, then...

...Huh. You know, I don't think there were actually any crucial event flags at the actual reveal of the pork note. The only two "necessary flags" come on the dry ice and the rusty knife. I probably would've been able to enter the code as soon as I got out of the freezer...ah, well. On to door #8. Still can't fast-forward through Santa's explanation of how things would have to go.

Clover's grumpier than ever. After a number of turns, the hallway reaches a dead end with a door on the left side. Laboratory. A mannequin lays on a medical table. Junpei tries to check on Clover, who gets defensive and asks to be left alone. An iron gate slams down behind her as she storms off, separating her from Junpei and Lotus. Two sets of 9 lockers--one set unlocked, one set locked. I find ethanol in an unlocked one. A cardboard box on top of the lockers has a bunch of notes on some experiments... There's a computer, but it has no power cable...nor a CPU. Just a monitor, keyboard, and mouse. But Lotus seems unsure about Junpei's assertion that a power cable alone won't be of any use. A stopped clock...a three-pronged power cable, but the socket only has two holes. Nothing left on our side...let's check Clover's. There's ink from a permanent marker covering part of a table... Oh, good, a power cable on her side has the converter. She goes to give us the converter, but instead, I give her the ethanol. Hmm...I guess it's because of what item I had equipped when I checked the bars? There's a grid with numbers...she'll give me a notebook with the drawing. Apparently the monitor is a wireless display. Lotus says it's normal where she worked. The monitor prompts for a password. Lotus sends Junpei to look for hints and plops down at the keyboard. She's...a very speedy typist! Lotus cracks a joke about Junpei falling for her "again", and Junpei makes the mistake of taking a crack at her age. No clues--we're told this in text, rather than being prompted to actually search for one. But Lotus does it all by herself. But now the keyboard's locked up, so that's all the programming she can do. ...Programming? ...Oh, I know this game! But I was never much good at it...Only four moves to win, too...and I was going in the wrong direction all along. Ah. Center, upper right, upper left, lower right. The other nine lockers unlock. Two keys--the Earth key and a machine key. Clover then asks if Junpei has a minute, only to blow him off when he asks what's up.

"Power returned to experimental device. Emergency system will activate in the event of abnormal subject behavior."

Apparently the mannequin has wires sticking out of it, and Clover thinks they were doing experiments on humans. The activation key returned power to the device in Clover's room, but nothing happens when she fiddles with it. I decide to check the note I got from Clover...oh. It's just the solution to the puzzle that I solved on my own. Oh, um...I just click the device again, and Clover cranks up the power to max and...blows the mannequin's head off. No, sets it on fire. Emergency system on, evacuate immediately! But Clover's still stuck in there...oh. I've got the doors unlocked. The emergency system's doing. I free Clover, and we evacuate. And...re-merging time. Yeah, I realized last playthrough that I hadn't even picked up on it in my first playthrough, but all three of the doors in the 3-7-8 split had only one puzzle room.

Ha...finally, I can fast-forward through the gruesome description of Snake's death, or fake-Snake as the case may be. Okay, this time to be contrary, I'll say Junpei is unsure if Zero's still on the ship with them. Ace points out that Zero repeatedly said "this ship". That's...a weak basis, even though I know that it makes more sense for Zero to be on the ship. As I expected, Clover, who was also the one to suggest the answer when I chose door #6, suggests that Ace, June, and Santa go through Door #1...meaning, of course, that she'll be left behind. I'm not sure if that's wise, given her mental state, but it's not like things could be any worse than the submarine ending. Speaking of which...I'm not really sure why I expected this, but I didn't get the chance to give the bookmark to Clover during the Door 8 escape like I could when we went through Door 7 and I had a feeling that would be the case. I wonder...given Clover's remarks about "unfinished business" in the Coffin Ending, would things be different if I went through Door 1 like I did in the Coffin ending, but had either chosen Door 5 at the first split, or Door 8 at the second one, or simply chose not to give her bookmark or to not take it from Santa in the first place?

Hmm...as I thought, the towel wasn't even necessary as an inventory item. Weird... ...Shoot, I didn't write down the solution to the esoteric puzzle in the torture room. Okay, first half was easy enough--turn on everything but the upper right. Okay...left side (which actually involved clicking on the right to get to): Both at 1. Right side: Both at 2. Easy enough. I wonder if there was a hint that I'd just missed.

Jupiter was already unlocked...well, duh. Unlike last time, this time we knew it would be. What the...

...But...

...we're still at the submarine ending? I've...got to reload. How...how is that possible? Two completely different routes, but the same ending... That shouldn't have happened. Going back to...exit #1.

This time I snap at Ace when he comes in to check on us after we find the pocket watch. For no reason he could fathom, Junpei's head began to hurt. ...Something changed. Clover's more concerned with finding a way out...she's no longer concerned about the identity of the fake Zero. Huh...that's right, there was a reference to Alice here, too, but we hadn't learned about her in this timeline. So, changed dialogue. We get the Uranus card, as before...we never did find the Uranus door, did we? Except of course for the one needed to exit this room.

Wait, no, that wasn't a card reader; the unique key got us out. We never got a chance to use the Uranus keycard! And...wait, this leads to the ending I was accidentally spoilered on? Yeah, even though everything feels the same right now, it isn't. Not at all. Otherwise, I could fast forward. ...Oh. Clover wants to enter Door #2. Clover points out what we all believe, about the inability for everyone to go through door #9...I'm a little surprised that the other team doesn't notice the duality of the chapel when Junpei's not with them, when it was a member of that group that noticed the second door in the knife ending. Clover feels like maybe they'll find a way to get everyone out if they go through door #2...Junpei says she has a point. The others agree. Junpei says that if we make it quick, we might be able to make it work... It was decided that Clover, Santa, June, and Seven would go. Junpei, Ace, and Lotus were left...and then Ace asks Lotus to go with him. ...! This seems...really bad...we didn't see this scene last time, but for all we know, it might have happened in the Knife Ending, too. As I mentioned before, if Ace took the #9 bracelet, Lotus is the only other person--or bracelet--he needs. There's something he wants to show her...he promises to show Junpei as well, once he's shown Lotus. The elevator opens...only Clover emerges. Junpei asks where the others were. She doesn't answer. Instead, she asks where Ace and Lotus are. Junpei tells her, then asks again. Clover wants to know if Junpei really wants to know. She's smiling oddly. She pulls something out of her pocket and tosses it onto the floor at Junpei's feet. Three bracelets. 3, 7, 6. Junpei asks why. Clover says...revenge for her brother. ...Again, she came to the conclusion we had before. Santa and Seven were the only possible pair, if there were two killers. June just got in the way, tried to protect them. "Hey, Junpei," she says, reaching out to him. Her smile's "wrong--horribly wrong." Wait...she also took the 0 bracelet from the fake Zero! She wants to just get off the ship, just her and Junpei... Junpei's mind is broken. "Junpei looked up at Clover. She had the face of a demon... But there was...something else. There was a holy light that surrounded her. She was both a fierce god, and a benevolent goddess, filled with love..." Clover calls out to him again. In Junpei's eyes, her eyes were no longer empty, but deep enough to fall into. He felt dizzy. He grabs her hand...

...and with the other hand, she brings down the axe.

".. H

r

k

.

.

.

g

u

h

-

g

a

a

a

aaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Yes, that's an exact quote from the game. Junpei shudders and twitches as his body goes into shock, screaming until his throat is torn and bloody and then screaming some more.

"Thanks, Junpei. I'm just gonna borrow this, 'kay?"

"Why do I know? Why...why do I know these things?" Oh, it's another preview video, like the "Actually, I'm Santa" thing at the coffin end. Oh, no, wait, this is just the title screen, because I left the game for too long.

I'm...very confused. Like I said, when I Googled "funyarinpa", I kind of ended up seeing an image that spoiled the Ax ending, but given the way the Coffin Ending played out, the last thing I expected was to get the Ax Ending on a playthrough in which I was right there with Clover behind the #1 door. Well, nothing left to do now but try my latest crazy scheme...to watch the Power of Friendship go horribly awry. 5, 8, 6. With these three routes, I'll be in a group with all seven of my compatriots at least once. And I'm sure it'll be a hilarious bad ending.

Hmm...already, something's changed. Last time, Junpei didn't actually ask about Lotus's job, but this time, he did. She's unemployed at the moment. She used to work at a cyber-security firm, but she quit. Junpei asks why, but this is apparently a touchy subject. She explains quite a bit more, actually...about brute-forcing a cipher. She makes some metaphors between computers and people. Why exactly did this not come up when I passed through Door 4? Damnit, now I'm going to have to try every combination...and apparently, even under the best circumstances, Door #2 leads to the submarine ending. ...Ah, I see. What if the human brain is not like a CPU, but actually like a wireless monitor? Again, the psychic phenomena, but this time, this is our initial introduction to them. She then wonders if Seven's amnesia might not be caused by damage to the "monitor". She supposes that explanation would explain aphasia and blindness, too. I actually know someone with aphasia, and indeed, it was caused by something that kills brain cells--namely, alcoholism. Although as we've seen here, Seven doesn't exactly go light on the alcohol. Lotus continues that the same could be true of prosopagnosia...wait, what's that? Granted, I probably wouldn't really know what aphasia was either if I didn't know someone who had it, but... Junpei's confused, too. Lotus says it's a condition where the mind can't distinguish between human faces. No matter how different--Lotus uses the three people in the room as examples--a person with prosopagnosia wouldn't be able to tell them apart. Junpei asks if they're blanks. Lotus says it's more akin to monkeys at the zoo--they all look the same to us humans, even though we can tell that they have faces. Hmm...this game doesn't bring up concepts to be used only once. And...during the search for Snake, Junpei said that Clover and Snake didn't look anything alike despite being siblings, and Ace said "now that you mention it, that's true", and then when we were presented with the cards in the cargo room, he seemed almost nervous when confronted with the obvious solution. Junpei noted the oddity of both events, but only after the game presented me with information about a condition in which a person cannot recognize human faces do the two events seem connected. The significance, however...I have no idea. As I mentioned during that very playthrough, Ace is among the few participants in the Nonary Game whose connection to the first Nonary Game is completely unknown.

...But I think I just figured out why my "power of friendship gone horribly wrong" idea actually has a shot at working. 5-8-6...I only got this information when I went 5-8, and the more concrete evidence to Ace's possible condition came behind door #6. Will Junpei confront Ace this time, armed with his new knowledge? Will doing so change the future?

But right now, the present has changed. Clover didn't lose her nerve this time! She asks Junpei about what happened with her brother behind door #5. She asks if he said anything weird...but Junpei couldn't remember anything that stood out. I agree; Door #5 was pretty dull. Junpei asks if Snake was born blind. Clover says that he wasn't. His eyes were damaged in a car accident. And...his arm...Her brother's left arm is not like a normal person's left arm.

...It's fake. It's not a real arm.

...Welp, guess we've got something bigger than knowledge of prosopagnosia. Junpei apologizes for making Clover talk about all of that painful stuff. Great, now I've got a bigger branch...I need to investigate both 6 and 1--6 to confront Ace on his condition, and 1 to have the discussion about that not really being Snake. Unless Junpei figures it out as soon as he sees the body. The original conversation, IIRC, started with the bookmark discussion, which obviously can't happen here. I'll have to pay attention.

...Bingo! The game slows down as we approach the reveal of Group 7 finding the Jupiter key. No fast-forward means something's changed!

...Oh, right. In this timeline, neither the Saturn keycard nor the Jupiter key was found by Junpei. In the first playthrough in which Junpei didn't find the Saturn keycard, the Jupiter key was never found at all, so the Saturn keycard was worthless. And...yeah, the speed-up begins again. I was getting excited over nothing.

...Nope, Junpei's too oblivious, even though he took note of the broken bone. 6 first. It slows down sooner than I expected. Santa mentions something about experiments. Something scientists did with rats. Squarish C-shaped tank, enough water that the rats could drown. Two exits--one that's pitch-black, so dark even a rat can't see anything, and the other is electrified, so the rat can't leave through it. Which would the rat choose? The electrified one, of course, because it would have no way of knowing that it was electrified in advance. After a lot of trial and error, the rats finally found their way out. But the scientists repeated the experiment over and over, with hundreds of rats over several generations...and with each generation, the rats found the correct exit far quicker. Eventually, one tried exit A first. The same experiment was conducted in a distant laboratory, and just like the later generations of rats in the first trial, the first generation in the second experiment had much better times than those of the first generation of the first experiment. More morphogenetic fields. Funny, though, given that Santa was the skeptic behind door #4. Junpei asks one thing...why the tank full of water? Why make it so the rats could drown?

...because you need more than just epiphany. You need danger. Santa says that "emergency" and "emerge" come from the same root word...you know, that "EMERGENCE" door kind of made me think about that, but... Santa says that what will "emerge" in an "emergency" is Inspiration.

Another reveal from Santa. He and his sister were orphaned in a car accident. That's what he meant by being her Santa Claus...he had to be like a father, buy her gifts from "Santa" every Christmas and everything. He had her send her letters to Santa to a non-existent address, and when they showed up "Return to Sender", he'd read them and get the gifts. But one year, she didn't ask for gifts...only a wish that they'd be happy like this for a long time. June asks what happened. Santa confirms my suspicions...she died 9 years ago. She was killed. ...This time, when I get all nine cards and approach the boxes, June collapses again, near the fence. She's unresponsive. That...didn't happen last time. Junpei says he has to check on her and tells Ace to do the box thing. Santa helps June up, and she claims she just tripped. Junpei's not buying it. Santa says he believes her, as he saw her fall. Her temperature hasn't gotten any worse...but Santa says he thinks she's still a bit ill. Junpei wants to get out of here and get her to a hospital. June says it's not that serious; she just needs medicine and sleep. Santa says that if we can get out of here, Ace could probably get her some medicine fairly easily. Junpei's confused...but Santa says Ace is the president of a pharmaceutical company.

...I know the name before he even says it. The Knife Ending...the prior lack of connection...Ace is the president of Cradle Pharmaceutical. Man, I've really misjudged people left and right...when this all began, I found Santa and Seven to be the shiftiest, and Ace the most trustworthy other than June, but now it turns out that Seven's a cop, Santa's a victim, and Ace is a villain.

Cradle's flagship drug is an anesthetic called Soporil...wait, isn't that what Ace used on himself earlier? Apparently Soporil is gaseous at room temperature, and as such, it was an effective crowd-control device for police. Many governments placed orders for it, and Cradle's stock skyrocketed. Hmm...in another route, Santa revealed that he took advantage of this...Santa claims that Ace himself told him this, but I find that doubtful. Santa claims this happened during the time behind the #4 door.

Sure enough, Ace is having trouble with the boxes. He's pale and sweaty, claiming his vision is blurred due to fatigue. Doubtful...I'm almost certain now that he has prosopagnosia. Wait...

"People with it learn to identify the people close to them by their voices, or their hair, or their clothes..."

If Ace was the head of Cradle, he was one of the masterminds behind the first Nonary Game. Snake knew too much, so he'd be a liability. And so he was "silenced", only not really because Zero knew about Ace's condition and swapped Snake out with someone else--assuming that Snake wasn't himself Zero.

Anyway, Ace claims to be developing presbyopia due to his old age. Junpei, however, makes the connection with Lotus's speech. Junpei felt it best not to tell anyone about Ace's condition, though. Because Junpei is an idiot. Speaking of which...I think I have my justification for why my next playthrough should go 5-8-1. Because it's the stupidest route of all. While, yes, it does seem to be the only route where Junpei can know, not merely on Clover's hunches but on his own knowledge, that Snake is alive, it's also the only route in which every single time the group splits up results in Junpei being separated from June. (No, wait, it isn't. Actually, there are quite a few. But we've already determined that Door #2 automatically leads to the Submarine ending, so it's either that or 5-7-1. Although, I never have seen the 5-7 progression, never seen what happens if Junpei either doesn't have the bookmark or doesn't give it to Clover.

...Again with that glitch. When I exit out of the Pushmaster 5000 and re-enter it, the allotted number of moves changes from 50 to 51. Yup, there's the change. Happens when June and Junpei are searching for Clover. Ha...this time they think to look in the shower room. It seems darker...and she's not there. All that's left is the corpse...

...and now Junpei understands. Snake's alive. But...if he realizes that now, what's my endgame? Seven's panicking...something happened. Clover's been found dead in the first-class bathroom.

...There was something we never opened, wasn't there? In the first-class cabin, near the C plate. A safe...Seven propped the door to the first-class cabin open so it could be returned to. A knife wound...no.

Seven was the one who found the body. Junpei asks why he propped the door open in the first place. Yep, it's the safe. Seven hoped we'd be able to figure it out eventually. ...There's rust beneath the safe. It's been opened. Junpei wants to look at the body of the 9th Man again...More disgusting descriptions. The bracelet's gone...as I thought. Seven asks if he found something.

"No. Nothing." Seven says he's found something...a note, in Clover's right hand.

"Truth had gone, truth had gone, and truth had gone. Ah, now truth is asleep in the darkness of the sinister hand." Where have I heard that before? Right...it came from fake Zero's corpse. ...The truth in faux-Snake's left arm. Junpei thinks it's a reference to the bracelets. There's...even more branching. Am I close?

What could they mean? Hmm… "truth" means something that is "correct", "factual"..."right". So then "gone" is..."left".

14383421. These numbers flashed across the bracelet. That...doesn't even have a digital root of 9. Junpei inputs it to the safe. It opens. Another scrap of paper.

"Fact #1: The Nonary Game was played once before, nine years ago.

Fact #2: The person with the #2 bracelet attended the game 9 years ago.

Fact #3: It was planned by the following 4 people: - Cradle Pharmaceutical CEO -- [Gentarou Hongou] - Cradle Pharmaceutical Chief of Staff -- [Nagisa Nijisaki] - Cradle Pharmaceutical R&D Supervisor -- [Teruaki Kubota] - Majority Shareholder in Cradle Pharmaceutical -- [Kagechika Musashidou]

I must punish them. For the innocent lives they sacrificed. This is the only warning they will receive. That innocent souls might be saved, I now state the truth. --Zero"

...Zero's the good guy? Well, sort of...I guess he's a vigilante. CEO...Gentarou Hongou must be Ace. And...Junpei wants everyone to go to the hospital room. Something he wants to be sure of. He has a suspect. 5 AM. Actually, before it starts...Junpei wants Ace, Seven, and Lotus to put their hands on the RED next to door #3. But they won't be going inside...Junpei uses this to confirm that one need not actually put a palm on the scanner so long as a bracelet is brought near it. And now, he asks Ace a question. "Do you know...who I am?"

...And there's the line. "Unfortunately, that's the wrong answer. Actually...I'm Santa." Ace is surprised, but also confused and fearful. Everyone else is stunned, Santa especially. Junpei continues the ruse, saying he borrowed clothes from Junpei, and vice versa. Ace says that's ridiculous, and points to the fact that Door 3 opened for them just now. But only then did Ace realize his mistake. It should've been obvious... Junpei confronts him with the truth of his condition. And then he says he brought it up, because there's an excellent chance that the person who killed Snake has that disorder. Then he outright accuses Ace.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aw7kxvyEEA

(play that for as long as you need to to get through this section)

The first piece of evidence--making us argue over the doors in the hospital room, then offering to stay behind, in order to keep everyone out of Room #3. Furthermore, he already knew we'd be back. Junpei's making quite a show of being interested in removing earwax. And that's...still only part of the first piece. The second is his condition. Then he reveals the truth--the corpse in the shower room is not Snake's, because Snake's left arm is prosthetic. "Guy X", on the other hand, had a flesh-and-blood left arm. Ace is panicking. "Oh God... No... That's impossible..." Hence, it's likely that the killer couldn't tell the difference. Ace wants to know what motive he'd have for killing Snake in the first place. The first is that Snake knew about his past. Furthermore, he had a grudge, and Ace could've easily assumed as much. Therefore, he was a threat.

Santa cuts in, asking about what "past" this is. Junpei hands Santa the note. As soon as he gets to "Gentarou Hongou"...he demands to know what's going on. Ace cuts in, banging on a table or a bed or something. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8QRExBfQhs

Ace says the paper is a lie. "Someone is trying to frame me!" So, then, you admit that you're Gentarou Hongou... Ace asks how he could've done such a thing with only himself and Guy X. Junpei claims he took something from Ace while he was asleep. He goes to his pocket...and that, too, is a trap. What's he hiding? Just as I suspected...the #9 bracelet. Of course, that assumes that Guy X actually had a #2 bracelet...

Oh, right...Ace would've seen the bracelet just fine. So to be a convincing fake-Snake, Guy X would need to have a #2 bracelet. Junpei asks him to remove his jacket, or Seven will have to do it by force. Seven cracks his knuckles and says he'd be glad to.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCatinRA53k

Oh my God the resemblance is uncanny...

...and then he gives an evil stare. Yeah, this guy's definitely a Phoenix Wright villain. He retrieved the bracelet during the search for the RED hardware...he points out how useful 9 is.

...Well, fuck. So that's why Ace's weapon of choice was a knife. It was the same knife that the 9th Man used at the beginning of the game when he took Clover hostage! Ace confronted the man he believed to be Snake, wondering why he hadn't confronted him. He considers the possibility that Snake conspired with Zero. Ace confesses everything, including killing Clover. Furthermore, she had gone through Door #1...and so she may have found "it". Seven and Lotus protest, but given their report on the stairs, Ace suspected they knew nothing. But Clover...Clover knew. Clover had seen the missing bracelet, and had been in the Captain's Quarters. But Ace insists that he lost not to Junpei, but to Zero. The deception regarding Snake's identity...

"I must punish them. For the innocent lives they have sacrificed. This is the only warning they will receive. That innocent souls might be saved, I now state the truth."

"I must punish them."

And Clover's statement that Zero was among them...Junpei now suspects Snake. Ace suggests we get moving. Santa indignantly says that Ace isn't going anywhere. Ace asks why Santa cares that he killed Clover, a stranger Santa only met a few hours ago. Seven angrily tries to punch Ace...but Lotus beats him to the punch.

...And now Ace has the revolver from the cargo room. Junpei, can't you do anything right? You let Clover get the ax; you let Ace get the revolver... Ace claims to have killed 2--no, 3 people. Ace confesses to being the "him" that the 9th Man said had tricked him. It was...after the 9th Man told him his name. Ace told him to investigate what was beyond Door #5 and said they'd meet up later. Ace claims to have had four reasons. First, and second, the importance of the #9 bracelet. It made him a threat, and it was something Ace desired. Furthermore, he knew Hongou's past. And fourth...it was a test to see if this Nonary Game was serious, to see what the penalties for breaking the rules would be. Ace leaves with Lotus as a hostage, intending to escape with her bracelet, his own, and the 9th Man's.

...And June collapsed again. She insists she just needs rest and tells Junpei to go. Santa offers to stay behind with June. It's too late, though; Ace is gone. The coffin...still can't be opened...

...Wait. The safe combination? Junpei thinks it'll be a waste of time, but Seven throws something Junpei just said back in his face. Open sesame...

...Yeah, as I expected. Snake. We fill him in, minus the part about Clover's death. Seven also has a 0 bracelet, probably from the Captain's Quarters. But...Clover was the one who found it. And now Seven's going to escape with Snake. ...No he isn't. Anyway, there's an error message. ...The 0 bracelet isn't actually a 0 bracelet. We try some other combinations...

Junpei plus Seven plus 0 = 9. So, 0=6. Speaking of 6, there's water entering the boat. Snake says he has a last resort and urges Seven and Junpei to go through. Snake...manages to get through as well? Snake had a trump card...

...Hahahahaha. YES. The bracelets were all on everyone's left arms...Snake needed merely to crush his own fake left arm, and the bracelet could just slide right off.

A massive iron gate in the room at the end of the hallway. CAUTION: INCINERATOR. Snake asks if there's a lever when he hears this, and when there is, Seven asks how he knew. Snake says the story would take half a day.

...Gulp. I think Santa made a seemingly innocent comment about being burned alive in an incinerator when we had examined the thermometer in the shower room. I hadn't even taken note of it at the time, because it seemed trivial, but now that I know that his sister died in the first Nonary Game, aboard the Gigantic... I check the map of E deck. Wouldn't you know it, the center of it's been...burned away. The lever opens a door...Ace is inside, still holding Lotus hostage, in front of...another #9 door?

"Warning. Warning. Emergency incineration command has been acknowledged." Oh god...this is the final exit. It's through an incinerator. Anyone wanting to exit...has to be ready to go right away. 9 minutes. Ace applauds Zero's "show". Uh-oh...he asks how we all got here. 2+4+5+7=18, and he points it out. He tells Snake that Clover's dead.

"I'm sorry, did I stutter?" He admits to killing her, admits it twice. Admits to using the 9th Man's knife. He tells Ace how easy it was, how soft the skin was to cut through. 7 minutes to incineration. Snake moves to try to kill Ace...Ace shoots him. Lotus screams and escapes Ace's grasp. 4 minutes. He prepares to shoot the rest of us...and Snake rises! He's like a zombie...Ace is scared again. He wastes all of his bullets on Snake. 3 minutes. Snake's still advancing. 2 minutes. Ace is begging for his life. The others tell Snake that it's been enough and they need to leave, but Snake says he's done all he can do. He has to take Ace down with him. 1 minute. You know, 9 minutes is an awfully long time...Junpei's paralyzed, and acting like a moron again. Seven holds him back. 10 seconds...Seven knocks Junpei out and drags him out. Ace and Snake are being burned...Ace is still crying out to Zero. He heads back...he wants to go get June and Santa. How will he bring them here, Seven and Lotus ask. Junpei says not to worry about that.

...3+4+5+6=18. No, wait...there was a new elevator. But...they're not there. Where are they? He returned to the chapel...lit candles. June...no, Kanny! She's lying so still...

...she's still alive. What the...it's like her death scene in the submarine ending all over again! It is that death scene all over again!

"Game over." It was Zero. Junpei asks where he is. "I am right here. I have always been close to you." Junpei wants to know what he's talking about. "No matter. I will tell you again. Game over. This game has ended. Junpei protests that he'll get out with Kanny. Zero says he won't, because he chose the wrong path. Fate is inevitable. The loser has been decided. Junpei says he won't lose.

"No. You misunderstand. You haven't lost. I...have lost."

The door slams behind him. No one is there. Junpei tells Kanny that he'll be right back, checks outside, finds no one, returns inside...and again, finds no one. The knockout gas from the very beginning returns.

"I am right here. I have always been close to you." "No. You misunderstand. You haven't lost. I...have lost." The wrong path...was that meta? And then Kanny just disappears...

...No way.

Heh...roll credits. So, then, it looks like the Safe and Submarine endings are the important ones. And there's little knowledge I don't have...

...!!!

Sceptilesolar posted...

'''No, it's an ending to have never. There's no reason to ever get that ending, that's why I said you aren't supposed to go for it at all. It spoils a lot of things unnecessarily and ruins the tension of a number of the other routes. I wish the game was designed better so that ending didn't exist, but it seems it'll perpetually screw over playthrough topics.'''

...Hahaha...I think I get it now. The blank spot is in slot #1, and the coffin's in slot #2. I played too well for my own good, didn't I? All I have to do is restart with the full memories of everyone's paths, follow my original trail, and I'll be at the Golden Ending! The abruptness of the Coffin Ending...it's not an ending at all; it's a failsafe! The game actually won't allow you to get the Golden Ending first, until you can properly punish the villain and save everyone else. You can't do those on the same run...but now, we can.

...wait...

How are we supposed to utilize our knowledge of the safe combination with the path we take? No...the safe itself is unnecessary. All that's needed is the combination, for use in unlocking the coffin. Okay...tomorrow, or rather, later today, we finish.

Chapter 5: Mindfuck (999--True Ending)
In order to spare me from another night like last night, I'm not even going to bother playing this game once primetime begins...so I'll just put out an update or two now. So far, nothing seems different. Okay, confirmed that I'm not allowed to enter the passcode in the kitchen until I actually use the knife on the pork. Just to get something different, I decided to initially select "3" when given the choice for the second door to go through, since I remember that the game gave you the option to reconsider after Santa explained why that wouldn't work and I'd never done things that way.

"That noise came form somewhere close by." Not the only typo I've noticed, but one of the few that wouldn't show up on spell-check. You know, it just struck me that the purple liquid stays in your inventory after you use it...

Of course, there's another "fun" option to take...the elevator scene. Absolutely hilarious. The longer it goes on, the more you wonder how Junpei hasn't realized that June's talking about something else. Oh, haha, it actually changes a line of dialogue once they're on E Deck, too!

Wait, here's a change! "It was a lie. There was no reason to split up the work. Junpei wanted to talk to Clover, privately. That was why he'd sent Ace to the wheelhouse. There was something he meant to ask Clover, and he didn't want anyone else to hear him ask it. He also knew that Clover would likely remain silent if there was anyone else around when he asked. That was why he was so desperate to send Ace back to the wheelhouse." Just a result of this being the first time I got indignant at Ace in a playthrough in which I'd given Clover the bookmark, or a result of the memories of the past? ...I think it's the former, because of the knowledge of the experiment. Okay, yeah, Junpei automatically tells Clover that Santa was the one who gave him the bookmark and told him the words on the 4-7-1 path.

...Huh. Remember when Ace was making theories as to who killed fake Zero? It seems pretty obvious now...that when Ace took the pocket watch immediately after we found it, and then returned it before things went interactive again, that he would've had the opportunity to move ahead and kill the fake Zero.

--The world blinked--

Suddenly, there was a voice, inside of Junpei's head. "Truth had gone, truth had gone, and truth had gone. Ah, now truth is asleep in the darkness of the sinister hand." Seven and Clover have no idea what just happened. Junpei solves the puzzle of the bracelet again. 14383421. Snake sits up in the coffin. Snake hears Seven and Junpei and asks if the others are there too. Clover's just weeping with happiness. Snake tells her "You're acting as though I've returned from the grave." Clover tells him that he has. Junpei and Seven wait for Clover to calm down before explaining to Snake what happened. Snake seems to have a good idea of what happened while he was indisposed. Snake mentions that he was knocked out in the same way as everyone had been when they were brought here, suggesting that Zero was responsible.

...Wait...a gas that knocks people out...Soporil! I bet Zero was using Soporil! It fits with Zero's apparent sense of "karmic justice", using Cradle's own drug in what amounts to a complicated revenge plan against Cradle. Junpei, meanwhile, is trying to figure out where that phrase had come from, and why he felt compelled to press the buttons on the bracelet after hearing them. Junpei could only say that it was a subconscious reaction...

...wait. Memories of the past...a morphogenetic field? Yes, Junpei flashes back to Clover's explanation of morphogenetic fields, and concludes that he'd accessed one. Junpei felt like the one thing tying everything together--morphogenetic field theory, the Nonary Game, the 2 murders--was Zero, and that finding Zero's identity would answer all of their questions. And he has the beginnings of a theory, but can't test it... Junpei wants to check to make sure we can verify with only four bracelets. I can't imagine why he'd think otherwise. Oh, he wants to test the Zero bracelet...Clover's briefly surprised that Junpei realized she'd taken it. Junpei retitles the fake Zero "Cap". Sure enough, it fails to open. Do we...have enough combinations to be "allowed" to try everything?

2+4=6

2+5=7

2+7=9

4+7=11=2

5+7=12=3

2+5+7=14=5

2+4+7=13=4

...absolutely no way of creating 1 or 8. Anyway, as before, 0 turns out to have a value of 6...Junpei realizes the significance. It's not a #0, but a letter O--essentially making it equal to 24 and thereby giving it a digital root of 6. For some reason, Snake thinks that there was still only ever one #6, and suggests that June's bracelet was never #6 to begin with. Rather, her bracelet was flipped, and was in fact a 9. Clover says that the numbered door stuff was just a load of crap, and Snake asks why she'd say that. Clover says that the numbers wouldn't match up and lists all of the numbered doors that June's gone through. But...there's something interesting. All four doors she's gone through, Santa and Lotus both went through as well. In fact...

Fork #1: 1247/3568 or 257/13468

Fork #2: 367/458 or 368/457 or 3567

Fork #3: 145/3678 or 1356/478 or 136/578

Axe Ending: 3467

Coffin Ending/Current run: 1368

Even in the Safe Ending...Santa was the one who stayed behind with June while everyone else chased after Ace. For all of Junpei's white knight tendencies...June's never gone through a numbered door without Santa and vice versa. And Santa was the first to refuse to leave June behind... Snake reaches his conclusion. Santa's actual number is 0. Snake believes Santa to be Zero, though he's unsure if Santa was working alone. Junpei's unconvinced. If June was really #9, then there'd be two #9 bracelets. Then again...Guy X had a #2 bracelet, yet Snake still has his. So obviously there can be doubles.

Junpei and the others head through the #9 door and go down a hallway, and a flight of stairs, all the way to the bottom deck. A Neptune door...we can't enter. Then they find the Uranus door. Sure enough, it goes to the library. "Lights to the books!" ...Okay. A few interesting books...and by "interesting", I mean they stand out on the shelves. Telepathy and teletemporation? Seven asks what the latter means, and Snake explains it as the ability to travel through time. Kind of like what we're doing, in a meta sense, aggregating all of our knowledge of past playthroughs. "Set Right What Once Went Wrong", and all. There's another occult book on a nearby shelf called "Mindswap". Clover says she wouldn't mind swapping with her brother or Junpei, but she'd rather die than swap with Seven. Seven says, "like I'd want to swap with a little brat like--" and stops, and Clover thinks he was actually thinking about it. That's sick... Hm. One shelf's missing most of its books. Just four on it, each with four letters. ERNL, PEIU, NEDB, OHFB.

...Open here, find bulb. Which does exactly that. There's also a random children's book. It's a pop-up book...LRK. Another one, HEAD. There are some weird books about the limits of the human body, stuff like regeneration...or cultivating a sixth sense. DNA, Chemical engineering...communication and computer science. There's another bulb hidden behind a book. Time to go downstairs. Leiberniz, Dadkind, Sheldrake, and Owen. Wait, I've heard of one of those names before! He was the one who did the morphogenetic field study with the Rorschach pictures! Riemann hypothesis...Clover asks what there is to hypothesize about a reamin', as it's pretty straightforward, and Snake makes a hurricane of...double entendres? I think that joke went over my head. Goldbach's conjecture...that's another mathematics text, apparently. Sounds interesting; I'll have to look into it some time. Algebraic number theory...I know a lot of this stuff! And now we're into the folklore section... SE5. No, sorry...SE-5. Or is it SEI5? Picture books on these stands in the center...wait, I need another light bulb! Locked shelf...6-digit combination. No clue what it might be. Oh, wait, the answer's right there. Now, there are three lights. And together, the books make...SHELDRAKE-5. I have to actually click it again, though, to trigger the flag. Snake asks if Junpei has heard of him, and Junpei tells him what he learned from Lotus...and from Clover. Snake says he told her not to tell anyone about the experiment. Junpei demands answers. Wait, I'm in a segment without player control...which means I can save and turn off now! So hard to bring myself to do so, though...this game's so damn exciting.

Okay, that...didn't actually help. Well, back to the game, I guess.

Snake says that Zero told him not to talk about the last Nonary Game, engraving the message on a card--the same one Snake had read out earlier. There was something else written on it. "Tell no one of the events that took place 9 years ago. Tell, and I activate your sister's detonator. The question is, Snake wonders, why would Zero shut his mouth but not Clover's?

...Because Clover was at the Nevada site. Clover wouldn't be able to recognize anyone from the Gigantic. Snake's current theory, that Santa is Zero, would mean that Snake and Zero would have met before. Junpei points out that Zero was obviously bluffing, since Clover's still alive. ...Clover told Snake about the bookmark. This is why Snake believes that Santa wouldn't kill us, even if he is Zero. Because he was evidently in Snake's group. Junpei wants to know everything about the experiment. Snake begins by asking how much he already knows. Junpei told him about the morphogenetic fields, the simultaneous experiments, and the death of the girl. Snake looked down and trembled. To determine who did this...Snake tells Junpei about Cradle Pharmaceutical organizing the first Nonary Game, and the names of the four people in charge. Pictures of the four of them are framed in shadow. You can hardly even recogize that Hongou is Ace. Nagisa Nijisaki...might be Guy X? We couldn't really get a good read on Guy X because we've only seen him in flashbacks and Hongou can't actually see faces, but what we saw in that flashback looks kind of like this guy. Teruaki Kubota...heh.

Hongou did say that the 9th Man was a threat because he knew about his past, didn't he? The hair's much better combed, but Kubota has the same hair color, the same build, and wears glasses. In all likelihood, the 9th Man was Teruaki Kubota. And Kagechika Musashidou...wait, I think that's Cap! Which means that Ace, aka Gentarou Hongou, killed all three of his comrades, the last of them using a knife obtained from the corpse of one of the other two. Again, Zero's sense of karmic justice, Cradle being made to destroy itself. This definitely supports Snake's theory, since we know that Santa made a considerable bit of money investing in Cradle Pharmaceutical stock and therefore, if he is indeed the one who planned all of this out, Cradle's destruction was funded by their own success.

Hongou designed it; Nijisaki put it all together. Kubota developed the necessary technology, and Musashidou funded it. Junpei feels like he's heard those names before. *smirk* The four of them gathered ten or so other people to assist them in executing this plan. The Nonary Project. It was aimed at controlling the human mind through sheer will. The vessel for this control was the morphogenetic field. Why did the glycerin start to crystallize? Why did the crystal structure of EDT change? Why did the rats' puzzle-solving skills improve with each generation--wait, that story was only told on one of the routes to the bad end! The results with humans were the same. The more people knew the answer, the more people could answer correctly without having ever seen the problem before. Because the "shape" of the answer has been stored in a field invisible to the naked eye, and through that field, the [resonant event] transmits information related to that answer. So, wait, is the in-game explanation that the Junpei from an alternate timeline managed to transmit information to this Junpei?

Actually, that explanation works on so many levels. Thanks to fast-forwarding, I was able to get from restart to the branching point between the Coffin and True endings in under an hour, despite stopping to write for this topic and including a few new options.

Snake makes a metaphor with a person claiming to have killed another person because the devil told them to. Whether or not the devil is real is irrelevant; what matters is that the murderer believes he's real. So what matters here is that Hongou believed in morphogenetic fields. Junpei asks how morphogenetic fields would let them control a person. Snake says that it's not just knowledge that can be affected by morphogenetic fields, but actions. Even if you knew nothing of an event, you'd still be more likely to partake--the example he uses is a million people suddenly doing handstands. As goofy as the example is, the idea of being able to influence humanity's actions is scary. Now, Snake continues, suppose there was a single person who had the same effect as those millions of people? Junpei thinks this is ridiculous, but Snake's not done. What if there was someone, an ordinary person, whom another person could grab the resonant event from and use to make other people do, to continue the example, those handstands? A person who has the power to write to the field and a person who has the power to read from the field. The transmitter's resonant event can be transmitted through the field and sent to the receiver, and the transmitter can then control the receiver... Junpei says that's crazy, and Snake says that if you want to prove that, you'll have to test it first, or at least, that's how the Cradle quartet thought. Snake asks if Junpei has ever heard of the Ganzfield experiment. Didn't we hear about that at some point in this game? ...Yeah, Seven told us about it in the second puzzle room of the #2 door. It was apparently used to screen subjects for the Nonary Project. Hongou used the hospital to secretly conduct experiments on children. He gathered those with potential, who might have been able to access the field...of course, they didn't go willingly. They were kidnapped...

...I find it interesting that it's always been the Nonary Game, but there were 16 children kidnapped, not 18. No...almost as soon as I wrote that, Snake says that there were 18. Nine pairs of siblings...as I thought. For reasons not understood at the time, each pair had one transmitter and one receiver. As such, they were split into two groups of nine. Group Q was made up of those who excelled in transmitting, placed in Building Q, in Nevada, and Group A was the group that excelled in receiving, placed on board the Gigantic. Hmm...I notice that throughout this discussion, transmitters have been shown in red, and receivers in blue. At least at the start of the game, Snake wears blue, and Clover wears red and pink; even her hair is pink. Furthermore, we know that one of the ones in the group on board the Gigantic was named "Aoi", Japanese for "blue". Some definite visual cues...although Santa, who we also know to have been on board the Gigantic, doesn't wear any blue or red. Junpei wears both colors...which might make sense if he's been receiving signals from his alternate self. Snake continues to explain the "epiphany/danger" thing, even though I'm pretty sure Clover already told us that back in the captain's quarters. The children in Group A had to play the Nonary Game on the sinking Gigantic, causing "danger", while the children in Group Q did the same in the mock experiment building, Building Q, which duplicated the interior and the puzzles of the Gigantic exactly. Hongou told the children to solve the puzzles they found throughout the rooms and transmit the information to the children in Group A. "If you succeed, they will be able to solve the puzzles and escape. But if you fail, then the Gigantic will sink, and your brothers and sisters will drown."

Wait...each group was supposed to be split evenly, one sibling in Group Q and one in Group A, but Santa was in Group A, yet the one who died...his sister...was also in Group A. Did something go wrong?

Ooh, now Snake's talking about how the Apollo 13 astronauts were able to safely return to Earth. I just read about that. Snake says it's because NASA had access to a replica of the capsule, and were able to replicate the situation and feed them the information--although they did so by conventional methods, not morphogenetic fields. Also...Junpei caught the inconsistency, regarding the number of children. Apparently, 16 is what the news reported. The other two children had no known relatives, and so it's likely no one filed a police report. A brother and sister. The boy was Aoi...and the girl...her name was... Snake pauses, clearly pained, but manages to continue.

Her name was...Akane. That was the girl who...died.

...Well, that fits with the blue/red theme. I hadn't even caught that, but it's there. Judging by the whole "no known relatives" bit, and Snake's hesitance to speak the girl's name, it's likely that Santa and his sister are Aoi and Akane. Um...Akane's not exactly a rare name, right? I mean, I know that this game hates coincidences, and June and Junpei were the only two people with no known connection to the first Nonary Game, but they're connected to each other so connecting one connects them both. There's just one problem. The Akane from the first Nonary Game died. So they can't be the same person. Besides, June was the one who was most inquisitive about Santa's sister.

Junpei feels like he's been punched in the stomach. He was trying to remember...the past...with Akane, his Akane. Had she died 9 years ago? If so, who was June? No, that's impossible, he decides. Akane's not an uncommon name. Had Snake known a last name, it would be different, but... Snake notices that something's off about Junpei. Junpei feels like he already knows the answer, but can't bring himself to ask.

We head over to the bookshelf and find a button hidden behind Sheldrake 5. It moves a bookcase. Four roman numerals sit over a panel. 13, 14, 10, 13. DEAD. The keyboard only has letters, anyway. Seven's worried when he sees what the password was. "Dead", huh...

They head through the door, and it immediately locks behind them. There's a card reader door, and the room's in disarray. Seven notices that a lot of this stuff looks familiar--like pieces of puzzles we've already solved. Snake suggests that this could be Zero's laboratory. There's another nautical table...it's the same as the last one, except the arrows are reversed, and there's a final stop after Japan. Looks like Los Angeles.

D6_A

1F5L

9B_L

ALL

A three-by-three addition grid. Only the L as the sum of the second row is lit up in green--no doubt because 1+F+5=L is correct. There's also a piece of paper spelling it out for you.

1+9=A...so I should turn off the D. Damnit, it's like the puzzle in the lab! Well, let's see what ends up in the two blanks...4 and C.

6+4=A

C+9=L

C+4+5=L

F+6=L

So, the B and the D are the only two that should be unlit...now to actually accomplish that.

We get a cross emblem, then I find a panel with four indentations for emblems...so I need three more. Steering wheel, cross, circle, waffle patterns. Another nautical table puzzle with compass, but the screen's barely visible. S, W, SE, NE, E, N, E. It unlocks the helm emblem, and also a big box near the exit, according to Clover. Hmm...a Morse code puzzle...

Two dots, four dots, one dot. I'm afraid my Morse code's a bit rusty...looks like it's IHE. Definitely can't add all of them up without knowing which base I'm in...if you ignore the digits and just set I=9, H=8, E=5, then we can either wind up with V=22 or, for a digital root bent, D=4.

...Or maybe it's just going to allow me no more than two for the first line, four for the second, and one for the third. I come to the conclusion that I can't stumble through this one. I find something for the files...it's just a Morse code chart. Which I can now reference on-screen. Still have no idea what it actually wants me to input, though. Um...2 to the seventh is only 128. It probably wouldn't take too long to brute-force it...but no, I'll pass.

...! Alice's coffin! Snake touches the plaque. "ALL-ICE...Ah, the two machines." Wait, what?

...wait, that's it! "C" is dah-dit-dah-dit; it would use the four slots allotted! And I and E, of course, are dit-dit and dit, respectively. The password is ICE! Snake suggests that it would be a three-letter word with two symbols, four symbols, one symbol. Yup, it opens the slider for the code emblem...and also unlocks the waffle-patterned coffin! Alice isn't inside, but the waffle emblem and the Neptune Key are. New puzzle as soon as we set the first emblem in...pretty much the process of assigning people to numbered doors. 6 and 3 are our first pair...and the 9 is locked up, so we can't send it to either. Haha, Zero, you're a laugh riot.

Hey...they kind of even fit our color schemes. 1 is brown, 2 is yellow (okay, that's a stretch), 3 is gray, 4 is pink, 5 is blue (which is the first color I think of when thinking of Junpei, though he wears some red as well), 6 is purple, 7 is orange, and 8 is green. Hmm...I wonder what would happen if we tried to split up 6 and 3 here?

1347 to the 6, 2568 to the 3. It works like it's supposed to. Cross emblem creates another puzzle, but this one has more red balls. Junpei's screwing up idioms left and right. This time 1 and 9 are both red, and the doors are 1 and 7. 568 and 2347. 3 is red now as well, and both are 7's. We need two groups of three...best to start by figuring out who needs to be with 7. And since you can't use 7 twice, the only other pair adding up to 9 is 4 and 5. So then 2 and 6 go with 8.

...1, 3, 6, and 9 are all gone, and the two doors are 9 and 8. Well, 24578 actually can all go through the #8 door, right? So there you go. And that opens the drawer under the keyboard...a photograph of four men. It's a lot clearer now--they are indeed Ace, the 9th Man, Guy X, and Cap. They're smiling in the picture, toasting. Junpei says that all of the men he knows in the picture--he obviously doesn't recognize Guy X, unsurprisingly--look about 10 years younger. Snake asks for the date of the picture and tells Junpei to check the back. It doesn't have a date, but it is captioned, "Praying for the success of the Nonary Project with Nijisaki, Kubota, and Musashidou". Junpei surmises that since he was not mentioned, Hongou was the one who wrote those words. What surprised Junpei was not this revelation, but the fact that it didn't feel like a revelation. It felt...obvious.

Snake understands. Ace is Gentarou Hongou. Even as Junpei asked this, he felt like he'd already known, like someone had whispered it in his ear. Snake had had his suspicions from the start, recognizing the voices... Clover asks why Snake didn't tell her, but Snake says that he would've been forced to tell everyone about what happened 9 years ago. Seven wants to borrow the picture. He says their names over and over as he stares at it. And then he remembers everything. He reconfirms what Snake said in the library about the four men. Junpei and Clover both want to know how Seven knew all of that stuff to begin with.

Seven was a lone-wolf detective who valued doing what was right over following orders. He'd gone to the wharf on a slim lead, 9 years ago, investigating the kidnappings. He'd gotten a lead to that ship and attempted to rescue the children, but was captured. Drugged. We've heard most of this story before, but perhaps we can piece a bit more together.

"There..s! Over...! It's...9...!"

"Hur...! O...ere!" "...kay...ing!"

"What...go...ow?"

They found the #9 door, and someone was yelling at another to hurry up. They said they were coming...but then one of them wasn't going to go now? I don't know...the story continues this time, though, into the duct that's barely wide enough for Seven to fit through at first, but gets larger. He hears a thunderous sound like a massive metal door slamming shut.

"Warning.

Warning.

Emergency incineration command has been acknowledged.

Automatic incineration will take place in...18 minutes. Please evacuate the incinerator immediately.

Repeat...

Emergency incineration command has been acknowledged."

And the sirens blare. As I suspected...only the time limit's twice as long this time! How...how did she get trapped in there? How did she end up...burning alive?

The story continues with the children screaming out. Seven crawls as quickly as he can and finds a metal door, which he throws open. It's...the incinerator room! I recognize it. We see four children. None of their faces are terribly clear--probably the clearest of them is a girl in green, most likely Nona as she resembles a younger Lotus. Even so...I can recognize the other three. One of them, dressed in blue, is undoubtedly Snake. Another is a white-haired boy in black with blue accents. Santa. I guess he really is a receiver. And a girl...even from behind, it's unmistakable.

It's Akane, exactly as she looked in Junpei's flashbacks.

The story continues. The children are surprised and frightened by his entrance, and Seven assures them that he's one of the good guys. Only one child moves. The camera pans around, confirming it to be Santa. Seven asks where the exit is. Santa says there isn't one. 15 minutes to incineration. There's that #9 door. Seven's too high up to pull the children up. He gets an idea and leaves, promising to return. There was something he needed from his cell...a bedsheet rope. How cliché... Seven realizes that there aren't as many children as there were before...

...the cruelty of the Nonary Game. The others went ahead via the #9 door. The children try to explain how the numbered doors work, and therefore why they couldn't go with the others. 5 minutes. The four children go up the rope, first the girls, then the boys. Santa was almost to the top when someone knocked on the door. The door opens, and a furious Hongou storms in. Hongou roars like an animal. 1 minute to incineration. After thirty feet, another duct met the one they were in. They crawled out to find themselves in a narrow hallway. Two doors, one a normal double door, the other leading into the incinerator. Seven sends the kids through the other door and up a spiral staircase.

Suddenly, Santa--Aoi--realizes that Akane isn't catching up to them. Seven notes how he hadn't seen that name in the list of missing children. Santa runs back downstairs to look for her. Seven tells the remaining children to keep heading up and heads back down after Santa. Nona does so...but Snake says he's going with Seven. A cry for help. "Help me! Somebody help me!"

They enter the hallway to the incinerator, and there's Hongou, trying to force Akane back into the incinerator. He throws her in and leaps in afterwards, and the door closes. Another 18-minute countdown...but with only one person, it's impossible to leave through the #9 door, which is apparently what Hongou somehow did. She's sobbing and begging to be saved, and Aoi's promising he'll figure something out, but futilely. The story ends, Seven unwilling to tell the horrible ending. Junpei forces him to tell him if Akane really died. A few minutes after the end of the countdown, the door opened. The air was still hot. "And in the middle of the room, beneath the waves of heat... There it lay."

Hmm...it never actually says that "it" is a body, though Santa's reaction certainly suggests that it is. And...the brief view of the center of the room made it look almost like there was a trap door in the floor.

...Snake suggested that Santa probably had an accomplice, and giving Kanny a number other than the one she supposedly has would work a lot better if she was in on the deception. It was Santa himself who said that you can't trust anyone in this game, because the person you trust the most could turn out to be the person who stabs you in the back. June and Junpei even looked at each other after he said that. And in the Safe Ending, Zero said that Junpei had chosen the wrong path, and as a result, Zero had lost. Furthermore, Zero said, "I have always been close to you." Who would have the most reason to want revenge on Cradle? The family of the dead girl, sure, but even more so, the dead girl herself.

1x9=9

21x9=189

421x9=3789

3421x9=30789

83421x9=750789

383421x9=3450789

4383421x9=39450789

...

14383421 x 9 = 129450789. Snake had it backwards. Santa is the accomplice. 0=6.

Junpei wants to know one more thing, though he's dreading the answer. What was the girl's last name? Seven confirms it. It's Kurashiki. Seven also confirms that the other boy was Snake. Everyone confirms that they aren't working with Zero. Seven then confirms that Santa is Aoi Kurashiki. Clover is genuinely surprised, and Snake admits that he didn't realize Santa was Aoi. His voice has changed completely, as he was in the middle of puberty 9 years ago. Only after Clover told him that Santa might have been one of the subjects in the first Nonary Game did Snake figure it out. Somehow, this revelation helps to clear some of the fog of Junpei's mind. Furthermore, he's the one who figures out that Guy X was probably Nijisaki. Clover thinks Santa was doing this out of revenge...but Junpei doesn't think Santa murdered anyone. Or rather, he knew. Everyone agreed that Ace would be the next target.

The room shakes, and water rushes. 6 AM, and they get Key Card 0. They rush through the Uranus and Neptune doors. And there it is. The incinerator. And, whaddya know, the other four members of the party are there! But...

Ace and Lotus are near the door. Santa's curled up on the floor, holding his stomach. June's slumped against the wall. Junpei runs to her. Her face is pale, her lips dry. Softly she speaks, "Jumpy... Y-You came to get me..." Of course he did. He made a promise. Junpei asks what happened. She swears she's fine; she just fainted. She wasn't feeling very good...

She says she's feeling a lot better now, though. Wait..

...In the second-class cabins, and in the freezer, she's just fine. But when we manipulated fate to get into the shower room, and when we went into the engine room and the cargo room, her fever returned. In the safe ending, too. Teletemporation..."Set Right What Once Went Wrong". She only gets sick when Junpei's doing something wrong...because he's unable to save her. Cell death...by burning...

She says she just needs some rest, and he shouldn't be worrying about her, then looks over to Santa. And now Ace has the gun, and is wearing his madman face. "Do you have any idea how much I've suffered? Can you even begin to understand my pain?" Junpei brings up the answer, prosopagnosia. Ace asks how he knew that, and Junpei can't say. There's the RED, and Ace validates his own bracelet, then Lotus's, then Kubota's. He said he's had quite a time playing with us...he must thank Zero. Ace didn't know Zero's identity! Junpei still thinks Santa is Zero.

...That's not the beep of acceptance. The door rejected him. Again he tries, and again it fails. There's absolutely no one whom Ace is locked with, nor Lotus, and the #9 bracelet worked just fine for getting into the first door...so the only thing that can possibly be lying is the door itself. Ace is furious, and Seven takes advantage of this to lunge at him. Seven says that he should punch Hongou more for what he did 9 years ago, and Ace finally figures it out. Junpei asks if Ace killed his three comrades. He's genuinely confused by the mention of Nijisaki. Junpei says he doesn't know yet, and goes through in order. First, he convinced Kubota to go into Door #5 alone. He states Hongou's motives--the same motives Ace used in his own rant in the Safe Ending. He then goes on to explain about Nijisaki, and Ace is genuinely shocked to learn that the man he'd thought was Snake was in fact Nijisaki. Ace asks if this means Snake is still alive, and Snake confirms it. "Although to be honest, even if you hadn't tried to kill me, I would still hate you very much." Ace says he wouldn't blame him. Junpei then confirms my theory, that Ace took the pocket watch and went ahead to enter the Captain's Quarters. Furthermore, Ace's apparent curiosity about the vote rigging was actually an opportunity to slip the watch back into Junpei's pocket. But motive...that Junpei still lacked. Ace pulled out a letter.

"Number (1). There are 2 ways you might survive this ordeal. The first is to win the Nonary Game. The second is for you to confess your sins of 9 years past. I have prepared a camera in the captain's quarters. The images captured by that camera will be streamed through a satellite and distributed across the world. Simply look into the camera and repent. Once you have confessed everything, I will release you from this ship. To make your confession more credible, I have left you a [witness] in the captain's quarters. Perhaps he will confess with you. The decision is yours. Do as you please.

---Zero---"

It was in his pocket when he awoke. That's why he wanted to go through door #1. So, wait, in the endings where we took him through Door #6, does Musashidou not die? Weird. Musashidou had been sedated, much like Nijisaki. But, yes, he planned to kill the witness, whoever he was, from the start. Junpei feels revulsion, but also pity, as Ace was being manipulated by Zero. The way everything had been set up...Ace is ashamed of himself for falling into such a simple trap. And then...Junpei accuses Santa of being Zero. Santa acts confused, and Seven says there's no point in trying to play dumb and calls him by his real name, Aoi Kurashiki.

Seven was sad as he spoke. He said his memory came back, and that Santa was definitely Aoi Kurashiki. Santa smirks and says that Seven really does have his memories back, but he made two mistakes. Yeah, he's Aoi. He's one of the kids who made it out, as was Snake. But he's not Zero. He's the accomplice, the assistant. He wasn't the one who came up with this; he was only following orders. And the other mistake...was thinking that this was revenge for 9 years ago. But revenge isn't the only purpose. There's another reason. To save someone. We were brought here to help his sister. To save Akane.

"Wh-what the hell are you talkin' about?! Akane Kurashiki died 9 years ago in this room... I was there, I saw--" And then Seven freezes, eyes wide, turning to look at June. And June wasn't there. And, apparently, Seven's recognized her. Seven feels like his head's gonna pop. Lotus is confused. Santa reminds us again the purpose of the Nonary Project. The children in Building Q had been given puzzles identical to the ones on the Gigantic and were told to send their answers into the morphic fieldset. The transmitters were in one and the receivers in the other. Each pair of siblings was supposed to have been split up, but...there was a mistake. Akane was a transmitter. She should've been placed in Building Q, but instead, she was placed on the Gigantic. Santa says he supposes Junpei knows where this is going. Junpei does not. Santa says Junpei knows things he shouldn't, that he couldn't. Ace's condition, his motives, the method behind Nijisaki's murder. He wasn't surprised by the revelation of Ace's true identity, and he opened the coffin that Snake was in.

"The answer to that is easy. He knew because I knew." Only the second time a first-person pronoun has appeared on the lower screen. The first...

"Huh. Did I leave that open?" So, then, Zero's been narrating all along...

"Junpei was receiving information that I sent to him through the morphic fieldset. It's simple, really. How do I know the alternate futures, then? Imagine a river that splits into two, like an upside-down Y. The river flows from the top to the bottom; from a single stream into 2 branches. It only flows in one direction. It can never flow backward. Information is the same way. It moves from the past to the future, but never flows backward. That's why people at the river's source, in the past, will never know about those downstream, in the future. But the people downstream will never know about each other, either. Information only flows along the path of the river. But I am different. I can manipulate the morphic fieldset to pluck knowledge from the future. Now, who am [I]? I am [I], the 9th letter of the alphabet. But I am also [Zero]. ...No, that's not true. I'm not really Zero. Not yet. Perhaps you could say I am...[less than Zero]." What an awful pun. "Zero is my future. In 9 years...I will be [Zero]."

...So let me get this straight. June, the Akane Kurashiki of the present, is Zero. She was put on the Gigantic 9 years ago, seemingly by mistake, but actually because she was both a transmitter and a receiver. However, she hadn't had anyone to transmit to her at the time, and so she perished 9 years ago in the First Nonary Game. In order to prevent this, she set up the Second Nonary Game in order to put Junpei through the same trials, transmitting to him the answers, so that he could then transmit that which she still didn't know back into the past in order to save her. Never mind the time paradox that she couldn't have possibly set up the Second Nonary Game, the instrument of her survival, had she died 9 years ago. Despite all of the other pairs being siblings...

"True love is the most powerful magic of all."

Santa's got the gun back and is pointing it at Ace. Ace seems dead inside. The others wonder what he's doing.

"Didn't I tell you? I'm Santa Claus. It's time for me to go make a wish come true." And now Santa and Ace have left the incinerator, and the door's shut. There's that door...you know, it looks a tad different from the first two [9] doors.

2+4+5+7+8=26 --> 2+6=8. No way that will work...wait. 2, 4, 5, 7, 8...that's the same quintet we were left with for the Coffin Emblem puzzle, when the two doors were a 9 and an 8! That's the "solution", then...but why? Clover's got an idea...no, she's just trying to calculate things that will add up to 9, or rather to 18. Lotus says we should go. Snake then realizes that the #9 door wouldn't open for the four of us, anyway. He couldn't exactly see what happened to Ace, but he had an idea of what happened. Sure enough, it fails. But it was definitely 9 in the first Nonary Game...They must have changed the settings.

"[I] was watching. I had watched everything that was reflected in his eyes. I was listening. Every sound that vibrated in his eardrums, I heard. Smell, taste, touch...I felt everything he felt. I knew. I knew everything about him. What he was thinking, what he was feeling, what he was sensing... All of his feelings and worries and fears became mine...

My mind, my consciousness, was inside of him. Through the morphic fieldset we were resonant, and we were as one. I was him, and at the same time, I was an observer."

And there's that song.

"It started with a tremendous noise like a clap of thunder. That was approximately 9 hours ago. A bomb had gone off on the ship we were on. That was when my resonance with him began. My resonant event melted into him and we became one. Inside of [Junpei]..."

...How sexual. So, June--I mean, Akane--found herself inside Junpei's mind, 9 years into the future. But she still hadn't lost herself. She was living in two realities at once. The present, and the future. Think of it like two movies on the same screen, at the same time. Eventually it becomes hard to separate them. However, if she concentrated, she could focus on one or the other.

"Come on! Over here!" Aoi. Akane followed him. "C'mon! Hurry up!" They burst into the hospital room. Everyone was arguing. 2 boys got into a fistfight, and a girl started to cry. Just when all hope seemed lost, [Light] started talking. He was blind. 9 years later, we would call him [Snake].

"Hello! Everyone! Yes, could you come over here for a moment?" As he was one of the oldest, the fights died down, and the children gathered to listen to him. "I have a little sister. She is very important to me. Right now, she is over in Building Q and is desperately trying to send information over to me. Her name is [Clover], and today is her 9th birthday." Wait...Clover's real name is Clover? As he spoke, he pulled something out of his pocket...9 four-leaf clovers. "I was going to give these to her, as a birthday present. I was outside picking them when I was abducted. I'm sure I've already told you, but I am blind. For a man who can't see, collecting 9 of a very specific plant is... Well, it is difficult. But my sister means a great deal to me, and I hoped these would show her how much I cared for her. Since it's her 9th birthday, I thought 9 4-leaf clovers would be appropriate. Every one of you has a brother or sister in Building Q with Clover. For their sake, we have to survive. We have to get off this ship. Do you understand?" And then came the speech about the leaf words.

He gave a clover to each of them. That eased the tension, and there were no further incidents prior to reaching the chapel, nor with the splitting up. Before long, they were in the room with a single #9 door...the incinerator room. One door meant only 5 escapees. Panic, then the lockdown. 18 minutes. Some of the others ask what's going on, and Aoi answers...he thinks the room is going to burn. This is where Seven came in. We heard what happened next--it's exactly as Seven told it. Akane was leading the way, followed by Nona, Aoi, Snake, and Seven. The others, the ones who had gone through door #9 before them, were up ahead. Ah...the escape route Seven secured plopped them down on the other side of the numbered door in the incinerator room... Eventually, the others had slowed down. She didn't want to lose them, but she slowed down as well. She didn't stop, but she glanced over her shoulder from time to time to see if they'd caught up.

...Moron.

She realized she'd dropped something. A present...from Jumpy. She knew the others would try to stop her if she said she wanted to go back for it, so she hid in the shadows at the central hallway, waited for them to pass, and headed back. She found it at the opening of the vent, but as she was heading back to the stairs, Hongou emerged from the incinerator room. There's that madman smile again. He scanned two bracelets into the RED, then tossed them carelessly onto the floor. A few minutes later, the double doors closed as well. Again, a lot of this we've already gotten from Seven's POV.

...What just happened. There's narration...on the top screen. "Holy shit! Man, I knew what it was gonna say, but that is one hell of a creepy voice!" It's starting...oh, we're back in the present. Lotus is still out of the loop, and she's pissed. Junpei promises they'll explain later, but there's no time for that now. 17 minutes.

...I knew I saw a trap door!

"What can I say about it, but...W-What the hell is that?" That's on the top screen, though what follows on the bottom screen is almost identical. ...It's parallel. The bottom screen is stuck on the past, and the top screen in the present.

...YES! I'm fantastic at this game! And if it's at a level that's supposed to be doable for the average gamer, it should be a cinch for me!

Akane's freaking out because her connection to Jumpy's gone. Hongou's taunting her, and says there's no point in escaping because he'll just throw her back in there. There are two numbers already in the RED, 1 and 3. And she had a 5 in this game...but her bracelet wouldn't scan. Already I can get a few numbers of the sudoku puzzle, just from Junpei's screen, but the reflection is making it tough. "You don't know what it's like to spend every day surrounded by monkeys." He tells her to access the morphogenetic field and solve the puzzle. She says she can't; he says that she'll die, painfully--burned alive. 10 minutes. Akane clutches the gift she'd gotten from Jumpy, a doll, and prays for him to help her... and suddenly, Junpei hears her! And he's searching...but the connection's been broken.

...Zero...she's never been there at all, has she?

Junpei and Akane are calling out to each other across 9 years. Junpei confirms that she's in an incinerator, and he understands. 7 minutes. All of this was for this one moment. Zero recreated the future she'd seen 9 years ago, in order to save herself. 6 minutes. Jumpy says he'll get her out. The room's already feeling hot. "6 minutes or not, my heart burned with my feelings for him."

And he swears he'll do it, [with his own mind].

(4 minutes, 29 seconds later) Done. I was right. Hate the controls, though.

2+4+5+7+8. That was the solution that appeared on the screen as I finished each region.

"Akane! Sorry, but things are kinda busy over here. I'm gonna have to hang up now, okay?"

"Oh! Of course! That's fine!" She wipes the tears from her eyes, even though she knows Jumpy can't actually see her. And...it fails to shut down the incinerator on Junpei's end! Of course, because the solution's changed. 60 seconds. And Junpei's figured it out.

"I am [I], the 9th letter."

"It's not a number 0, but a letter O".

(visual pun: http://amastroph.deviantart.com/art/asdasdasd-300725083)

9="kyuu"=q. The pun doesn't translate, but originally the "seek a way out" bit was spoken in Zero's speech. And Q has a digital root of 8! The incineration system is disabled just in time as the gate opens. They verify the DEAD. Junpei's trying to contact Akane. Nothing.

"The door opened. Standing in front of it was my brother." They cried out each other's names. She wanted to stay in his arms forever...but she couldn't. She had to get to the DEAD...oh, that's why Hongou left the two bracelets. She needs to scan all three against the DEAD. Back to Junpei, running up the eternal spiral staircase. He explains the door to Seven and Lotus. Run, run, run...they reach a door.

To the past. Akane was happy. She was reunited with Aoi, and thanks to the huge detective, all nine of the children had escaped the sinking Gigantic.

It's over...or is it? No. It's only a prologue; Akane's sure of it. To what would happen in 9 years...

...Junpei, Seven, Clover, Snake, and Lotus emerge into the scorching heat of the Nevada desert, on the "deck" of Building Q. And the bracelets just fall right off. Junpei examines the inside of one. There was never a detonator to begin with... He calls out to Akane. She calls back, from the past.

"Guess I must be pretty crazy about the girl if I'm hearing her voice in the wind." Credits.

Two children sit on a hill.

"Are you...okay?" "Aw, c'mon. This's nothing." "Really...?" "Yeah." "You don't look okay..."

It was just before the end of elementary school. Jumpy and I were sitting next to each other on a small hill, looking down at the town as the sun slowly set.

"How does it look, then?" He was half-serious and half-joking. I thought about it for a minute first. "Um...well... Let's see. It looks like you kissed a toad and got warts but then they just kept growing and growing and growing..." ...He challenged 5 8th-graders to a fight.

Back in the present, there was a fully gassed-up SUV, keys in the ignition, waiting to take them away. Lotus is in the passenger seat; the boys in the back. Junpei still can't believe they let Clover drive. Aw, she's a girl after my own heart. Takes advantage of there being absolutely nothing around to go as fast as possible. I once got a ticket for doing 100 mph on I-78, at a time of day when it was pretty much completely empty. Snake asks why Seven doesn't drive, but he says he's a cop, and he won't break the law. He doesn't have an international license. Lotus says there's no need to slow down; the car Santa and 6 are in should be somewhere down this road ahead of us. ..."6"? Seven agrees that he saw tire tracks, and Lotus says we'll need to hurry to catch them, which is all Clover needs to gun it.

...So the 8th graders had been drenching a kitten in gasoline. Jumpy's perfectly justified, then. Oh, he suspects them of being the ones who killed the bunnies, too. And when they found out what school he went to, they said they'd do the same thing to Kanny that they did to the rabbit.

Back in the present, Junpei muses about why Hongou created the Nonary Project in the first place. Seven says Junpei could ask him. Snake asks if Hongou's still in the trunk. Yeah, he is. Tied up, with his mouth taped shut. He says he only wanted to see the faces. Oh...using morphogenetic fields, he could perceive from other minds what his own mind couldn't. He wanted to use the morphic fieldset to process expressions. Junpei asks if that's it. Hongou says that's the short answer, but if you want a more philosophical answer, he can supply that as well. You see, the human collective consciousness-- that's all he gets to say before Junpei puts the tape back over his mouth. The next question is for Seven, regarding Alice. Seven uncovered more info about the Gigantic during his search for Hongou. Hongou seems to have something to say. He says Alice doesn't exist. 9 years ago, he found her coffin, exactly where it was supposed to be. All that was inside, however, was the root of a peculiar plant. A member of the genus Mandragora, of the family Solanaceae. I looked it up, and that's all real. Solanaceae is a fairly large family, also known as "nightshade"; among the genera are Solanum, which contains tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplants; Capsicum, producing peppers; Nicotiana, where tobacco can be found; Petunia; and, yes, Mandragora, the mandrake. He extracted a particular alkaloid from the plant, and with that extract, created Soporil.

Shortly after that, Junpei puts the tape back over his mouth.

The doll's name is also Junpei. It's a small thing made of yarn, a "For-You doll." Or something like that...Akane thinks it's a voodoo doll. Oh, Junpei... Akane teases him, asking if he knows what a voodoo doll is used for. He says he does, and that maybe calling it "Junpei" isn't such a good idea. Akane asks why he's giving it to her all of a sudden. He says that after June, they won't get to see each other too much. They'll be going to different schools...and...he just thought he'd...uh...you know...

"Oh... Okay, well... How about if we call it 'June', then?"

...Wat.

Junpei's having trouble speaking. Kanny makes fun of him. ...He gave it to her so that they'd always be together. "If something...bad... Then hold and pray. I go...wherever you are. So here...take..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAP9AF6DCu4

...My G-d. Rarely have I seen a more perfect fit.

Akane reaches out for the doll and thanks Junpei. Before she knew it, she was crying, tears falling onto June's tiny body. Akane promises never to forget Jumpy. He looks into her eyes and says, "I'll never forget you either." They just sat there, well after darkness fell.

There's only one thing that present-day Junpei doesn't get. It has to do with [June and Akane]. 9 years ago, she dies in the incinerator on the Gigantic. But...she's still alive now, as June. But how? Was it because he tapped into the morphic fieldset and saved her 9 years ago? If that somehow makes sense, and he did that, how does he explain Seven's memories? Snake makes sense; he's blind, so he couldn't have seen her body anyway. But Seven was sure he saw it. Or...there's one other explanation. Seven looks satisfied. Did he outright lie?

Clover calls out. There's someone next to the road, hitchhiking. ...Alice.

WTF. Just had to have one final stinger, didn't you, game?

Bane_Of_Despair posted...

''The controls to the sudoku? I didn't mind it but I can get why someone wouldn't.''

I kept accidentally hitting the wrong spot and removing numbers I'd already put in. Still, even with that, there's a reason that I just made a quick post for my completion instead of my usual nearly-boundary-pushing ones. I wanted to use the post times for a comparison. Even with my occasional accidental misclick, and one point where I actually did flub a number and had to replace it, the two posts were only 4 minutes and 29 seconds apart. Rather fitting, actually, since the last automated time update before I gained control said 6 minutes and the first one afterwards said 90 seconds. Total immersion.

Also, now that we're done, I can look at the things I didn't understand. Ah, I see...Akane was indeed saved. The only potential temporal paradox was that she was only saved because Junpei had gone through the Nonary Game 9 years in the future. Therefore, in order to keep from being removed from existence due to a temporal paradox, she had to create the events she'd foreseen.

As I thought, her fever was essentially the laws of causality at work, as she was "simultaneously" being literally burned to death 9 years in the past because Junpei made the wrong decisions.

As for where "June", aka Zero, the current Akane, went, she apparently just snuck out when nobody was looking. The game doesn't actually say this; you have to go to the website and read an interview with the developer to get some of this information. Also among the information only revealed in supplemental interviews: the name of Lotus's other daughter. It's "Ennea", which also means "nine".

All of the children can both send and receive; most are just better at one than the other. Given the fact that Akane's mostly sending throughout the game and only receives one bit at the end, though, I'm pretty sure she's the one who wasn't meant to be there.

The Nonary Game wasn't actually originally Hongou's idea; it was Gordain's. He'd take Englishmen who had accumulated massive debts and make them play this "blood sport" and have his millionaire friends bet on who would survive. In the final game of Gordain's life, before he died of old age, the winner was...Gentarou Hongou. He told the millionaires that if he could win that game, he could create a better one, and that's how he got the funding for the first Nonary Game, not to mention the Gigantic, whereupon he found the mandragora and was able to gain further success via Soporil.

Lotus's real last name is revealed in-game, but not her first name. The developer gave her the name "Hazuki", meaning August and tying in with her #8, and furthermore named her ex-husband "Ichiro", containing the number 1, to justify her children both being named after the number 9. Seven, on the other hand, has no name other than Seven.

There's an inconsistency, with the keycards in the cargo room showing the current Nonary Game participants despite being on the bottom screen, which is the view of Akane's Nonary Game 9 years ago.

Also, the game developer ships Seven and Lotus; the fact that Akane saw the future is why she and Santa were able to hit it big on Cradle stock; and my little Once Upon a Time reference was right on the money; it was love that gave Junpei and Akane such a strong bond.

There are, however, a few things still bothering me. I get that much of the personality we saw out of Akane in the present was a front, but...just how much had she foreseen, to allow herself some of the actions she took? I'm specifically referring to the beginning, where, out of "fairness" for blurting out Junpei's name, she offers to reveal her real name as well. Had she actually done so, wouldn't it have ruined everything? Ace--Hongou--tried to kill Snake because he immediately perceived Snake as a threat...actually, given his prosopagnosia, he probably only figured out Snake's identity once Snake identified himself as blind. Had he known that "June" was actually the girl that he very nearly killed 9 years ago? It would've all been ruined. This Akane would die, depleting Junpei of his will to continue and thereby dooming the Akane of 9 years past...wait a minute, that sounds totally ridiculous. She'd end up dying at age 12 because of her death at age 21...that's an obvious time paradox.

The interview with the developer said that a lot of the Japanese fans refuse to believe that Akane is Zero and still feel that Aoi was really Zero. So her "flake" persona is obviously that effective. And in a weird way, it almost makes sense. After all, everything that 21-year-old Junpei saw, 12-year-old Akane saw as well, right? And did so before she had truly been broken by the horrors of the Nonary Game. Wouldn't 21-year-old Akane have to behave in a way that 12-year-old Akane could understand? Particularly the whole "innocent" bit at the elevator. Although she's far from innocent in the second-class rooms...

...Come to think of it, even though he's actually fairly helpful most of the time you're with him, Aoi always has seemed a bit disdainful of Junpei. Maybe he blames Junpei for getting them into this mess to begin with, since if Akane hadn't gone back for June, everyone would've just escaped when Seven rescued them and Akane would've never been thrown into the incinerator alone to begin with? Because that's the big problem. Yes, it was Junpei and Akane's love that saved her...but it was also their love that put her in danger to begin with.

Chapter 6: A Story with No Ending (Eastern Starlight Romance)
So, here we go. Eastern Starlight Romance ~ Eternal Dilemma. Menu theme is right on par with what you'd expect from a dating sim, and if it's a remix of a canon Touhou song, it's far enough from the original that I can't recognize it.

(The winter of the Hot Springs Incident)

Marisa (that would be the player character in this game) hears a knocking on her door and wonders who would come out in the snow to annoy her. She takes her time, and the knocking comes again, louder. It's Keine, and she seems to have bad news. Apparently Marisa's father passed away last night. Hm, interesting...Marisa's father is a character that has been mentioned in canon, but never actually seen. That's a nice touch. Also, as his only child, Marisa is the sole heir named in his will. Keine asks if Marisa wants her to handle the funeral arrangements, but Marisa says she'll take care of it. She just needs to get her things ready, and she'll be down to the Human Village tomorrow.

Just once, can one of these visual novels not open with sad people in snow? CLANNAD did, even though literally the entire rest of the game took place in springtime, and Katawa Shoujo did too. It takes awhile for Marisa to even bring herself to read the will, which does indeed name "the first born child" as the sole heir. Marisa is surprised, having thought her father disowned her. They had never gotten along, even before Marisa ran away. She gets a bit scared by the idea of death, then resolves to beat it. Title card, skip ahead to the first day of the third month of the year (the resolution came on New Year's Day). Ooh, I recognize this song, though it's been remixed quite a bit to sound more suitable to the genre of game. Reimu's theme, Maiden's Capriccio. Marisa vows to get to work on conquering mortality. And, yep, she's going to visit Reimu. It's been a while. They make small talk and eat tea cakes. Marisa mentions having a new project, and Reimu asks about it. Dodge the question, laugh it off, or tell the truth? Um...laugh it off, I think, but I'm setting my first save state regardless. Ooh, music change! This one's Love-Colored Magic, again remixed to suit the genre. Reimu asks why Marisa started working on that again. Marisa says it's because she doesn't give up, but Reimu thinks there's something else going on there. Reimu tells Marisa to be careful. Reimu also asks if anyone in the Human Village knew about the cause of the recent incident (that'd be Scarlet Weather Rhapsody's). Marisa said that no, no one knew about Tenshi. Reimu says that's good; it would be troublesome if people knew that it was caused by a celestial rather than a youkai. It again reminds Marisa of immortality, though.

Next day, back to Marisa's theme (it switched to Reimu's as we were leaving). Ah, she's got an idea...since she's a magician, and aiming to be an immortal magician, she should talk to an immortal magician about the process. That sounds like Alice, though Patchouli is also a possibility (although neither of them is truly immortal.) Sure enough, it's Alice. ...Hmm, they went with Dollmaker of Bucuresti rather than Doll Judgment. Probably a better choice, actually. Alice doesn't answer the door when Marisa knocks, and Marisa enters. Alice is asleep, apparently having stayed up all night working on the Goliath Doll. Marisa decides to let her sleep and heads over to her library. ...And she finds Alice's diary. Okay, can't help but want to peek. Marisa's surprised by how cutesy it is. Maybe she wrote it when she was younger? ...And now Alice is awake. She reprimands Marisa for not knocking. Marisa did knock! Hmm...not sure I recognize this song, though bits of it remind me of the one I was just listening to. Danmaku battle! Oh, no wait, it's another remix of one of Marisa's themes!

Ooh, Master Spark time! Alice dives for cover, and Marisa can't find her afterwards. Suddenly, Alice is behind her, with a barrage of exploding dolls. And Alice's theme returns. Alice asks why Marisa was there in the first place. Marisa's oddly evasive, though, just mentioning "brewing potions" without specifying what type. Hm...the choices are "Thanks! This should help a bunch!" and "Well, this should be useful, at least." Those sound almost like the same thing, though it's clear which one is more of a kiss-up. Still, Marisa's not the type to tell white lies--only lies that benefit her somehow. Okay, what to do tomorrow: hit the village for supplies, or visit Reimu again? I'd say the former. Mind the eggs... What do you know, Alice is in the village. This is...oh, here's Doll Judgment! Didn't even recognize it at first. She asks why Marisa is there, and Marisa says that this used to be her home, and she could just as easily ask Alice the same question. Alice says that she's still an outsider in this village, being a youkai, and Marisa says she's a special case because she used to be human and usually doesn't go attacking people for no reason. Alice says she always does have a reason when she attacks Marisa.

...Whoa continuity porn! Didn't expect a reference to Ellen in this game. Alice asks if the book she lent Marisa was of any help. Uh...not really. Marisa says it was kind of elementary, and Alice says she doesn't have much about potions and suggests talking to Patchouli instead. Marisa offers to return the book she borrowed, and Alice is surprised. Marisa says that if it would put Alice's mind at ease, she could stay over while she's reading. Alice says she's a bit busy for that. One of her dolls is straining under its load, and Alice seems pained. We should offer to help. Alice is again surprised that Marisa's showing concern for her. Marisa tries to trivialize it. We get lunch out of the deal. Oh, again, it's the stage theme, not the character theme. "Voile, the Magical Library". Fitting. Marisa wants to just borrow the book, but with so many, it'll be tough to find what she wants without a guide. She's going to try to talk Koakuma into helping her. Coercion or sweet-talk? I say former. Marisa ties her up, and Koakuma quickly bursts into tears when Marisa asks for a favor in order to get untied. Marisa decides to try to read a bit while waiting for Koakuma to return, but the books that Koakuma was reading are so boring that Marisa starts to nod out, too. Patchouli wakes her up, and the music changes; this one's a bit more bombastic, a remix of Patchouli's theme, "Locked Girl ~ The Girl's Secret Room". Patchy asks where Koakuma is, and Marisa tells her that she had Koakuma fetch a book for her. Patchy asks what kind of book; Marisa doesn't reply. ...Oh, the book Marisa fell asleep to is one Patchouli was writing, and Koakuma was being the editor. 73 points, Patchy says, and Marisa asks out of what, and what is she being graded on. She says that "you youkai" are so weird sometimes, and Patchy gets indignant at being called a youkai. Thankfully, Koakuma returns before Patchouli can talk our ears off too much. Truth time? Yeah. Marisa says she's trying to become immortal. Patchouli merely asks what took so long. Marisa says she's been at it for awhile; she just decided to make it her primary research now. Patchouli says it could be useful to observe Marisa's attempts, and says that she's lending her the books, and that Koakuma will be held responsible if they're not back within a week. Marisa knows full well Koakuma couldn't stop her and wonders what Patchy's up to. Marisa manages to convince Koakuma to do some of the research for her and make up notes for Marisa to take home, so she won't have to borrow the physical books at all.

A new day begins with a mundane routine. Marisa decides to head to the Shrine. Reimu's refilling the purifying fountain and cleaning the ladles. ...Ladles? Choice time:

"If you want donations you should clear the walkways." "Maybe you should pickpocket the youkai who walk by." "Well you're up against a rival shrine now. People expect miracles."

I say the last one. Besides, any excuse to get Miracle Girl into this, I'm taking. Reimu says miracles have nothing to do with it; the tengu and kappa are actually faithful, unlike the devils and oni down here. Marisa supposes that's true; she's seen Reimu toss out miracles before. We end up with a plan to beat down Tewi for accepting donations in Reimu's name and not actually giving Reimu any of it. We get lost in the Bamboo Forest, and Marisa concedes that maybe it's duck season. Oh, there's Reisen! How do we greet her... Skirt flip, I think. Marisa sates her curiosity about Reisen's "tail" on her skirt not actually being her real one. Reisen's mad at Tewi, too, for stealing a rare sword that Kaguya had been keeping We agree to help each other out. Tewi manages to talk her way out of a beating from Reimu. They grab the four-leaf clovers and head home. Interconnected much? This is Spirit Tsunami's Holistic Visual Novel Agency here. Reimu cooks a nice curry for dinner. Marisa heads home for more research and falls asleep with a book on her arm. The next morning, she says that she's finally getting somewhere. She heads back to the Scarlet Devil Mansion, but she says she feels like she's being watched. She takes the direct approach, and no one answers. Wait, there is someone there! And I don't recognize this theme...

...It's Nitori. Of course. Her theme's been completely overshadowed by her stage theme. Yeah, I can't be sure, but I think it might be a remix of Ryonosuke Akugatawa's "Kappa" ~ Candid Friend. Definitely one of the more awkward theme titles, by the way. This incarnation of Nitori is rather blatantly in love with Marisa, which is kind of in line with where she started off in my fanfiction canon. Don't worry, she gets her happy ending eventually, thanks to an OC. Um...perhaps I should finally get around to "ordering" my Touhou fanfictions.

Timeline undefined relative to each other; individual groups should be read in order:

The Precious Thing --> Panty Thief -->Panty Thief Omake --> The Drunken Mikos --> The Extension

Fireflies

Lyrical Dreams

The Masochism Tango --> Imperishable Flame

Unifying the groups:

The Scarlet Devil P-2 --> It Wouldn't Be Twilight Without Them --> The Scarlet Devil 3-11 (and the first Phantasm, being of Chapter 5) --> What the Hell Happened Here? --> The Scarlet Devil 12-14 --< The Scarlet Devil 15-17 and The Adventures of Team 9 Catering 1-4 (can be read in either order, also both TSD 15 and TAoT9C 3 have Phantasms) --> The Adventures of Team 9 Catering 5-7 --> The Adventures of Team 9 Catering 8-10 and The Scarlet Devil Final Chapter (essentially tell the same event from different perspectives) --> The New Guard --> The Divine Lover (actually chronologically the earliest, but thematically introduced in TNG) --> The Adventures of Team 9 Catering 11-14 --> Yukkuri Story 4-5 --> The Adventures of Team 9 Catering 15-16 (with Phantasm of 16 ) --> Moe Field --> The Adventures of Team 9 Catering 17 --> Just Another Night --> The Adventures of Team 9 Catering 18-end --> This Is How A Heart Breaks --> Let It Snow  --> Full Power --> The Scarlet Devil 2: Scarlet Devil Rhapsody (with Phantasms )

Secrets Within is out of continuity, as is Lord Over Gensokyo. The rest of Yukkuri Story (and by extension, Reimu's Accessory) may or may not be in canon, but is unrelated to the main storyline.

Marisa is understandably confused. Nitori asks Marisa to the Flower Viewing festival this week. I have to admit, this is the first time I've ever seen a potential love interest be that direct, that quickly. So of course, Marisa turns her down. Nitori immediately resolves to change her mind and move on to Plan #219. Marisa's still wondering where the first 217 plans went.

"It has been said that 'Diamonds are a girl's best friend.' It's also been said that 'Money is sexy.' Thus, with this, my newest invention, I plan on killing two birds, with one stone! Behold! The Grand Gem Generator, mk. V!" ...Okay, Nitori's nuts. Wait, she actually turned a handful of graphite and organic material into a diamond? Ah, but her invention exploded.

...Oh my. Looks like someone found Marisa in the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Have to say, this might be the best remix this game has thrown out so far, a piano rendition of "U.N. Owen Was Her?". Uh-oh, she's seen us, and wants to know if Marisa's here to play. And the alternative is "Nah, I'm here to steal books from Patchouli", which I didn't think was completely accurate anyway. Now, the question is, do we go somewhere bigger, or do we ask to play something other than danmaku? ...Something else. Oh, nice move, Marisa! She suggests Hide and Seek. Ah, but Marisa offers to be the one hiding. I guess that still gets Flandre out of our hair for awhile. She has Flan count to 666. Marisa picks a lock and enters the locked room--a perfect hiding place! In the closet, in the dresser, or under the bed? Wait, we're actually playing in earnest rather than using the opportunity to get to the library? Under the bed...ooh, there's a loose floorboard under there, concealing a book! ...Oh, my. We're in Sakuya's room, and we seem to have found her diary. Just when we find out that she's been writing love poetry and has a large collection of pictures of Remilia, Sakuya catches us. I think we're in trouble...which theme is this? Seems to be Flowering Night. You could do worse. Marisa tells the truth as to why she was under the bed in the first place, and Sakuya turns from angry to despondent at how her work at hiding it was undone by a game of hide-and-seek, as the music turns back to Flandre's. Marisa takes pity on her and says she'll keep Sakuya's secrets. We play a few rounds of hide and seek, and Flandre asks Marisa to come back and play with her again. Uh...we'll think about it. Oh, the day changed without me even noticing! This time, Marisa does return to see Patchouli and Koakuma. Koakuma's been a huge help. One spell is crossed out, though, because Patchouli says it wouldn't work for an active human magician, and also because she didn't want Marisa stealing that spell. Sounds like reverse psychology to me--she no doubt wants Marisa to go after that one. Marisa notes how suspicious it sounds, and Patchouli cuts in and admits to having ulterior motives as well, but insists that what she said was the truth. The Philosopher's Stone has no immediate use in Marisa's work. I'm curious, though, why won't it work? She says that the Philosopher's Stone prevents physical aging, but not death. Until you become immortal, all you'll get out of it is a well-preserved corpse. And now Patchy says she needs Koakuma to give Marisa a full-body examination. Koakuma gets all blushy and says she'd hoped her first time would be with Patchouli. Aw, how adorable...Patchouli clarifies: Magical examination. Marisa decides to tease Koakuma after Patchouli leaves. Well, as an avid shipper, it's my duty to offer to help. End of day 6.

An extra edition of the Bunbunmaru hits Marisa's door. Oh, it's the last day of cherry blossom viewing. Big party time. So, grab Alice, or help out Reimu? Like you need to ask? Alice, of course. Marisa says it would be weird to show up so early solo. Alice seems to have woken up early, too, as her dolls are busy at work. And after being let in, Marisa of course heads towards Alice's library. Alice finishes up too quickly, though. Marisa asks if Alice is making something for the flower viewing, and Alice notes that Marisa's bringing sake and suggests that they drink it before Suika finds out about it. It's from the outside world. Alice says she'll grab breakfast, and Marisa realizes she hasn't eaten and asks what "we're" having, much to Alice's dismay. Alice apparently prefers western-style breakfasts, and Marisa says she's a great cook, but then again most magicians tend to be due to their skill at following magical recipes. Marisa tries to steal a cookie from Alice's basket, and Alice, without even turning around, says she poisoned one of them to prevent thieves like Marisa from stealing them early. The choices are "Alice is too weak to do that" and "I'll take that chance". Marisa's about to get herself poisoned, isn't she? She says it's worth the risk and eats it, then says that someone saying your cooking is worth dying for is a compliment. Alice gets flustered. Okay, now we're at the shrine. Marisa offers to help, and Alice shows up shortly afterwards. Alice and Marisa are both suspicious of Marisa's good intentions. The three of them take in the view. Marisa says it's a sight that never seems to change, but is different every year. She wonders if this meeting would become like that view if she became immortal, and says that even with Alice's sniping and Reimu's complaining, she'd like an eternity of this.

Sakuya abruptly appears, but Reimu's theme's still playing. She apologizes for arriving so early and says that the mistress wants to enjoy the flowers a bit longer this year and will probably be staying past midnight. Oh, are we going to get a rendition of Septette for the Dead Princess at some point in this game, too? Sakuya disappears, leaving an Ace of Spades in her place, and Marisa swipes it "just because". Sakuya returns along with Remi and Patchy. While Remilia tries to annoy Reimu, Marisa heads over to talk to Patchouli. Music switch! Voile again. What do we ask about--Flan, Koa, or the research? ...I say Koa. We promised to help her with her crush, remember? Patchouli says she's fine and asks why we're asking. Another choice--put it off to the research, or stay on the social aspect? ...Research, but not without leaving a save state behind. Alice asks why Patchouli's letting Marisa do research at her library, and Patchouli says she's doing an experiment of her own, or rather, three experiments. Marisa says that one is watching Marisa's experiment, and two is seeing how willing Koakuma is to fight Marisa to keep her from looting Patchy's books, but she can't figure out what the third is. ...Determining how badly Marisa's willing to hurt someone to achieve her goals? I'm confused. Marisa asks how she did. Patchy says there's no pass/fail for this one; she should be willing to sacrifice others for an experiment of this importance, so long as she doesn't destroy herself. Also, Koakuma's mostly done. Alice doesn't know what Marisa's up to. Alice is surprised when Marisa tells her, and that Marisa's working with Patchouli. Marisa reminds her that Patchy has the best library. ...Alice was a bit jealous, I think. Music's back to Reimu's. There's a discussion about what the cherry blossoms symbolize. To the humans, it's the beauty of transience; to Patchouli, it's eternity. Reimu heads off to intercept the Prismrivers. Pretty soon, everyone important is here.

Four-way choice? Ask Kanako questions, chat with people, fly around a bit, or grab snacks. I...don't know. Chat, I guess? I end up talking to Lyrica.

"Lyrica's kind of weird. For a shy girl, she performs a lot. And recently she's been blushing when I push that friend joke. Maybe it's because her sisters tease her about it."

...Seriously? There's a chance of that being an option? Because Phantom Ensemble's one of my favorite songs and I wouldn't at all mind if it got a remix here. Oh, nope, just a quick conversation; doesn't even get an on-screen graphic. Okay, three-way choice. "Ah. That's where Reimu went to.", "Is that Patchouli there?", and "Oh look. Alice." Hehe...as I expected, those are the three primary choices. Of course, you should already know which one I'd pick. Apparently Marisa was looking for a specific spot to watch the sunset and the transition from daytime flower viewing to nighttime, and Alice, as usual, found her spot and got there first. Oh, all three of them are there, so that "choice" really was just to determine relationship values. Well played, game. Reimu's theme is the one that starts to play. Hehe...Marisa says, "Darn. Don't tell me the sake pouring bit's a superstition, too." Patchouli and Alice are both confused--as am I, I suppose, but I made the choice anyway on a hunch based on dialogue just before it. Marisa explains that it's lucky if a pretty girl pours your sake, and says, "I figured I'd get a lot of luck outta this party with you three." Marisa, you player! But, of course, Alice was the one who poured everyone's sake... All three girls blush, and Alice says it's not funny to make jokes like that. Reimu also calls Marisa's sense of humor warped, and Patchouli buries her face in a book. Marisa says they don't take a compliment well, and asks if she's not pretty enough to return the favor. Patchy says "Too young for me." Alice says only if we're talking external beauty--better than nothing, I suppose. I'm not even sure how to read Reimu's response.

As the sun set, the festival became more rowdy, a bit because most youkai preferred moonlight to sunlight, and a bit because people were starting to get tipsy, or in Sanae's case, totally smashed. >_> The lanterns started to light themselves as the sun faded. Some of them were Marisa's work. Marisa muses about how the blossoms fall, but the trees remain, and wonders if that's what Patchy was talking about earlier. Then Nitori arrives, in a blue yukata with a flower pattern. She doesn't quit...though based on the text, I doubt I'd mind if not for this game's art being at best equivalent to ZUN's. Alice comments on how yukatas are more for summer festivals. ...Oh, no, she's in mad scientist mode again. This is...THE ULTIMATE YUKATA (version 3.4)! ...Oh. Altering textiles to produce technomagical fields...it's like the optic camo, right? I think I see where this is going...

No, wait. I don't understand at all. Oh, no, wait, okay. "Pinpoint Gravity Defiance Field", allowing it to slip forward exactly far enough to still not to be obscene after slipping it off her shoulders. So, yes, I was right, this was incoming fanservice.

It's kind of sad, actually. For the moment, this game is now technically ahead of CLANNAD in fanservice provided. (Well, not really, but by a normal standard of measurement it is.)

Alice briefly choked on her drink, and Marisa thinks she heard Youmu's self-deception about her sexuality shatter in the background. Nitori uses some technobabble to explain how, in essence, she's defying the laws of physics, and says that the field effect grants the wearer a 48% increase in sexiness given average bust and legs. O.O

By the way, we've still been on Marisa's theme this whole time, not Nitori's. Marisa thinks that Nitori's "overenthusiastic teacher" attitude kind of muted the effect. She asks, "doesn't that make it hard to remove?" ...Oh, no, Marisa, you idiot...well, we've got three choices, all of them starting with "No thanks!". Okay, let's ask about the stealth field. Nitori activates it as Suika arrives. Reimu reluctantly heads over with Suika, and Patchouli leaves, citing her asthma being irritated by the pollen. Ah...Marisa's wandering off, too. Someone calls out to Marisa from behind. It's Remilia...but that's not Remilia's theme, of course, because it seems like only the main character and potential love interests get their themes in here. Flandre time! Marisa asks why Flandre tends to be awake in the daytime more frequently, and Remilia wants Marisa to guess. Well, I'd imagine her internal clock's probably all screwed up, since she never really gets out of the house. Wrong answer, of course. I have a feeling I know what the right one is, but this isn't a Flandre run. Okay, choice of where to go...behind the shrine, down the path, or into the forest. Um...down the path, I guess? A mysterious voice says no...oh, right, that's where Nitori is, and I guess that, despite her possibly getting her own theme, she's not actually an option. She heads off in another direction, but Nitori's there anyway. Marisa decides to be blunt and asks about why Nitori's been trying to get into her dress all of a sudden. Nitori's answer is surprisingly subdued and serious. Marisa heads back to the cloth to find Alice asleep. The screen goes dark, and Reimu sneezes, with Suika suggesting that someone's talking about her. Ah, it seems Marisa fell asleep. It briefly switches to Reimu's theme as a blurry Reimu appears before Marisa, but then a much clearer Alice appears and the song switches to Dollmaker of Bucuresti. She wants her blanket back. Finally, end of day 7.

Marisa awakens on the floor, with a stiff back. Must've fallen out of bed. The only answer is to go to the hot springs. Marisa's seemingly alone, but somehow, I doubt that'll last...and given the nudity involved, an encounter with a love interest would be very "steamy" indeed. A thing goes doink. Okay, doze off in the hot springs, or not? ...I kind of want to see what happens if we do. Oh, okay, I'm still told that that's the wrong answer, but the music just changed...I'll figure this out without help, I vow to make it so. Come on, I know I recognize this theme! I'm not advancing until I figure it out! ...Damnit, nope. Okay, let's see who shows up when I allow the game to advance...

...Yeah, I felt like it came from a very late stage in a game. I guess I just didn't let it play long enough when I was looking at the comparisons. It's Last Remote. I think that pretty much torpedoes my theory as to which themes get in. Apparently Koishi's been hiding in Marisa's subconscious and keeping up a conversation with Marisa all along. Ouch, and Koishi really cuts to the heart of the matter, no pun intended. Wait, why was Flandre the first one she went to? No, I thought... She says there are multiple desires running through Marisa's head and wants to see which is strongest. Okay, yeah, now we've confirmed who our choices are. Naturally, I choose Alice.

...WTF? Koishi's got a relationship chart, and it's hilarious. Anyway, Koishi says Marisa's biggest problem is herself where Alice is concerned. So Marisa's in denial...She also gives info on Marisa's other prospects. Chug the fruit milk? Well, I would. Marisa's worried about a stomachache, but I'd get one either way. Time to go to the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

...I think Meiling's a Marisa/Flandre shipper. We briefly get some Locked Girl, but Marisa gets bored and decides to take Meiling's advice about books being less exciting than Flandre. Flandre's busy drawing and erasing things, and singing. "Ten Little Indians". A common stock shout-out, and one ZUN made twice in regards to Flandre. They decide to go somewhere larger to play danmaku, but since it's still light out, they had to stay in the mansion...so back in the library we are. Whoa! Looks like some songs have more than one remix...now that we're going into a danmaku scene, a much more sinister "U.N. Owen Was Her?" is playing...and I think I heard a little of Marisa's theme in there, too. Flandre and Marisa tire themselves out, and Flan asks why Marisa came over. She guesses correctly, and asks if she'd like the book Marisa was reading. Marisa says she doesn't think Flan would have much use for a book on immortality. Flan's confused--apparently, Sakuya really is quite old, so Flan's only reference point for the life span of a human is skewed beyond all belief. Flandre's questions seem to have confused Marisa, too. Marisa's apparently not ready for sleep...our first five-way choice! Talk with Koishi, fix up her dress from the rough week, look around Mayohiga, collect mushrooms for explosives, or research. Um...definitely not Mayohiga; that's Yukari's home. Research sounds good. Unfortunately, Marisa's having focus problems. Day change...looks like Marisa's going to return the book she borrowed from Alice. Oh, Nitori encounter! An...ero-puter, designed to calculate the best next action to take in any romantic situation. Marisa asks if it isn't just one of Nitori's machines strapped to a cucumber. Nitori says that it's only fitting that an Ero-puter would be powered by phallic imagery. Also it makes a good snack between long sessions of ero-puting. She demonstrates by taking a bite out of the cucumber, but of course, that shuts the computer down. Alice answers the door herself, and is surprised that Marisa's actually returning her book. Marisa says that she said she would. Alice asks if there's anything else, and then realizes that Marisa forgot to eat again. Luckily, Alice always cooks a little extra, just in case. "A little extra," huh? Alice says she never knows who will unexpectedly turn up, but Marisa says Alice wasn't expecting anyone. She's doing a bit of an "experiment" of her own, to see if her tastes changed because she grew up or because she became a youkai. She asks how it is, and Marisa says that if this is how meals are at Alice's house, she wouldn't mind coming over more often. Alice indignantly asks Marisa to find someone else to be her personal chef. Wagh another five-way choice! Wonder what mushrooms would make a good healing cream, finish a manga obtained from the tengu, go fairy hunting, visit Koishi, or wonder how hard puppeteering is. Probably either healing cream or Koishi. Um...mushrooms it is. Ah, that's the whole day already? New day, and Marisa's planning to go to Eientei, but right now she's lost in the Bamboo Forest again. Left, right, left...nope, no good. Marisa's getting frustrated and considers flying in. Marisa is just about to do so when she sees a white pair of ears and figures it's Tewi. The music suggests that Tewi's not the only one there. Oh, it's Reisen, not Tewi, anyway. Reisen leads us back to the human village. Marisa enlists Reisen to try to help...hm, yeah, it really looks like the game's just reusing themes. That was Maiden's Capriccio, but Reimu didn't show up at all. Marisa heads to the Scarlet Devil Mansion, and seems to feel like she actually belongs there. No questioning from Meiling or anything.

!

Patchy seems angry. Koakuma's oblivious, of course. Both are shocked when they learn what Marisa did at the market today, regarding enlisting the help of Eientei. Patchouli and Koakuma both chew Marisa out for her horrible note-writing structure, but surprisingly, shortly afterwards, Koakuma's saying Patchouli's just as bad. Apparently Patchouli uses every spelling of a word imaginable, and every kanji possible, switching eras every line. Marisa's got an idea all of a sudden.

...Huh. Judging by the change in the clouds, it'll rain either tomorrow or the next day, and I get to choose that. Let's get the rainy day out of the way. A "productive evening"...consult with Koishi, get photos from Aya, try out a new spell, visit the Prismrivers, or work on homing bullets. I say the last one. Rainy day arrives...oh, Reimu's here! Choices are "for a price", "in this weather, no way", or "shall we do what we always do?" I pick the last, and it turns out to be danmaku. This is a different theme...Spring Lane ~ Colorful Path, it seems. Ooh. "Oldest spells", indeed. I didn't even know that had a proper spellcard name, since it originally debuted in Story of Eastern Wonderland. Apparently she uses it in the fighting games. Reimu wins, and we go to Kourin's to get supplies. Rinnousuke says this is Marisa's third time trying to make an immortality potion. Apparently even Marisa doesn't remember this. Reimu holds the umbrella while Marisa fixes the roof. Another five-way choice, and as usual, one of them is to visit Koishi. I'm thinking of sticking with research, maybe...and that's the day. Marisa's starting to think giving notes to Reisen was a mistake. Okay, Mansion time...this time Meiling's looking for a fight. Marisa wins. Oh, Flandre time! She's singing again. "One for sorrow, two for joy. Three for a girl, four for a boy. Five for silver, six for gold, and seven for a secret never to be told." What's she reading? Oh...she's curious as to why Marisa doesn't want to die. She's so innocent... we go to join Sakuya and Remilia for snacks. Sakuya manages to get a good line at Remilia's expense. "Milady is always acting as befits someone of her stature." A double meaning which goes over Remilia's head. Ah, another choice with no way of knowing what's right...Mushrooms that grow in two days, or four? Let's go with...four. And another five-way choice immediately afterwards. Visiting Koishi actually is starting to seem like a good idea, although the mention of Eientei again is intriguing. Were it not combined with the word "looted"...best to be respectful, as much as I'd like those notes back. Koishi it is. Seems like an update on Reimu...wait, what's this theme? I recognize it... the accompanying scene is a flashback to the funeral. Well, Rinnousuke doesn't have his own theme, so it was probably another of Marisa's. She decides to head off to see him...as she approaches, she finds that he's talking to Yukari.

...*spit take* Yukari/Rinnousuke? Never would've guessed. Marisa wants to know what theories humans in the outside world have on immortality. He mentions transferring minds to a new body or anti-aging medicines. Marisa says she'll stick to magic. Rinnousuke wants to know why Marisa wants to become immortal...there's that theme again. And that's the full day. Marisa dreams of being underwater. Time for a visit with Reimu. She's arguing with Suika. Ah, a trip for three to the hot springs! And suddenly, it's Okuu. ...Okay, which shot type did I use when facing them? Hmm...homing actually isn't always as useful as it seems. A good spread shot takes out more enemies at once. So, I guess it really was Alice. Of course, I suck at danmaku games in general... More five-way choices. This time, Eientei is in the cards. Sounds like Eirin doesn't approve of our notes.

Things start out quiet...too quiet. A deafening noise like thunder, and a knock on Marisa's door. Ah, it's Youmu! And...she's been kicked out of Hakugyokurou? Okay, no, that's not what happened at all. Youmu's just being paranoid. Well, looks like we'll have to take care of this...and eventually, it seems this means danmaku. Oh, I give up on trying to decipher all these songs. So familiar, and yet...! Marisa wins. New day, mushroom time. And Alice time. She's chopping wood with the assistance of her dolls. She makes Marisa get to work, too, with a pseudo-bribery of food. Ooh, cheesy time! Suggesting that she doesn't use them for cooking because it would lack the secret ingredient: Love, reveals that her puppet strings are the very bond of love, so Marisa's off base. Now Marisa's the one blushing. There's no right choice for this...Uh, go inside. ...Remind me again when this game was created? My initial thought was pre-UFO, but now I'm starting to doubt...actually, yeah, that's right, this wasn't started until after I'd joined the fandom, so it was post-UFO. Damn, the gap between UFO and TD was long. Ah...so this seems to have been taking place pre-UFO, but apparently UFO was already out by the time this was made. Alice apologizes and mutters something that Marisa can't hear. Then she says that if Marisa's going to keep dropping by like this, she should bring something. She then says that Marisa can visit any time she wants, as long as she gives a bit more advance notice. Marisa starts to tease her, and Alice goes tsuntsun as expected. Ooh, more Last Remote!

Reimu seems a bit more lonely than normal and is reaching for close friends. She's missing Marisa a lot, having grown accustomed to her presence. Koishi rates Marisa's connection with Alice at 11 points--on what scale, I don't know. Marisa asks that same question and Koishi says it depends on which path Marisa chooses. Then there's Patchy. She seems to have warmed up to Marisa, and also stopped taking Koakuma for granted. As for Flan, it's easy to tell when Marisa is thinking about her because it triggers a unique brand of fear. Flan's bored right now, but her mind can fly off in dangerous directions. Koishi offers to let Marisa stay for dinner--Orin's cooking--but Marisa declines, as she's not a fan of cannibalism. This gets Marisa thinking--would people start offering her human to eat if she became a youkai?

The next day, she heads out to see Flandre at the Scarlet Devil Mansion, and Meiling says she has good timing because apparently Flan's been looking to see Marisa, too. She's trying to read...Heart of Darkness? Yes, that one, by Joseph Conrad. Marisa can't make heads or tails of it, either. Patchy suggests a book about vampires...okay, this is cute. Koakuma has a suggestion, a certain children's book...but of course, the title's been changed to have a (9) in the middle. "Bun(9)cula". Haha, I remember reading Bunnicula as a kid... It reminds Marisa of another book about vampires, though...Dracula. Marisa reads it to Flandre. Flandre gets confused by the part where they refer to Dracula draining blood as if it were kissing. She's got other questions, too, like the bit about making humans into vampires, which is not something that Remilia and Flandre can do. Sakuya then butts in, finding the book inappropriate to be reading to Flan. Okay, another five-way choice...new reading material? Marisa decides to try taking one of Remi's for a change...apparently she's a fan of Magical Girl series? I'd never have guessed. Raining again. Meeting with Reisen...apparently Marisa's potion, despite being wrong in so many ways, actually would have the desired effect, although it'd probably burst your stomach if you tried drinking it.

Ooh, Nitori time! She's...combining all known aphrodisiacs into one "mega-disiac". Made with an ultra-blender, which doesn't just blend--it ultra-blends. Nitori tries to prove its safety by drinking it herself and passes out. Mansion time...oh, no, Flandre had trouble sleeping because of the scary book Marisa had read to her, and now she's throwing a tantrum. Oh...yeah, the vampire losing in the end isn't so good for a story to read to her. Let's take this slowly...she's crying, and can't even hear Marisa. Marisa finds a way to get her attention, and we calm her down. Time to tuck her in. Marisa's been invited to dinner, potentially in order to calm Flandre down again if the need arises. Having heard the story behind Remilia's claims of being of Tepes blood, it seems Flandre is unhappy with her older sister. Time to go to the library! And now Marisa wants a translation spell so she can read texts in English. Remilia seems to have figured out why Marisa is here. ...What has Marisa gotten herself into? Well, now some of the issue is out. Flandre's scarier than Remilia, in some ways.

...Whoa Freudian slip. She was referring to when Dracula locked someone in his castle, but she said "basement" and then corrected herself. Remilia claims that she never actually said she was a descendant of Dracula himself, but rather of Vlad Tepes, who was the inspiration for Stoker's Dracula. Whoa, what's this theme? I recognize it...oh, it's another rendition of Love-Coloured Master Spark, but this one's impressive. Um...Flandre wants to know if I'm scared of her. What do I say? Okay, stay cool. Flandre says "three tongues ripped out" and offers no explanation. Um...goodnight, Flan? Wait...she caught us in the lie? Remilia's apparently trying to change Flan's fate, but she wants Marisa's help. Flan really sees Marisa as a friend. The next day brings more studying at Voile. Something about faith-based causality...like how the goddesses work. Interesting...oh. Looks like Marisa's going to intentionally throw a danmaku fight to Koakuma in order to help Koakuma catch Patchouli's eye. And there will be an actual book at stake. Ha, new rendition, we really are going into danmaku mode. And of course, Marisa declares "Non-Directional Laser", which has the bonus effect of drawing Patchy out of hiding. ...And Koakuma still lost. It turns out, the book Marisa grabbed was one she already had anyway. The plots have all been revealed...sort of. Patchy knows something's up, but not what. Oh, G-d, Marisa's turning into Nitori... Five-way choice, for something as simple as dinner yet going to see Koishi is still on the list of options. Eh, fish sounds good...time skip goes all the way past lunch the next day. And Marisa's going to get herself in serious trouble, as she's suddenly interested in Sakuya's diary again.

...What the heck is kig ha farz? Oh, it's a French pork dish. Huh, I think I just saw a reference to Marisa's infamous UFO outfit... And, yeah. Marisa brings it up...Sakuya's been like this for years. Flan's theme is playing. Sakuya feels like she's an awful maid because of her conflict of interest...My, how familiar that sentiment sounds. Yeah, this is The Scarlet Devil all over again. Okay, what to do tomorrow: more of the same, or take a break? Damn, for once I wish I did have an option to see Koishi. Well, I think a break sounds good. Sure enough, Marisa's thinking Alice, too. Marisa actually remembers to bring a bottle of wine...Alice is working on the Goliath Doll again. She seems impressed by the cloth Marisa had wrapped the bottle in, too. Spider silk. Alice thinks it could be useful for armoring the Goliath Doll, since it's light and flexible yet tough and resilient and it holds enchantments well. They'll need 250 square feet, 175 if they use an enlarge spell. Aw, they're working together!

This is so adorable. And now we're headed off towards the Palace of Earth Spirits, there to meet a certain youkai found along the way. Yamame says she needs a lot to eat before she can produce that much silk... Hehe...they suggested firefly hunting. One of my favorite pairings to write for, mind you. And now we've taken Yamame to Mystia's stand, and she's running up quite the tab. Alice isn't sure how we're going to work the cloth anyway, and suggests...Nitori, remembering what she did at the festival. And right on cue, Nitori shows up. She's got an aRomantitherapy Rose (which is actually a tulip), designed to be the most alluring flower ever...in other words, an olfactory love potion. Marisa's nose is too far ruined from years of potion work to be affected, though...but it works on Alice just fine, like Love Potion No. (9).

...Well, I think we just answered the question of which one's the cat and which one's the mouse. Nice to see you again, Arinya. We have to knock you out now, though. We manage to explain to Nitori what's needed, though. Gah...she's already up to plan #299?! Marisa awakes to find her arms pinned to her side and something heavy on her body. She remembers Nitori saying they'd need a stronger material, and getting back to Alice's house...ah, celestial silk! Oh, Marisa's pinned under the Goliath Doll. Alice laughs and frees her, and they head up Youkai Mountain, using a Blazing Comet to get past Momiji. Aw, Marisa's got her arm around Alice to keep her on the broom! And...she accidentally grabbed a bit too high up. But Tenshi interrupts...I think this is actually her theme. Battle time! Malice Cannon! Looks like Alice and Marisa are competing against each other, even though they're battling Tenshi...they send their strongest attacks each other, and as Marisa's Final Spark dies out, she hears a click...Alice unlocked her Grimoire! It's still closed, but just unlocking it doubled the size of her beam. Alice swears it was an accident.

...I love this game. I'm pretty sure, based on the bit about being "triple-crossed by an ocelot youkai", that what Marisa's describing is actually the plot of a Metal Gear Solid game. Oh, okay, that never happened; the raid actually went off without a hitch. Still, with the "spotted" alarm actually being used earlier on, I can't help but wonder if someone on the Dai-Sukima Dan staff is a Nekokayou fan. And back to Mystia's. They share a "couple's special", but it's only a name! Alice suggests putting a cherry on the ice cream, so a real couple would have to share. How devious...eh, no Koishi this time?

I guess the Prismrivers sound like fun. It's not much, though, just filler. Next day, Marisa goes to see Reimu. Sanae's there (and looking as delicious as ever). Apparently there have been some donations in the branch shrine's box, which means they really should go to the Moriya Shrine. Sanae wants to talk to Marisa for a moment.

...Whoa. She's really ranting; her text is scrolling without my input. Yeah, she definitely feels like Reimu should keep the donations. Apparently Sanae's been having trouble with youkai using her as a test to see if they've got what it takes to face Reimu or Marisa. That...seems kind of backwards, actually. I noticed something interesting--every time Reimu or Marisa has appeared as a boss, they're a stage 4 boss--SoEW, LLS, IN, even GFW when you consider that there are only three stages of main game. But every other playable character--Sanae, Youmu, Sakuya, even going all the way back to Yuuka and Mima--was a Stage 5 boss. Reimu and Marisa are literally outperforming their natural abilities.

Sanae kind of misses the outside world, and wants to talk to humans a bit more. Marisa suggests going to the Human Village more often. That evening, Marisa makes tea and snacks...she suddenly realizes that she's made enough for two without even realizing she was doing it. Oh, wait, I know why...Last Remote is playing. Marisa subconsciously made enough for two because Koishi's been there all along. Musical Spoiler!

...Wait, no way? I did see in the description, looking at it again, that there was a "secret fifth love interest"...I think Koishi's actually a potential love interest! May have to try that out some time... Another day comes. Looks like I'm making a choice that will, at the very least, lock me off of Flandre's route. ...And that makes the day go by quickly. Monday comes...

...Holy crap, Centennial Festival for Magical Girls is in this game? How'd it take this long for it to show up?! Anyway, Marisa forgot to wind her clock and thinks she's running later than she is. She pockets some medicine from Reisen. Oh, Alice is at the Scarlet Devil Mansion!

...Alice apparently stole a book and didn't even realize it. Apparently she forgot that that was a book she'd borrowed and kept it as if it was her own.

> Blast Alice.

> Blast Koakuma.

> Make it look like Koakuma blasted Alice.

Sorry, Koakuma, but love comes first. You'd do the same for Patchouli, right?

"Tch, you just got free of the ropes before I could get to the good part." Marisa, you dirty little girl...Marisa and Alice tsuntsun at each other for a bit, only stopping when Patchouli starts laughing with more vigor than either of them thought she could muster. Koakuma and I quickly work out a plan for her mission before heading back to the research. Patchy returns, and we discuss our latest findings. Patchouli asks who Marisa's primary tutor was, and Marisa mentions Mima.

Something that represents longevity, something that represents rarity, 3 items that represent rejuvenation, and something that tastes bitter. For the first, Acanthus. For the second, gold flakes. Quinine would be the bitter item. And for the other three, she grabbed a starfish, a lizard tail, and ginseng. It's pretty good, but the ginseng's too weak and the gold could cut into her throat, cause the potion to be absorbed into the bloodstream, and since there's still toxins...

Patchouli and Marisa are on better terms. Now they're "Patchy" and "Mari" to each other. Five-way choice time...I guess another Koishi visit couldn't hurt. Wait, my Knowledge is up to "Researcher"! And my Love is up to "Charming", too; I hadn't even noticed. Koishi's not there, but she left a note to Marisa in Utsuho's hands and mentioned event flags. Fourth-wall breaking satori!

Hmm...the note has a part with a doll and a part with a hair ribbon, and I get to choose which part to read. Doll, of course. 3, 14, 67, listen to friends. It's like a fortune cookie. More rain the next day, and a visit to Alice. We talk about the research. Alice gives some advice as to how to avoid unwanted side effects. Whoa, GFW reference! Okay, time to train my other skills. Thievery! Next day, Reimu visit. We talk about the raid on the celestials.

...Oh.

...Ooh...

Reimu has her reservations about what Marisa's doing. Yet another rendition of LCM. Reimu's worried that she won't have any friends who will get old with her. And Reimu doesn't know just how far along Marisa's research has gotten...she thinks the decision time's still far away. Should we deal her in? ...I don't know. She probably does deserve to know...

...Charcoal? A miracle? Making the flowers bloom again? Reimu, you've lost me. But TCFfMG's playing again, so I don't care that you make no sense. Marisa burns things with the hakkero, then with sacred ash, Reimu's ready to start the ritual. She sends Marisa off. Marisa wants to see the ritual, but Reimu says no; she doesn't want spirits drawn to Marisa's desires messing things up. Marisa asks why her desires would mess things up. Reimu says that the ritual requires her to cleanse herself with water first, so she'll be standing around in a soaked miko outfit. Ah...yes, that could do it. The miracle works, but the blossoms fall right away...too quickly for anyone else to see. For our day-ender, there's only two choices. Inquire with the three fairies about a treasure ship, or hunt down an old acquaintance. Marisa muses how people sometimes wonder why Marisa doesn't go by the title "Witch of Love". That title is already taken, and it's time to find her...a witch named Ellen. The next day, Marisa heads to the Palace of Earth Spirits and starts talking with Yamame, and Koishi cuts in. Koishi manages to convince Marisa to take her to Mystia's.

Koishi's hilarious. She says that Reimu's jealousy is at 6 milliparsees and her loneliness at 2 centikanas. She'll probably notice Marisa at 9 milliparsees or 5 centikanas, but be careful not to go too high on both scales. And, yeah, it's pretty obvious now that Koishi's the secret character. New day...some talk about the Palanquin. Pheromone Coffee? Then a Nitori attack. She's somehow roped Momiji in, though Momiji's clearly unhappy about it. And...the thief gets thieved! Koakuma's at Marisa's house when she gets home. Ooh...Marisa's advice comes back to bite her in the butt. Koakuma just tried to steal back all the books Marisa's stolen from Patchy over the years. Yeah, Marisa's harem is shaping up. New day, Alice time! She wins, of course.

...Wait, that's not Dollmaker of Bucuresti...or Doll Judgment! Very familiar, though...yes, it is! Grimoire of Alice for the win! ...And then there's a fight. Alice doesn't know when to take no for an answer... But Marisa still was getting too touchy. She goes back to apologize after running off. Who to visit tomorrow--Patchy, or Reimu? Erm...Reimu. But now, Koishi, because Marisa is quite confused. Suika's at the shrine, sleeping. Marisa decides to try to mess with her...seems Suika's having a perverted dream about Reimu. Heheheh... Oh, look, it's the other delicious armpit miko! And shortly afterwards, Yukari gaps in. And now it seems Sanae and Marisa will have a cook-off. Suika ends up interfering, and Sanae gets the worst of it...that's no good.

...ACK! ONLY ONE CHOICE?! We need a gold gem, but it has to be rare...Ametrine? It's an outside-world gem, so maybe Rinnousuke would have it...but Yukari seems to be over. Patchy just barges in anyway, noting that the "Open" sign is still up. “Kchak!”

We catch them in a compromising position. Rinnousuke doesn't even know what an ametrine is, but Yukari manages to get us to agree to pay a rather exorbitant price for her services.

...Keh? I know we told Koakuma to get Patchouli a gift, but Tewi? I think something's gone screwy in Koakuma's head. She's tied up with a ribbon in the back--gift-wrapped. For good luck. Marisa admits to giving Koakuma a subliminal suggestion in her sleep, but can't figure out how Koakuma translated "get Patchouli a gift" into "kidnap Tewi". Patchouli decides to teach Koakuma some guards against hypnosis. Marisa heads home and feels Koishi subliminally calling out for her. Um...Kourin's got some of Marisa's old notes? They're really old...and they're on necromancy. It seems Marisa's forgotten something...regarding a female someone she wanted to speak to. Her mother? Apparently Kourin was the one who stopped Marisa from researching necromancy and got her interested in immortality instead. Marisa gets scared and wonders what happened 15 years ago...she says she would've been about 5. Then her eyes go wide. Yep, I was right. It was the death of her mother.

...What the fuck? I think I'll need more pictures for this... And Marisa reluctantly joins the cosplay brigade. Kirisame. Marisa Kirisame. Complete with appropriate theme. But, seriously...we've got an EX Boss, a PC, and an EX Midboss as part of our team of...pretty much children. This is the silliest thing I've ever seen.

Although it doesn't get much more serious. Suika's gathered everyone for another cooking contest. In a Kitchen Coliseum that Suwako built. ...Oh, the (9) symbol is being used for stuff that they don't have the rights to talk about. Ah, we're doing teams...and Marisa's on the opposite side from both Reimu and Alice, so she can choose either one as her teammate! Naturally, this means more close time with Alice. She blushes... Aw, Sanae, you wuss! She got the next choice, and chose Youmu. :( Wow, that's some musical swell. Once again, I recognize it, but I can't quite place it. Hey, my thievery's up to "Sticky Fingers"! And now, our Mushroom Cream Spaghetti OF LOVE!!!! Heh, Mystia knows her stuff, though... Wait, extra spicy, or spicy and sour? ...You can never be too spicy. Um, shoot, shoot, SHOOT! It's been 8 years since my last cooking class, and I'm in over my head! Um...STRAWBERRIES ARE THE FRUIT OF LOVE!

...Remilia might not have been the best choice for a judge. Wait, Koishi tastes anger in our Mushroom Cream Spaghetti OF LOVE!!!? But, but, but...LOVE! ...Well, she tasted that, too. Love and anger. ...Of course. It's Alice's signature dish, so it's going to be a tsundere. ...We lost to Reimu and Mystia? Damnit...maybe I should've gone with spicy and sour...

...Yep, that did it. Nothing like a bit of trial and error to save the day. And we win...MOON SAKE! That's perfect! That'll be the base for Marisa's potion! Koishi wants to talk to us afterwards. Ah, all the food's gone, except one portion...Nitori deserves it; she fought so hard to try to save it. Koishi and Marisa go to a place that the former recommends. Koishi's metagaming again...maybe Koishi's not the fifth girl? She said there's someone I haven't met yet...and that I apparently have to play all four paths to unlock it. Or something like that...Reimu's Jealousy's up to 8, but her loneliness is still 2. That's good, because we don't want to break 10 Centikanas. Oh, apparently the UFO incident is coming up soon. The Palanquin ship...

...what. I'm back on the title screen. I know this is supposed to be only a demo, but...that was abrupt.

Erm, so I guess we're done with Eastern Starlight Romance for now. Next up is probably another route of CLANNAD, and then...well, that's a secret!

Chapter 7: Chords and Tangents (CLANNAD--Kotomi route)
Okay, back to CLANNAD. First few choices are academic--do nothing, ignore her, skip class. I don't take shelter when Tomoyo arrives, but I don't show full interest either. This time I don't bother worrying about Nagisa, though. This time, I've got an especially interesting way of tormenting Sunohara--send him next door, naked, to borrow some soy sauce. Oh, I see...not worrying has changed my fate. That's a good idea for real life, too. Don't worry so much. I end up accompanying Sunohara to the game center after school. I feel like I'm doing something wrong, leaving Nagisa alone, but it's what needs to be done. Time to skip class again...yes! This time I actually escaped! I greet the girl from the library and ask her why she's here. She doesn't answer. She asks me to go with her, and I do. She says she usually comes here, but sometimes she's late if she has to be in a lesson. I find that phrasing odd. She opens a window and starts cleaning the floor. I feel like I'm in a restaurant that hasn't opened yet, and try to order coffee and omelet rice. That reminds me of Yukine's path...

"Watermelon, raincoat, pineapple, anthropoid, Njamena, eggplant..." I stop her and ask about the penultimate one. Apparently it's the capital of the Republic of Chad. I'll have to remember that, since I got a bit of teasing about sharing a name with an African country back in high school. She continues rattling off facts about my namesake country. Again, she has a stack of books. I check to see if the pages are cut, and am surprised to find that they're written in English. I ask her if she can read English books, and she says writing it is a bit tough, but reading it is simple. As expected, she was cleaning the floor so she could sit on it without getting her skirt dirty. She puts the mop away, sets down a cushion, and removes her shoes and socks. She sits down, then dusts off the empty half of the cushion and motions for me to sit down beside her. I'm a bit nervous of ending up glued to her, but I decline, but when she seems sad, I reassure her that I'll still be watching, and that cheers her up. I end up falling asleep and wind up in the Phantom Zone...wait, no I'm not; I'm still in the library. She's still there. She suggests we eat. She's going to share her food with me...she even brought a second set of chopsticks. And she finally introduces herself. Kotomi. She immediately asks that I call her Kotomi-chan. I introduce myself, and she decides to call me Tomoya-kun. She seems confused... She says she feels strange somehow. I leave. Today's the day with the Ryuuta sandwich. Waste time in the school, or out? In sounds good. This leads to the meeting with Fuuka. I don't press it, though, and soon I'm back to Nightmare World. ...Ah, I see. Here's that scene with Ryou doing the fortune-telling, where Kyou's acting like I don't already know about it--only this time, I don't. Seems like if I don't trip the very first flag towards the Fujibayashi sisters' path, that scene where Ryou first reads my fortune doesn't occur, but this one always will. They should've had it play out differently depending on whether or not that scene was seen, though. Right, and right after that is when I'm sent to look for Sunohara. I get an opportunity to head to the library. Someone else is approaching...Do I frighten him?

Of course I do; it's Sunohara. And it's never not a good idea to torment Sunohara. Well, maybe if I was on the lolicon route and trying to get with his cute little sister. But a lolicon route seems almost superfluous with a lead as moe as Nagisa. I say I mistook him for someone else, and Sunohara says there's no one else who skips classes like us. I mention the library girl, but the way I say it, it seems almost like a lie. He believes it, of course, because he's gullible...but then again, it is the truth. Kotomi was there, but she completely ignored Sunohara's presence despite his noisiness. When I mention her name, he has a last name to connect to it. Ichinose. She's famous somehow? Oh, she's like the top student in the school! So then, she's skipping not because she's a delinquent, but because the lessons can't hold her interest.

...Still? In high school? I mean, I used to be somewhat of a "delinquent child" myself for exactly the same reasons, but by the time I reached high school, it was no longer too easy to hold my attention. Really screwed me up, too, because I didn't have the skills for proper studying and I ended up kind of bombing near the end of high school and throughout most of college because I wasn't used to having to work for good grades and didn't really know how to do so. Of course, this is a work of fiction, so it's only natural that any "genius" character would be all the way, instead of a half-assed genius like me.

She's in the top ten nation-wide. I find it interesting that Japan actually has those types of rankings for scholars. America only has it for high school athletes, which shows where our priorities are. Although, I had a couple of brushes with "national rankings" in high school, too. 9th grade, I had the second-best scores in the country in Continental Math League, and then in my senior year I was part of the winning team in the American Regions Mathematics League. (That reminds me; I completely forgot to check the results for 2013... 5th place, and our top B team ended up second among B teams so I think we'll be up to 4 teams at A level next year. Didn't our third team only graduate to level A in 2012? Ah, no, that was 2011...huh. I thought 2012 had been a down year for the A team, but they came in second. Although I suppose that was a "down" year given that they were three-time defending champions...Sorry. Tangent.)

I, by which I mean Tomoya, can't imagine having anything in common with such a girl, but I go into the library anyway. Kotomi's sitting there, barefoot, surrounded by books as usual. She's ignoring me, too. I try calling her name, but still nothing...until I address her as she originally asked. Kotomi-chan. She smiles and responds. She didn't even notice Sunohara's destruction until I snapped her out of it...I try to explain that I wasn't the one who did it, but she's in her own world, putting the books back. I try to help out, but I start to put something back in the wrong place. As she tries to correct me, our hands touch, and she blushes and pulls back. She says she brings her own books because she's already read all of the ones in the library. !!! Wow...I used to be a much quicker reader, and I still can read pretty quickly but I often have to go back to remember things. But there's no way I could read an entire library! She's got some leftover food for me. Seems she prepared too much...probably intentionally. She's a bit weird, but sweet. I wouldn't mind finding someone like that in real life. The food is good, and she's glad. I say I'll be eating here next week as well, but I'll bring my own food, so she should eat all of her lunch so she doesn't get weak. She says okay, but she'd also be happy if I ate some of her boxed lunch.

"Day before yesterday, I saw a rabbit. And yesterday a deer, and today, you." Um...okay? I ask what that was, and she says it was nothing. As I head back to class, I think about Kotomi-chan...the name seems to draw a feeling of guilt. More Sunohara-tormenting in the evening, then rainy Saturday. Heh, the meeting with Botan still occurs, even though I dropped the very first flag? It plays out as disastrous as ever...time to waste time at the old school building. The library/club room/reference room choice comes up again. Hah, I didn't even get the chance to meet Yukine yet in this playthrough...well, obviously the only one that would turn into anything would be the library. Heh, the sign says "open"? Oh, wait, she's not there, same as in the other routes...might as well reload and try one of the other two. Oh, okay, looking back at my old playthrough, it seems I originally met Yukine after heading off to find Sunohara--which in this playthrough instead resulted in another meeting with Kotomi. I meet her now. After that's done, I head to the shopping district. This is new, I think? It is. I see Kotomi heading into a bookstore.

...Oh, no, there's those scissors again. I ask what's up with that, and she misinterprets my question and gives me a definition of scissors. She doesn't interact with other people that much...I point out that I'm a stranger, too. She says Tomoya-kun is Tomoya-kun. I say that's not really the answer, and she asks if Tomoya-kun is not Tomoya-kun? She's been going from one bookstore to another...she's looking for a cookbook. "How to Make a Delicious Boxed Lunch". Hmm... It's still raining when we leave. She has an umbrella, but she's loaded with books. I don't have an umbrella anyway, so I offer to walk her home. Naturally, the conversation devolves into something weird about sending people through the mail. Once she finally gets that I'm offering to escort her home, she blushes. She declines, since she's not heading home; rather, she has books to return to the library. She leaves with her usual "see you tomorrow." I point out that tomorrow's Sunday, but she says that even so, see you tomorrow.

I get bored and end up wandering off to the school. Just as I figure that no one I know would be here, Kotomi appears. I ask if she's some sort of youkai inhabiting the school. What follows is some sort of punny exchange that doesn't translate well into English. I offer to carry her books...they're heavy. 9 books. Hey, don't doubt the strength that a bookworm develops from carrying so many books! The library's locked...oh. Kotomi's got a key. It's an official key, but I feel like she wrote the part with her name on it herself. She is an honorary librarian. I look at her handwriting. It's quite childish. Something's rattling around in my head...I ask if it's alright for me to be here. She says yes, and I clarify. Yes, she's happy I'm here.

...What a strange one. Seems she only reads textbooks...her idea of a "novel" is a religious text. I try to find something I can read. I start to doze off...

...Purple.

Someone's putting out a fire. It's consuming everything. A small girl is crying. ...A dream? It leaves a feeling of regret in my heart. It's getting late...I tell Kotomi-chan that we should be going. She looks at the clock and says it should be alright still. I ask if her family won't be worried... She doesn't really reply. It's a new day...do I wake up completely, or go later? Well, either way, I want to go to school to see her, so...I guess going now is fine. ...Eh? Looks like even here, Nagisa-chan's not completely out of focus. Because I've ditched classes, I can get the best items from the cafeteria easily. Kotomi-chan's made a big boxed lunch--enough for a picnic. It's supposed to be just for the two of us. But I bought something, too...

Yeah, there's a lot there. I ask if there's anything she prefers and show her the assortment of breads. Oh, there's a chocolate cornet! :3 Actually, no, there's a cream cornet, and then the next item was chocolate bread. I conflated the two subconsciously to make the reference. Oops. She's insistent on sharing everything with me. I confirm that she only comes to the librrary when it's closed. I ask her if she's busy after school. Again she asks about bullies. She's very concerned about that... Ah. We're going to meet Furukawa...right. Kotomi hasn't joined any clubs, either... I try to get her to introduce herself. It's tough...she's really shy. Damnit...this girl really is like me, only more so. Well, minus the bad temper. Take that away from me, and if you exaggerated all of my other character traits, you'd have a good approximation of this one. And now we've got associations. They exchange surnames, then which class they're in, blood type (it's a Japanese thing), favorite food, animal...wait, what's with "Coccinella" and "a locust"? This is getting bizarre...seems Nagisa's a tad spacey, too. And again, the information that she hasn't been authorized to recruit.

...! Kotomi recognizes the Big Dango Family! That's a good sign, right? We start to part ways, but it seems like...she wants me to walk with her. Then she asks if Nagisa is my lover. Um...no, not really...

Seems the illusory world's still in this route. It pretty much disappeared during Kyou's route. I manage to escape class. Kotomi's waiting...it's almost like a ritual. And then it isn't. It's weird...seems almost like she's developing a sense of humor? Either that, or the translators mislabeled a text box. That actually seems more likely. She seems happy when I use the word "couple", though, even though the context wasn't a romantic one. We agree to meet after school. Seems the second appearance of Botan's locked, too. As before, he gets nervous when Ryou approaches...Kyou asks why Ryou's there, and I joke that she came to confess to me, flustering the girl. I don't remember this scene before...I suppose that's considered foreshadowing for the Fujibayashis' route. That reminds me, since Kyou's ending is the "good" one, I never did go back to see Ryou's. It's pretty simple...allegedly I can get there even if I do take the practice kiss, but choosing not to makes it end awfully quickly... Well, whatever. Yeah, it even gives credits...the lack of a Light Orb is really the only thing keeping Ryou's route from being an official "good end". Back to the present... I get to automatically blow Sunohara off with making his room cyber. I find it weird that depending on my choices, I've found myself with a choice there, with no choice but to ignore him, and with no choice but to refuse. We're trying to introduce Kotomi to new people again. Kyou, this time. She says that friends aren't something you give; it just wouldn't be the same if it wasn't natural. I suppose that's true. My best friend is someone I'd heard about long before I met; a friend of the person who was at the time my best friend. I kind of lost touch with the friend who introduced us. I guess it's easier once you can drive to have friends that are a little further away and don't go to the same high school as you. ...Tangent again.

New day, and the ghost talk arises. Ibuki-chan. I can't sneak out of class today. And yet somehow, I still escape early to get to the food vendor ahead of time. Seems Kotomi knows quite a bit about a lot of things...I start to wonder if she'd tutor me. Heh, even I can admit the usefulness of having someone smarter than you teaching you about something. That same friend, the one I lost touch with, but who introduced me to my current best friend. He had an even better mind for higher mathematics than I did--although judging by the fact that I made the A team in 2005 and he only even got a chance at B team because another person from our school invited him along, rather than scoring well enough on the regional test to get an invitation directly, I guess I must've been much better at quickly solving the high-school level maths. It was somewhere around spring of my junior year of college that I finally realized that I wasn't really getting the higher mathematics and that they lacked that fun factor that the ones I'd studied in high school had, and that's when I finally decided to be a teacher. Heh, this time the tangent actually forced me to cut this paragraph from the previous post and move it up...

Kotomi's being called to the staff room. She's not responding, apparently...do I go, or do I wait? I think...wait.

...I'm starting to think that might have been the wrong choice. Well, we'll see. I can't get out of class on Thursday, and end up missing my lunch date. I'm just wondering if she'll show up at our meeting spot when she unexpectedly arrives in my classroom. Whew. She apologizes for missing our meeting yesterday. Just as I'm wondering who to introduce her to today, Ryou shows up. Seems I forgot my bag in the classroom... she tries to read Kotomi's fortune.

I think we just broke it. It seems like the translators are trying to interpret the fortune, and there's no consensus as to who is represented by which cards...well, it definitely tells me one thing: keep Sunohara far away from Kotomi. Seems Kotomi forgot her bag, too. We go look for it. I start to wonder if I'm really doing the right thing, trying to introduce her to people. She seems happy, though. ...Yeah. This girl's just like me. Although, she's a bit more fearful of bullies, whereas I...I was kind of the Chihuahua barking at a Great Dane. I mean, that's not really accurate since at least as far as height was concerned, my bullies were the smallest kids in the class other than me, but the "leader" was pretty muscular for a shrimp. It was...complicated. There were times where it seemed like he wasn't so bad, but then we'd go back to school and it would be the same as before. Actually, that's hardly the only time where my relationship with someone was completely different in school and out of school. There was this girl...my age, rather than my grade. Lived only a few houses down from me. Tiny--to quote another of my ex-classmates from before I skipped ahead two years, she made varsity cheerleading freshman year "because she weighs like two pounds and they can throw her all over the place." Since we were so close, my mom took us both to the bus stop in the mornings, and, well, I was naturally oblivious but apparently she'd been dropping some hints about maybe liking me, and of course being a yenta just comes naturally to Jewish mothers so my mom kind of brought up the suggestion of us going to homecoming together...and after that, she more or less ignored me whenever anyone else from the high school was around,'' but only then. ''Back in the relative privacy of the cul-de-sac, she was just as friendly as she'd been before the suggestion came up, so I could only conclude that her coldness was strictly for appearances, her being a cheerleader and me being a nerd, after all.

I'm still not entirely convinced that my mother wasn't just seeing something when nothing was there, but regardless, I don't think I'd want to be with someone that shallow. ...Actually, that sounds like the most plausible explanation, and one I'd prefer to believe. I didn't see any signals because she wasn't trying to give any off, and she started to ignore me in public because she didn't want there to be any ambiguity and realized that there might have been. Still not nice, but a bit better, I guess. And of course, I still somehow managed to get up the courage to ask her to dance at the following year's homecoming. Eh, it was an improvement over passive-aggressively stalking my current crush at the time. I wasn't exactly surprised that she turned me down, so it...didn't hurt too bad...

...That did actually happen, didn't it? I...actually had the courage to do that. I am capable of putting myself out there! Shit...I'd completely forgotten that I'd actually done something like that in that situation. Guess I really shouldn't be so timid about approaching cute girls, then. Although, maybe because it was someone I already knew as a friend, it was easier--hell, in a way, I was only using her, figuring that if by some chance she did accept, dancing with a cheerleader would make me look a bit less lame. I mean, it certainly didn't feel as painful as when I got turned down for senior prom because the girl I liked didn't want to start a relationship with a graduating senior when she was only a freshman. (Remember, when I was a senior, I was the same age as the sophomores.) I...I was already starting to become timid even before that, but now that I think about it, finally managing to squeak out the invitation and being turned down probably did a lot of subconscious damage; might have been the reason why I've yet to ask another girl out since then.

...Erm, right. This is supposed to be a playthrough topic, not a topic where I reminisce about my own time in high school. We decide to go to the lunchroom together this time. She starts to leave, and I have to remind her to wear her shoes. She says the greeting we practiced. Ah, her parents are wonderful scholars, too. The old woman teases us about being boyfriend and girlfriend. She tries to be a good tsukkomi...it's getting there. I try to talk to her about her parents, but she gets quiet. Seems they're not around much... She thinks maybe I should go to classes more often, as happy as she is that I'm with her. I ask if she doesn't want me around, but she says no, she'd be really happy being with me all the time. But...too much happiness...could turn into something scary. Okay, so lunch together will only be on Fridays...but we'll still meet after school. Oh, no, there's Sunohara! Kotomi does her introduction, and of course, such a smart girl asking to be his friend is a good way for me to trick gullible Sunohara into thinking he's dreaming and get him to punch himself out and repeatedly knock his head into the wall.

There's Kyou again, and she seems to want Kotomi for something. She starts brushing Kotomi's hair, and I joke about the fur in her tail. Kyou goes along with it. Kotomi gets alarmed and tries to wriggle and wiggle away. Kyou says she thought Kotomi was more like a child but she's surprisingly grown up. Wriggle wiggle, wriggle wiggle. Time to check above...no way, this much? Kotomi's really freaking out... Well, yeah. Kyou's kind of molesting her. Really wish I could see this, instead of just having to read the text. Well, Kyou is agreeing to be Kotomi's friend. Do we want to escape? ...I sure as hell don't. Kotomi's still obsessed with claiming she doesn't have a tail. And now the four of us head to the drama club room. Wow, all of my ladies together!

Furukawa gets scared by all of the people. I calm her down. Kotomi gives her new introduction, and Nagisa and Ryou introduce themselves in the same manner. I wonder if this is another of those things that changes based on what you've already done...nah, probably just a coincidence. Ooh, a wand prop...Kotomi's got an incantation. "Tibi, magnum Innominandum, signa stellarum... Nigrarum et bufaniformis Sadoquae sigilim." Ryou and Nagisa are getting into it, but Kyou's kind of left out. I suggest she join in, and she says she couldn't join in with that, and asks if I can imagine her waving around a wand and chanting spells. I start to, but then Kyou threatens me. We show off Kotomi's real talent, reciting useless trivia, and go on with a routine where you can get one for your house with a free charger. Kyou says they already have one. I say that I'm sure there will be a home that needs her. Kotomi 01, the Dreamy All Purpose House Robot. I'd take one! This is getting silly...well, Kotomi really wants to become a great comedy couple. Seems the five of us will be eating lunch together tomorrow...Kyou teases me about having my hands full of flowers, meaning beautiful girls. Heh...Ryou's fortune-telling is as awful as ever.

...Whoa, Kotomi's made a lot of food! Kyou declares herself to suddenly be on a diet, so as to force me to eat the lion's share. We need something to work off all this food...what about Ryou's cards? Ryou misunderstands and asks what type of fortune I want. Oh my...poker...this is going to get hilarious, I'm sure. And now Kotomi needs to return a book to a library, but not the one here. Sunday passes without incident. Heh...how ironic. It's here, in another route, that the drama club is actually kind of thriving. Kyou and I are trying to figure out what's going on. Kyou refers to me as Kotomi's husband. Kyou says she asked Kotomi about various things...I think this would be funnier if I actually spoke Japanese. A "ticklish and nostalgic sound". Violin? Nah, must be imagining it. No, wait, the sisters hear it too. Kotomi's listening intently. She heads off, in a daze, and meets the Chorus Club. The violin was left behind in the music room. Kotomi wants to play it, too. Ah, she looks like a natural! ...Doesn't sound like one, though. She's awful...and worse, she's gone into a complete trance and is "performing" without any regard to her surroundings. She mentions that she studied a bit when she was a kid, and the chorus club member mentions that her posture was perfect. Seems that, in spite of what just happened, she's got permission to keep using the violin. Much to Kyou's dismay, Nagisa gives the go-ahead for Kotomi to practice in the drama club room. Seems Nagisa immediately saw the truth, too...Kotomi's a lot more talented than that performance indicated; she was just out of practice.

...Hm. Seems the trips to the illusory world have stopped. Maybe it's like Akane's fever and Seven's dizzy spells in reverse, in that they only appear if you are still en route to the "true ending", which is to say Nagisa's good end? I guess it takes a little longer for Kotomi's route to be irrevocably locked in than it did for Kyou. Kotomi's in the library on the day off, practicing her violin. She's just playing a simple tune--some chords to go along with all of my tangents. Oh, she wants to surprise everyone...she's going to covertly practice so that come Friday, she'll be good and everyone will be surprised. The next day, I head to class on time. I don't want to interrupt Kotomi...but she seeks me out. Now she's Kotomi Unit 01, the Ultrasonic Weapon of Terror, trying to play lullabies and failing miserably.

...Her tsukkomi, on the other hand, is flawless, responding to me calling her violin a weapon by playing it. ...Or maybe she's the boke.

I confiscate the violin, give the bow to Furukawa and the violin to Ryou, and carry Kotomi off. Kotomi says she just wanted Tomoya to be the first to hear her playing. Kyou angrily tells her to stick to the club room. Apparently other clubs' members told her to go elsewhere. Kyou decides that she'll have to have a recital and go somewhere where no one can hear her to practice. Everyone else volunteers to go with her, but Kyou insists that I stay behind, and Kotomi's okay with that. I fall asleep, and Kyou waits for me. We head home, just the two of us. Seems that even on this route, the true feelings of the Fujibayashis are made known. Apparently, that New Year's feast convinced Kyou that Kotomi was seriously into me. Ah, Kyou, you're such a busybody. But Kyou doesn't seem to want to interfere too much...Kyou pays me a compliment, and I joke about her falling in love with me, then cringe in expectation of the attack, but...there's Kotomi? She's with a stranger...an adult male. This decision is no decision; I've got to step in. The man says he'll come some other day when Kyou and I rush in. Also, it's pretty clear now that Kyou's earlier molestations were to size up the competition, literally. Kyou demands that I do a boyfriend's duty and escort her home. Kotomi says she's going home alone, but Kyou insists; she seems to be actively rooting her on. I sense that it has something to do with her family, and try to reassure Kyou that it will all be okay. I offer to move the poster to a more suitable spot, when really I don't want anyone finding out about it. Oh, she parted ways with the other two when she got called to the office again. Oh, my, Kyou had fallen asleep too?! Seems like I'm the one locked out of the loop...Kotomi doesn't want me walking in on her practice, and apparently that "husband" thing came from a private conversation between Kotomi and Kyou. Ah, we're going to subject Sunohara to Kotomi's violin... Oh. Kyou beat me to that, and in even less direct fashion. She's also gathered up various offenders and kind of extorted them into coming. Kotomi's being weirder than usual. Kyou's selling earplugs, at increasingly exorbitant prices. Oh...she gets nervous. She did it fine during practice, but in performance...

...Huh? The final tune...there's no pain, only nostalgia. It puts me to sleep, actually... Suddenly, she drops the violin. She's been playing too much, so she hurt herself. We part ways...after it's just the two of us, she reminds me that tomorrow is our weekly lunch date. I meet her before even reaching the library...seems I got away just in time to avoid having her walk into the class. We return the violin to Nishina.

...I think Kotomi's sense of humor is bent. Anyway, I think maybe I need to take a break...I've been so engrossed in this game that I only just finished breakfast, and there's some stuff that I should do while it's still daytime.

Okay, that didn't take as long as I thought. Kotomi seems sad as we part ways for the long weekend. I think about how it's good that Kotomi's making friends, but it will also mean less time we get together. She says her hand feels better, but it's still hurting a little. I start to say goodbye, but...she hesitates. She wants to say something and asks if I'm free over the holiday. With a hesitation that I understand all too well, she asks if she can come and play with me over the holidays. Even considering the childish words used, it brings back memories. Yeah, it's definitely a date. There's just so much fourth wall breaking, though, with the characters commenting on "three question marks". 10 AM, Sunday, right here where we are now. Saturday goes by with little more than anticipation, but as I head to our meeting spot at the end of the day, who should I see but the mysterious man? He's a colleague of her parents, it seems. They were studying spacetime...which isn't just done in space. They've gone to a "Hidden World"...But as much of an honor as it was to work with them, people like him are still "bad men" to Kotomi. The man asks if I'm her lover. I say "not right now but..." Apparently, her father came from this town, and they wanted to raise their daughter in this town, even though it meant a long commute. Then...something tragic happened. The housekeeper became ill, the agency trying to take over didn't work out...There was a misunderstanding over the phone and we didn't know where she was, and we panicked, and things became chaotic...we--that's the man and his colleagues--believe someone should be beside her. Oh...so she's really all alone. Then he asks if Kotomi is still carrying scissors. She is, and I tell him this. The man nods, and tells me that if I get a chance, I should tell her that they're not asking for her forgiveness, but they still regret about what happened that day even now. I wake up the next morning with vague images of something burning and me putting out the fire. But no matter what I do, the flames won't disappear. ...So she's Hanako without the burn scars? I overslept...it's 10:15. Oh, she's so cute! I feel awful about having to make her wait... I tell her how lovely she looks, more grown up, and she asks if I like childish better. I think about it and decide that it doesn't matter as long as Kotomi is being genuine. She stayed in the exact spot I'd specified, even though there was shade nearby...so literal-minded.

...And Kyou still hasn't cured that nasty date-peeping habit of hers. Furthermore, to know our meeting spot, she had to have been eavesdropping on Friday, too. ...Oh, G-d, she's roped the two of them in, too! And now we're turning back into a comedy routine...what about our romantic date? ...Eh, I guess we'll have to let them stick around. Kyou looks like the cat who swallowed the canary, and is threatening to molest Kotomi more if she doesn't take her romantic advice. Koto-moe's in tears. Kyou's leading everyone around, and making me pay for everything, and telling Kotomi to ask for expensive things because the more I pay for her gifts, the more it shows my love. ...Oh, my, her birthday's only nine days away!

...And now she's trying to get me to buy Kotomi a 140,000-yen violin. And...now she's got us trying to get a prize from a crane game that's literally larger than the opening. I'm all out of money, but Kyou's got a little bit--change for the bill she took from me earlier. She finally relents to let Kotomi try it herself, and Kotomi goes into scientist mode. ...Still fails. We all get ice cream--Ryou and Nagisa treat us, as payment for intruding. Even though I have my own, Kotomi still relentlessly insists on sharing hers with me. A vapor trail, which she doesn't notice.

I ask what she really wants for her birthday, and she says that as long as I'm there, anything would be fine. Kyou finally takes a hint. Kotomi and I make plans to meet again tomorrow--just the two of us this time. Same time, same general area. I start to think about the man as I wait for her...and then she arrives. Time for a confession! ...That's not the confession I had in mind. The game lampshades the limited wardrobe thing. This time, we will go to the library. Whoa...she knows a window we can sneak through! We go inside, and as usual, she removes her shoes and socks. She made an apple pie this time. It's very good... She's ecstatic to hear that. She mentions how nervous she was the first time we met. She wants to read a book together with me. I ask for her to instead read a book to me. She searches for something that's written by a Japanese novelist, fun to read, and her favorite book, at my specifications.

A nostalgic sound...it's the scene in the club room with Kotomi and the violin, and yet... this never happened, did it? Dango cooking in a pot...and then there's Ryou, and her fortune telling says I have schizophrenia. I think I've figured out it's a dream, but it's a nervous breakdown? I wake up and have more pie, and then Kotomi-chan gives me a book. She says it's okay not to read it, though--just hold onto it. She vows to be together with everyone more.

An unnoteworthy day. Oh no...Ryou's telling fortunes again, and she says tomorrow will be a good day. That means it'll be a bad day...and after it's just the two of us, Kotomi-chan asks to hold hands!

...Guess who? There's a surprisingly continuous pushing of softness against my back. Kyou wasn't lying, was she? Kotomi's embarrassed when I bring up how embarrassing this is to me. Ah, figures this was Kyou's teaching. And right on cue, there's the little hellspawn. Ryou's on the bus, and now here comes Nagisa looking for her. She's worn out, so she just says "Is Ryou-chan...bus", and Kotomi acts the proper boke. I feel like this joke isn't translating, either. Fish, foreign bath, opera singer. ...oh. Bass, bath, and bass again...they'd all sound the same in Japanese, and bus, too, they're all "basu". ...Crap. There was an accident with a bus, which is why Nagisa's panicking. Ill omen was right...the bus is sideways. ...Oh phew Ryou's right here. It was a different bus...and it caused a traffic delay, so Ryou's bus was late. Oh, it was an out-of-service bus, no passengers, and the driver was fine too. Kotomi's freaking out, though. She's screaming...and now she's repeating the same words over and over. "I'll be a good girl, so..." ...She leaves school early. I don't like this theme. The teachers know something, but it's our job to wait until she's ready to tell us. She's not in school the next day, either. By lunch time, I can't take it anymore, and I ask for the location of her house. Then her teacher asks me the same thing the man did, then rephrases it. Do I feel that my existence is having an impact on Kotomi-chan? Well, yeah. Oh...she has a chance to study abroad...which she rejected on Tuesday. She'd rather be with her new friends. Or so she said, but now...she wants to study abroad again. I run into Kyou on the way out. No after-school meeting... I say I wouldn't come anyway. Kyou immediately gets it. Tomorrow's Friday. And this Tuesday is Kotomi-chan's birthday... I find myself trying to remember something, which seems odd as this isn't a place I've ever been. Just as I'm giving up, I find it. It's...desolate. And...déjà vu? I go inside... Kotomi's sitting on the floor, surrounded by newspaper articles. She seems sad...

...clippings. Of course. There was a fishing boat accident off the coast of Alaska; all 266 passengers were lost, including Kotomi's parents. They were close to a big scientific breakthrough, too.

My memories mingle with a pure white apron and the scent of pipe smoke. A dream land...a garden of beautiful lawn. Kotomi was a small girl at the time. But now, she's sitting on the floor here, doing nothing but crying. In front of the wavering orange flames... Suddenly it all makes sense.'' I knew this place. This room, this house, this girl. ''Kotomi-chan. She and I met long ago, when we were little. And she never forgot about it. I ask why she didn't tell me. After a moment, she says that when I came to the library, she was really happy, thinking the boy from that day had returned. But when we were together, it seemed I'd forgotten...yet I befriended her anyway. Even though to me, she was someone I'd just met, I still took care of her. She wasn't sure if she wanted me to remember, or to forget...about that day.

Ooh, this next part is being told from Kotomi's point of view! It's a memory of her parents...her father said not to mock miracles just because science has nothing interesting to say about them. She asked why she's called Kotomi, and he mentions that the world is made out of lots of tiny harps, too small to be seen... No way. String theory? Which, of course, is "koto". Harp. And that's why the world is beautiful. Mi. So her name literally means "beautiful harp". Come school, she was ostracized, because she'd already read all of the assigned books and wanted to read a book for grown-ups instead. So she faked a stomachache to get out of class, and when her parents came, her stomachache was replaced by heartache. And then, she makes a single friend, one who doesn't go to her school. She was practicing her violin, in a dress her mom sewed for her, rehearsing for her performance. It was black and made her look grown-up--her favorite. And there was an unfamiliar boy in the garden, looking at her, when she finished a piece. It's Tomoya. They introduce themselves. He'd come by almost every day to play...it really is just like what we're doing now. And then her birthday came. All she really wanted were more friends. But then Tomoya never came, and her parents had to leave the country on urgent business. She gets mad at them for not being there for her birthday. Really mad. Mom says Tomoya can still come...but she wants to spend her birthday with everyone. There's a maid waiting...she divided an apple pie and left the larger portion for Tomoya-kun. Ah, the strangers...She's nervous, of course, for obvious reasons. Oh, it was the airplane...the airplane broke. She didn't understand...all she could think about was apologizing for telling her parents that she hated them. She locked the door, and the men asked her to please open up, like a good girl. Then came the phone calls. She insists she doesn't know anything and hangs up. Then came the scissors...she cut the telephone line. Then she turned on the television, and there's the news confirming it. Her parents are dead. After a while, she gathers her courage and searches for Tomoya-kun in the garden. He's not there... And then she prays. She prays with all of her heart. She promises to be a good girl if God will only send her parents home. She divided everything in half...for Tomoya-kun. And she cries at the thought that the food would be the last her mother would make, and she vows to wait for Tomoya, and keep her parents' important thing from the bad men. She kept dividing by half, so there would be something left, and so there'd be something for Tomoya-kun. She just keeps grasping her scissors... She's scared. And she decides it must all be a lie. She's crying out, begging her parents to come out of hiding. And she enters her parents' study...and burns the important thing. There's that purple again... She used the scissors so she could just cut out the portions of expensive books that pertained to her parents. K-Kotomi-chan...

All of her studying, it was all so she'd be able to understand her father's thesis. Then she wanted to surpass her parents...She's understanding. Even though they were scientists, it sounds almost as though what they were searching for was more of something for philosophers. The beautiful origins of the world. She wants forgiveness for what she's done... I want to tell her everything, tell her I'd be there...but I'm afraid. So I just tell her to come to school tomorrow. She says she doesn't want to experience such sadness. Oh...no wonder that brought everything spiraling back. The roles are reversed, and I'm the one who keeps repeating things to her. "See you tomorrow."

Friday. The library's locked. The librarian arrives, but I don't enter. Nobody shows up at the club room after school, either. I head back to Kotomi-chan's house, and I'm about to leave, unable to enter, when Nagisa shows up. Seems the other three girls still have some secrets... But we've got to do it. Prepare for her birthday.

...I noticed it this time! The changeover. When we flipped to Saturday, the 10th, it officially flipped over to "Kotomi". We're on the home stretch. I'm cleaning up the garden. I've been working alone, and on Sunday...oh no. They tried to get the violin for her as a present, but it's all broken now. Kyou and the music shop owner quarreled, the owner trying to sell the expensive one, and Kyou saying that even a hundred million yen violin wouldn't be the same as repairing this one, for Kotomi. The sentimental value. What do I say? "Don't give up. Don't ever give up." Words to live by, always. March of 1993, I believe? A fairly special month for me. ...Yep, that speech was made on March 3, 1993, just 15 days before I became an older brother. I had just been thinking today about how until I find true love, my little sister is the most important person to me. ...Less tangents, more chords. We manage to keep Kyou relatively leashed, but there's no way it'll be fixed in time. I'm...still working, after midnight? ...Yes. I won't stop. Don't stop, never stop. A light comes down from the sky where the stars are playing. Is that the Light Orb? Ah...it disappeared. More gardening, having slept on Kotomi-chan's lawn last night. The garden's ready...and there's the book. There's a story inside...a middle-aged man meeting a girl who came from the future. ...! Oh, it's a book they read together. Day before yesterday, I saw a rabbit. And yesterday, a deer.

...It's today. So where are you? (this seems like a natural stopping spot, and I need dinner. So I'm leaving over 1000 characters on the table for this post.

...Hahaha. I unwittingly did the same thing...I was supposed to make these leftovers last for tonight and tomorrow night, but I took so little last night that there's too much here...)

Ah...I remember. I was prohibited to enter the square where I always play, so I went looking for a new vacant lot together with the other neighborhood kids. I ended up all alone, though...in an unknown residential district. And then I heard a strange, unknown sound. But nostalgic, like I was being beckoned. I followed it and found an entrance. It was a beautiful garden. No one was throwing me out, and there was a girl with a violin. We became friends. After that, I went to her house every day. Aw, she even fed me! ...well, sort of. It's clay food. I didn't tell any of my friends about this secret garden, because I wanted to keep it all to myself and didn't like playing in a big group. Her mother suggests we go "outside", meaning beyond the hedges, but Kotomi's too scared. I soon understood how different she was on the cold days, when playing in the garden wasn't an option and she easily read tough books with no furigana. "Writing it is a bit difficult, but reading it is simple." And that leather book...her father said it's okay not to understand it now. She read her favorite part to me. And then she says she's going to have a birthday party next time, just the four of us. This time, when I said I might not come tomorrow, she said that was okay, as long as I came to her birthday party. I thought of getting her a present, but I didn't have any money, so I thought maybe I'd bring my other friends. But no one came, and I thought her party might be coming to an end, so I went home...crying. That night, I couldn't sleep, so I snuck out of the house, wanting to apologize, wanting to see her again...I really liked her. I needed to hear that "See you tomorrow." And there she was. Crying. The book burning. ...It wasn't even the right thing. What she burned...was something meant for her. And after that...I couldn't go back. And I forgot about it...

...SQUEE! It's a picture of little Kotomi in the dress her mother made for her! Barefoot as always...she's so cute. I can see why she might be a young boy's first crush. I'm sure at that age, I'd have probably crushed on her.

(About here, a voice in the back of my head reminds me of Shinon's snarky remark to Gatrie in Radiant Dawn regarding a tree in a skirt. Okay, yeah, that's true, I wasn't exactly picky at that age. Funny how I ended up so shy, given what a hopeless flirt I was as a little kid.)

I rehash the meeting as Kotomi-chan told me, and suddenly it all makes sense. This is a dream, when we were young. "When everything in the world were little happiness piling up together..." There's something I have to do. I have to get her. Wait...she's right there? Oh, man, it's practically the same image. Kotomi then and now...they look very similar, even the outfits. "Are you awake now?" Well, I might still be dreaming. She tells me she always remembered, and was always waiting. So I continue. "I suppose you traveled here by time machine."

Her eyes go wide, and she responds, "Yes. My father invented one."

"And do you come here often?"

"Oh, yes. This is my favorite space-time coordinate. I stand here for hours sometimes and look and look and look. Day before yesterday I saw a rabbit, and yesterday a deer, and today, you." And she smiles happily. The Kotomi from that day traveled a long time and was happy to see me.

"I came to pick you up. Let's go." To the outside world, where everyone is waiting.

...But it's not the same to her. Everything's wrong. She didn't want to be left behind...she wanted to ride the airplane with them...

"DON'T!"

And there she is, crying in my arms. I beg her not to say such sad words, because I like her a lot. Because I'll be sad if she disappears. She knows, and feels the same way, but she's scared, because all people disappear...

...So, she's Emi without the prosthetic legs? Mmm...yes, that sounds about right. I vow to always be there for her, though, even if I disappear. She says she might not notice even if I was right there, because she's a crybaby and she might be crying too much. She might end up hating me. But, even so, would I still always be with her? Yeah, of course I will, Kotomi-chan. I'll always be there, watching you. And there it is. We're in the garden, barefoot, just like when we were kids. And then...we head to school. It's the thirteenth. We end up just having to give her a voucher for her real present. And then Kotomi explains why she freaked out. Nagisa starts crying...aw...she tells them that I said the same thing, about always being there even if we can't see them, and then almost mentions the kiss. I cut her off, and we get into another boke routine. Of course, Kyou can't leave well enough alone. A guardian is there...the "bad man". Something important...it has to be today...

...! Which birthday is this, I wonder? I suspect...that this birthday just triggered some legal transfer of ownership of something. We end up agreeing to meet him in the drama clubroom--all of us. Kyou's as fiery as ever. He has a duralumin suitcase...really beat up, beyond what normal usage could create. Kotomi-chan seems to recognize it...oh, man, this has to be a relic of the wreckage...a possession of her father's that he had with him when he died. She confirms it. It arrived at the research facility last night. He looked inside to confirm that it was indeed his, and felt he had to deliver it today.

...!!!

The teddy bear...so that's why it had to be today. It wasn't the thesis...it was the birthday gift. Apparently because of how light it was, the suitcase didn't sink, but instead, floated away...and it was passed from one person to another. It had been repaired many times by many people...I have a teddy bear like that, too. There was no thesis note...it was a birthday letter to Kotomi-chan. Or rather, a toy catalogue. She opens an envelope in there...that's the birthday letter. It's beautiful... this is their thesis. The most beautiful words ever...

The teddy bear's fur is surprisingly realistic compared to the anime style of everything else. Um...excuse me for a moment...I think I need to fetch an old friend of 24 years before I finish. ...Geez, you smell like dust. I know, I've been leaving you on the shelf for the past few years...I can't help it. You're falling apart and besides, I've grown so big that you don't even reach the length of my forearm. It's impossible to properly hug you anymore...

I've got a "replacement", too, one I picked out myself at age 11 because even then, Mr. Bear was starting to fall apart and I needed something bigger that could serve his old role as pillow. "Ursa Major" has a tear now, too, so I've been keeping him on a shelf too. But, when I need something to hug... ...Damn, didn't expect to be getting this sentimental.

Their message...it's written in so many languages, so anyone could read it...

There's an epilogue. The teddy bear is sitting on a chair in the garden. Kotomi's looking beautiful as ever. No, more beautiful...because she's smiling with eyes wide open. It's three months later, and Kyou has brought the violin. And now the violin's on the other chair. Credits. Another Light Orb get.

...So much for doing another one quickly. Even though there is still one with fewer choices, I doubt it will actually go quickly. This is most definitely not an H-game...and I hardly even care.

(note: character limits initially forced the final sentence of this post to the start of the next one, but it definitely belongs in Chapter 7 so I moved it for the compilation.)

Chapter 8: Four Short Stories (CLANNAD--Mei, Yukine, Fuuko, and Kappei routes)
For the first time, I skip the chance to meet Nagisa in the courtyard completely. It's a little sad, this run where I'm almost completely ignoring her...and because of all the skipping, it's a little disjointed. This time I'm actually checking out Ryou's fortune-telling myself instead of sending Sunohara to do it. Turns out my fortune is that I'll have a girlfriend soon and be happy...so given her usual track record, an actual girlfriend probably isn't in the cards. ...Yep, it seems like I'm closer to Sunohara than usual. One week by, and the closest I've done to doing anything was helping out...Yoshino-san. ...Sunohara's English is horrible. Yep, no choice but to help him this time...there's still Illusory World trips mixed in. It's weird, there's more "skip previously read text" options even though I don't remember any of this. Probably did it on the Koumura route. We start up a harebrained scheme to get Sunohara a fake girlfriend so as to impress his sister. Naturally, this involves talking to the only girl as stupid as the two of us...Kyou. Sunohara has his doubts for obvious reasons, but of course, Kyou's right there.

And, wow, there's the transition. Before the character in question has even appeared onscreen. Oh, man, poor Sunohara...I can see exactly where this is going.

...And that's even worse. You just can't avoid those rugby-heads, can you?

...Sanae? What are you doing here? Wait...Damn, I wasn't even introduced to Nagisa in this timeline. Wait, what the...damn. This is silly.

Mei's shocked at the idea of Youhei having a girlfriend. She says she wants an older boyfriend, too, and says that everyone in her school is still a kid. I tell her she's still a kid, too, and she seems sad, but I tell her that she'll grow up soon, and because she's so cute, she'll probably be beautiful. And now she needs a place to stay...she asks if she could stay at my house. I give my reservations, but she reminds me that I just said she has no appeal, remember?

She wakes me up the next morning...shit! Morning wood. It can't be helped... but still, what an embarrassing time, with such a cute imouto-chan there. And she's persistent at trying to get me to stay awake...she's feeding me breakfast. Like, really feeding it to me. We head to see Youhei...Mei nearly faints when she meets Sanae. Mei wants to follow her brother and Sanae on their date, and tells me to think of it as a double date. ...I can't imagine going on a double date with my sister and her boyfriend. It would just be too weird...although, I wouldn't put it past my sister to pull a Kyou and try to covertly make sure my date went well...and I tend to be oblivious to everything, so it might even work.

Damn, Mei's adorable...of course, the cast list should've clued me into that one, since she's Nanoha. <3 Not that I really needed to see it to recognize it. Sanae ends up cooking for all of us, and it's actually good this time. Seems Mei's infatuation with Yoshino's music is coming up. Bullying breaks out, and I go to interfere, but Mei stops me and decides to let her brother do it...and of course, he doesn't. Sanae charges in. We try to help the girl, but it's a Sunday so none of the kindergartens are in session.

Mei waits for her brother the next day. He's in his own world, lovestruck with what's actually a married woman. Mei says she's not going home yet. She's got a pen pal here, too...no, wait, I think she's just got a plan to get her brother to admit he cares. Yeah, seems I saw through it in-game, too. She was bullied when she was younger, too. Because of her brother. And she saw through our ruse, too.

...I'm actually going to need a second post for this?!

Youhei's obviously concerned about his sister, but he can't bring himself to interfere...or to tear himself away from his fake romance. And...I ask her to be my sister instead.

...Bah, still too much familiarity. I can think of someone else who puts up with a useless onii-chan...I believe I mentioned her just a few posts ago, third from the end of the Kotomi segment.

Unfortunately, others start watching as she calls me onii-chan, and think the wrong thing. I get her to stop, as much as I like being called "onii-chan", it's too dangerous. Time for a harebrained scheme...with me as the fake boyfriend.

"Sugoi!" I can't take this. Mei is too cute. I seem to think so in game, too, caving before the might of "onii-chan". I buy her an expensive crepe, take her to a photo booth...we go to a 100-yen store and get in trouble for playing with the merchandise. The topic of Yoshino Yuusuke comes up. We meet with him, and Mei fangirls out cutely. Seems like a perfect date...now to spring the trap, without mentioning Okazaki's name. And then...are we going to kiss? Oh...she feels it would be too sudden to give a kiss on the mouth, but...she wants to give me a kiss on the cheek. Okay, that's more like it. ...And just then, Youhei arrives. He reacts exactly as he should, and I call him out. And there we go. We claim I was the one sending letters. And we tell him, truthfully, that Mei's been staying at my house all this time. We've got him now. And Youhei...can't bring himself to do anything. Another changeover; it now says "Sunohara Siblings". The next morning, I wake up to find her on the phone with her parents. Mei-chan wants to bring Youhei back to the soccer club, too. She plans to talk to them about accepting him back. Damnit, don't you know talking never works! I sure hope you can still back your words up with a Starlight Breaker... Ooh, another new theme!

...Yeah, useless as ever. Words never work without the might to back them up. And damned if their heads don't need quite a bit of cooling.

...A lot of cooling. You jackasses! And Mei just won't quit, going after it doggedly...you really are one and the same. And...yes! He came, just in time, too! We try to fight them off...we lose. We start fighting with each other...Damnit. He's so gullible, he actually bought it, and got mad at me for not protecting Mei like a good boyfriend should. He had faith that it'd be okay, because it was me. Mei steps in and stops us, and hugs her brother.

Another transition. "Mei Epilogue". Friendship returns...yeah, that's right. It probably was Koumura's route, since Sunohara's fairly prominent in that one, too. He, too, has to graduate to unlock Koumura's Light Orb.

...Uh-oh. Now we're on a Sunohara epilogue, and he's about to find out that Sanae's not Nagisa's sister, but her mother...and he's going to meet Akio. Ah...rest in peace, Sunohara. Yep, that's our fourth Light Orb...and it really didn't take too long. Longer than Koumura's, but still pretty short. Well, on Wicklebee's recommendation, I won't be heading to a certain other short one yet...so, I guess maybe tomorrow I could go for Yukine's? Maybe Fuuka's, but that one seems like it'll be a long one. Oh, wait, there's another one, isn't there? I completely forgot, since the person involved still hasn't even shown up yet. That one looks like it might not be long, either, so time permitting, I'll squeeze both in, and then I'll only have three more Light Orbs to get before going for Nagisa's true ending. No, not even; Fuuko's doesn't have an Orb at all... Of course, before those, we still have the "mystery game". Can you guess? I've been dropping hints if you know where to look!

Okay, we just zip straight ahead to the meeting with Yukine. Apparently the reference room is also where the teachers put the manga they confiscated. Apparently I've seen this scene before, where Sunohara and I skip out on P.E. to go to the reference room. Yeah, I remember this. Strange, though, that it would've shown up when I'd done even less towards getting on her route before. She's an interesting girl, really into spells and stuff. I decide to mess with Sunohara even more by making him try out the love spell on Kyou. He doesn't even get the chance, though. Pretty soon, it's automatic that we go to the reference room for lunch breaks. Sunohara's getting more spells. He goes around alone and no one talks to him, but then when I join him, the Fujibayashis talk to me. Two people at the same time...this route, too, sets up the love triangle! I take a brief detour from the walkthrough by saying yes to inviting Mei to see Sunohara, just because. Damn, she's even got a spell for "two people locked in a place together", though she warns that love coming from such a spell will be short-lived. And another one..."Kyou? What are you doing with such a large amount of balls?" Gotta love lines that sound wrong out of context. Wait, what's the High Bridge Effect? Oh, man, the misunderstandings are golden. Was this what Wicklebee was talking about? Oh, my, back to Yukine...is she able to commune with evil spirits or something? No, she's just a saint... Hmm, it still hasn't registered as exclusive to this path yet, even though it certainly seems like it is. I wonder where the irreparable branching points for each pair of paths is if you try to foster multiple paths? Sunohara manages to burn himself twice with antics to try to get Yukine to be his girlfriend, then just as he's about to go the direct route, one of her friends from another school arrives. Finally, at the end of April, the changeover. Okay, this is weird... a boy named Yuu comes to the reference room, demanding his sister back. Apparently she's fallen in with all of Yukine's weird friends, and someone recommended he come here, to "the girl who controls those guys". Next comes a cute scene with Yukine falling asleep in my lap, where she mentions her older brother. Then Sunohara freaks out and gets us suspended for three days. I sneak in through the window, get another day of having her sleep in my lap, and then talk to a man who seems to know a bit more about her. Her brother...is dead? So that's why she needed a substitute... Something's happening on the final day of the suspension. Heh, she's been prepared to make omelet rice ever since the first time I asked for it and she couldn't. A spell for strength...we're in each other's arms. Oh...when the guy said "a year", he was fairly close to exact, wasn't he? Today's the one-year anniversary... I see. Her brother was a "delinquent", while she was the good child, but they were still close. So she associates with other delinquents, because she sees the good in them.

...The Light Orb? Now? That's the first one that's appeared pre-credits...Though apparently it won't be the last. Now, a kiss. Oh, and then credits. Hah, and the others noticed me reaching for the Light Orb, but they couldn't see it. Yeah, Yukine knows what the Light Orbs are really about. Ha, this one only took one post...

I have a hunch that maybe I'll have enough time for a slightly longer route after all, so I start Fuuko's up. Pretty much the first choice that actually leads to somewhere new is, oddly enough, one where I'm talking to Nagisa's parents. And then, of course, the part where we first make Fuuko drink juice with her nose. Oops, too deep. Heheheh...seems like this route involves sticking fairly close to Nagisa, too. Ah...here's a branch. Whereas before, we always went to Koumura when rebuilding the club, this time we aren't. Ah, I reached this point on Koumura's path as well, but I didn't prank her last time. This time, I move her to a strange place, obviously the boys' bathroom, and convince her that she did it herself while she was spacing out. Which isn't exactly implausible; spacing out and entering the wrong bathroom is something that's happened to a lot of us, right? Luckily I caught myself immediately when it happened to me, because it was evident right away that something was unusual. Strange building, actually, that one of the bathroom doors would be push to open and the other one right next to it would be pull to open, don't you think? So, yeah, the door itself was able to tell me that I was opening the wrong door. Huh...keeping the star triggers a conversation with my father. Interesting...Other than the brief interludes of Fuuko, this is very much like my first run. On the way back from freshening myself, I run into her again, or rather she runs into me. And now she's spacing out again... Time for a level 2 movement prank. The principal's office? Man, she's something else, though...always putting me down. She didn't even notice that she dropped her star when she fell. Wait, there's a new level 1 prank available? Well, I end up roping in another student to pretend to be me, just to prove she's been daydreaming. If she asks how my face changed, he should say he sheds his skin once in a while. I feel like I've already seen this prank used for far more dramatic purposes during this topic. Fuuko freaks out at the idea of people who shed skin. Once I "return to normal", I try to convince her that it was just a bad dream, and she insists that she wasn't daydreaming.

...Um, wait, isn't this the part where I got sent to bad ending on my first run? Oh, no, wait, that's right, it wasn't until I changed something that I was even given this choice. Well, whatever. Fuuko says that no matter how you look at it, she is a mysterious girl that you won't quite encounter. That...seems accurate. Then she thinks that I've been searching for her every day, and...spaces out again. This time, we go level 2 for conversation swaps, using a female student this time for the switch. Ryou is of course agreeable enough to go along with it. Okay, I think we're on the verge of breaking Fuuko...time to let her off the hook. She's still convinced she wasn't daydreaming, even though she had this bad dream.

..."No valid string, make a ticket about it" is here! Anyway, I'm with Nagisa when I find some people gossiping about the ghost. Apparently the accident that had happened had a hand stuck in a guardrail when the car came, which is why the ghost's hand is always dripping with blood. I confront Fuuko about being the ghost, and she admits to having been in a car accident. Nagisa then mentions that she already knew about it...because she was a first-year when Ibuki-sensei was still teaching here, when Fuuko got into the accident.

...Wait, this is where I loaded at first from where I thought a branch to Fuuko's path might be while playing Koumura's. I ended up going back for a skip-through run from the start in part because I had missed a lot of pranks, but also because I couldn't find this option on Fuuko's walkthrough. And now...I can't find it on Koumura's?

...Oh. I must have branched off, and made a different choice to get to Fuuko's.

Well, the save state was still wise, because my instinct disagrees with the walkthrough. It turns out that even if we try to bring Fuuko along, she won't come, so it's probably just meaningless. Nagisa definitely seems to think that Fuuko never actually left the hospital. I figure out her motive. To get everyone to come to her sister's wedding. ...Yeah, it definitely feels like I could easily get over to Nagisa's path from here, even though I know that some of my decisions seemed like the type that shouldn't allow me to do that. ...! Nobody should know about Ibuki-sensei's engagement. They haven't told anyone...and Fuuko is still in the hospital bed. We've confirmed it. And she kind of confirmed it herself just now. Then I put my hand on Fuuko's head and avoid her attempts to bat it away. Then she spaces out and I make her drink juice with her nose, in spite of Nagisa's presence. Nagisa convinces Fuuko to come to her home. We give her the last name "Isogai", so Nagisa's parents don't contact Ibuki-sensei. ...Shit. We took that name from the neighbors' nameplate! Sanae knows the truth...but because she knows the whole truth, she isn't saying anything. The next day, everyone is carving together. Fuu-chan reveals that the stars are actually starfish and goes off into her dream world. I try to see if she's thinking about eating starfish by forcing the carving to her mouth, but it slips and I end up hurting her. She gets mad when I tell her I gave her starfish away...right, to father. Nagisa seems to instantly understand that they're starfish. Nagisa suggests Fuuko go to meet her sister, but Fuuko doesn't think her voice will reach her sister. She thinks that's why she's here, so she can use other people to say what she can't say herself. Fuuko presents Sanae with a starfish and does her spiel, but she goes off on tangents and avoids the bit about her sister being an art teacher. She even comes up with a suitable alternate name--Kimiko, an alternate way of writing Kouko. Wait, shouldn't Mei already be here by now? Sunohara was talking about her coming in class on Monday... Ah. Fuuko never came back after the entrance ceremony. That's how quick it happened... Sunohara interrupts our carving session. They have a carve-off, but space case ends up forgetting what the challenge was. Nagisa suggests she carve people's faces. Fuuko agrees, then carves a moai instead. Sunohara seems to have a crush on Nagisa in this timeline... Then Fuuko tries again and ends up with a skull. Even a kiss-up like Sunohara can't agree with Nagisa about the Big Dango Family, though... We bring Fuuko into the conversation, and she says starfish are cuter. It almost becomes a fight, but then it doesn't because they're both so easygoing. I manage to swap the carving Fuuko's holding with Sunohara's head while she's spacing out. Sunohara gets poked and then smacked in the face with a wooden starfish. I remind Nagisa that real starfish aren't as cute as the ones Fuuko makes, and upon being reminded of what real starfish have, she decides to make her carvings more detailed. Sunohara thinks they look like shurikens. Oh, the elder Ibuki is at Nagisa's shop! With Fuuko right there in the back room... Akio's crying out in pain, so Ibuki offers to help, but we can't allow that... Ibuki's buying enough bread for two, because...Fuuko loved the bread here, and if Fuuko should wake up, her sister wants to have the bread for her.

...I want to try something. ...Huh. Taking the path where we actually meet Yoshino-san doesn't change a thing at the point where we find out that that's who Ibuki-sensei is engaged to. Fuuko's off in space again...I replace her carving with a slipper. She starts kissing it, then realizes it's not a starfish...Fuuko's pretty weird regardless. Fuuko Mastery obtained!

And now, to take the starfish somewhere...oh, hey, we can actually bring Yukine into this! So strange how you can make different paths interact...Again, I wonder where the points of no return are. Wow...Even though in going back and trying other things, I've still been taking an identical prank progression, I went the opposite way at the "stay like this/embrace her" fork, and it seems to have changed a lot of other events but so far it still looks like I can go towards Fuuko's path. Wait, did I miss an opportunity? Yeah, taking Nagisa as a girlfriend seems to have ruled out the chance at Level 2 impersonation.

"Soft, soft~ Fluffy, Fluffy~" So cute and silly. Again, my instincts say something else, even with Fuuko being so prankable...she's not in la-la land right now, so massaging her nose would be weird. ...Fuuko-chan's got a fan club? And even though I'm not part of it, Fuuko calls it the Okazaki Army because they're weird like me. And now it's the Dark Okazaki Organization...

...It's suddenly dawning on me that Nagisa would've wound up bedridden by now if this were a different route. Actually, that was true in Kotomi's route, too; she stayed healthy longer than she did when I was allegedly on her route. I talk to Kouko-san a bit more, and I realize that Fuuko was weird like that even before her accident. Ah, we need a "lesson" with Fuuko...we try to get Koumura, but he's busy. Oh, Sanae must have overheard our plans! She's helping. And Sunohara's crushing on her just like in his own route. Fuuko nearly slips up and gives her real last name. Kouko tells us a bit more about Fuuko. She was a loner who only wanted to be with her sister, but Kouko didn't think that was healthy and tried to push her away. When she entered high school, Fuuko vowed to make friends, but then she met with that accident. I want to show her that Fuuko reacts when called now.

Monday, May 5. Still not "locked", so to speak, even though it clearly is. Sanae's made starfish bread. Fuuko finds the starfish bread, and she's in a trance...she'll be sealed away forever. Well, people are accepting the starfish, but not the invitation to Ibuki-sensei's wedding. Only...they're waiting for Fuuko to wake up, so she's never going to get to make it happen. There's nothing that can be done. ...Oh. I guess the full name wasn't revealed. Now it all makes sense, the bit about meeting Yoshino changing something later on. And...even after a skip ahead to Sunday, Founder's Day, it still doesn't have her name up there? Well, anyway, things seem to be looking up for Fuuko-chan.

...Ah. Kouko-san has heard the rumors about Fuuko being in this school. But...there she is, and...Kouko can't see her. She can't see that Fuuko's there...making friends, just like she said she would. Her breathing...the past few days, the Fuuko in the hospital has stopped breathing. We promise Kouko that we'll be Fuuko's friends, in her dream that she can't wake up from. ...Midori-chan? Well, anyway, I tell Kouko not to delay the wedding for Fuuko's sake; that Fuuko wouldn't want that. Nagisa pleads this as well, her arms wrapped around Fuuko. Ah, now we're having Koumura help out with planning the wedding...in the school.

...Wait...that's right...it was at the founder's day festival, wasn't it? Gah...can't believe I'd forgotten. So it's just like before...only it's different because of Fuuko; we get to be active with Nagisa right up to her falling ill. Yet, that doesn't happen on Kotomi's route... Monday, the plans are confirmed. Tuesday...is this the longest we've gone, more or less? No, it looks like we make it all the way to May 13th with no route name in Kyou's route, too. Looks like that one ends somewhere around the 17th or 18th. Wait...there are other people who didn't actually notice Fuuko-chan? Yeah...she's disappearing.

What the...Nagisa's given us her blessing as a couple? How strange... Sunohara's learned the truth about Fuuko. And the next day...he mentions having gone to the neighboring town and having no idea why, and when he came to, he was in front of the hospital. He's forgotten her, too... It seems that those that learn the truth forget, and yet I still remember? Wait...Sunohara just addressed her! But he didn't really see her, and he thought he said something strange... So now she's Koishi. Oh, we haven't forgotten because we're still with her a lot... Ah...on the 16th, it changed over. I decide to get Fuuko a present, something that will make her stand out at her sister's wedding. Now Akio's forgotten, too... Sanae still remembers, but she can't see her, either. ...Hm. It said that there are two separate ending CGs, one for the listed option and one for the "other option"...but on the route where I was Nagisa's boyfriend, the listed option wasn't even there, only the "other option" and a third option. Good thing I was running two save files! When it comes to asking her if she's an adult now, if I ask about kissing, she gets kind of happy that I think she's cute...Ah. There's the kiss. We celebrate together in anticipation, and I agree to be with her...and then the next morning, she's gone. Ah...Koumura still remembers. That I had him set up the wedding at the school, and perhaps...why. Of course! He never actually met her, so there wasn't anything for him to forget! And he jogs my memory. And Fuuko returns to my sight, party hat and all. The next day...it's the wedding day. There we go...and...everyone's here?! And as everyone wishes them well...Fuuko fades away. Kouko asks why I'm crying, and I mention...that there was someone else here, working for that day, whom I had worked with, and had loved. And there's a wooden star...one for me, one for Kouko. Kouko heard it...and so she decides to rush to the side of the real Fuu-chan, the bedridden one. There are still rumors around the school afterwards. And then one day...an unfamiliar female student presents me with a starfish. Then she asks me out, and of course I say yes. Loading the alternate one...Sunohara's there two, and she asks the three of us to be her friends. Wait, credits...they didn't show up in the other ending! Then that means...the ending where Fuuko asks me out isn't the canon one at all!

...Ah! Not waking up completely is the key this time. Yup; I dodge Kyou's motorbike attack and she hits someone else instead. This person is...a boy? I think... This isn't the first time he's been hit by a bike. He drops his resume, but it isn't even really filled out. Later, I find him, and as thanks for returning it, he gets me a drink, but he's so shook up that he shakes the drink up and it goes all over the place. And now I've got his handkerchief, which seems to be a girl's...also, because he only had bills, the drink was bought with my money. The next day, he finally confirms that he's a guy. Kappei Hiiragi. ...Seriously, this game's flat-out trolling now. And on top of this, this all started when Kyou crashed her bike into him... Oh...he's homeless? Ah, no, he's just traveling...a wanderer, I suppose. Also a total weirdo. What's this about cosplay, and why'd he get like that at the thought of delivering something vital like food? It's funny that he should mention becoming a pizza delivery boy literally a couple of minutes after I placed an order for a pizza to be delivered...this game is so weird. Speaking of games, how did choosing to play what amounts to a game of laser tag derail me from Kappei's path? Well, pizza didn't work out for him...so now he's going to be "Mr. Burger". I call him "Mr. Baka", and he doesn't even notice. The next day, Sunohara meets Kappei...and mistakes him for a girl. *sigh*

He's also a fool, thinking the burger interview went poorly because they didn't serve tea. Sunohara messes up with the coke, too...the ensuing conversation between Kappei and me turns Sunohara on, because it's loaded with stuff that could sound dirty but isn't in context. Kappei's going to interview for a job with physical labor next. Wait...now Kappei's looking for "that handkerchief person", someone he was introduced to when he was hit with the bike, whom he only met once...and he seems to be crushing hard. You don't think...that handkerchief looked girly because it was Kyou's, do you? And Kappei's fallen hard for her...this just gets sillier and sillier. Kappei's just a nomadic wanderer, floating through life...I can relate, sort of. Oh, and he actually got the moving job! And thusly does it switch over to officially being on his route. Sunohara's daydreaming about "that cute girl", meaning Hiiragi. Sunohara asks for her name, and after some thought, I tell him that it's Hiiragi-chan. You could cut the irony with a knife, especially since I never did get a concrete answer as to which pair of twins is the original and which is the expies. Sunohara's talking about flag points. Right as I'm done advising Sunohara on how to win "her" over, "Hiiragi-chan" appears. Kappei gets in on the "abuse Sunohara" club, and then tries to clear up the confusion. Also, he's looking for a new job...he didn't like the moving job. Damn, he's really obsessed with being "manly", isn't he...Now he's going to interview at a nursery. Meanwhile, Sunohara was evidently knocked out during the confirmation, and still thinks Hiiragi-chan's a girl. And finally, Kappei tells him that he's misunderstanding. The nursery didn't work out--the fairy tales he told were too violent. I realize that he's got no place to stay and introduce him to "an inn"...which is to say, Sunohara's room. Still can't help but wonder why Kappei always emphasizes the honorific in calling me Tomoya-kun.

...Sunohara's still kind of in love? And...oh dear. Kappei's caught a "wild animal"...namely Botan. And there's the Fujibayashi sisters now. Wait, he's all confused...he thinks the girl he met was Ryou! Or, no, wait, what...he thinks she was the one who helped him out when he was hit? Oh, okay, yeah, that actually was what happened. She knows that her sister ran into him, and helped him up. Or...that's right, he said he'd been hit by a bike before...that was Kyou, too?! And now I reveal all of this, that both Ryou and I met him because of Kyou smashing into him with her bike. And he thanks Kyou anyway. She's blushing... I stop Kappei before he can announce his plans to eat Botan and give him back to his owner. Kappei finally gets it. And now, an awkward moment. It seems we've played Cupid. Now if only we could find someone for pathetic Sunohara...not to mention me. Ryou's aiming to become a nurse? Interesting... Kyou's looking murderous when she finds out that Kappei's dating her sister. Kappei's found a job at a hospital...he says he's used to being at one. That's right, he seemed pretty used to taking pills, too...is he a boy who was always very sickly? Well, all the better to pair him with a nurse, then. Oh dear, he won't be getting much healthier any time soon if he wants his girlfriend's home cooking. ...Well. Seems Kyou's a yaoi fan, according to Ryou.

So, Hiiragi's just like Sunohara and me. An ex-athlete, broken. He was a runner, who fell just before the finish line in his final meet, and in his fibula...osteosarcoma. He was dying, all that time...and if the crying Ryou in Sunohara's room is any indication, he's now...gone... Okay, good, he's still alive, but hospitalized again. His medicine is codeine. He could survive if he had an operation, but...

...he wants to keep his leg. Ryou's appealing to me to try to convince him to get the operation. He reveals that he's also an orphan...and that running is what gave him the will to live. Um, dude, you can get a prosthetic; you'll be just as fast as ever. Can we send him for a visit to Yamaku, show him just what a runner without legs can do?

...Wait, a musician was the one who inspired him? And wouldn't you know that while trying to comfort Ryou, we'd run into Yoshino-san... Together, you can make a small light. Another light orb...

Ryou's planning to lie to Kappei to convince him to live. ...No.

No way.

I cannot believe that Ryou Fujibayashi is about to do what I think she's about to do. Even if she is Kyou's sister, I can't picture such an underhanded technique from...oh...wait...that's right, she had been a bit less than saintly on Kyou's route, too. She knew full well that her sister had feelings for me too and still guilted her into supporting her instead. Carry on, then.

She did. Only she forgot about the fact that they hadn't actually had sex yet. Ryou, you complete and utter airhead. Uh...whoa, nice save! Not that she's already pregnant, but rather, that she loves Kappei enough to want to have his baby. Get married, start a family...go places together... Truly, Ryou is the bravest of them all.

"Even if you lose your legs, you'll still have arms to hug me!" Again, not a problem. I know a girl who gives great hugs even without any arms. And then Ryou threatens him, that if he doesn't take the operation, she really will secretly do that while he's sleeping. Kappei, this girl is so in love with you that she says she'd be willing to rape you if that's what it took to get your seed inside of her. For the love of all that is holy, I command you, LIVE! I quickly bring up that I only have one parent, too, and how horrible it would be if she brought a baby into such a situation. He agrees.

Sunohara and I come to visit Kappei a few days after the operation. We run into Yoshino on the way, and I thank him for his words of advice. There's no response at first when we knock on the door of his room, and then a red-faced Ryou answers...you don't suppose they were...working on that baby, were they? So soon after his operation? Ah, no, he still hasn't had it yet. There's a procedure that might allow him to keep his leg. I'm telling you, you'll be fine regardless. I've never seen a girl more vibrant than Emi Ibarazaki...well, okay, maybe your future sister-in-law, but even that's not by much. And that's official, by the way--the credits come right after Ryou and Kappei officially announce their intentions to get married. There's an epilogue...

...Ah! Ryou in a nurse's outfit! So cute! This is...five years later. And she's got a ring on her finger...He's rehabbing it, and he's not there yet, but he's better, and cancer-free since the operation. Light Orb get! Okay, time to squeeze out one last update for the day, to get us into our new game...

Chapter 9: Reach for the Moon, Immoral Folk (Ace Attorney 5--Cases 1 and 2)
Wow. There weren't any animated cutscenes in previous Phoenix Wright games! Ah, so then that voice is Phoenix? Ah, I feel like I'm watching the first episode of an anime...the new sidekick already has the perfect blend of awesome and clumsy to be the star of a magical girl anime. So that's where Phoenix's awful picture for CBIX came from...and what's with the new badass Apollo? His arm and eye are bandaged... "Athena"...that's our new sidekick, right? Oh, looks like both of Apollo's arms are bandaged. Also, he has a cape. He's the lead for the defense on this case...wait, isn't Phoenix supposed to be the lead now? Oh, right, tutorial case. Oh, so he was caught in the explosion; that's why he's all bandaged. The defendant's name is Juniper...Athena called her "Junie". A personal acquaintance? Well, it would be par for the course...so far, the closest thing to a "stranger" that we've had for a Case 1 defendant is Maggey Byrde in 2-1; the other three were Larry Butz and Phoenix himself, twice. (Though from a chronological standpoint, Phoenix was a stranger to his defense team in 3-1.) So, is this Juniper? She looks...out of place. By which I mean she looks like she belongs in a different century. Last name Woods...breathing into a flower to stop a coughing fit. We've been given an orange.

...Apollo just collapsed. Looks like Athena will be taking over as lead defense. Also, she speaks Spanish. Athena Cykes, rookie defense attorney...she's taken the lead one other time, but this will be her first solo case.

Um...is it just me, or does Winston Payne look younger? He's a bit confused by the substitution of attorney. Also, there's something around Ms. Cykes' neck that can speak..."Widget". Wait, wasn't Winston Payne's title "Rookie Killer"? This guy's "Rookie Humiliator". Okay, time for the facts. Yesterday, Apollo was acting as defense in a trial for a bombing, when a bomb that had been presented as evidence suddenly went off. Detective Candice Arme was discovered dead at the scene. She was to take the stand as a witness later in the trial. Her autopsy report is submitted into evidence...judging by where the body was found, it seems likely she stayed to help evacuate everyone else. Also, a stuffed animal bomb is entered into evidence. Cause of death is trauma to the back of the head caused by impact with a flat object. Judging by the picture, it seems like it wasn't the explosion itself that killed her, but rather it was falling rubble. Oh, access to the court record means access to the profiles...ah. The prosecutor's name is Gaspen Payne. Must be related to Winston; judging by the age, I'd say a younger brother? And judging by Apollo's age...this game takes place only one year after AA4? Huh. Would not have guessed. Junie states that she was at the courthouse yesterday, having come to know Apollo through Athena.

...The court record's not lying when it says Gaspen Payne exudes unpleasantness. Winston's "Objection!" sounded like a little girl, but this one sounds like a serpentine villain. He claims she had a motive for this crime. Now this I've got to hear...he continues that while no connection between the victim and the defendant was found, the objective was not murder, but rather the destruction of Courtroom No. 4 itself. Ah...Juniper's been brought up on false charges before, and according to Payne, that led to a grudge against the court system. Athena naturally objects, and Payne claims to have decisive evidence. A unique aspect of the bomb...the fact that it was inside a stuffed animal. So what's your point?

Payne then reveals another piece of evidence--the tail of the stuffed animal, called the Phony Phanty. Oh, he's a mascot for a campaign against false evidence and false charges. "Phony Evidence is just Trunked Up", that's the Phony Phanty's motto. And Juniper's fingerprints were found on the tail.

Cutscene time...a young Athena, surrounded by blood, unable to speak. Ah, and just in time, Phoenix comes in with an Objection! Junie's coughing up a storm, and it's pretty evident that yesterday's events were traumatic, so Phoenix asks for permission to allow her to rest in the lobby, and it's granted. Gaspen Payne confirms that he's Winston's younger brother. Ah, "decisive witness" time...generally known as the killer in a first case, though we can't be positive because AJ subverted it. Ted Tonate, bomb disposal specialist. We can't really see his face, and he "speaks" by typing things into a computer on his arm. Oh, but he is capable of normal speech; he merely finds it inefficient and therefore dislikes it. ...Gah! That face, he really is like a robot! Is he a cyborg? He claims the bomb had originally been disarmed by him and was transported here as evidence. An HH-3000, operated by timer or with a remote. He was watching from the gallery when he became alarmed by the timer counting down. He says that switching it on is simple--connect wires, switch it on. Anyone could do it. Tonate then reveals an HH-3000 and then disassembles it in 5.3 seconds. Okay, it's only a replica. Okay, cross-examination time! There's a new function, consult, where I can appeal to my partner for help. ...Aha! The bomb was hidden inside the stuffed animal, so he couldn't have seen the timer! He claims to have known because of the sound. This bomb's timer lets off a soft beeping for its countdown. And only now does Payne reveal that Tonate allegedly saw Junie rearm the bomb. Tonate and Detective Arme brought the bomb to the lobby for the defense. The lawyer wanted to see the evidence before the trial. Junie was in the lobby, of course, giving Apollo her ginseng root or whatever it was. Tonate claims that this must have been when she stole the remote switch...wait, last time you said it was activated by the timer! Oh...okay, the switch starts the countdown. Payne asserts that this was the only time the bomb was outside the transport case, so that's the only time it could've been rearmed. Only Tonate could've opened the transport case. This smug guy..."DISMANTLING BOMBS IS MY JOB. DISMANTLING THE CASE IS YOURS. DO YOU THINK YOU CAN HANDLE IT? I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU TRY." Oh, well...seems Payne was the prosecutor when Athena was trying to testify in that flashback we saw, too. Athena seems to be hearing something and objects to Payne's badgering. Okay, finally, testimony time. She claims to have been watching from the gallery. The bomb went off, and rubble started falling. It fell on top of her. Time to use Athena's power to hear what's in a witness's heart...Okay, the bomb going off sets off the confusion/surprise alarm...It's still going off more throughout the rest of the testimony, but when it gets to the rubble falling on her, "happy" also triggers, though weaker than surprise. Oh...Apollo rescued her from the blast! That's why he's hurt...and why she was happy. Seems our witness has a crush on our dashing young defense attorney. But there's still some noise... There's sadness and fright there, too! At the rescue...oh, because he got hurt! No...because of "Bum Rap Rhiny." Oh, it's another stuffed animal! That's where the tail came from! And thus ends day 1 of the trial. Court is adjourned for the day.

Athena's all psyched up, no pun intended, noting how Phoenix, true to form, just narrowly pulled it off. Phoenix feels like Athena's true potential is starting to shine through. Are we going to have multiple gimmicks here? Because this still isn't quite the same as the magatama. Athena asks where Apollo is. Junie thinks he might be in courtroom #4, because when she came out to rest, she told Apollo about dropping Bum Rap Rhiny and he had an idea where he might be.

...Geez. You couldn't have told us about Bum Rap Rhiny? Not to mention, I'm surprised anyone was even being allowed into Courtroom #4, least of all the person currently accused of blowing it up. Apollo's looking for evidence to clear Juniper's name. Another animated cutscene...eh? Apollo...he's been knocked out at the very least, if he's even still alive. Okay, good, he was only unconscious. Juniper feels like it's all her fault. Apollo can't remember anything from right before he was assaulted, and Phoenix says he knows how that feels. Court begins for the second day. The prosecution was unable to locate the remote switch. Payne then brings up the assault on Apollo and states that Junie was with him when it occurred, and wishes to add this to her list of charges. The judge initially declares this to be a completely separate matter, but Payne talks him into it on the basis of Apollo having potentially found incriminating evidence. Time for new testimony.

Juniper recounts how she was overcome by a coughing fit during yesterday's trial. Apollo stayed with her and they went to the courtroom ruins together. Then she was called back to this courtroom to testify...Apollo insisted on staying behind in Courtroom No. 4. She swears she didn't attack him, and asks why she'd hurt such a kind person.

...Doesn't seem to have any contradictions, although it could use some more detail on why they went to Courtroom No. 4--that is, the bit about Bum Rap Rhiny. Okay, now she tells the court about him looking for evidence. ...Wait, we didn't see this yesterday! Juniper's last name, written in blood! ...as if we haven't seen that before. Well, given what's in the actual testimony, it's best to press everything. Wait...they went to the courtroom for her medicine? ...Oh. Bum Rap Rhiny was "keeping it safe for her". He, too, has a compartment, just like the one in the Phony Phanty doll that concealed the bomb. Okay, that's added to the testimony...more specifically, that there was no rubble near the witness stand. Hmm...yeah, that seems true, according to the picture. Still, seems like something to press. I try pressing the statement about Apollo staying behind, but all Phoenix can do is try to make small talk to avoid the subject of Apollo. Final statement...pressing it suggests that there was a contradiction in the added statement. Wait...there's something! The bailiff brought her back to Courtroom No. 5. That bailiff's a witness, then! If Apollo had already been assaulted when she was brought back, then he would've noticed--and if Apollo hadn't been assaulted yet, then Juniper has an alibi, as she was in the courtroom the whole time! Damnit, Phoenix, ask to interrogate the bailiff! ...No good. Guess we have to try to create a contradiction. Unfortunately, the only contradiction is in between two pieces of evidence--the diagram shows a lack of rubble; the photograph shows rubble. Well, let's present the diagram, even though it seems to agree with her statement. ...Oh. Yeah, that's right. It actually contradicts it quite a bit. Wait, that's no rubble; that's the transport case! And the pulled-back version also shows the start of a sixth letter right next to a missing chunk of floor! Junie says the transport case had been moved. It was over to the right more...

...Right where the bloody letters are!

They were planted! And the skid marks going over Apollo's bandages prove that the case was moved after he'd been assaulted! "Mr. Toupee" loses his shit! The judge asks a question, though...if Apollo didn't leave the message, who did? We don't know the answer to that yet, unfortunately--only that whoever it is is trying to frame Junie. Luckily, that's an option. And Athena points out that it doesn't look like Apollo bled very much. But then that rules out the attacker...which leaves only one person: Candace Arme! But there was no connection between Juniper and Candace.

...that's an awfully strange-looking "W". Could it be something else? Like... L10015R, the code on the case? That missing chunk of floor had the majority of the R, and Apollo's blood was used by the attacker to turn the L1 into a W and the second 1 into a D. The "S" already kind of looks like a 5, and the D's a tad suspicious too! Phoenix sees this, too. Payne is Graspen for straws, saying he could change anything by erasing two lines and calling Phoenix "Mr. Wrigh". Which means that the old chestnut holds true--Ted Tonate's the culprit! Payne asks why someone would go out of their way to write an ID number instead of a name, but Phoenix recalls that this was the first meeting between Tonate and Arme--she might not have remembered his name, but an ID number would be something she'd have read. Payne objects that the bloody writing wasn't found during the initial investigation, and as such, there's no proof that Arme wrote it. Phoenix returns by stating that Tonate hid it before anyone found it. He himself stated that he was the first to find the body! Then the only purpose for assaulting Justice was to perpetrate this frame-up, making it look as though Apollo had written the bloody letters and was framing Woods for his assault, and by extension, the bombing! And Tonate had already left the courtroom before Juniper entered, so...

...we still don't have a motive for the bombing of Courtroom No. 4.

"I've have them untangled for you in no time at all!" See, this is why Tonate doesn't actually speak. He's bad at it. He demands proof that Arme wrote the message. Well, she certainly bled enough to have done so... we put in a request for a DNA test on the blood. Tonate then agrees to testify while we wait.

He admits that he was the first on the scene, but claims there was no bloody writing there at the time. Anyway, there is no way Arme could've written it, because her body was found near the courtroom entrance, far from where the message was found. As you can see from the photo, there was blood on the rubble near the victim's body...OBJECTION! That rubble is jagged; the autopsy report says she was struck by a flat object! The photo even comes up as he repeats that assertion that she was too far away. Easy money. So the body was moved postmortem! The DNA analysis comes in, and it confirms our theory that everything in Tonate's ID number was written in Arme's blood, and the parts that change it to say "Woods" are written in Apollo's. New testimony time. He admits that Arme wrote his ID number and claims to have been shocked. However, he was not the bomber; Arme must have been mistaken in thinking he was. He admits to covering up the evidence pointing to him. Well, you're a criminal either way, but...Payne agrees that, as the bomb specialist, he'd be a natural choice to finger. Regulation stipulates that only specialists may touch cases, so hiding it under his case would've been a sufficient stopgap.

...Something else is bothering me. Between the photo in the autopsy report and the courtroom bombing photo, it seems like we can see both of Arme's hands...and neither is bloody? Pressing is getting me nowhere...

...I haven't the slightest idea what to present, or where. Okay, let's try the one piece of evidence we've yet to use--the missing remote switch!

...nope. Looks like we'll have to present on the "L10015R" statement. Yes, that missing R! Tonate's chewing on his model bomb's wires.

...oh. OH. That missing chunk of floor came from the damage of the explosion...which means that Arme didn't die in the explosion at all! The explosion was a diversion to cover up her murder! She wrote that message before the bomb went off!

...well, while the bloody message suggests that the courtroom was the scene of her murder...it would seem that perhaps she wasn't really in the courtroom at all! Perhaps she was being stowed...inside the transport case! Well, the case itself is flat, but I don't think...wait. I've got it! The bomb was hidden inside a stuffed animal to cover up the fact that the bomb itself was bloody! Tonate starts laughing, because this conjecture can't be proven--the bomb was blown to bits, so of course we can't check to see if it has any of the victim's blood. But the timer is cracked! Okay, now's where we present the case. Or is it the switch?

...Neither? It's not the bomb itself, either...Oh! Right. The bloody writing. Proven to be Candace Arme's. No...then, Candace Arme herself. Hidden, like I said, in the case. Where'd that "Hold It" come from?

...It's Tonate. He says he won't open up the case; not if we value our lives. He's claiming that his "model" is in fact the real HH-3000, and that the bomb that blew up Courtroom No. 4 was one of his own creation, switched in right before the trial. Okay, so now he's admitting to the bombing of Courtroom No. 4, too, not to mention threatening us all with a bomb. Remind me again how this isn't the end of the case, especially since the original charges brought against Juniper weren't "the murder of Candace Arme", but rather, "the bombing of Courtroom No. 4, which resulted in the death of Candace Arme"?

...There's no crack in that display. It's a fake. Yup, there's the bloodstain in the transport case. And since only Tonate could've opened it...he's the killer, beyond a shadow of a doubt. I still want to know his motive, though. Phoenix does a cool 3D finger point and asks Tonate to try to dismantle this evidence, and he does his crazy laugh thing and says that we're too late; this HH-3000 is about to explode. Your bluff's already been called; Tonate; you're not fooling anyone with that thing. He goes mad, repeats "DISMANTLE" over and over again, freaks out trying to dismantle it, then claims he's not going to make it and smashes the fake with his face, stopping it at 0:02. Then his goggles blow up in his face, and the timer starts up again and ticks down to zero, proving it's a fake. And, finally, the motive. He had been taking the bombs he dismantled and selling them on the black market! But Detective Arme noticed him trying to switch the dismantled, real HH-3000 with his home-made fake and confronted him, and he hit her until she died. Then he had to hastily cover everything up, and Apollo started snooping around, and everything went to shit for him. Okay, so now we've got him for bombing a courtroom, assaulting Apollo, murdering Arme, obstructing justice by concealing evidence, and by his own confession, selling bombs on the black market. He's lucky they have the death penalty, because he'd be going away for a long time otherwise. Athena remarks how we never solved the mystery of the remote switch's location. We all head over to the hospital to tell Apollo the good news. Apollo will be taking a leave of absence, though, for something personal.

Our next case is actually a previous case, namely Athena's first. It involves...someone being killed by a mythical creature? The Nine-Tailed Fox defeated the evil Tenma Taro. Now we see someone with the title "alderman" being killed by a spear, and the killer releasing the seal on Tenma Taro. Huh. So we, the viewers, clearly see the murder...I guess I'm going to have to be completely third-person on this? Apollo gets called into the agency, ostensibly for work but Trucy's not so sure. ...Oh, his "job" is to keep Trucy company. I wonder if they ever learned the truth that they're actually half-siblings. Anyway, Phoenix is meeting an acquaintance.

Cut to the Nine-Tails Vale, on Yokai Lane. It's way up in the mountains, and there are all sorts of yokai here. (Don't shoot the messenger--I'm spelling it exactly as the game's writing it. The very Japanese-ness of this case is lampshaded, saying that Nine-Tails Vale was founded by Japanese immigrants. I imagine that they don't even bother to mention it in the original. Trucy says that with those horns of his, Apollo makes the perfect addition to the festival, as he looks just like a Japanese demon. Apollo's less than pleased with this assessment. We head to the garden of Kyubi Manor. A girl named Jinxie Tenma greets us. Wait, they reverse the names when switching to English, but the name "Tenma Taro" was in an animated cutscene, so that's probably the family name! This "Jinxie" certainly looks like she could be descended from a demon... She calls Apollo a demon, because he has two horns and a love of red. He replies in the negative, but frightens her so much that she figures he must be a demon and sticks an ofuda on his head. Trucy jokes about how it fills in some of the space on his forehead. Jinxie's even more frightened now, and is afraid Apollo's going to eat her. Don't flatter yourself, honey, you're not that beautiful.

I ask about Nine-Tails Vale, and receive another ofuda for my troubles. What the...I need to present already? Wow. I think that's the first time I've ever had to present the attorney's badge. Jinxie's still in mysticism land, So now Apollo's a demon lawyer from hell. Jinxie says she doesn't want to be boiled in a scalding cauldron, and would prefer a Turkish Bath if possible. Somehow Trucy manages to smooth things over--she still can't convince Jinxie that Apollo's not a demon, but at least she manages to convince her that he's a good demon.

So the village has been overrun by tourists for this monster festival. It was the alderman's idea. But there are lots and lots of yokai prowling around. She's sure that one came by the mansion yesterday, a Ding-Dong Demon. Sounds more like Ding-Dong Ditch. She mentions Tenma Taro. Should've known that's how they'd spell it. When I'd only heard it in the cutscene, I was unsure whether to make it "Tarou" or "Taru", so naturally it's neither. Jinxie shows us a scroll depicting the battle between Tenma Taro and the Nine-Tailed Fox. Her father's the one who told her to wear warding charms on her head. She says there's going to be a surprise event today.

Oh no! It's Tenma Taro! Everyone's afraid now, because looking straight at him allows him to steal your soul! Oh, wait, it's a skit. Who is this hero that will save us? ...It's "The Amazing Nine-Tails", a kyuubi-themed luchador. What the fuck. Apparently they release Tenma Taro once a year to remind everyone of his villainy, and the Nine-Tailed Fox banishes him and purifies the village, only this year, the Amazing Nine-Tails (who hails from Nine-Tails Vale, but his identity is unknown) did the honors.

And now we've found Alderman Kyubi dead, killed by Tenma Taro. Apollo volunteers to check it out, and Jinxie slaps a Tenma Taro Warding Charm on him.

The alderman's in the Fox Chamber at the top of the main staircase.

Black feathers are falling. Blood's everywhere, and bloody footprints shaped like birds' feet lead away from the scene. There's an injured man, too, in addition to the clearly dead, impaled alderman. The injured man was Damian Tenma, mayor of the neighboring city, Tenma Town. They arrested him. He's Jinxie's father. Jinxie says that Alderman Kyubi was a former pro wrestler, too, who knew the Amazing Nine-Tails. Apollo asks why Jinxie came to work in Nine-Tails Vale. She said her late mother was from here, and loved the Nine-Tails flowers. Looks like we have a case. We go to the detention center to talk to Mayor Tenma.

His fingerprints were found on the spear that pierced Alderman Kyubi. That's why he was arrested. He was fast asleep at the time, and suspects foul play. Furthermore, he was struck in the head. As for motive, there has indeed been trouble between Mayor Tenma and Alderman Kyubi as of late. Mayor Tenma wants to merge Nine-Tails Vale with Tenma Town, while Kyubi was dead set against it. Phoenix calls. Apparently his errand was picking up the new rookie lawyer, Athena Cykes. He sends us out to meet her, since she took off for Nine-Tails Vale as soon as she heard about our case. We meet her getting harassed by a police officer who doesn't believe she's a lawyer and wants to play truant officer. We learn that Athena's only eighteen, and she studied in Europe. Ah, that explains her random flights of foreign language. I fill her in on the client. We also get a special edition newspaper showing Tenma Taro witnessed flying away from the scene.

A news report on TV says that The Amazing Kyubi went missing after his appearance in Nine-Tails Vale, failing to appear at a match where he was scheduled to defend his title. We meet the caretaker, Phineas Filch. His name's rather appropriate as he's apparently a kleptomaniac. Athena scares him off, and he drops two diagrams, one of the foyer and one of the crime scene, as well as his shoes.

And now we've met our detective. Bobby Fulbright. He's got his own theme; I don't like it. Athena manages to use her psychology to talk Fulbright into letting us in. With his obsession with justice, he should have no problems with Justice, right? There was a bloody statue of the Nine-Tailed Fox and Tenma Taro battling near the chair where Mayor Tenma was found. There's a trophy awarded to the Amazing Nine-Tails in here, too. A tanuki statue reminds Athena of Filch. Gold fur in the window frame, a large bloodstained cloth under an overturned chair. Hmmm...the vent in the hallway is low enough to climb into. That explains why there were only prints leading away from the scene, not towards it.

Jinxie found the scene; we get a photo of it. The Fox Chamber was locked; the only known keys were Jinxie's key and the alderman's master key, now missing. Also, Fulbright drops a bomb--the prosecutor is a convicted killer! Athena's heard of him. Simon Blackquill. Oh, wait, the shoes we found earlier belonged to Fulbright! Filch found the Amazing Nine-Tails's mask on the ground and fears the worst. There's white hair inside. Filch uses his pickpocket skills in reverse, slipping a glossy of the masked wrestler into Apollo's pocket. The gold fur places the mask at the crime scene, and with the white hair...and the trophies we saw...

The real Amazing Nine-Tails is Alderman Kyubi! Which means the Amazing Nine-Tails we saw fighting off Tenma Taro was the murderer in disguise! We go off to talk to Jinxie. She says Tenma Taro headed for the foyer after passing her in the mansion. He was carrying a jangly staff, though, which is out of character for Tenma Taro. L'Belle said not to tell, because of the superstition that any who gaze upon Tenma Taro and then tell will have their souls stolen.

L'Belle's not there, but a TV program guide was sitting on the caretaker's window. A 3:00 show is circled. Tenma Town Pro Wrestling: "Howlin' Wolf vs. Pretty Boy Vampire", with blow-by-blow commentary by Timothy Twilight. Damn, that's good. Some of the surrounding shows are pretty funny, too--immediately preceding the wrestling match on the same channel is a rerun of a show called "I Married a Yokai!", while up against the match on another network is "Peek-a-Boo, I Found You 'Yokai of the Amazon'", featuring the hunt for Tofu Taro, the high-protein yokai that can fight cancer and cure disease. Filch's listings. He watched the match, but both wrestlers were total amateurs and the match was a disaster. Filch gets nervous when we ask about Tenma Taro. L'Belle shows up just in time...aha! That's the man I saw in the opening scene! He sprays us with his own special cologne, from his line of cosmetics, "Je suis L'Belle!" Sounds like Eau de Seduction. This is brand No. 5, "Bonjour", and it's his way of introducing himself. Apollo immediately wonders where his bottle of "Adieu" is.

...I'm glad this guy is the murderer, because I can't even bring myself to transcribe my time with him. I just want to punch him in the face, repeatedly, until it caves in. Athena notes that he's unusually preoccupied with Tenma Taro. Also, Filch's big mouth gives away that they're practicing statements for tomorrow. We talk to Mayor Tenma, and Athena calls him by the wrong name, but then compliments him afterwards to make up for the slip. She's interesting. When we ask about the rumors that he's pushing the merger in order to release Tenma Taro, he's more concerned with Jinxie's schoolmates teasing her. What a sweet, loving father. He's all fired up again, and we have to calm him down and tell him we'll look out for Jinxie. We ask the reason for pushing so hard for the merger, and he says that Nine-Tales Vale is an attractive prize in terms of tourism. ...Wait, Apollo, what was that shudder? Athena asks the same thing. Apollo says Mayor Tenma may not be telling the truth. Yeah, that's what I thought...it's your bracelet, isn't it? He explains it to Athena. That's the first time I've seen you use it outside of court, though. Huh, even pointing out where to look...this game's making it too easy. Yeah, his right eye twitches when he mentions "in terms of tourism." There's another reason why it's an attractive prize, isn't there? He insists it's just about the monster craze making it a hot tourism property. What contradicts this? ...I'd say it's the flower. It gives an alternate reason for wanting Nine-Tails Vale--his love for his daughter, who loves the village because it reminds her of her late mother. No, that's not it...then it must be the scroll, depicting those who depict Tenma Taro as cursed. ...Nope, wrong again. Oh, right, it's the Amazing Nine-Tails glossy! He sparked the monster craze and saved Nine-Tails Vale from becoming a ghost town. ...Oh. The Amazing Nine-Tails only arrived to combat the merger! Therefore, the monster craze hadn't existed when the bid for the merger began.

He says he never wanted to pursue it in the first place, but he had no choice if he wanted to protect Jinxie. He received a threat, saying that if he didn't go through with the merger, she'd die. We wonder why the blackmailer would want this, and why he'd turn to murder. Apollo realizes that Alderman Kyubi's secret identity as the Amazing Nine-Tails was a threat, and presents the mask. The blackmail letter disappeared after the killing--likely taken by the blackmailer/murderer.

Court is about to start. Athena's nervous, so Apollo tries to psych her up with "Chords of Steel". Don't you listen to him, Athena; he's a bit silly that way. Wait, this was before Phoenix got his badge back? This prosecutor, Blackquill, also uses psychology, and the power of suggestion. 15 minutes later, we enter Courtroom No. 4. Seeing this after the first case, it's a little eerie--this is the same courtroom that Ted Tonate would later blow up. Where's Blackquill? Ah, here's Fulbright. The prosecutor is being escorted in from prison as we speak.

...This is a mockery. A criminal practicing law? A convicted murderer, no less...he looks scary. And he's the least patient prosecutor I've seen since Manfred von Karma. In fact, this guy's demeanor is exactly like von Karma's, only more insulting. And then the judge actually gives the opening statement. The judge mentions that Filch and L'Belle have alibis. We'll just see about that! Fulbright's the first witness. I actually agree with Blackquill when he calls him "Fool Bright". Apollo points out that "ignorance is bliss", and there are none as ignorant as Fulbright, so he's perfect to handle Blackquill. Fulbright states that the murder weapon was a spear that had been on the wall. The fingerprints of the suspect were found on the weapon. At the time, Alderman Kyubi was asleep--drugged. "Mayor Tenma attacked his helpless victim, impaling him like a human shish kebab! But the sudden pain jolted the victim awake, and he grabbed a statue and struck back!" ...Well, that should be easy to break. Fool Bright, indeed. The autopsy report states that Kyubi had been drugged. Blackquill further prejudices the judge and the court towards convicting Mayor Tenma. He then points out the charms plastered across Tenma's head, stating they're meant to keep him safe from possession by Tenma Taro. Athena objects, and it's sustained. The statue is allegedly the weapon Kyubi used to fight back. I press the fourth statement. It gives no help. I press the fifth, and likewise, it seems airtight. Apollo thinks otherwise. I try pressing earlier statements, but it definitely seems like the final statement is the one to be contradicted. And I think the best piece of evidence to use is...the photograph of the crime scene! ...Nope. Oh, right, the lack of fingerprints on the statue! Alderman Kyubi surely would've left prints behind. And if it wasn't Alderman Kyubi...then there was a third party in the room! Blackquill thinks otherwise, mentioning the bloodstained cloth--creating doubt as to whether the alderman was touching the statue directly. Oh, right, it was found underneath the statue! Athena points out that anyone could've not left prints on the statue, but unfortunately brings up the demon theory. Apollo objects to Athena's outburst and says that what we really believe is that the killer wanted everyone to think a demon had done it. Testimony time! ...That was short. Apollo points out that there was indeed someone dressed as Tenma Taro as part of the village festivities that day. Blackquill says this is exactly what the killer--Damian Tenma--wants people to think. However, thanks to Alderman Kyubi fighting back, Tenma was knocked out and caught red-handed at the crime scene. When I press the statement about planting the evidence to make it look like Tenma Taro, Blackquill suggests that the murder wasn't premeditated, but came when Mayor Tenma discovered Alderman Kyubi's secret identity. Then Blackquill presents...the blackmail letter! "If you value your dearest's life, you will merge Nine-Tails Vale with Tenma Town. Do not tell anyone about this threat. If you do, consider your dearest as good as dead." We know that that letter was sent to Mayor Tenma, but it was found...in Alderman Kyubi's pocket!

Furthermore, the alderman's wife is in the hospital. How the fuck are we going to prove that that letter was sent to Tenma with that hanging over us? Ah, but Fulbright claims that Tenma killed the alderman after planting the feathers and tracks! That's a stone-cold lie--the tracks were made in blood; they couldn't have been there before the attack! And the feathers are on top of the blood! Apollo then introduces Jinxie's statement regarding seeing Tenma Taro. Blackquill's not convinced that this changes anything. Admittedly, the witness is one who would have reason to lie to protect the accused...but Blackquill is more concerned about the fact that L'Belle and Filch didn't see Tenma Taro. Blackquill refers to Filch as a tanuki, and says he was a rare find, but he never expected when they captured him that he'd end up a witness. Good, let's see how Filch does without L'Belle coaching him. Filch managed to filch Fulbright's shoes again, and tries to present them as a gift to the Judge. Filch states that he was in the foyer on guard duty as per Mr. Kyubi's instructions, making sure no one could get to their guest--that's the mayor, right?--and he was still in his office standing watch when the murder happened after 3 PM. But he didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

...3 PM, huh? Weren't you watching that awful wrestling match at that time, Filch? Filch says he doesn't believe in Tenma Taro, and Apollo jolts to attention. The bracelet again? And then a hawk attacks Apollo. Blackquill introduces him as Taka, his trusty cohort. Can we hold Blackquill in contempt of court? Lucky for me, I don't have "gimmicks" like Apollo's bracelet. And I see a contradiction loud and clear! Taka takes up residence on the Judge's head. I immediately spot the contradiction, and Filch admits to watching the TV. I prove it by pointing out the layout of the caretaker's office--to be facing the TV, he'd have to face away from the foyer! Blackquill claims that he still had the foyer covered using his ears. Filch seems less than certain, but is more than willing to be coached by the crooked prosecutor. Filch compliments Blackquill, who responds by siccing Taka on the tanuki. Now I have to prove that he wasn't truthful about listening, or that the stairs aren't creaky. Let's press everything. Aha! Filch earlier said he didn't believe in Tenma Taro, but now he admits to the fact that Tenma Taro makes a jingle jangle sound when he goes by! ...Two options. And given Apollo's statement after the final press...I'd say the scroll's our evidence. ...Wait, he doesn't have a staff in that scroll! Yet the Tenma Taro that Jinxie saw did indeed have a staff...which means that Filch's description could've only come from seeing, or hearing, the same Tenma Taro that Jinxie saw! For the first time all case, Blackquill seems shaken. Filch presents a list of the village superstitions. The only way to save your soul if you ignore the superstitions is to immediately depart from the village. Hope that Jinxie did just that... Filch is chased out of the courtroom in a cloud of feathers. The judge states that we now have two witnesses placing a Tenma Taro impersonator at the scene of the crime and asks if Blackquill has any objections. Blackquill responds by pounding his desk so hard he breaks his shackles. Fulbright says that when the going gets tough, the Champion of Justice gets going, and Apollo asks him to get going already, and Fulbright says he stands in awe of Simon Blackquill, whose sense of justice set him free. The judge, cowering behind his bench, objects to Fulbright's definition of justice.

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/aceattorney/images/5/5b/Silence_SHARPENED.png

...well, that's a new one. Blackquill points out that Jinxie didn't see Tenma Taro when she first discovered the crime scene.

The judge tries to call a 10-minute recess. Blackquill gets it lowered to 3. Mayor Tenma wants to challenge Blackquill to a duel. Recess ends, and Jinxie is called to the stand...she mistakes the judge for a demon named Nurarihyon, Leader of the One Hundred Demons. She then gives Blackquill a charm to help with his trouble sleeping. Testimony time. ...that's too short. Wait, more than one yokai at the scene? Kasha, Nurikabe, Setotaisho, all of them. The place was swimming in yokai! Athena says her memory is clouded by fear and wants to do a quick therapy session. Blackquill allows it.

...Huh. Taka didn't attack this gimmick. All Athena's getting is an overflow error--the sadness/fright emotion is out of control, masking everything else. Apparently I can Probe the images Widget generates to find the root of the overflowing emotion, although in this case Athena points it out to me--the kasha on the wheel of fire. The light fixture in that room looks like a wheel of fire...and that helps calm her down when she realizes it wasn't a kasha. We bring the others into focus...but that only reveals that there were no yokai, not even Tenma Taro. Blackquill does his feather-spitting thing, but Athena's got something.

Okay, now there's confusion/surprise at the first statement, even with sadness/fear. The new testimony says she was so frightened that her legs gave out...confusion/surprise is the stronger one now. Then back to even as she sees the two bodies...the dead alderman and her unconscious father. And fear/sadness is stronger as she says no one else was there. I'd say that being more confused/surprised than scared/sad when she's allegedly collapsing out of fear is the most contradictory part of this. Looks like it's the low fear that needs to be pointed out. Apparently she did get a burst of courage at that moment...from Mama? The flower! So now we'll get the truth...

There was a small case with a picture of the flower on it. She liked it so much, she kept it. Oh, man, the case holds a key! The master key to Kyubi Manor! And she had the only other key to the Fox Chamber...which means that there was no way in from the outside until Jinxie unlocked the chamber, or rather, no way for the killer to escape and relock the chamber. I mean, obviously the master key being found in the Fox Chamber means the killer could've entered the Fox Chamber using it...but if they'd dropped the key inside, the door would've been unlocked, unless the killer locked the door from the inside and hadn't escaped yet. I see two possibilities:

1. The door wasn't actually locked when Jinxie came by to unlock it and discovered the crime scene. She merely assumed it would be and unlocked it before checking to see if it was locked at all.

2. The killer was hiding in the Forbidden Chamber when Jinxie discovered the scene, and only fled after she'd gone to call for help.

There is also that air vent, but when we were at the scene, we decided that the air vent might work for getting in, but was too high up to use to get out without some sort of ladder. So I say Forbidden Chamber, even though Athena says that's not an option either. Or...

It is the door, but my "the door wasn't actually locked" theory isn't an option. Could it have locked on its own, or was it locked from the inside? Unless...the perp could've gotten the other key! Filch's thieving skills have been demonstrated on multiple occasions to be top-notch and to include reverse thieving, so he probably could've taken Jinxie's key and then returned it to her without her knowing it had ever been gone. I'm led to another choice, trying to explain how the master key could be at the crime scene despite the room being locked tight.

...Threw it in from outside.

Let me clarify--the air vent in the Fox Chamber is too high up to reach, but the air vent in the hallway is not. The perp could've exited through the door, locked the room, and then crawled into the air duct, slipped the key through, and exited the air duct back into the hallway. Apollo comes to the same conclusion. Blackquill finds this preposterous, but is shaken nonetheless. And the crowd goes wild! Blackquill SILENCEs us again. There was also a security camera watching the foyer, and Tenma Taro was not on it, so he couldn't have fled the manor. Athena fights back--there's a large window in the foyer, big enough to escape through, and it's possible to get out through there without being seen by the security camera. ...Blackquill points out that that's still the cliff side of the manor, same as the Fox Chamber window. We show the newspaper with the flying Tenma Taro, suggesting a winged killer. Blackquill dismisses it as trick photography and suggests that the "yokai" that Filch heard never passed the camera at all, but rather, turned back. He's going to accuse Jinxie! Hmm...I want to see that footage--see everyone who enters and exits. Mayor Tenma interrupts and starts to reveal the true identity of Tenma Taro, but Blackquill interrupts him, saying that he can't possibly claim that he is Tenma Taro when he was found unconscious. Somehow, I doubt that's what he was going to say...Blackquill's suggesting that if Tenma confesses, his daughter's obstruction of justice charges will be dropped. The judge thinks that Tenma's about to confess. The real killer is...

Caw caw-caw-caw!

...Henry, is that you?

Look upon me and despair, for ripe is the time for my return.

So now he's going to be possessed by Tenma Taro? Unfortunately, given what I know of Mayor Tenma, him actually getting possessed seems more likely than him pulling off this ruse. The charm flies off.

''Caw caw-caw-caw! Foolish mortals! I am Tenma Taro, the yokai you seek!''

Apollo's not buying it. Mayor Tenma insists that he is Tenma Taro possessing the mayor's body. Blackquill takes this as an admission of guilt--stating that the Tenma Taro that ran away from the scene was possessing Mayor Tenma's body. (This would mean that the door had actually been locked from the inside.) Apollo objects, because the Mayor was found in the room, unconscious, when we arrived. "Tenma Taro" has a convenient explanation, that he was headed back to the Forbidden Chamber, tired as he was, but succumbed to exhaustion in the Fox Chamber. I want to know what's going on... Apollo objects to declaring a verdict now, claiming that Tenma's just pretending in order to protect his daughter, and reminds the judge that he'd already shown how a third party could escape the locked room. Blackquill brings up that "dark age of law" business and says that defense attorneys cannot be trusted, and says a guilty verdict is all but--

...and then he convulses, electricity wracking his body. What the...?

...Fulbright! Apparently those shackles have some special features that he added. This ends today's courtroom session. A few unnecessary pieces of evidence are removed from our inventory as we head over to investigate the Fox Chamber again.

...Uh-oh. The air duct's covered in dust! Which means...it hasn't been used in a long time. Our air duct theory was wrong. Hmm...I'm still thinking we were too quick to rule out the Forbidden Chamber. We talk to Fulbright about the investigation. Apparently Blackquill believes that Tenma is the murderer and Jinxie planted the yokai evidence to try to protect him. The staff Tenma Taro was using was found by the base of the cliff...which means he ditched it.

That's...good, actually. The killer could've ditched the costume, too, and then walked past the security camera as if nothing was wrong, especially if he was someone whose presence at the manor wouldn't be questioned. Athena suggests regrouping at the agency. We talk to Phoenix. He mentions meeting Athena in Europe while studying their legal systems, as even when he had been disbarred, he helped an old friend with some legal work. How's Edgey doing, by the way? I haven't seen him in a long time. Apollo wonders if Athena's trying to help somebody she knows. To the Detention Center! Tenma's still in Tenma Taro mode. But at least he seems like he wants to be marginally helpful. Mentioning Blackquill's theory about Jinxie brings out Mayor Tenma's paternal instinct. And Tenma Taro claims that he wasn't the murderer, either, as had he slain that mortal, raging hellfire would have consumed him, leaving naught but ash. Right then...

...Mayor Tenma, or Tenma Taro or whoever he is, recently regurgitated a key. The key to the Forbidden Chamber! Unfortunately, the natural inclination would be for this evidence to point towards him...but regardless, it proves that the Forbidden Chamber could've been opened. So our theory now is that the killer entered the Fox Chamber, locked the door behind him, killed Alderman Kyubi and knocked out Mayor Tenma, dropped the key, opened the Forbidden Chamber, hid inside it when Jinxie first discovered the crime scene, then when Jinxie ran off to call for help, he exited the Forbidden Chamber, locked the door to the Forbidden Chamber, force-fed the unconscious Mayor Tenma the key, and then fled while dressed as Tenma Taro and carrying a jangly staff that he later ditched out the foyer window? ...Yeah, even I have my doubts now. Athena suggests showing Jinxie the key to ask her how it works, since the Forbidden Chamber didn't seem to have a lock, but I can't find her anywhere so I'm assuming I'm not done at the Detention Center. Perhaps presenting the blackmail letter? Nope, nothing. I try presenting the newspaper, and apparently Tenma Taro's unhappy with the way the picture of him turned out. Okay... Finally, the statue yields results. Oh...it was to be a gift from Kyubi to Tenma. The mayor hadn't yet seen it, though, as it was still concealed in its cloth when he was knocked out. Apollo then suggests presenting the blackmail letter, and now it works. Tenma Taro recognizes it, or recognizes that Damian Tenma recognizes it. And he fingers Florent L'Belle as the one other person who knew about that letter and could've moved it to plant on the alderman! Mayor Tenma trusts L'Belle, though, enough so that even when speaking as Tenma Taro, he considers the idea ridiculous.

...Jinxie's been possessed by Tenma Taro, too? She's missing her warding charm, and she's muttering about the Nine-Tailed Fox. She snaps out of it, though, upon seeing Apollo. She reapplies her warding charms and says she remembered something, too. The feathers and tracks weren't there when she first opened the door! That all but confirms my theory, that the killer was hiding in the Forbidden Chamber. Jinxie says there's a secret mechanism hidden in the Fox Chamber that reveals the keyhole. But before we can run off to investigate, Apollo asks if it's the only key to the Forbidden Chamber, and Jinxie confirms that not even the master key can unlock it. Which means...that they've convinced themselves that Mayor Tenma successfully kept the killer out of the Forbidden Chamber. Damnit, you're killing me here. And again we've got nothing--Fulbright's still being useless in the Fox Chamber, so we can't investigate, and by we I mean me because my partners have convinced themselves that the Forbidden Chamber's a dead-end line of thought.

Oh...when I show Jinxie the statue, she says Alderman Kyubi made it, and it was a token of goodwill between Nine-Tails Vale and Tenma Town. Apollo points out that the two yokai are fighting, and Jinxie seems confused before realizing that the cup portion is missing. Originally the statue depicted the yokai holding up a cup in celebration. Jinxie and the alderman were apparently the only two who knew what it really looked like before it broke when used as a weapon against Mayor Tenma. Well, I guess it's time to go...

...I said it's time to go...Apollo, what's up? Oh, look, it's Fool Bright. Well, if he's here, then he isn't there. Unfortunately, L'Belle's in front of the manor. Um...why's his hair blue now? It was blonde yesterday...

...He's got cell phones in his shoulder pads. What. Well, let's start by asking about Tenma Taro. He claims he did see it...but was lying to protect Jinxie. Apparently, she wanders around without knowing what she's doing, rumored to be possessed by Tenma Taro. So whenever there's a Tenma Taro sighting, Jinxie should be our prime suspect. And we saw her behave that way...L'Belle claims that she once even put on a Tenma Taro costume and wandered through the woods at night. We try showing him the blackmail letter...great, this is the Manfred von Karma case all over again, where we're forced to be stupid. As we're ready to leave, L'Belle's shoulders start ringing again. Some store actually wants to carry his awful product, but he claims it's his own private brand, not available to the public. The person on the other end says he shouldn't advertise it on TV, then, and L'Belle is confused because as THE embodiment of beauty, it is his duty to announce his good looks to the world. (This guy has been putting random words in all-caps throughout the time we've talked to him; I suspect he kind of talks in bold font, kind of like PrestonStarry. Not that I'm one to talk because apparently I talk this way too IRL.)

Okay, his latest product is "Couleur Me L'Belle", a hair dye that washes out with just water. So that's why his hair's blue now. We get a free sample. Perfect...and we finally get an "examine" command! The fox statues in the Fox Chamber rotate! And the folding screen depicts two foxes, too, so it'll tell us how to position the fox statues. We also find the missing piece of the statue under a table. Ah, so that's what we needed to do! Apollo figures out what I'd figured out before once we find the statue piece. The unrelatedness of this as the last flag to being able to advance is hilarious--in fact, I'm going to take a quick break and head back over to 999 just to see what would happen if I tried to break out of the freezer without the pork in my inventory, since you're not allowed to reenter the freezer after breaking out.

...Junpei says he has no idea what's going on and asks why he's holding a frozen hunk of pork. That is priceless. Apparently it's not as good if I had done it through the actual game instead of through "memories of the escape" mode--in the game proper, Santa would take it if Junpei didn't. Well, now that that detour's been taken care of...

More to it than meets the eye? Wait, the halves of the door are on the ends of the screen! And on the back, keyholes near the center, and keys on both ends! Fold the screen so the key pictures and keyholes meet, and the picture of a door is completed--with the foxes facing each other!

With the fox statues facing each other, the keyhole appears. More feathers inside the Forbidden Chamber, along with a tied-up Tenma Taro--with staff!--and a bunch of other staves. Also a tube of "Je suis L'Belle" brand hand cream. There's also a gravestone..."Here lies Tenma Taro, Age 80". Wait, does this mean that Tenma Taro really is an ancestor of Damian Tenma...but not a demon? Apollo and Athena note that the feathers mean the murderer was in here, but still believe that it must have been before the murder because of Mayor Tenma swallowing the key. I'm still not convinced that Mayor Tenma's gullet wasn't used as a hiding place for the key after the fact.

...Ooh, compartment in the base of the Tenma Taro statue! Very dusty, though, so likely unopened for a long time. Mysterious figurine inside. Definitely a staff missing, obviously the one that L'Belle took. Electric stone lanterns...wait, what's this? Another air vent?

We head out and get Filched again. Filch says he can't help it--he has thieving blood in him. Apparently he's the grandson of some Robin Hood-type figure named Azuki Kozo--appears to be the creature depicted in our figurine. No, wait, he left those figurines at the scene of his crimes...which means he had been in the Forbidden Chamber a long time ago! He also says his grandpappy told him there was treasure in the Forbidden Chamber.

Ooh, we catch him in a lie. He said he was going to do exactly what the superstitions say, but also that he's going to stay in Nine-Tails Vale. So he doesn't actually believe in the superstitions! He admits that it's all L'Belle's fault he couldn't talk--that he'd do exactly what the superstitions said to Filch if he talked. Filch says it was to protect Jinxie--an allegation L'Belle himself also made--but we know full well that's a lie. Filch then steals the Village Superstitions from our inventory.

Oh, hey, Mayor Tenma's back! As in, not Tenma Taro. Seems Jinxie replaced his warding charm. We ask him about the rumors of Jinxie's possession...and Tenma Taro comes out again. Well, that's pretty much confirmed that it's an act used to smokescreen the courts from blaming Jinxie. Athena says she thinks this is all we're getting out of the mayor-demon...but she feels confident she can prove that Jinxie didn't plant the yokai evidence using her psychology. Oh, it's just a form of sleepwalking--stress from dreading yokai ever since she started working in Nine-Tails Vale. Oh, and Mayor Tenma returns! He says that neither he nor Jinxie left the feathers and tracks and asks again if we really suspect L'Belle. The mayor returns to the Tenma Taro act when the guard approaches. I think he's enjoying himself.

We return to find L'Belle coaching Filch. Filch steals L'Belle's wallet, and we briefly talk with him, but get nothing of use. We head back out to Yokai Lane and find Jinxie sleepwalking again. She bought a new charm for mending burnt bridges, which depicts the Nine-Tailed Fox and Tenma Taro dancing together. She says it's for Apollo and Blackquill. ...Oh, right, Apollo said he'd sensed something with his bracelet just before Fool Bright showed up. Wait, the Mayor was still conscious when she entered? She says he told her to call an ambulance and the police...but apparently she's holding something back. Find out what, Apollo!

Heh...she clenches her charm far more tightly when she says "that's all he said". Seems he said some more, but she took it for talking in his sleep...oh, my. He said, "Forgive me, Jinxie. I killed Alderman Kyubi." Seems that my theory is, in fact, probably correct. The only way L'Belle could've hidden would've been to have been in the Forbidden Chamber...the key had to have been planted there after he made his escape.

Speaking of escapees, Blackquill's got a sturdier pair of shackles on his arms today. Blackquill once again tricks the judge into delivering the opening statement. Filch comes in as the first witness of the day...good, we need a warmup. Ooh, he slips and mentions that the staff came from the Forbidden Chamber! Only problem is how do we use evidence to expose that...or do we even need to? This guy might fall apart just by being pressed! ...Nope, but the crime scene photo shows the Forbidden Chamber locked up tight. ...Penalty? I guess we skip the photo and go straight to the key, then. And then we accuse L'Belle and present the hand cream. ...The prints on the hand cream belong to Filch, not L'Belle. Damnit...oh, of course. Filch filched the hand cream...and entered the Forbidden Chamber. Hence how he knew the staves were in there...oh. So the Tenma Taro impersonator was Filch! He was supposed to be Tenma Taro in the village ritual...but that Tenma Taro didn't have a staff! He went into the Forbidden Chamber to look for the treasure that was allegedly there... He got in through the air vent in the foyer...but he would've been stuck in there until someone opened the Forbidden Chamber! ...Well, anyway, he discarded the costume out the window, causing the Tenma Taro sighting in the paper. Well, that at the very least exonerates Jinxie from staging the yokai sighting...but Blackquill turned my observation on its head. Filch claims that the alderman was the only one there when he exited, which puts the blame back on the mayor. ...But wait! Filch being trapped in the Forbidden Chamber invalidates L'Belle's alibi! Good catch, Apollo; I completely missed that! Filch admits that L'Belle suggested they be each other's alibis in exchange for L'Belle keeping quiet about Filch sneaking into the Forbidden Chamber.

L'Belle's hair is green today, which combined with the purple suit makes him look very much like the Joker. His shoulders are ringing again. He seems immune to Blackquill's mind games...which is possibly because he lacks a mind. He faked his alibi to confuse the matter because the mayor was obviously the killer and as his aide, he had to protect him? That makes no sense! Apollo calls him on it; L'Belle gets incensed; Athena tells him to quit stalling and answer the question, Blackquill SILENCEs everyone and breaks his shackles again, and then Blackquill tells him to deliver the accused's death knell. L'Belle claims to have seen Mayor Tenma OPENING the Forbidden Chamber doors. Mercifully, L'Belle doesn't stop talking there. ...I take it back; that wasn't merciful. L'Belle claims to have heard Tenma's confession! ...Though not in exactly the same words as when Jinxie told us about it. L'Belle's shoulders ring again...he already has a "Mayor Tenma's Conviction Gala" scheduled. Oh, and we're finally going to get to a testimony we can cross-examine... He claims he was in the hallway, HIDING in the shadows. THAT'S when he heard the confession. Upon LEARNING of her father's crime, Jinxie fled without EVER noticing him. Immediately AFTER that, the mayor came to, stood up, and opened the Forbidden Chamber! As L'Belle ran in TERROR, the demon emerged from his prison! In shock, he FLED down the hallway to the right--the one with the PHONE at the end. ...Uh, dude, that's where Jinxie was. And she said there was no one else in the hall. Easy lie to catch; I expected better of you.

Does this mean that the door to the Forbidden Chamber was opened not by the killer, but by the dying alderman? ...no, the alderman was laying dead behind the Amazing Nine-Tails. So back to my original theory--that L'Belle was using the Amazing Nine-Tails mask as a disguise. But first, we have to explain away the inconsistency with Jinxie's testimony...oh! Mayor Tenma had been locked in the Forbidden Chamber so that L'Belle could pose as him to meet with Alderman Kyubi! Or rather..."A wrestler's mask is more precious than his own life!" There's no way she would've removed the disguise if it included the Amazing Nine-Tails mask...

...or rather...we had been making a wrong assumption all along. Rex Kyubi was never the Amazing Nine-Tails--Damian Tenma was, and Jinxie knew it! Therefore she would've just said that she'd seen her father when in fact she'd seen "The Amazing Nine-Tails". It all makes sense, too, given that Tenma was actually against the merger and was being forced to go through with it--why not adopt a secret identity to fight the very thing that you're unwillingly being forced to work towards? Blackquill doesn't think L'Belle could fake it convincingly enough...but anyone speaking through a mask would sound different, and L'Belle's got his own line of cosmetics so he could easily modify his appearance in other ways, too. And so, a theory: L'Belle entered the room where the mayor and alderman were speaking, drugged both the mayor and the alderman, and murdered the latter while putting the former in the Forbidden Chamber. He then disguised himself as the mayor and screamed to draw Jinxie's attention, whereupon he, as the mayor, confessed to her. Blackquill tries to SILENCE Apollo, but he won't be SILENCEd. Then, when Jinxie left to call the police, L'Belle opened the chamber...and Filch had entered in the interim, whereupon he got startled and fled, leaving the tracks. This scared Jinxie off, and L'Belle dragged the mayor out, then threw the mask out the window. Hey, Apollo, you left out the part where he force-fed the mayor the key, thereby making it seem as though it was impossible for anyone to have entered the Forbidden Chamber. Blackquill insists that this only works if Mayor Tenma is the Amazing Nine-Tails, which is preposterous, and Apollo reveals the blackmail. Blackquill wonders who would hatch such an insane plot, and Apollo points out L'Belle's lack of sanity, something Blackquill himself had commented on. Damian Tenma Taro protests, but Apollo tells him it'll be okay; Jinxie will be safe as soon as L'Belle is arrested, and asks him if he's the Amazing Nine-Tails. Then another "Hold it!" appears. ...L'Belle again? With the same hair color we first saw him in? ...He says that the Mayor hasn't admitted to it yet, and that the Amazing Nine-Tails is NOT Mayor Tenma, and if he says he is, L'Belle will expose the truth behind Tenma Taro. ...Time to cross-examine L'Belle again? ...Geh. There's nothing there, just reiterating that the mayor isn't the Amazing Nine-Tails and if he says he is, L'Belle will expose the truth behind Tenma Taro, which as per the village superstitions, will bring RUIN upon Nine-Tails Vale. That's not a testimony, it's a threat! Your Honor, clearly you can recognize this! ...And now he's saying that the Alderman was the Amazing Nine-Tails. We've got nothing... we manage to get in a press that he was taking care of the alderman's wife in the hospital (which Athena takes to mean that he was blackmailing the alderman, too), but it changes nothing in the testimony. ...Tenma Taro is a great, greed-inspiring fortune? ...the treasure! There is no Tenma Taro...no, that's right. Tenma Taro was just a man--but a wealthy man who was buried with his fortune! So then I present...that grubby statue? ...YES!

Love what happened when I pressed the first statement. "TRUE beauty is never wrong. Beauty is carved DEEP in the DNA. That means I'M programmed to ALWAYS be right, EVEN when I'm wrong." You're wrong, alright...but that was just a press to check the Court Record. Jinxie's statement will be our evidence. Ha! L'Belle sprays his scent into his own eyes! Apollo alleges that L'Belle heard the confession from inside the Fox Chamber, making him the third party. L'Belle acts as expected, only to get SILENCEd. "Foolish fop. A true man knows when he is beaten. A shield of lies comes to naught before a foe with the sword of truth bared." Well, that was a pleasant change. Seems Blackquill's not above going after inconvenient truths. Of course, L'Belle will only admit to entering the Fox Chamber after the murder... The judge reminds L'Belle how serious a crime perjury is. He claims to have been watching from behind the screen. Press everything...oh, right, he vaguely said he "witnessed everything in horrifying detail". Time to get more details! I say we get details on the Forbidden Chamber...he just said it was shut tight until the mayor opened it. Not helpful...The feathers and tracks, maybe? He claims to have immediately known it was Filch in the Tenma Taro suit...interesting, but I'm not sure if it'll help. Ah, here we go. The murder weapon...or rather, the weapons used. "That INCREDIBLY inspiring symbol had fallen to the floor." He had seen the statue when it was whole! We've got him now! He seems to be about to admit it...and Blackquill SILENCEs us all, saying that this prancing peacock could not possibly be the killer. While I agree with your assessment of the witness, Mr. Blackquill, the evidence clearly points to him. He responds by suggesting that L'Belle could've heard of it from Alderman Kyubi while he was still alive--and reminds us that we proved that Jinxie clearly didn't see anyone else in the room when she discovered the scene. Aah...you make a good point. How do we explain that? Unless...L'Belle was "hiding his beauty" in another fashion? Blackquill doesn't even let Apollo make his latest objection. Just as the Judge is about to render his verdict, Damian Tenma Taro returns, wishing to share what happened just before the blow to the head. Well, we've got some new testimony...let's put it to good use. (For the record, I agree with Prosecutor Blackquill as to the absurdity of this situation.)

"Didn't you and Phoenix once take testimony from a parrot?"

...That was different. Tenma Taro says that two demons appeared as Damian Tenma was on the edge of consciousness--Tenma Taro and his mortal enemy, the Nine-Tailed Fox. So I was right! Tenma Taro, of course, was Filch, but the Nine-Tailed Fox was L'Belle--using the Alderman's mask! But first, it seems Ms. Cykes and her talking necklace have something to say. Fear/sadness as he's barely conscious...confusion/surprise as the yokai appear...but happiness only appears at the arrival of the "mortal enemy", the Nine-Tailed Fox! Of course, because Damian trusts L'Belle! It brought light...a door. The creaking door of the Forbidden Chamber..."the Nine-Tailed Fox" was the one who opened it, releasing Tenma Taro! ...no, releasing Mayor Tenma! The mayor was somehow also locked in the Forbidden Chamber with Filch! The Tenma Taro he saw "towering overhead" was the 15-foot statue, and...he confirms that the one who opened the door was wearing the Amazing Nine-Tails mask! But the sadness/fear that disappears when the light appears reappears when the Amazing Nine-Tails himself appears for the "rescue". Fiend's cape of red...which is not something the Amazing Nine-Tails has in his glossy. I wonder...oh, the statue! No...of course. The blood of the alderman. ...wait, what?

Yes. It all makes sense now. The scroll in the chamber showed a man with gold--I'd thought as much, but I wasn't totally sure. Now I am. "Tenma Taro" is, in fact, a great fortune--and money is the root of all evil. And now Mayor Tenma remembers the alderman telling him, on the day of their meeting, that the gold ingot was gone. Tenma Taro's true form is a giant gold ingot, bestowed upon Nine-Tails Vale by Mayor Tenma's ancestors. In exchange, said ancestors received the land that became Tenma Town. But the villagers were driven mad with greed. The gold became a curse of ruin upon the village. From that curse, the yokai Tenma Taro was born. Athena corrects my proverb--it's "the love of money is the root of all evil." Another Hold it...L'Belle AGAIN?! And yes, Mayor Tenma admits it. Apparently, according to Jinxie, he was going to reveal his secret identity to the alderman that day, so that's why she mistook L'Belle in the Amazing Nine-Tails mask for her father. Hmm...that plan, to reveal the identity to the alderman, was also L'Belle's idea...all to further his own plan. The only question (besides why Mayor Tenma is still cawing like a crow) is why L'Belle wanted to kill the alderman. I mean, I know that he was after the gold, but why did he need to murder the alderman to get it?

...Blackquill says we still lack decisive evidence. I...have to believe otherwise, but...I can't tell what it is. Wait...the one piece of evidence we haven't used...hair color that washes out in water. And the mask with white hair in it was found in the river... I DEMAND THAT FLORENT L'BELLE'S HEAD BE DOUSED WITH WATER!

...Well, Apollo agrees that the hair in the mask is the best evidence. But is it possible that it is L'Belle's? Yes, it is, and for exactly the reason I surmised--because it was in the water, and L'Belle's natural hair color has never been shown! DNA tests will prove it. He freaks out, says he'll exterminate us like he did the alderman, and sprays so much of his awful Eau de Seduction on himself that his makeup disappears--turns out he's old and washed up, just like his alibi! Blackquill says L'Belle has withered like a flower without water and one of the officers is tending to him with a sprinkler. I see, so actually getting at the gold, or the manor at all, would be tough to do. The merger was his means to get in, but when the mayor turned into the Amazing Nine-Tails, L'Belle had to get him out of the way--and so he framed him for murder. Turns out, L'Belle's actually deep in debt...due to pouring his money into a brand only he could love. Athena wonders why he didn't just murder Mayor Tenma, too, but Phoenix suspects L'Belle was biding his time and was planning to expose the Amazing Nine-Tails's true identity himself, so that public opinion would turn against him as he was revealed to be a convicted murderer. ...I get it now. Damian's Tenma Taro act was to help build up Jinxie's confidence in her ability to exorcise her demons--by allowing her to literally do just that. Hey, Jinxie's even smiling! The Amazing Nine-Tails returns!

Now, let's see what my current balance is...well, shoot, looks like I need to add more funds. Eh, no problem...as per Poka's suggestion, the DLC case is up next!

...I still wish I could've poured a bucket of ice water on L'Belle's head.

Chapter 10: Fishing for a Case (Ace Attorney 5--DLC Case)
Seems this is Phoenix's first case back...what is this? Some sort of show? Yeah. (Nice costumes, by the way. I downloaded them, too.) Seems Phoenix made an important promise to a certain someone...it wouldn't by any chance be Maya, now would it? Huh...the owner of the aquarium whose show the two junior partners were just watching was murdered, and the performer we'd just seen is suddenly at our doorstep asking for help.

...Sasha Buckler. Please stop with the fish puns, Ms. Buckler. She says her friend has been accused of murdering the captain of Shipshape Aquarium. Phoenix asks about her word choice, and she says that because of the pirate theme, they call the owner "captain" and the employees "crew". One of her friends and fellow crew members has been accused of the murder, and they've already decided she's guilty. Apparently she's been turned down by a lot of other lawyers already. Apollo has to stay behind to watch the office. A penguin drops an ad for the Swashbuckler Special show. Ah, and here's Detective Fool Bright...

...wait. That ad...Goddamnit our "client" isn't even human, is she? We're defending an orca. "Ora Shipley", responds to "Orla". Man, two silly cases in a row? Well, on the bright side, at least we won't have to worry about our client having some reason for wanting to be found guilty, unlike three of our last four clients. (Note: I'm assuming this is still chronologically before 5-1--the three I'm referring to are 4-2, 4-3, and 5-2.)

Phoenix asks if she's really serious about having him defend Orla. Sasha says of course, and mentions having heard that Phoenix once questioned an animal during a trial and it got his client off the hook. Athena's surprised to hear this. Yeah, that really happened. One of the last trials I worked together with Phoenix before heading back to the East Coast.

Orla seems...oddly effective at communicating her emotions. Well, I guess that shouldn't be surprising--dolphins and whales are among the most intelligent creatures on the planet.

Mr. Shipley was found dead at the side of the orca pool, having come in there to feed Orla. Athena asks why Orla is being accused. Fulbright shows up with the evidence. A photo of the victim, bearing a head wound. The orca's the only other one there, and they couldn't find any other weapon...it's hard to make out any details of the body in the photo. They say orcas sometimes kill their prey by ramming into them underwater; they believe Orla pulled the victim in and did just that. I don't know; that doesn't look like a ramming-type wound. No official autopsy report has been ordered because the death has been ruled an accidental death due to a failure to exercise proper oversight over an animal. The ME said it wasn't a homicide, so they don't need an autopsy. Athena's incensed as usual, but Fulbright says there's nothing they can do--it wasn't determined a homicide, and ordinarily the owner of the aquarium would be held responsible, but since he's the victim himself, all they can do is hold the orca responsible. We can't exactly defend an orca in court...but we can search for the real killer. ...Eh? We're not allowed to do that because we're neither police investigators nor prosecutors, nor even officially acting as defense lawyers? ...Maybe we will have to defend her in court, then. Athena appeals to Detective Fulbright's sense of justice to allow us to investigate.

Seems the captain rescued Orla when she was younger, and when he tried to release her back into the wild, she kept coming back. I can't see her actually being the killer. Sasha says Orla's the only one around here big and strong enough to play with the big, tough captain. Uh...? Hm, so the captain actually withstood one of Orla's headbutts on a daily basis, whereupon she'd steal his hat. There are some rubber swords, but they don't seem to mean much. There's a volleyball in the water with a skull-and-crossbones on it. It's one of Orla's toys; Sasha says it's usually in the bin, but she must have forgotten.to put it away yesterday. She has a tendency to slam the ball into things around the pool. Uh....that's not exactly reassuring.

"A tornado of sharks? Not even Hollywood could conjure up something that insane." Hate to break it to you, Phoenix, but it happened. In 2013. Anyway, there's a shark-shaped cannon. There's also a rubber piece of meat suspended from the ceiling. Also a crane to move things with. Phoenix notes that the ladder doesn't go all the way down to the bottom of the pool, and Athena points out that it doesn't need to because the pool is usually filled with water. Hmm...so then if it wasn't filled with water, would someone have trouble getting out? We, um, talk to Orla, noting her show makeup--a star over her eye, same as Sasha. During the show, Sasha gives Orla her signals using an anchor-shaped whistle. Phoenix doesn't hear anything. I'm thinking it's a frequency that human ears can't hear, like a dog whistle. Sasha confirms it, and says that orcas can even hear the whistle underwater. Athena expresses her desire to learn how to give signals to Orla, and Sasha gives her a whistle. That's a new addition to our evidence list! There's also a huge show prop octopus, but one of its legs is missing. I suspect that fact will become important soon. Looks like that's all we can investigate. Athena says that under different circumstances, she wishes she could've seen the Swashbuckler Spectacular. Sasha says that the three of them used to perform the show--her, Orla, and the captain--and so today's show has been canceled. But they could still put on a little show. Phoenix ends up having to take on the bad guy role and gets splashed. Sasha apologizes afterwards, and Phoenix asks about how hard it must have been to train an orca to sing. Next stop, the Aqua Tunnel. We run into Fulbright there and ask how his investigations are going. He claims they have decisive evidence against Orla. We ask for more info, and he says he can't share classified information with the defense. So, wait, does that mean that it has been reclassified as a homicide? Of course, he then continues to reveal exactly what it is--security footage that shows the moment Orla attacked the victim. He then gets called away, giving us a chance to look at it.

...That...is definitely Orla attacking something, and although it's in black-and-white, that cloud definitely suggests blood rising up, thereby suggesting that her attack is on a living creature. (Wait, so is "blood is thicker than water" just a saying? I'm pretty sure that blood is denser than water, so it should be sinking to the bottom, not rising to the surface.) But what this footage doesn't show is what or who is being attacked. Hardly decisive evidence at all. There's a sticker on the camera that says "Return to the Pub O' Danger". We head to the Pub O' Danger.

The Pub O' Danger is a hands-on exhibit. The description says it's "A pub where pirates gather. Explore and interact with sea creatures! Actually feel the electricity of electric eels and feed real piranhas!" ...Seriously? Someone then comes up and shushes Phoenix, saying that she's conducting an experiment and she'll zap us with an electric eel if we disturb her. She introduces herself as Norma DePlume, a frequent visitor who is very interested in Shipshape Aquarium. Wait, she's not even a crew member and she's ordering us around? And calling us by our colors rather than bothering to learn our names, too. Athena points out that they closed the aquarium to the public and asks why Norma's here. She says she has special permission, and when Athena asks why, Norma starts to say, "Because of the incident", but interrupts herself and says she's said too much. Ah...Psyche-locks. This'll be my first time seeing Phoenix use the Magatama in person--he insisted on doing his investigations on the truth behind the Gramarye case himself, so I experienced that through the MASON System just like Apollo. Phoenix explains them for Athena, who's never heard of them. ...Wait, you lost sight of the Psyche-Locks, Phoenix? The Magatama stone has stopped glowing...out of power? You can't use it without spiritual power...oh, does this mean we'll get to see Maya again? Well, DePlume still has something to say. I guess she's not actually happy about having to keep quiet about whatever it is she's keeping quiet about. Never been good at keeping secrets, but she did promise. Back to the Aqua Tunnel...The police investigation is over. But there's a voice...someone rapping? "Yo! Yo! Yo ho hooooo! Cleaner? Nuh uh. Feeder? That's right! Yo girl why you hidin' from me? I'm searching all 'round like this be a bad dream. Rifle yo sometimes you make me so mad. But now that you're gone I'm just so sad. Yo Rifle just come back to me. We can be together and sing kree kree kree!" Seems to be a crew member, apparently in charge of feeding some of the animals. ...Got it in one. Marlon Rimes, an animal keeper here. And new here. When we tell him why we're here, he deduces that we're friends of Sasha's and apologizes for coming across rude. We ask him about his job--he cleans the place and feeds the animals, and preps their food, which he says is the hardest part. Oh, he's a vegetarian, so cutting fish and meat creeps him out. Then we ask about the murder. He says one of the guests started screaming, and he came running, but by the time he got there, he couldn't see the orca or the captain. Athena asks about the captain. Marlon says he was kind and fair, treating humans and fishes alike. Athena's hypersensitivity to emotions nearly brings her to tears. He says he thinks Sasha and Dr. Crab, the aquarium's veterinarian, are probably even more upset. Phoenix asks about the vet, and Rimes realizes that he hasn't seen Dr. Crab this morning, and staff were supposed to stay put. The night shift's been on since last night, but no one's allowed to go home--Sasha needed special permission just to leave to find us. Then we ask about Rifle. As I suspected, Rifle is the name of one of the penguins, the one who delivered us the flyer earlier. Athena makes the mistake of asking why they'd name a penguin "Rifle", and Rimes starts rapping again. Apparently she can be a bit vicious to people she doesn't like. Apparently she wasn't at the pool at her usual feeding time, so Rimes asks us to feed her if we run into her again. Athena asks if it's okay, and Phoenix says yes as long as she's holding the fish. It enters our inventory. Rimes says he's also looking for "Small Fry". Phoenix asks if that's another penguin. No, apparently, it's a human friend of his, a high school girl. She went off looking for Rifle somewhere and hasn't come back. Uh...okay, sure.

Athena asks if she's his girlfriend and gets him to admit that he has a crush on Sasha. And...it seems Sasha's the only member of the crew, Marlon included, who doesn't think Orla did it? Anyway, Small Fry said she was going to check the orca pool, so we decide to head back there. There's something on the left side of the pool that wasn't there before. An electronic sword? Oh, it's a walkie-talkie--probably Rifle's, according to Sasha. They attached it to her because she's always running away; by listening to the ambient sounds, they can usually guess where she is. Every member of the crew has one, too, so they can communicate back and forth. They can even use them to broadcast to specific parts of the aquarium. Athena reasons that if Rifle's walkie-talkie is here, then she might be, too, and calls for her. Instead, Orla resurfaces. Wait, Rifle's riding on Orla's back! Athena calls out to her and Rifle runs off, Athena in pursuit, angry that the bird doesn't like her. Rifle runs right to another girl, who must be Small Fry seeing as how she seems to be on good terms with the bird. Wait, isn't that a Kurain acolyte's dress? Phoenix answers my question before I can even ask it. "Pearls?" Oh, my, it is, isn't it? I'd almost forgotten; I'd seen the name crop up in Phoenix's case files but we'd only met in person once or twice. She congratulates Phoenix on his return to lawyering and says she was thinking about stopping by his office for a visit sometime to congratulate him. Phoenix asks why she's here. She said her summer camp is here on a field trip, and she was really looking forward to it because she's never been to such a big aquarium before. I'm on the verge of commenting on how childish this seems before remembering that she's still both younger than Athena and apparently more mature. But then the incident happened, and the police just finished questioning her. Then she asks about Athena, who introduces herself. ...Wow, Pearl seems to have turned things around to make Phoenix the one being interrogated. Athena says that Phoenix helped her out of a jam, and that's when she started thinking about becoming a lawyer. Huh, now that story sounds familiar... Pearl says it seems like Phoenix has become a real adult since the last time she saw him. Phoenix says he's always been an adult the entire time he's known her. Rifle then interrupts the conversation, and Athena comments on how much she likes Pearl. Pearl says she likes penguins, and even bought a penguin calendar from the gift shop. Sasha mentions what a hit it is with their female customers and says she even has one herself. The calendar smells kind of fishy for some reason. Speaking of which...I think it's time to get this fish out of our inventory. Pearl asks if we went fishing, and we tell her that we were asked to feed Rifle. Pearl thinks that sounds like fun and wonders if Rifle would take food from her. Phoenix says she would, from her, which Athena takes as a veiled way of suggesting that Rifle wouldn't take food from her. Athena's competitive fire is alight, confusing Pearl. Also, the fish is still in our inventory. We talk about Rifle, and sure enough, it seems that Pearl was "Small Fry". Athena calls for Rifle, who takes off towards Orla instead. Athena wonders why she can't get Rifle to like her, and Phoenix suggests not always chasing after her with that scowl of hers. Pearl gets mad at Phoenix for talking to a lady that way. I hate to break it to you, Pearly, but Athena's not really terribly ladylike. And now we can present the fish...eh? Orla ate it? Well, at least she likes it...Phoenix wonders why Rifle came to like Pearl so quickly, then comments on how Rifle is attracted to the smell of fish. Right, the calendar. Sasha says it's odd that Orla would be hungry at this time of day, and lately they've been giving her more food than normal at meal times.

(...by the way, I'm still trying to figure out how old my character in this is, since I'm handling this the way Kanz and Soviet did and separating myself from the in-game characters. Although as you've no doubt guessed from my prior comments, especially in this case, while I know far too much about them to ever do a "blind run" of them, I haven't actually played JFA or T&T. Um...actually, I guess the thing that would make the most sense would be to keep my IRL DOB, as that would make me only a few years older than Phoenix...and would work well with the backstory I had in mind.)

We ask about Orla's eating habits. Apparently, Marlon feeds all of the other animals, but Sasha and the captain are responsible for feeding Orla. It was the captain's turn this morning. But Orla keeps signaling that she's still hungry. Makes me think that the captain was killed before feeding Orla. Pearl comments on how Orla and Rifle seem to love each other quite a bit. Sasha says they're best friends. Pearl realizes that Orla's the suspect, and is nervous because she read that orcas eat penguins. Sasha reassures her, and Phoenix and Athena agree that Orla hardly seems like a "killer" whale. Phoenix calls Orla "the biggest defendant we've ever had." Then Phoenix asks Pearl to recharge the Magatama. Pearl does so, then says she's going to go find Mr. Marlon and bring Rifle to him. Ah, wait, seriously? ...I guess there will be time to finish catching up later. (Seriously, Phoenix, you're not going to ask her about Maya at all?)

Huh. So Pearl was questioned because she was in the staff corridor this morning? Odd...what would she be doing there? Oh, okay, we're going to go catch up with her and ask her about it.

...oh god more rapping. Let's start by asking Pearl how she seems to know Mr. Rimes so well. She's blushing and...oh, man, the irony. It's a Psyche-Lock! She just recharged the Magatama, and now she's going to be the first one to be unlocked. She swears there is no "relationship" between them. We remind her that she was in the staff corridor, and she says she just got confused and went the wrong way. Phoenix then asks about the fishy smell. Pearl denies that she smells like fish, and it looks like we're presenting profiles now, so I choose Rifle. Then we ask about the fishy-smelling calendar. That breaks the lock. Seems Pearl was distracted by the gift shop almost as soon as she entered the aquarium. Before she knew it, everyone else had moved on and she was lost. She panicked and went down the wrong corridor, and ended up in the food prep room. She tried to ask Marlon for help, and he was so startled by the sound of her voice that he jumped and startled Pearl back, and she fell down and knocked over a bunch of fish. Okay, yeah, sounds reasonable; Marlon was startled when we called out to him, too. And the calendar fell off her bag when she fell, so that's why it smells like fish, too. But why hide that? Ah, I see. If anyone had found out what happened, Marlon would get in trouble over feed sanitation regulations. Also, Marlon didn't want anyone to know he was in the food prep room. Oh, he had been staring at a calendar before Pearl talked to him, and he dropped his calendar, too. ...Ha! Athena confirms what I'd only just considered--Pearl picked up Marlon's calendar; it already has writing in it! Under today's date: "Meet the captain at the orca pool at 7 AM." Pearl says it was around 10:15 when he had the info desk announce that she was lost, so she probably first wandered in around 10:10. Phoenix wants to go unlock Ms. DePlume's Psyche-Locks. Seriously, Phoenix? ...Fine, go ahead. You can fill me in later.

I, for one, want to ask how Maya's been doing.

"Eh? Hey, yeah, he didn't even ask me about Mystic Maya!"

Calm down, Pearly; I waited for them to leave before mentioning my reason for wanting to stay precisely because I didn't want you going off on Phoenix. Although I completely understand your sentiments; I saw some hints of something between them, too, even though Maya couldn't have been much older than you are now the last time I saw her.

"Then that's...shortly after Mr. Nick met her."

...Yeah, that's right. Phoenix and I both met Maya at the same time, right after...Mia's death. Unlike Phoenix, however, I at least knew that Mia had a sister named Maya before actually meeting her.

"Oh? Were you and Mia...?"

It wasn't like that. It may be tough to believe in this world where every new up-and-coming lawyer is given the "prodigy" tag, but I was far from a can't-miss prospect coming out of law school. Good enough legal mind, but absolutely no courtroom presence; certainly not someone anyone would want as the lead attorney on any trial case. Heck, I didn't even really have much confidence in myself--when I finally did get a job, I felt like I'd just gotten lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time, showing up just as a young defense attorney was forming a new law firm and was in need of lawyers. It wasn't until we'd worked a number of cases together that she told me that she really had seen potential in me.

"You're blushing."

Um, well...okay, maybe I had some feelings for her. She was quite attractive, and even though I considered her a mentor just like Phoenix did, we were more or less the same age. ...Well, anyway, now you know why I asked about Maya.

I catch up with Phoenix and Athena. DePlume mentioned Dr. Crab right away. He shuts himself in the back room of the Pub O' Danger, but she doesn't think he's there today. She claimed to know nothing of the incident involving the owner, but Phoenix pointed out her presence in the security camera footage. Good catch, Phoenix; I hadn't even noticed that. Which makes her a witness to the death of Jack Shipley! ...Ah. The police were the ones who made her promise not to tell anyone. She claims to have witnessed the moment the killer whale attacked the victim. ...There is something "off" about this woman. Athena says it didn't seem like she was afraid of Orla, but rather, she was pleased to have witnessed this, and DePlume asks if Athena was one of her fans. Wait, she's a writer? A nonfiction writer, at that? Hm...yes, for someone who specializes in nonfiction, witnessing something like this would have to be a lucky break. I remember a certain other writer we encountered in one of our cases who was quite excited to be a witness to something...

...And this woman is clearly something else. She's been gathering information on Orla for a year now, and has been "very worried about Orla's violent tendencies". Which don't exist. Which means her book sales are officially a motive for murder--though at the moment, not so much for the murder of Jack Shipley in particular as much as anyone whose death could reasonably be blamed on Orla the orca. She says she questioned the owner directly, and he refused to allow her research and said "you're nothing but a nuisance, coming here day after day. Don't ever come back again!" Okay, now it's motive for the murder of Jack Shipley in particular. She says she heard Orla's cries through the speakers in the corridor, and then she saw Orla steal the captain's hat and then bite him and shake him to death within its jaws. Um...

...that does not match what Fulbright said the police suspected. Oh, speak of the bimbo! He says this is why the Prosecutor's Office said it didn't have merit. Only one prosecutor even expressed interest, and Phoenix asks to have the prosecutor take a look at the investigation reports, but Fulbright says he doubts even that prosecutor would take action without evidence of a homicide. Back to the crime scene... Athena runs to the back to reinvestigate the mess, but slips and falls. She's standing right on a mark on the floor...and that's caught Orla's interest. She hits the volleyball at Athena, sending her flying into the junk pile behind her...oh no wait Athena did that all by herself trying to get out of the way. And shifts the junk around. Sasha confirms that the marked spot on the floor is where they stand when they want to play volleyball with Orla. While Phoenix and I wonder what a blobfish is, Athena points out a dummy. Ah, Sasha says Orla uses that to practice tricks so that she doesn't hurt her human friends when she performs them for real. There's a broken sword, but it looks like a prop. Speaking of props, there's the octopus's missing leg. And there's a small golden object, like a coin...with dried blood on it! The photo of the victim has a number of the same coins scattered around the body, but only the one is there now. ...Oh, Sasha was the one that picked them up. Well, that's bad...that means they're useless as evidence. ...The police gave her the go-ahead to do so after they finished their investigation. Well, that stinks--it means they already knew about the coins and still didn't deem them worthy of considering the case. Sasha says she's still missing a few, and Athena suggests they might be in the water and wants to peek at the bottom of the pool via the ladder. Oh, yeah, there's a lot of them down there! Including the ones she put away, Sasha says there are 300 of them--they're used in the show. Together, they'd weigh about 7 pounds. Wait...Phoenix? ...Murder weapon? Oh, I get it...7 pounds of coins in a bag would make for a decently strong bludgeoning weapon. That would explain the photo, too--the blood wasn't rising up at all, but rather trailing behind Mr. Shipley as his lifeless body sank. Then the inconsistency between Ms. DePlume's testimony and the cause of death that Fulbright initially posited comes from the fact that what Ms. DePlume actually saw was Orla carrying the captain back out of the pool in her mouth, after he'd been bludgeoned to death! ...Unfortunately, the prime suspect at the moment among people we've actually met has no motive, and I can't think of what his motive might be. So unless this yet-unseen Dr. Crab is the killer, I'm stuck.

Fulbright asks if we've found anything, and DePlume is quick to say that of course we didn't. I greatly dislike her and wish that she was the murderer, especially since she's the only one with a motive, but as of right now I don't think that's the case unless we're assuming that there was more than one person involved. Which is a possibility--DePlume being in place to witness it is awfully convenient; there's a chance that she was either an accomplice or she had an accomplice who dropped the captain into the water at the designated time so that the security camera could catch her witnessing Orla's "attack". We show the coin, and Fulbright mentions that they had seen a number of the coins by the pool, but not one with blood. Fulbright offers the same concern, that without the bag that the coins were in, there's not enough proof, but agrees that the theory merits further investigation.

...Of course it's Prosecutor Blackquill. But why does he want to prove Orla's guilt in court? I thought he was above such silly shenanigans...

Fulbright asks DePlume to be a witness for the prosecution, and she thinks the idea of a trial for a killer whale is reckless, but agrees so that she can prove Orla's guilt.

Athena also brought a DVD of the Swashbuckler Special recording to court. Hmm...glad to see that we've finally caught up with the rest of the world. I remember some of our early cases, we had evidence on VHS. Oh, Pearly's here, too! As is Mr. Rimes, here to watch for Sasha's sake since she's back at the aquarium with Orla. The judge asks if the defendant has arrived yet, and Blackquill tells him that the defendant is an orca. He's quite surprised, calling the idea of an orca as a defendant "patently absurd". Need I remind you that you were the one who allowed the two of us to cross-examine a parrot, Your Honor? Or that just a few months ago, a yokai was accused of the murder? Blackquill says that every soul, be it of man or beast, is of equal value. This convinces the judge. Seeing as how the Judge has proven himself uninformed about the case, Blackquill consents to give the opening statement. Blackquill has a TV phone from the aquarium, which will allow us to interact with Orla remotely. I seem to remember something like this in one of the case files I read of Phoenix's cases without me. And there's Orla on the TV. She proceeds to turn on the charm for the judge, far from the "sadistic" creature that Blackquill had led him to believe she was just moments ago. Fulbright takes over the exposition, mentioning DePlume's testimony. Fulbright also says he has a partial autopsy report. Let's see it...Contusion from head trauma. Bruised all over body, signs of blunt force trauma. Yeah, this will do fine. DePlume takes the stand and immediately harasses everyone for making her wait. She introduces herself, and it seems the Judge has heard of her. Then he says she looks much different in the pictures in her book. She claims that she uses photos from 10 years ago so the paparazzi won't harass her. Yeah, right; probably uses pictures of someone who's actually remotely attractive. Well, at least she's willing to stand up to Blackquill... Testimony time! Nothing we haven't already heard except that she reported it to police immediately, but we've already got something to contradict one of the statements that's a rehash from yesterday. Blackquill demands judgment, and Phoenix objects that the defense would like the chance to do some defending. Blackquill's of course dismissive, and dispenses some of his jailhouse wisdom. "If you want something signed, all you need is the document and a witness." Phoenix guesses that the inmate who told him that was convicted for contract fraud, and Blackquill doesn't respond so I suspect he's right. As expected, the autopsy report, incomplete though it is, is sufficient to break her testimony. And the security footage doesn't show Orla biting the captain, either! It seems there's more to the footage, though...and now we've got Shipley in Orla's mouth. Damnit...I don't see the coins at the bottom of the pool in that shot, either, and I can't tell Shipley's condition...ah, but based on the timestamp, I was absolutely correct about which way the blood would travel in the water! Which means that Shipley was already bleeding quite profusely when that footage begins! Another picture of the body...strange bruise on right wrist, and bite marks on left side of clothes. Okay, yes, I don't deny that Shipley had been in Orla's mouth. But I believe he was already dead when he entered the water! Blackquill reminds everyone what he said in the opening about Orla "toying with him mercilessly." He asks DePlume to recall the true "moment of murder", and DePlume understands. Looks like we'll have to dismantle another testimony...

Phoenix points out what I noticed before; that the first photo, with all of the blood in the water, does not show the victim. Also, that timestamp seems to point towards Marlon's meeting with Shipley being probably irrelevant, as he's got an alibi for the time that he entered the water--it's right as Pearl ended up in the food prep room. Furthermore, even if it was, DePlume couldn't have seen that from where she was standing. But she says that right afterwards, his body came floating up from behind the rock that obstructed her view. And, back to the year that she's been investigating Orla. Apparently she thought she saw something else...what? Orla murdered her last trainer? And it's all documented in one of DePlume's books, "The Killer Killer Whale". It happened in the same manner as she's accused of killing Shipley.

"I can't bear to hear any more of such rubbish as 'trusting a killer.' Can you, Your Baldness?" Um, remind me again why you wear those shackles, Mr. Blackquill? Ah, finally, we get to hear Norma's next testimony. What does singing the Swashbuckler Spectacular song have to do with anything? But I think I see an inconsistency...Phoenix doesn't. But Athena sees an inconsistency in DePlume's emotions! Heh, bet I know what it will be. She can barely conceal her glee at Orla allegedly taking another life. Surprise when Orla starts singing...and then when she says she was calm when Orla started to headbutt, she's anything but! There's a strong amount of fear/sadness there! But not so much when she says that she let out a scream when the pirate hat and victim came floating up. Huh, I'm not sure which one to key on! Yeah, it's definitely the strong one. Yeah, there was something else frightening her at the time...Ah! She remembers what she saw! The blood! The cloud of blood that we saw on the security footage! She's apparently terrified of blood, ever since she was badly injured during an interview. Probably trampled by whatever interviewer had the misfortune to be assigned to her suddenly spotting an actual celebrity. Athena says there's still more discord. And now the other half--the near lack of fear at the end. The blood seemed to disappear after the whale put on the pirate hat.

...Haha! I can think of only one explanation for why the cloud of blood would disappear when Orla put the hat on. The blood wasn't coming from Captain Shipley--Orla had a head wound! Yes...DePlume is shocked, but when faced with the possibility, she realizes that no blood was coming from the victim. Which means that what she saw wasn't the "moment of murder" at all! Hmm...but if he wasn't bleeding at all, he'd probably already bled out by the time he entered the water. Which means that Rimes, who met with the victim approximately three hours earlier, is once again the prime suspect. Do we have evidence proving that Shipley was murdered before 10:10 AM, though? Only possibilities are the bloodstained coin and the calendar...let's try the coin. Nope...wait a minute, the two photos! In the first one, with the coins scattered around, he has his scarf and whistle, but in the second, he has neither! ...But based on Phoenix talking about "what happened before 10:10 AM", I feel like the calendar is important. Oh, right, because it proves that he was supposed to meet with the aquarium's animal handler to feed Orla three hours earlier. ...What? None of those three?

...It's the security footage. We have to wind it all the way back to 10:00, when the aquarium opens. Phoenix, you're really gambling here... At 10:06, Ms. DePlume's not here...and Orla's not bleeding? But more importantly...Jack Shipley isn't seen entering the water! Which means he must have been blocked from the camera by that rock for the entire ten minutes. The pool was a body dump site!

The judge asks when Shipley was murdered. Phoenix concedes that he doesn't know when he was, only that it had to have been before 10 AM. Again, based on his not wanting anyone to know he was in the food prep room at 10:10 and the fact that he met with Shipley at 7, Rimes is my primary suspect, but he doesn't seem like a killer and I can't think of a motive. In fact, under normal circumstances, he'd perfectly fit the bill of one of our clients--plenty of evidence pointing to him, but really doesn't seem like he could be a killer and lacks a motive. The mere fact that such an obvious defendant isn't our client means he's probably the killer!

"That's some pretty specious logic."

...Well, at the very least, he's probably someone we'll have to accuse at some point. Phoenix submits the possibility of a human killer and presents our evidence. Hardly decisive, but enough to present doubt. DePlume asks how 300 coins could be made to hit someone all at once, and Phoenix submits the bag theory, but has to concede that there was nothing of the sort found at the scene and that the killer may have taken it with them. I'm thinking we're probably looking for a ripped bag, actually--based on the fact that the coins were scattered, I assume that the bag probably broke when the fatal blow was struck; that would also explain how one of the coins, allegedly in a bag, got Mr. Shipley's blood on it. ...Oh! Yes, we've seen Orla's behavior...those are all things she's been trained to do after receiving signals from the whistle. The orca's actions created a witness--the song is what caused Ms. DePlume to focus on the pool, and then she saw the two things discussed before. Anyone can use the whistle, provided they know the signals...

...I suddenly want to know the identity of Orla's last trainer, the one that she allegedly killed last year. DePlume's going ballistic at the idea that she was set up and used...my G-d she's almost as narcissistic as L'Belle.

Blackquill thinks it's a waste of time to analyze the bloodstained coin and does his shackle-breaking trick again at the idea of overturning the accusation against Orla. ...WTF he's already got the bag?! Damn...it was found at the crime scene after all... Okay now I'm confused. Blackquill's conceding that the victim was put in the pool after his death, and that while the bag alone wasn't proof enough to say that it was used as the murder weapon, but that the defense's presentation of the coin is enough to concede that it may have been...but he still believes that Orla killed the victim? He's spouting nonsense! "Orla used the victim's behavior against him to murder him"? And now Rimes is to be a witness for the prosecution... How fortunate; that's exactly who I want to speak to.

Rimes says he told Blackquill he didn't want to be a witness. The judge asks him his name and occupation, and he launches into another rap. The Judge can't understand him and asks if that's that "flip-flop" music young people nowadays like. I have to hide my face to keep from laughing at him. Rimes says he doesn't want to do this; he feels like he's selling Sasha out. And right away he lies--he says he was in the staff room at 10:10 AM, and he heard a loud noise from the pool room and went to the door to look in. He couldn't see the captain or the orca, but he saw the scattered coins. The orca knows there's a certain spot people stand to play volleyball with her, and he thought maybe she knocked down the stuff that was piled up there and hit the captain.

...Crap. That's what Blackquill was getting at. Wait, no it isn't! That still doesn't explain the bloody bag of coins--though it would offer a potential way for Orla to be the murderer even if Shipley was killed poolside.

...Ah. Not the volleyball as murder weapon, but rather, there was a cloth beneath the 400 pounds of props that had fallen over; Blackquill proposes that Orla pulled on this cloth to knock them over, and the bag of coins fell onto the captain, killing him. Phoenix asks why Rimes only "looked in", and he says that he doesn't have a security card to get into the pool room yet because he's still new. Phoenix points out that if he couldn't enter, then his theory about the volleyball was pure speculation. Phoenix wants to discredit the statement about Orla being the only one who could've moved those items. What about discrediting this sham of a witness? Phoenix agrees and shows the calendar. Rimes says he recognizes it, but plays coy, mentioning that it's a popular item at the gift shop, and starts scattering fish. Taka proves useful for a change and cleans them up, and then Phoenix clears up the misunderstanding. Blackquill is angry, as this is the first he's hearing of any calendar, and Phoenix notes that that's because Mr. Rimes and Pearls were keeping it a secret. He then admits that he didn't hear the noise himself; someone told him about it. And that someone...was Sasha. We take a 20-minute recess so Sasha can be summoned to the stand. I look forward to it; Sasha doesn't seem like the type to fall prey to Blackquill's mind games. Rimes says he lied because he didn't want Sasha to have to appear in court. Athena asks why he'd go to such lengths

...!

Rimes says he found that calendar in the nap room--it's marked on the map, right next to the food prep room. It wasn't his calendar. And Rimes thinks it's Sasha's. Urgh...she did say she had one of those calendars herself...but that makes her look like the guilty party. Rimes says he's going back to the aquarium to look after Orla in Sasha's place.

Sasha takes the stand in-character. Good girl, Sasha. The Judge likes the sound of "Cap'n Judge". ...Unfortunately, that's all of the pirate we'll be seeing. And even less fortunately, she's back to making fish puns. Sasha's incensed at Blackquill's suggestion that Orla could've knocked down all of those props. Seems Orla was the one who broke the octopus, using her fastball spike. It also seems that Sasha wasn't exactly paying attention to the trial over the telecast, because she didn't realize that Blackquill wasn't suggesting that Orla knocked them over with her volleyball. Athena psychs her back up, and Sasha promises to give a fin-omenal testimony. I've stopped caring about the fish puns; whatever helps her cope. Sasha admits hearing Orla summon her with a loud noise, but the guest's scream she heard over the walkie-talkie was more urgent. She went to talk to DePlume first and then went to the pool room with the security guard. The equipment was everywhere, and the captain was lying in the middle of it all. She doesn't remember the order in which she heard the two noises, so there's no way to prove that the loud noise she heard wasn't the sound of the equipment falling over that caused Shipley's death. Looks like we'll have to press for the first time all case. Heh, she said Ms. DePlume's scream was so loud, she thought it was a sea lion. Wait, she went with the guard because "the obnoxious writer lady said she didn't trust me by myself". Why was she so suspicious of Sasha. We should ask her something more specific...she can't think about Shipley, so maybe the equipment? Props and equipment for the new show...yes, the one with Redstache. He's on the flyer, being played by Jack Shipley. Wait, the new props...I could've sworn what we saw were the old ones...and those photos don't show the boxes in disarray at all! Phoenix is poking at the fact that it appears in one of the photos that he's in the new costume...

...but after this is quickly dismissed, he's suddenly on a completely new idea. Stop jerking us around, Phoenix. ...Oh, wait, I get it. The scarf was with the other props and fell when they were knocked over...so how is it on his neck if he was dragged into the water after they fell! This also suggests that the bag of coins wasn't actually the murder weapon--Orla did knock the props over, but solely as a way to alert the humans as to what had happened. Blackquill demands we propose how the victim was killed. Athena says that it's easy enough to move the victim from the edge of the pool to the bottom, but in real life, the water would cause the body to float. Phoenix seems to have had a revelation. No water? Are you suggesting he was thrown into the pool while it was drained, and that his death was caused by falling from 65 feet up? Phoenix asks for a list of Orla's tricks...bingo. The "lifesaver" trick, where she brings a drowning person to the surface. She's still learning it, so she sometimes bites through the person's clothes, but never through their skin. That explains everything! Rimes throws the practice dummy into the pool to allow Orla to display the trick. Phoenix asks for the bottom of the orca pool to be investigated further, and the Judge asks Blackquill to do this. Blackquill is unresponsive until Fulbright shocks him. Fulbright's also got an updated autopsy report...and it confirms Phoenix's theory! We've...got our not guilty verdict already! Orla's been declared innocent! Phoenix feels it's not yet safe to celebrate...and all too soon, he's proven right. Blackquill's having Fulbright arrest Sasha! The security card is needed to enter the room... OBJECTION! You just saw that there's no need to actually be in the room to give Orla the signals! ...This whole thing is a sham. Well, at least we've got another day--today's trial was sole-ly to assess Orla's guilt. ...Oh god she's got me doing it.

Athena's downtrodden, and Trucy and Apollo initially assume that they lost the case. When they find out that's not it, they get on Phoenix's case for being mean to her. He clears up the misunderstanding. We get rid of unnecessary evidence and head back to the crime scene, which as expected has been drained. Though perhaps not completely, as we still hear Orla down below. Fulbright's there, so we question him as to why they arrested Sasha. Fulbright again mentions that a security card is normally needed to enter this room, and the victim and Sasha were the only ones who had such a card; furthermore, there's proof her card was used yesterday. Athena's trying to object that someone else could've used her card. We're not in court, Athena; you don't have to shout "Objection!". Sasha, however, confirmed that she was giving the orca pool room a good cleaning from 3 AM to 6 AM. She also admits that she'd been fighting with Shipley before his death. Phoenix asks if Fulbright thinks Sasha's questioning is over, and Fulbright says no, but he told the guy in charge to take it easy on her. Athena asks why, and Fulbright says to forget he said anything, as it doesn't concern us anyway. We mention that we plan to represent her, and Fulbright asks us to take something to her. A prescription from the Hickfield Clinic? They confiscated it from her home when doing a search. Athena wonders if Sasha has an illness, and Fulbright says that's a question we should ask her. We head over to the Pub O' Danger and find that the door that had been closed yesterday is now open. So this is Dr. Crab, is it? This seems to be his laboratory. Also, he's a bit out of it--apparently he used to have a veterinary practice of his own and he seems to have temporarily forgotten that he works at an aquarium now. He had been questioned, too. Also, he's got a Little Penguin chick living in his hair. He says that if we don't have any business with him, we should leave so he can prepare to make his rounds, but we mention that we want to ask some questions to save Sasha and he realizes that we're the lawyers who defended Orla. That seems to make him a bit friendlier...so much for suspecting the person we hadn't met yet. I still think it's Marlon Rimes, and that the trainer who was killed last year was his sister or something. Dr. Crab said he got along with Shipley, though he wasn't quite the animal lover that Shipley was (though he still takes pride in his work as a vet). We ask where he was yesterday, and he said he had some business at the Supermarine Aquarium. It's the nation's biggest dolphin therapy treatment center--oh, yes, Athena was talking about dolphin therapy yesterday, wasn't she? Crab says he lives at the aquarium, since he's responsible for the health and well-being of the animals and has to be available to help them if they have a sudden medical emergency. Athena wants to see the penguin chick again, but apparently she doesn't like anyone other than Dr. Crab, whom she imprinted on. She targets people from her perch within his hair. Sounds like another penguin we know...Phoenix suggests she's like a little sniper, and Crab agrees and says that that's what he named her--and then confirms that, yes, Rifle is Sniper's mother. Crab says Little Penguins are generally belligerent and it's hard to get them to warm up, but they're also nocturnal. Hmm...I sense important information here. We ask more about the lab that Shipley apparently gave Crab the resources to build. There are digital medical records, and also a view of the visitor's corridor security camera feed so he can see when Rifle tries to escape. Hence the footage yesterday coming from the Pub O' Danger. He also gave a statement about Sasha and Shipley arguing, around midnight the night before he died. Sniper's hungry again, so Crab asks us to go track down Rifle, whose walkie-talkie suggests she's in the Aqua Tunnel.

We head to the Aqua Tunnel and run into DePlume. She's immediately hostile, and Widget manages to talk his way into getting his master interrogation duty. We ask about what happened last year. An acquaintance of the victim asked her to continue gathering information about the incident, but she refuses to divulge any further information about her clients. DePlume thinks that everyone at the aquarium is hiding something, and that the killer whale murdered that girl. Apparently, it was exactly one year earlier. I want to learn more about the victim in that case, but Athena wants to ask about today's trial. She again says that Orla's song brings misfortune, as it happened in last year's incident... Right, that was during a show, wasn't it? She refers to the song as "barbaric", and Phoenix doesn't seem to agree, so she sings the song for us. Well, a song, anyway--it's not the Swashbuckler Spectacular song, which Athena is more than happy to sing. Yeah, that sounds a lot more like the one Sasha was singing in the video. DePlume asks what that was and said she's never heard that song before. Athena insists that's the song they use in the Swashbuckler Spectacular, and she says it's completely different from what it was a year ago and demands proof. Luckily, we have proof. DePlume is shocked, and insists she's never heard it before. She admits that she hasn't seen the show recently, but a year ago, they used the song that she had sung for us, and wonders if Orla can sing two songs. Phoenix tells her that Sasha says Orla only knows one song. And now she wants to look into the Center for Dangerous Animal Control. They're an organization that monitors dangerous animals, and they demanded that Orla be put down last year, but Shipley refused it, saying it was an accidental death. DePlume thinks that the Aquarium was bribing the CDAC to keep them from pursuing it, noting that once a month Shipley and Crab leave the aquarium and every time, a large sum of money was being paid out. Uh, didn't Crab say that he went to the Supermarine Aquarium once a month? I'm thinking maybe that's where these monthly visits are to--and possibly the money, as well. I'm also thinking that there might have been two killer whales up until a year ago, and the other one was the killer back then. Phoenix suggests heading back to the office to discuss a plan of action. Trucy's putting on a magic show for Pearl, who has stopped by for a visit. Apollo asks about the investigation, and Trucy suggests bringing along the forensics kit. We all head back to the aquarium. Fulbright said they'd just finished up at the crime scene and were going to talk to Rimes. Phoenix is surprised that Rimes is talking. I'm telling you, Phoenix, I think he's the real culprit. I just need confirmation as to my theory about his motive. Fulbright suggests using the hoist if we want to look in the bottom of the pool. Apparently, the hoist can even be used to move Orla herself, using a special whale-sized stretcher. We head down. The pool's been partitioned, with half the pool including the skull rock and most of the treasure being completely drained while the other side retains enough water for Orla to stay comfortably in. Athena mentions how the skull rock seems out of place next to the desk with map and compass...wait. The body appeared on the camera footage after Orla headbutted that rock. Maybe it was put there by the murderer to hide the body? Pearl's anxious to try out the forensics kit. Wait, those tinted glasses actually had a purpose? Anyway, the top of the rock has a bloodstain, so I guess it was already there...or is that Orla's blood? ...Orla's got bloodstains, too? Up front near her nose, and also behind her dorsal fin. We head back up and take a picture of what we found, and...Orla's calling? Something's wrong with Orla!

Crab wants us to fetch the stretcher and hoist her up. Apparently it's that thing that looks like a pirate flag. We clear it off and set it up. Something in her stomach? Crab gets it out, and says that because they're mammals, orcas are fine if they're out of the water for a bit, but their weight puts stress on their organs and their skin tends to dry out; he uses his own special handmade cream to help treat the latter problem. We ask what was wrong with her, and he says it's none of our business. A medicine capsule in Orla's stomach...and that's all. To the show stage! Rimes is there, and he's angry at us for letting Sasha get arrested. Was I wrong about him? ...I'm not sure. I think he would've been less hesitant if it were still Orla, but he might still be trying to avoid that becoming his own fate. He was helping Sasha with the cleaning, or more like taking care of Orla while Sasha cleaned, and he also put her on the stretcher. Wait, then he was in that room from 3 to 6, too? The hoist goes from the stage show room to the orca pool room, and they carry the orca and cargo back and forth. ...Oh, so he wasn't in the orca pool room; he was in the stage show room with Orla. And the control panel for the hoist is in the orca pool room.

...but if cargo can travel on it, why not a person? I'm not sure how he would've been able to hide, but it's theoretically possible that anyone with security clearance for the stage show room could get into the orca pool room via the hoist. Rimes still thinks Orla's guilty, claiming that she attacked Sasha in the show stage room a few days ago. Athena suggests they were practicing the lifesaver trick, and Rimes says Sasha was being crushed so bad she couldn't blow the whistle.

...Another typo, this time calling Sasha "Ms. Bucker". She just painted a new sign for the show and asked Rimes to keep an eye on it while it was drying as he was taking care of Orla. The skull rock is on the sign, confirming that it's a prop for the new show. Rimes says he's never actually seen the Swashbuckler Spectacular, and also says that the pool in this room is the same depth as the orca pool--they practice the tricks in the orca pool, then do the real show here.

...wait. So then if this pool were drained, and someone was pushed into it, it would also show up on the autopsy as death by falling from a height of 65 feet? Then perhaps the killer didn't need to get into the orca pool room at all...merely to get the body onto the hoist so it would wind up in that room. Which, of course, could be done using the skull rock, which we're already pretty sure was used to conceal the body. We ask Rimes about the new show. Oh...there was a rumor that Sasha wasn't going to be in the new show. That's why she and Shipley were arguing. Pearl cuts in and says she found some peculiar fingerprints, and then...Prosecutor Blackquill shows up? Apparently he wants Rimes to be a witness for the prosecution again tomorrow. Rimes doesn't want to, but Blackquill says that what Rimes "wants" doesn't matter and orders him along. Rimes asks who will take care of the orca, since all of the other animal handlers are too scared to go near her, but Pearl volunteers to help. She asks to borrow a TV phone from Rimes so that she can do the telecast thing. Blackquill then suggests that our motivations aren't as righteous as we claim, and manages to agitate Athena, not that that's hard to do. We ask Pearl about the prints she found...there are right-hand prints on the left side of the ladder. And they belong to Marlon Rimes! Maybe my theory's correct after all. Oh, and there's Rifle! We head back to the office and have Apollo investigate the medication we found, and then we finally get to go to the Detention Center to see Sasha.

Ah, Ms. Buckler...I mean, Sasha. Glad they're finally done with you; I've got a bunch of questions I'd like to ask you. Some of them are even about yesterday. Heh, Blackquill tried to psych her out, telling her we'd abandon her. So, about those questions...

...Seriously, Phoenix, are we just going to ignore the elephant shark in the room? Last year, Phoenix, last year! Who was the girl who died, and why does Norma DePlume swear Orla was singing a different song? Well, anyway, we learn about the lifesaver trick. The dummies and Mr. Shipley's clothes have little speakers on them that can emit sound waves, which Orla uses as a guide to find the person she's supposed to rescue. Ah, that would explain why Orla suddenly headbutted the rock! She found Mr. Shipley, even inside the rock, by the sound waves. The whole crew knows about the trick, but it takes quite a bit of practice to be able to command the lifesaver trick--it wouldn't be easy for anyone who wasn't a trainer. Sasha also tells us that Orla can only do one trick at a time. So getting her to sing and then perform the lifesaver trick would've taken time...which again rules out my primary suspect seeing as how a very trustworthy witness puts him in the food prep room at 10:10. Or does it? He did seem to want to hide the fact that he was in the food prep room, and that's still fairly close to the orca pool room. Is it possible he could've pulled it off from there? We ask about the night of the murder. She says that she was alone cleaning the pool room from 3 AM to 6 AM, and that she and the captain were supposed to start cleaning it together at 4, but after they got in a fight, she couldn't face him and went in on her own an hour early. She details what cleaning the room entails--first they move Orla to the show stage room, and then they drain the pool and rearrange the equipment and props. She says the captain never showed up. Hmm... We give her the medicine Fulbright gave us, and when we ask what it's for, she admits that she has a heart condition. Athena tells her to get to the hospital right away, and Phoenix reminds her that Sasha's in detention. Sasha says it's not as serious as it sounds and can be fixed with surgery, and Athena's still mad. "NOT SERIOUS?! A heart condition is a heart condition! Don't tell us not to worry!" Sasha says the captain got just as mad at her for it the day before yesterday. Oh...so Shipley wasn't going to put Sasha in the new show because he was worried about her, but Sasha was upset and wanted to do it anyway. She was crying when she went to do the cleaning, and was still crying before she drained the pool, until Orla tried to cheer her up by doing a trick--that's when she spiked the volleyball at the giant octopus and knocked off one of its legs.

Oh, thanks, you answered my question. Her name was Azura Summers. Okay...Sasha continues by saying that she moved the skull rock to the orca pool during the cleaning because it was a key prop and without it, the new show wouldn't be able to go on, and they'd have to switch back to the old one. We ask more about Ms. Summers. She was a year older than Sasha and taught her everything she knows about commanding Orla. Well, that goes along with my suspicion that whoever killed Shipley was probably someone close to Azura looking for revenge. Sasha specifically says that Azura taught her the signals for the singing and lifesaver tricks. After she died, Sasha swore on this charm that she'd become a great trainer someday just like Azura. Phoenix asks about the charm, and she says it's a keepsake to remember Azura by. Azura always wore it--said she and her boyfriend had matching charms. Sasha never found out who he was, so she couldn't give it to him, and she's had it ever since. The captain also carried around a memento of Azura--her walkie-talkie.

Phoenix notes that he didn't see a walkie-talkie on the victim's person at the time of death and shows Sasha the photos. Sasha's confused--she said she even talked to the captain on it before she started the cleaning. Athena wonders if the culprit took it away. Seems likely enough--they track Rifle through those things, so they could probably figure out where the captain was before he died that way, too. We consolidate the autopsy report and the photos. Ah, that's right; the walkie-talkies were those sword-shaped things--a picture of Azura at her death shows her with one of them in its scabbard, but the picture of Shipley shows him with an empty scabbard. "In the middle of the show, the orca brought Azura up to the surface in her mouth. She left tooth marks in Azura's walkie-talkie..." Interesting choice of words, Sasha. Am I correct in assuming that "the orca" in that sentence isn't Orla? But Sasha's not done... "I'm the only one left who can protect Orla from the ship's doctor!" Hm...maybe I was too quick to trust Dr. Crab. Perhaps he was with the CDAC after all. Sasha says that Crab's been completely different since the accident a year ago. When Azura died, he said he was going to "euthanize the orca", while before that he always used to say that euthanizing animals was a despicable act. Hm...I wonder... It's an awfully big age difference, but two consenting adults are two consenting adults, and Crab isn't nearly as old as he looks even though he's still quite a bit older than her. Sasha says that Crab always keeps poison to euthanize the orca with on hand. Okay, so perhaps I was wrong about it being a different orca...

Sasha says that her calendar's still back at the aquarium. As I suspected. Rimes said he found it in the nap room...where Crab said he sometimes sleeps. Phoenix and Athena are thinking the same thing, and we rush off to find Crab before I can even ask Sasha about the inconsistency in songs. We meet up with Pearl in the Pub O' Danger, and it turns out Rifle had run in there. Rifle attacks Crab. Apparently she dislikes him because she feels he took her baby from her. They start kreeing at each other, and Crab gets angry at all the noise. I guess it's time to feed Sniper...which requires Rifle because mother penguins break down food for their babies in their stomachs and then throw it up for the babies to eat. Crab says Rifle's in a bad mood even for her. He checks her out...the bottoms of her feet are pink? Something in her stomach, too...

...! And we're back to Marlon. The "foreign object", in Crab's words, that Rifle ingested is the other charm! The fact that he doesn't recognize it rules him out. Phoenix wants to learn more about the monitoring system. Crab says it's a collection of electronic medical records, and that with this system and the camera footage he can monitor the creatures 24/7--and that's all that he'll tell; the rest is private, company business. Phoenix points out that medical records are usually just a history of past medical exams and data, and Crab concedes that Phoenix is not so easy to fool. Psyche-Lock time!

...but first, that charm. ...Okay, he does recognize it as Azura's charm. Well, yeah, that's right, Sasha said Crab was close with both Shipley and Azura. And based on how angry he is...he's back under suspicion. Though, the fact that he instantly said that the charm in Rifle's stomach belonged to Azura makes me think maybe he didn't know about the other charm...so maybe it's not him. I still say it's Marlon Rimes. Athena mentions the boyfriend, and Crab gets touchy and says he refuses to discuss personal details of the deceased. ...I don't know who to suspect. Crab seems more suspicious, but Rimes seems more likely to have had the opportunity...maybe.

Okay, Magatama time. Proof that he can't monitor the animals 24/7 with this system? Where do we begin? The capsule in Orla's stomach? The charm in Rifle's? The walkie-talkie that they strap to Rifle to keep tabs on her? Seems it's none of the above. Oh...the security footage doesn't start until 10 AM! How'd I overlook that? He then says that he's still at the aquarium most of the time, and if anything's wrong, he can go anywhere at any time to examine them. Wrong again; only Shipley and Sasha had access to the pool room! Tighter security restrictions were imposed a year ago, and due to Sasha's objections, Crab wasn't allowed to have a card. Okay, so it's an ecological data organization system. He calls it the TORPEDO. What's with all the weaponry? It stands for "TeleObservation Realtime PErtinent Data Organizer." That's the most forced acronym I've ever seen. It collects data through sensors placed on or near the subjects--temperature, heartbeat, vocalizations, etc. It gathers this information 24 hours a day. It's hard to attach sensors to the orca or fish, so theirs are on the tanks themselves. That's huge! That could tell us a lot about what happened at the time of the murder!

...unless my hypothetical scenario is correct. "Places where the creatures don't normally live, like the show stage, don't have sensors." So if something fishy happened in the show stage room, TORPEDO wouldn't pick up on it. "Approximately 4 AM on July 20th". That's the time that Mr. Shipley was supposed to meet Sasha! I wonder what the connection between Shipley's meeting with Sasha and Rifle swallowing Azura's boyfriend's charm is. Though based on my suspicions about the motive behind Shipley's murder...

...I think we have an actual witness to the murder. Only problem is, unlike the last bird we put on the witness stand, this one doesn't speak human language. Athena remarks that that explains why Rifle wouldn't take the fish yesterday, but at least Orla ate it. Crab says Orla eating another animal's food has never happened before. Huh, Orla didn't eat anything from the night of the 19th until yesterday afternoon. Crab says that the morning of the 20th, Jack was supposed to feed Orla, and surmises that he must have died before he had the chance. Phoenix asks why Dr. Crab hid the existence of the TORPEDO. Apparently, it hasn't actually been legally approved in this country yet, though it's already been approved for use in other countries. That's why he always carries the terminal with him--he doesn't want the police poking around in their business; it would create problems for the aquarium. Shipley approved him using it, feeling that the care of the animals was more important than the legality, but they kept it a secret from the rest of the staff to shield them from any potential repercussions. Athena says that breaking the law is breaking the law, and Crab says that sometimes breaking the law can save lives and asks if we should just let the animals die while we wait for the laws to be changed. Phoenix asks if it's okay if he uses this evidence in trial tomorrow even though it could result in both Crab and the aquarium being brought up on charges, and Crab says that he followed his own convictions and has no regrets. We hear a bird peeping...it's Crab's ringtone? Apparently the CDAC is harassing the aquarium again...sounds like Crab doesn't actually want to euthanize Orla, but he's willing to do so if there's no other option. Also, he's misplaced his calendar, which we find out right after Athena comments on him liking cute things. Indeed, the penguin calendar that Rimes found in the nap room belongs to Dr. Crab. Athena asks if he's crazy about penguins--a reasonable assumption given the mask on his head and the bird living in his hair--but he says it was a gift and he's kind of embarrassed so don't tell anyone about it.

Azura designed the calendar; this one is a prototype. She designed the calendar for this year, and then she died. Athena senses sadness in Crab's heart and asks if he and Azura were romantically involved. He says he doesn't believe in romantic feelings, but he definitely looks shaken. We confirm that Jack never showed up to his 7:00 meeting. The CDAC said that she may have been found not guilty this time, but if she ever attacked a human again, she'd have to be put down. That poison...it's the pill that was in Orla's stomach! Phoenix confronts Crab, not on the pill, but on Norma DePlume's hypothesis. Huh? Why so shaken, Phoenix? ...Five Psyche-Locks! It sounds like he was taking care of something; he wishes he'd been more discreet. Worse, Fulbright shows up and says that Blackquill wants to see Dr. Crab. We won't even get a chance to break the Psyche-Locks! Apparently Rimes is refusing to testify, so Blackquill wants Crab to testify instead. Apollo calls and confirms that the capsule was a sleeping pill made for humans, but that Dr. Crab had bought a bunch of them from the Hickfield Clinic and assured them they'd work on dolphins and orcas, too. That would explain why Orla got listless and nearly drowned...but would a single pill really affect an orca that drastically? ...No, of course not, there were obviously more, and that one simply wasn't digested. Apollo found out something else, too. Azura Summers had been on the same heart medication that Sasha Buckler's on! But what does it mean?

Athena tells Sasha her theory regarding Crab and Azura at the trial the next morning. But Sasha's not convinced...she mentions that Azura used to send her boyfriend videos of herself teaching the orca tricks. Sasha used to help her record the videos on her TV phone. ...That's wonderful news. It confirms that there's someone else who knows how to signal the tricks. Now we just need to find the right opportunity to show the charm in court. If Marlon, who has repeatedly mentioned that he's new at Shipshape Aquarium, recognizes the charm despite not working at the aquarium when Azura was alive, then we'll have motive, means, and opportunity--assuming that the suspicious prints on the ladder in the show stage room are a sign that that's the actual crime scene. According to Sasha, the phones can even record sound that we can't hear--like, as I suggested, the signals. Blackquill starts by mentioning the bloodstain on the skull rock. Crab is called as a witness to prove that Sasha was the only one who entered the room while the water was drained. Crab starts his introduction, only for Sniper to cut in. Crab tries to shut her up, to little effect. Taka scares her silent, though. The judge is quite taken with the little peeper. Crab's testimony is strictly about facts--Sasha cleaning the pool room; Sasha and Shipley being scheduled to do it together; the pool being drained when the cleaning is done; Marlon taking care of the orca in the show pool while it was going on; that the water would never be drained unless the pool was being cleaned...well, okay, that last one's speculatory, but this is a very solid testimony. Blackquill again mentions that we know via the security card usage that the defendant was in the orca pool at the time of cleaning. Ah, but was the victim?! Blackquill wants no part of our objections. He adds the bit about the card usage record. Crab says he's sure the water wouldn't be drained at any other time because of the danger it would pose to the orca. The judge has him add that to his testimony. Wait...evidence of how the water could've been drained while Orla was in there? What about the photo of the scene while we were investigating it? Yep, that works, and then Phoenix puts the suspicion on Crab via the calendar. A worthy stall tactic, until we can get the real perpetrator onto the stand.

Crab simply says that he didn't show up to his meeting. Phoenix says that's a feeble excuse, but Blackquill wants proof that the witness is suspicious. Athena suggests we focus on what would've been different between the circumstances. I'm thinking it's the skull rock, but apparently we're not at an evidence-presenting portion yet. ...Right. The blood spatter on Orla suggests that she was present at the time of the murder. The judge was actually expecting us to cross-examine the orca... Furthermore, Blackquill has the decency to object to us mentioning luminol reactions by pointing out DePlume's testimony, thereby updating the Skull Rock to suggest that the blood on it was Orla's. Wait, Phoenix, where are you going with this? You're going to present the sleeping pill now, because you think that Orla was drugged to keep her from somehow communicating what she witnessed? But that doesn't even make sense! Orla was needed for the frame-up at 10:10 AM! Blackquill finds this attack "feeble", and Crab feels that Phoenix has slandered his profession in suggesting that he'd use his medical knowledge to do away with the orca and hide its cause of death. He admits to purchasing the sleeping drug, but says it was subsequently stolen from his lab. Crab also reminds us that he was the one who treated Orla after she swallowed the drug. Phoenix is still pushing it; he says that it took Crab a long time to treat her, and that he didn't even come on his own. Blackquill says that he probably didn't even know, as the lab and the orca pool are far apart, so Phoenix presents the TORPEDO. You're just a bundle of justice today, aren't you, Phoenix? You know full well that that evidence is controversial and shouldn't have been presented unless absolutely necessary. I guess the fact that this theory still sounds plausible is keeping us from getting any penalties, but this is one hell of a job you're doing. Dr. Crab says the sensor in Orla's pool wasn't working during the police investigation. Plausible enough. Blackquill's figured out why it's true, too--those sensors send sound waves through the water, and the pool had been drained during the investigation. The police found the sensor, in the drained portion of the pool, attached to the underside of the table. So it would have automatically shut off. Blackquill then says that this means that Sasha's the only one who could've committed the murder, and the Judge agrees that this completely shatters the defense's argument. "Defense's argument" is right; I'm getting pretty fed up with my partner's wild goose chase myself. Blackquill asks when the sleeping drug was given to the orca. Thank you, Simon. Blackquill says that the police were at the orca pool all day yesterday, so the only way to give the drug to the orca undetected would be to put it in her food. He then says that yesterday, someone gave the orca food during the trial. He says it was Sasha. Uh...wasn't Orla fed later on, after Sasha was already in court and Marlon Rimes was taking care of her? Well, either way, Rimes was definitely the one who gave Athena the fish to feed to Rifle--the fish that Orla ended up eating instead. And like I said before, I think Rifle was a witness. (Also, that fish is still in our inventory.) Ah, yes, they give us a flashback to Sasha feeding Orla. ...They also show a flashback of Rimes feeding Orla at the end. So I was right, anyway. Dr. Crab officially gives us the charm that he'd thought was Azura's and tells us to find the truth. Rimes comes to the stand and immediately asks why everyone's making that face, and says he hasn't been watching the trial and no one has told him anything. That's good to know.

Rimes says that at 3:30 AM, there was still water in the orca pool...he's still trying to blame Shipley's murder on Orla!

Well, uh, that was interesting...he's not even denying that he tried to kill Orla, but he still claims it was for revenge for Shipley's death...more like revenge for Azura's. He continues by saying that in fact, all three of them--he, Sasha, and Shipley--were cleaning the pool room. That contradicts your own previous statements, not that we can prove that because those statements weren't made in court, not to mention the captain wasn't even supposed to be there until 4 AM--Crab's testimony verified that. Although, Rimes's point about it being better for us if the orca was the killer does have a weird logic to it...after all, I'm pretty sure the concept of double jeopardy still applies in this world, as per a case that Phoenix tried without me. Rimes is revealing his true colors in regards to treating people and animals equally. Let's press 3:30. Nope, nothing new...Phoenix doesn't think it would even be possible for Orla to knock Shipley that high into the air in the orca pool room, but we don't still have a diagram of the room in our evidence file so I can't verify. Ah, the autopsy report...ceiling to pool bottom is 100 feet. 65 of that is water, so his claim of "30 feet in the air" is...possible. Well, it's still the best we've got...and of course it's good, because it's a 65-foot fall, and even if he'd hit the ceiling, with the water still in the pool he could only fall at most 35 feet. Blackquill says that this only reaffirms the idea that Sasha's the only one who could have done it. Finally Wright's ready to turn his thinking around and try to figure out what would've made it possible for someone else to be able to do it. Ah, he's finally considering the possibility of the orca pool room not actually being the crime scene! He's got the show stage room...now how the body was moved, good, the hoist. Blackquill sees a hole in the theory, namely, that the hoist control is in the orca pool room. Objection! Recall that the body was only found after Orla headbutted the skull rock! We get a penalty for actually saying we have an objection...right, because I was objecting to the claim that Sasha moved the body. And of course, Rimes was the one who put the skull rock on the hoist--he would've gone along with Sasha's plan to sabotage the new show, because he seems to have transferred his feelings to her now. The flyer even says that the rock is hollow. Blackquill says we have no evidence. I think not! Wright says it should be easy enough to prove that the body was in the skull rock. That's true, too, but not what I was thinking of. Rimes is now admitting that the body was in the skull rock and that the murder scene was the show pool...and then prepares to give another testimony. No doubt blaming Orla yet again...wait, he's claiming that it happened during a show, rather than during the cleaning? "Spectators' screams" my ass! Phoenix wonders why Rimes is still protecting Sasha if he's the culprit, as false charges against her would mean he'd escape suspicion. It's obvious--he'd protect anyone who wasn't Orla, because he wanted revenge on her for killing Azura and on Shipley for protecting Orla when it happened! Athena hears discord in Rimes's heart... Good; take it from here, Athena.

...Ooh...out-of-control emotions. Both anger and sadness...consistent with my theory. Probing time...yeah, the audience is clearly a false memory. But there were spectators when Azura died! Yes, Phoenix believes he's conflating the two incidents together. He said that he was a spectator there, but Phoenix thinks he was more than just a spectator. Blackquill wants evidence...but it's too early to present the charm, isn't it? ...Maybe not. He recognized it, and was very rattled when he said the word "charm", but we need to push him harder...

...the charm's a locket! There's a photo of Rimes and Azura together. Orla's in the picture, too; they both have the charms, and Azura has the anchor whistle around her neck. Blackquill believes the witness's past is irrelevant. Far from it--it's motive for murder! Now we need to pinpoint the source of the anger...but what do we point to, when the anger-causing statement is "trying to protect the orca"? ...Well, that would be the orca. He admits that he became an animal keeper because he wanted Orla to pay for what she did to Azura. But now where's the discord? Unless..."trying to protect the orca" should've made him far angrier than it did. No, that's not it... Ah! It's that the anger and sadness decrease at the part where Shipley's body is just floating there! ...Wrong again. Oh, right. He said he freaked when DePlume found the body, but there's barely anything registering at all..and nothing in "surprise"!

...Okay what's he doing?

...He just chugged the contents of his chum bucket and now he's got big bulky muscles. He really looks like he stepped right out of One Piece. Unfortunately, just because he's ready for a fight doesn't mean he's stopped rapping.

"Order! If we don't have order, Prosecutor Blackquill will yell at us!" Way to do your job, Judgey. Rimes admits to the frame-up involving DePlume "witnessing" the murder. But he claims he always felt grateful towards the captain, and that he wanted Orla to pay for murdering both Azura and the captain. Phoenix suddenly believes that Shipley wasn't the intended victim. Okay, well, yeah, killing Orla would've obviously been better, but I fail to see how...

...oh. Rimes was draining the show pool with Orla in it! He was going to kill her that way. Shipley tried to stop him; they struggled; Shipley fell to his death. The TORPEDO data shows that Orla hadn't been fed during the time Rimes was taking care of her. Blackquill says there's no proof; maybe the orca simply wasn't hungry. ...Is that why the fish is still in our inventory? And here I thought that it was there because Rifle was actually the intended target of the sleeping pill.

...No, but Rifle did steal Orla's food on the morning of the 20th--and with it, Marlon's charm. Oh, and Rifle's feet were pink because she stepped in the wet paint on the sign Sasha made! Blackquill wants us to explain why Rimes didn't notice Rifle despite being at the show stage... It's because he was in the pool area. The fingerprints, remember? ...Okay, we're not actually using them yet. But we've now declared that he was at the bottom of the pool, planting Shipley's body in the skull rock, when Rifle arrived. Finally, Blackquill keys on the usage of the tricks. Just as planned!

...Goddamnit no what are you doing Phoenix? We don't need to call Orla to the stand! We've got this! ...Oh. That's not who you meant by "central figure in both cases", is it? You're going to "call" Azura Summers to the stand. (Oh, wait, that might not have needed to be in quotation marks after all; we do have a spirit medium on standby for this case, don't we? But last I remember, that's not admissible in court.) Well, do or die time... Nope, guess it was Orla. And now a ten-minute recess to set up the telecast...and a "To Be Continued"! Guess we're further from the end than I thought!

...Looks like everyone's on our side. DePlume says that whatever the verdict, she'll report the truth in her new book, even if it refutes what's in her last one. And Crab reveals a bit more about Azura's death.

Right in the middle of a show, she fell from Orla's back and began to thrash in pain...the orca sang a song, and then started headbutting her over and over. Finally, she took Azura in her mouth and brought her to the side of the pool. That sounds like the lifesaver trick...which makes sense, seeing as how Azura was very much dying. Phoenix is thinking the same thing I am--Orla wasn't at fault last year, either; Azura's heart condition was! And I wouldn't be at all surprised if Jack Shipley knew this, and that's why he was so adamant about not allowing Sasha to be in the new show when he found out she had the same heart condition. Ah...yes, that's right. That's why his "poison" was a sleeping drug. Dr. Crab never intended to euthanize Orla--rather, if it ever came to it, he'd use sleeping pills to make it look like she was dead and then set her free. DePlume admits that her "client" on the 20th was Marlon Rimes--he was the one who asked her to investigate. She says she's telling us this now because her desire to protect her client was standing in the way of the truth. As unpleasant as she may be, she does seem to be single-mindedly dedicated to exposing the truth. Crab reminds us how he said he didn't mind us exposing any secret if it could save Sasha, and clues us in on another one--focus on the orca's song. Yes, the other inconsistency...

...We are listening to a witness testimony from an orca. Save me now... Now we're cross-examining the testimony. How do I know when to present the evidence? Well, we're pressing everything... And getting nowhere. So we stop the cross-examination and get right to the proof that Rimes knew how to issue commands to Orla! Presenting, the TV Phone! Right, Rimes's TV phone is the one Pearl is using right now for the telecast! And as Sasha said, the phones can record sounds that humans can't hear, so playing back the video of Azura issuing commands to Orla would, in fact, reissue those same commands! And if we have her issue the singing command... It's the Swashbuckler Spectacular song. The judge wants the videos submitted as evidence, so we have Pearl send them to us...but when Athena plays a video, that's a different song! I think it's the one Norma DePlume remembered... Blackquill concedes that we've proven that it's possible that Rimes did it, but that doesn't prove that it wasn't Sasha. But she couldn't have, because as far as she knew, Orla only knew one song--and that wasn't the song that Orla performed for Norma DePlume! ...Well, we've proven that it couldn't have been done via the whistle, because Orla only does one trick per signal and DePlume saw two tricks simultaneously.

...Wait. The sounds DePlume heard came from a speaker! That would make it easy enough to fake the singing trick! ...I see. That video was from when they were training; it contained the signal for Orla's song, but when the video was taken, Orla hadn't mastered the trick yet, so the song in the video isn't the same as the one that she now sings on its command. He used the walkie-talkie to broadcast the sounds through the speaker. Rimes says that's not possible. ...Oh fuck he's rapping his testimony. He claims his walkie-talkie was broken. Even if that's true, Jack Shipley was found without his walkie-talkie, the one he always carried around...the one that used to belong to Azura. We get him to show his broken walkie-talkie, then we examine it.

...The broken one is Azura's! It has the teeth marks! But without it being added to the testimony, we can't present the evidence to contradict it! ...Oh. "His statements might not have changed, but the meaning of one of them may have..."

We press the first statement again and use the pictures of the victim to prove that the walkie-talkie was Shipley's, formerly Azura's. Only the culprit could've taken it. ...Damnit. He's got plenty of toothmarks on his own body--enough to claim that he's had run-ins with the orca as well, and thus, that she left tooth marks in his walkie-talkie, too. Athena sees something different about the toothmarks on the walkie-talkie... Two different bite patterns? Two different songs...

...was I right all along? Two different orcas? Blackquill wants more evidence. How about two videos? First, the TV Phone, and then Athena's Swashbuckler Special DVD. The orca in the former has a broken tooth, while Orla's got a full set of teeth. As such, the bite mark from one year ago is missing a tooth. And now Rimes has gone overboard. ...He still blames himself for Azura's death. Sasha confirms it to be true. "Orla" is the second "Ora Shipley". Ora and Orla were sisters; they both got beached and were rescued by the captain. Orla was in bad shape, and Dr. Crab had to look after her for a long time. They didn't mention anything about the other orca because...after what happened last year, Ora was put down. The CDAC demanded it, and they managed to convince them to leave the other orca--Orla--alone. Only a few people knew about the switch.

Rimes had planned to kill Orla from the start. He was afraid Sasha would be in danger if he let Orla stay alive...because she trusted that orca just as much as Azura did! All of those bites came from fighting sharks to become stronger, so that he'd be able to at least protect Sasha, as he couldn't do for Azura. The captain tried to save Orla...so Rimes killed him. The strange bruise on Shipley's wrist turned out to be Rimes's handprint. Rimes accepts his fate; he just wants Sasha to be given her not guilty verdict. But...Phoenix isn't satisfied yet? ...Oh! Right...the strange handprint. That awkward angle...Rimes didn't murder Shipley! He was telling the truth about being grateful to the captain--he tried, and failed, to save him! Which makes this...accidental death, exactly what the police originally ruled it, minus the part about it resulting from failure to exercise proper oversight over an animal. The captain was rushing to try to get water for Orla, and he slipped, and fell, and Marlon grabbed him, but Jack told him to just let him go or else they'd both fall, and asked for forgiveness for not realizing what pain Marlon was in, and told him not to blame Orla or himself for Azura's death. Rimes didn't say anything because he felt he deserved the death penalty for what he did. Phoenix tells Rimes what really happened a year ago--that Azura had a heart attack and Ora was trying to save her. The judge says Rimes's responsibility in this matter is great, but he believes he can be rehabilitated. Wait, does this mean we actually had a case in which nobody was murdered? Sasha offers to act out her gratitude, but Crab tells her to put her health first, and she sheepishly agrees not to do any more shows until she's better. Then he gets on our case for blabbing all of the aquarium's secrets, but says he's glad. DePlume's apparently advocating for them in the whole TORPEDO matter, saying the law itself is to blame.

...Ha. Of course. The 7 AM meeting wasn't at the Shipshape Aquarium's orca pool...it was at the Supermarine Aquarium's. Like Crab said, he was against euthanasia...the original Ora Shipley's still alive, too! Supermarine is harboring her; that's what the monthly payments are for. We present the fish to Orla...and she kisses Phoenix? Flash forward a few months and Sasha's healthy, Ora's back, the TORPEDO's been legalized, and...Marlon's back and playing the role of Redstache? Case closed!

Chapter 11: Schooled (Ace Attorney 5--Case 3)
Open on Themis Legal Academy, a prestigious high school with alumni in the highest echelons of the legal world. Three students standing over a body...the murder weapon appears to be, um, I guess it kind of looks like an ice pick? Apparently today's their school festival. Athena's running late, and there's an announcement that Mock Trial is about to begin. We were supposed to meet a Ms. Courte, but she's running late, too. We instead meet Professor Aristotle Means. We ask about the mock trial, and Athena reveals that the pamphlet that Means sent to our office fell victim to one of Trucy's magic tricks not working properly. Athena asks about the school and learns they have courses for lawyers, courses for prosecutors, and courses for judges. Phoenix came early because he was supposed to have a meeting with the school's head judge, Prof. Constance Courte. The mock trial is a prestigious event that every student aspires to win. The top student in the lawyer course and the top student in the prosecutor course face off in a simulated trial, with the case based on the best script written by a judge course student. The winner gets to take a seminar hosted by a famous lawyer or prosecutor, depending on their specialty, and should the lawyer student win, Phoenix is to be that lawyer. Wait...damnit, this game's giving me cases out of order again! We're introduced to a third-year judge student named Juniper Woods. Although, apparently Juniper and Athena already knew each other. Unfortunately, we're not going to get to see the mock trial--it's for students and faculty only, although there's a special seat reserved for Phoenix. Phoenix offers Apollo his seat, however, as he wants to meet with Prof. Courte as soon as she arrives.

A half an hour later, Courte hasn't arrived and Phoenix has dozed off. Athena and I hear a crash in the hallway and go to investigate. The noise wakes Phoenix. We head outside...oh, hey, we found Professor Courte! Pity about the bruising on her wrists and the arrow sticking out of her abdomen. Athena calls the police and wants to go tell everyone in the Lecture Hall, but Phoenix says they'll find out soon enough and wants to do his own investigation before the police arrive. There are a lot of obstructions on the stage--it couldn't be easy to shoot an arrow at her there. No blood around the body, but rigor mortis has set in...so she was probably killed somewhere else and moved there during the mock trial. The bruising suggests she was tied up. We also take note of Courte's day planner, although in the interest of preserving the crime scene, we don't actually physically take it. There are some shattered remains of a statue, and the school paper is buried in the rubble. We don't want to disturb the scene, so we just read what we can...but it's just the gossip pages, apparently. It seems that both the lawyer student and the prosecutor student in today's mock trial both have designs on the heart of Juniper Woods. Also, the article is written in a manner that clearly means to demean Junie. We then investigate the statue; it had been covered up when we arrived. Apollo then comes running in, saying that the police say that a body was found on campus, and Phoenix calmly informs him that we were the ones who phoned it in.

...What?! The mock trial involved a victim being found in exactly the same state as Professor Courte? The body's location, position, murder weapon, lack of pooling blood...everything. Classes are canceled for the day as the police arrive; Phoenix heads off to tell Means what we found. Athena's worried about Juniper, but apparently she's stronger than Athena remembers. She's Student Council President now. We ask her some questions, and learn that Courte was trying to fix something that had gone wrong with the school. The dark age of law, no doubt...

...Uh-oh. It seems Juniper's script was the one chosen for the mock trial. That's not good...and there's the Juniper I remembered seeing in 5-1, the nervous one with the coughing fits. Worse, she even states that she and Professor Courte, as the ones preparing it, were the only ones in the entire school who knew all of the details. She wrote the script so that the case could go either way, so that both the prosecution and the defense had an equal chance of winning. Some other students cut in with praise for Juniper. The ones we saw in the paper... Apparently Juniper played the defendant, too. Also, the prosecutor student, Robin Newman, is even more hot-blooded than Apollo and Athena. Hugh O'Conner, the lawyer student, is the stereotypical "smug dark-haired guy with glasses who's always at the top of the class". Seems like there's one of them in every high school anime/manga story. Newman's got some weird metal contraption on his arms. And apparently that's not all Junie's doing...she was supposed to sing on stage at the festival. She says all of the other girls were too embarrassed to try out...and you weren't, Juniper? She says she was responsible for making everyone's stage costumes, and shows us a picture of her costume. Hey, I recognize that outfit! That's y--Lamiroir's stage outfit! (Whew, that was close. I almost forgot that Apollo never learned the truth behind his past. The real murder was announced just before the verdict in the mock trial could be rendered. Hugh and Robin both believe they would have won. Athena's worried they'll hurt each other, but Juniper says the three of them have been good friends since they got there and even have proof of their friendship, but when asked about it, she says it would be bad luck to show it to anyone. Athena senses discord. Hugh says their friendship is sacred and inviolable and shouldn't be cheaply put on display, while Robin shouts that they don't need proof, they're friends foreveeeeeer!!! She senses discord in their voices, too. Then Fulbright shows up and arrests Juniper. Of course he does. Detective Fulbright, while I understand your reasoning for suspecting my client, she had neither motive nor opportunity!

(Uh, we don't actually know time of death yet; the lack of pooling blood suggests she was dead before the mock trial began.)

Yes, but the body was moved during the mock trial. Juniper couldn't possibly have done that! ...Ah. The thing in the opening scene, it was evidence for the mock trial. Athena confirms what I kind of already said, that we'll be her lawyers, and the student duo insists on investigating themselves. Uh, isn't one of them training to be a prosecutor? Once they leave, Apollo decides to tell us about how the body was the same as in the mock trial. He says it's a little hard to explain without any script or props, and a voice behind us offers to help. Ah, so that's the famous prosecutor they got to teach the other seminar! Man, "Guilty Love" sounds better than ever in this game! He introduces himself to Athena and says that he was most famous for his former band, which sadly went kaput. Yeah, that's because your second guitarist was found guilty of murder and smuggling Borginian cocoons into the United States. ...Oh. That performance. No wonder it looked like Lamiroir's costume--Junie was going to be singing Lamiroir's part in "The Guitar's Serenade"! Whoa, and the statues...they're Klavier and Phoenix! Also, Klavier reveals that Courte was his mentor. Wait, but she's the judicial teacher, and you're a prosecutor! ...Ah, but that motto, "The end is only justified through proper means"...that's Klavier's way of thinking, alright. Too bad Courte couldn't have affected your older brother too...

Whoa! So that's what he meant by "help". They're going to reenact the mock trial, with Klavier as prosecutor, Apollo as defense attorney, and Athena as the defendant. Does that make me the judge? Klavier's even got the script. Wow...this is going to be interesting. Achtung, baby, ready to rock!

Klavier gives the opening statement. Apparently the mock trial was also set at a school, and the victim was also a female professor. In fact, Professor Courte posed as the corpse for the "photo of the crime scene" evidence. Klavier asks how the mock trial participants reacted to the photo. Newman was apparently surprised by what the professor was wearing--this, too, was exactly as we found it in reality. The defendant in the mock trial was a member of the school's Archery Club. But is Junie in fact a member of the Archery Club? I don't think so. The body's not posed exactly the same, though, although it's close. Before the crime occurred, the defendant was to meet with the victim in the quad--that's where the body was found, and also where the stage where the real body was found was set up. The defendant's testimony was simply that she arrived at their meeting spot and found the professor with the arrow in her stomach. The defense then said that it was unlikely that a frail coed used her bare hands to stab her professor with an arrow, and that a male student was seen holding a bow in the Archery Club room, which has a clear view of the quad, at the time of the murder, and suggests that said student shot the professor before his client even got there. The prosecution rebutted that the autopsy report notes that the edges of the victim's wound were unusually ragged, which would not result from an arrow shot from a bow, and suggests that the impalement with an arrow happened postmortem, by hand. The real murder weapon was not the arrow at all.

Sorry to break the mock trial, or mock mock trial, but I think I just figured something out. In the actual murder, there was no pooling blood, just like in the mock trial, but the arrow wound is bloody. But in the picture of the crime scene for the mock trial, not even the wound is bloody, supporting the prosecution's theory that the arrow wound occurred postmortem! Someone who had witnessed Courte posing as the corpse, however, would have assumed that the murder weapon in the mock trial was an arrow, and so in an attempt to make it look "just like the mock trial" would have in fact used the wrong murder weapon!

...At least that's what I'm hoping happened. Ah, yes, the awl we saw in the opening. (That was my second guess as to what the tool was, by the way.) Robin had had trouble determining what the true murder weapon was, because, as Klavier put it, he's still a student, but Klavier believes that the true murder weapon in the mock trial was the awl, left in the art room. (And wouldn't you know it, when Athena asks what an awl is, at the end of his explanation Klavier says, "It's kind of like an ice pick.") The defendant's prints were found on the murder weapon, and traces of the victim's blood were found in the art room. Hence, that is where Klavier believes the actual murder scene was. The art room in question is on the third floor, but the body was found on the quad. Klavier said there's a maintenance area and storehouse right outside the art room. A cart used to carry balls around was found there--big enough to fit a body in. He believes the defendant dropped the body from the art room window, then moved it with the cart. Apollo objects that a body dropped from three stories up would show signs of massive blunt force trauma. Klavier counters with the fact that there was a high jump mat in the storehouse, as well, and if dropped onto that, it would show no signs of blunt force trauma.

Now done with the reenactment, Klavier comments on how crafty the killer was, moving the body to a place where it would be a clear shot from the Archery Club room and inserting an arrow into the awl's stab wound to fake the murder weapon. ...So either way the fatal blow was a piercing weapon in the location of the arrow, huh? So much for my theory about the killer in the real case using the wrong murder weapon...it's still possible, but my reasoning for it is off. We go talk to Phoenix and find him talking to Professor Means, who refuses to believe that one of the academy's students could be capable of murder, and says that we must prove her innocent by any means necessary--the end justifies the means. Athena asks what he means, and he replies, "I, Professor Means, always say what I mean, and mean what I say by all means!" He says that the Themis Academy trains its students to produce meaningful results, and asks if we believe Juniper to be innocent. When Athena replies in the affirmative, he says, "Precisely. We have justice on our side. The only other thing we need are results." Wait, this guy's a defense lawyer? That mode of thinking seemed more characteristic of the prosecutors I met in my early days of practicing law... Well, I did run into one defense lawyer whom I heard had such a philosophy, but on that particular case, he was the victim and that philosophy was the motive. Athena agrees that she wants to prove Junie innocent, but she doesn't like the sound of that "the end justifies the means" part. Prof. Means calls her young and idealistic and says that he'll have to take on her case himself. Athena says that we already agreed to take Juniper's case, and Phoenix agrees with our decision. Means says it's admirable and says he'll do whatever he can to help. Phoenix offers to tell us what he knows about the trial. It seems that...shoot. The police believe that the murder scene for the real murder was the art room, too! There are traces of a large pool of blood there. The conversation turns to Means's philosophy...the dark age of the law. Prosecutors filing false charges and lawyers fighting back by fabricating evidence. The school's policy, training students to produce results...I see. That's not a bad thing in and of itself, if those results come by fair and honest means. However...there's a rumor that Themis is teaching its students to do whatever is necessary to produce results. Athena suddenly realizes that Phoenix's desire to investigate on his own before the police arrived could've been from fear of someone tampering with evidence. We head to the maintenance area. Athena goes over what Gavin suggested--sure enough, there's a mat and a ball cart in the shed. We run into Robin, who's busy working out, trying to become strong enough to save Juniper. Um...I don't think training physically is going to help her. He says he's so worked up that his training brace is breaking, though. Apollo asks if Robin could stop shouting, and Robin says he'll try, if at all possible--which it evidently isn't. Athena says her ears ache already. Oh, come on, at least he says all of his words loudly, not like that ridiculous L'Belle guy. Robin says he's a member of the Fine Arts Club. They were the ones who made the statues. Professor Courte was the Fine Arts Club advisor. Her philosophy was the opposite of Means's--she believed that only lawyers who seek the truth through legitimate means produce worthwhile results. Robin laments that he can't save Junie because he's taking the prosecutor course. He said the three of them swore to run fair trials together, as lawyer, prosecutor, and judge. But anyone with a conviction, no matter what it's for, isn't allowed to graduate the school. So if we can't prove Junie's innocence, she'll never be able to realize her dream!

We head over to the stage and find the police discussing something. Athena tries to get closer to listen, but trips over a cardboard box with something inside. She's afraid that it might be a snake. ...Seriously? And having shouted that fear out, the box of course starts hissing, because whoever it is doesn't want to be discovered. Ah, it's a senior in the judge course, Myriam Scuttlebutt. She's mad about having her cover blown. She's still hissing, though. She says there's a good reason that none see her face by the light of day. Apparently she's supposed to be a witness...that's odd, she clearly seems to be on Juniper's side and wants to know what we know for her sake, so why is she one of the prosecution's witnesses? Her cardboard box disguise is how she gathers scoops. ...Oh. Apollo makes her repeat what she said about wanting to know what we know for Juniper's sake, and though she gives him attitude about how with such an awful lawyer, Juniper's sure to be convicted, she does so--and despite being hidden in a cardboard box, Apollo's bracelet reacts. Her hands tighten their grip on the box when she said, "for Juniper's sake". She was selected as a witness because she's the editor-in-chief of the school newspaper...or rather, the only writer. Which means she was the one who wrote that awful article about Juniper before! Her response to being presented with the edition containing that story was that another writer wrote that one. That's some Sahwit-quality flip-flopping, Ms. Scuttlebutt. We get the truth--she's the target of Scuttlebutt's scoops, and the box is how she collects gossip. She drops Professor Means's favorite phrase in regards to her journalism. She mentions that in this age, a lot of students embrace the professor's methods, even judges, and that she's adapted it to her journalism, including tape recorders hidden all over the campus. And one of them was in the art room! She says a fatal fissure had opened between the trio. It seems that one of them was a follower of Means's methods rather than Courte's. We head back to the lecture hall and talk to Hugh. He's found nothing to help Juniper, and says it doesn't look good for her, as only the author and the victim knew the contents of the script. Hugh wants us to let Professor Means handle the case. Athena senses discord again, and asks him about himself. He's a member of the Archery Club. He claims that the reason he was about to lose the trial is because he saw the body before the trial started and was so distraught that he basically handed Robin the victory. He mentions the announcement for everyone to report to the lecture hall and states that the only exceptions were the participants. They were in their dressing rooms. Robin and Junie waited patiently, but Hugh wandered over to the archery range on the far side of the quad and did some meditation to relax, heading back right as the trial was about to begin. He passed the stage and saw the body. Apollo asks why he went through with it if he'd just found a body, but Athena realizes that Scuttlebutt's tabloid reporting wasn't 100% false--the winner really was going to confess to Juniper, and if Hugh had reported the body, the trial would have been called off. So, then, you were confident at the time that you could win even as shaken as you were? Because it sounds to me like you handed victory to your romantic rival. Now, all that's left is to head over to the detention center and talk to Juniper. We talk to her about the script...

...She noticed the article about the love triangle, and although she'd originally designed it to be fair, when she read the article she revised the script to favor the prosecution. Professor Courte noticed, though, and changed it back.

They ask about the awl she had on her, and she confirms that it was the murder weapon in the mock trial and that she'd forgotten that she still had it with her until she was arrested, but...it didn't have anything blood-red on it, paint or otherwise, when they'd been prepping it yesterday. After showing Athena and Wright to the waiting room, she went to fetch the props from her dressing room and found both the awl and the art room key with what looked like blood on them. Since Professor Courte normally has the art room key, Juniper assumed she was the one who had painted the awl to look like it had blood on it, as she'd insisted that the props should be realistic. Juniper says she last saw the professor yesterday at around 6:00 PM, when she left school. It's time to go, but Athena's still concerned about the discord she sensed. Apollo says that he hopes that the similarities to the mock trial end with the murder scene and moved body, and Athena suddenly realizes that he's referring to the fact that the mock trial ended with the prosecution seemingly about to win.

Cut to the trial. Professor Means is there, again preaching his philosophy. He seems to think we'll fail. Hey, these two might not have much experience yet, but I've been defending clients since before Phoenix got his badge the first time. The judge is about to make the opening statement again, when Blackquill says this case is so crystal-clear that he sees no reason to explicate it further and asks for the first witness to be called. It's Fool Bright, as usual, and he just starts without any verbal prompting from Blackquill. Fulbright shows us the awl, with the victim's blood and the defendant's fingerprints on it, and then Taka delivers the autopsy report to us. He's really trying to limit his word count, isn't he? It states that she was killed between 6 PM and 8 PM the previous night. And the recorder captured a female voice screaming, "You're a goner!" The voice is very faint on the recording, though--but it does sound female. The noise and low volume have made voiceprint analysis impossible. The Judge asks if that means they haven't identified the voice as belonging to the defendant, and Fulbright says they have other ways of proving it was her. Nobody saw the body that morning, so it must have been moved after the announcement was made and everyone was in the Lecture Hall. He goes on to mention Hugh finding the body before the trial began. That's...pretty damning. Well, it's a good thing we don't have to cross-examine Fulbright, because there's nothing wrong with that testimony. The cardboard box takes the stand and then deactivates her stealth mode, then photographs the judge. He asks her to come out of the box, and she refuses because if she blows her cover, she won't be able to get any more scoops. In what world does that make sense? Blackquill makes the Judge let it pass with more jailhouse wisdom, this time from a former ninja who said "exposing those who live in the shadows is giving them the death sentence." ...Wow what an obvious contradiction, and one that puts a lot of suspicion on you, Miss Reporter. So Juniper's murderous rage was sparked by Professor Courte's sudden decision not to use her script? That's not something you'd think ''if you'd actually been at the mock trial. ''Apparently there was an envelope saying "Use" found in Courte's office next to Scuttlebutt's script, which suggested that Juniper's script had been rejected (that would of course be the modified script). But where in our evidence can we prove the truth? I press the "exactly the same" and Prosecutor Blackquill gives a summary of the differences--the stage wasn't there in the mock trial and there was evidence of the real victim's wrists being bound.

When asked if it was possible that someone else knew the script's contents beforehand, Scuttlebutt says that she tried any of a number of times and failed, so what hope could any normal person have of ferreting it out? I finally press everything...

...Oh, shit, this is one of those "press everything to proceed" segments. Apollo points out that if the killer was someone who knew the details of the mock trial, would they really commit the crime in the exact same way? Athena gets it and asks Scuttlebutt to again confirm her assertion that it is absolutely NOT a coincidence that it's so much like Juniper's script, and points out how irrational and foolhardy it would be for her to make the crime scene look just like the script, something known only to her--it's practically an admission of guilt! Very much at odds with the picture of a cunning and crafty devil that Scuttlebutt has been trying to paint Junie as. Blackquill believes that Juniper was attempting to stop the mock trial, which would mean that nobody would be any wiser about the similarities of the case and the script. Blackquill then claims that Scuttlebutt also saw the body, and had been led there by Juniper herself, and that Scuttlebutt only didn't call the police because she was hoarding the information for her own scoop. Scuttlebutt continues that she snuck into Juniper's dressing room while everyone was in the Lecture Hall. Juniper had already changed into her stage costume. She asked what Juniper was doing and Juniper suddenly fled into the hall, as if she wanted Scuttlebutt to follow her. She led her right to Professor Courte's body. Scuttlebutt is sure that it was Juniper because she was wearing the costume that she had made. ...So you didn't actually see her face? Hm, yes, well, that costume was based on the one Lamiroir wore on stage, which didn't exactly show much of her face. (After all, I stood there talking to her alongside both of her children and failed to notice any family resemblance--and while I've never seen Apollo's father, Trucy certainly looks more like her mother than her father. Also, visibility wasn't exactly a concern for Lamiroir.) Athena is immediately suspicious, as this testimony makes Scuttlebutt a potential suspect. It's true--the very fact that she left the lecture hall makes her a potential suspect for moving the body. Blackquill claims that Scuttlebutt has an alibi for the estimated time of death. She was in "undercover reporter class", right near her home. That's...that's ridiculous. Not that I don't have a potential alternate suspect, but she's still the most suspicious one here. Blackquill tries to dismiss the witness without giving Athena a chance to cross-examine her latest testimony, but Apollo's got something. She states that she's "always eyeing a scoop", yet she didn't take a picture of the body that she allegedly saw. She tries to claim that she still undoubtedly saw Juniper Woods, but the picture she submits is simply someone with their back turned in a blue robe with a hood covering the head. You can't even say definitively that the subject of the picture is female, much less that it's Juniper. Blackquill says it's irrelevant whether or not the figure in the picture is Woods--what matters is that someone tried to lead Scuttlebutt to the body. (She tripped and fell over her box--that explains the bandages on her legs when we see her full-body shot as her testimonies are beginning.) She was trying to show someone the body because she wanted to stop the mock trial. Uh, no, Prosecutor Blackquill, the mysterious figure tried to show someone the body, possibly because the mysterious figure wanted to stop the mock trial. I refuse to even assign a gendered pronoun to the cloaked person in that photograph. It's totally relevant if that's her or not.

Blackquill then threatens to torch the Scuttlebox if its owner tells another lie or conceals another fact from him. Time to cross-examine her...wait, that cloak doesn't match the design of Junie's stage costume; it lacks the constellations! Sure enough, the photo accompanies that portion of the testimony during cross-examination, allowing for a clean objection. Athena suggests that whoever was wearing the costume was wearing it inside-out--another mistake that Juniper wouldn't have made, as she was the costume's designer. Granted, that's circumstantial at best and can't prove that it wasn't Juniper, but it's not like there was any proof that the figure was her to begin with so contradicting what little "evidence" the witness had for claiming that it was Juniper should be good enough. She gets so rattled that she eventually lets the box completely off of her head. (By the way, every time she's gotten rattled, the box has lifted up high enough to see everything but her head, and school supplies fall out of the box like it's Senjougahara's skirt.) Ah, but the fluorescent paint had only just been applied that morning and was still drying! Therefore, anyone wearing it properly would've gotten the paint all over them. By the same token, wouldn't the paint have shown up in Scuttlebutt's photograph if it was even the same cloak? There's a handprint on the costume...but we need to prove that someone did, in fact, touch the costume while the paint was wet. ...! And we...actually have evidence of this... in the extra edition of the Themis Herald...Robin Newman's hands are glowing! He touched the costume while the paint was still wet!

Robin is called to the stand. He introduces himself in the most hot-blooded of ways, initially saying that he wants to be an artist, then getting mad at himself because his art isn't sincere enough, then saying that, no, what he wants to be is a prosecutor! He's been training for that goal for 18 years! This brace is proof of his masculinity!

...Okay, I think I understand what happened now. Robin's ashamed of the fact that he secretly likes making art, or perhaps he's only training to be a prosecutor because someone, maybe his father, is pushing him into it. He didn't want his "unmanly" side to be revealed, so he planned to use the cloak to sneak out before the trial started to smash the statues.That was his only motive for going to the stage before the trial--leading Scuttlebutt towards Professor Courte's body was purely incidental. And...perhaps because he was hiding under the cloak, he didn't even see the body?

He testifies that he went to see Juniper in her dressing room, but she wasn't there. The mannequin was about to fall on him, he says, and he got that paint on him when he caught it, but he never put it on. Athena wants to do her therapy. I predict an overload. ...Nope. Surprise when she wasn't there, happiness joining in when he sees the costume, disappears when the mannequin's about to fall over but surprise keeps growing, dissipates when he catches it...anger when he says he never put it on? Well, he did call the costume "frilly"...

Methinks his love of art is not the only thing "unmanly" about this one. Something about this one screams "putting up an over-the-top outward display of masculinity because he's less than secure in it himself." In fact, it's the happiness, rather than the anger, that's considered "inconsistent". He again claims that he just put his hands out to stop it falling, but the handprint looks all wrong for that. Athena's convinced that, at the very least, Robin likes cross-dressing. He admits to putting it on, but insists that Athena's wrong about him liking frilly clothes. This only lowers the noise level to 90%...I've never seen such a low effect.

And the whole testimony changes; his heart is pounding, even though he's a guy. Why do I feel like Robin isn't actually stating this testimony? Well, the end, with him stating that it was just for artistic purposes, sounds...plausible enough. But when he "gets all excited, even though he's a guy", there's a bit of fear/sadness, too. ..."No matter how much I dress up, I'll never be as pretty as Juniper!!!" ...My recommendation: give up the prosecuting thing and become a lumberjack, and you'll be okay. Okay, now there's the overload--anger. Down to 85%?! So complex! "...Totally dressed up like a girl," were you? Still in your usual jumpsuit and braces? ...wait, jumpsuit? Wasn't the female victim wearing a jumpsuit? ...Irrelevant at the moment; the braces are, as he said, the symbol of his masculinity. He can't take it off, even when cross-dressing, despite being angry at it. Athena's confused, wondering why this should be, or why he's interested in girls' clothes at all, and then she thinks of something. Something "totally insane", and she tells him that she's onto his secret, and that if she's correct, it's not very little at all--it's huge! ...So then was I right about him overcompensating? Was Juniper not the one that he had feelings for? ...That makes sense. When I first heard Juniper say that when she read the article, she tried to change the script to favor the prosecution, my initial thought was that she liked Robin, even though as Athena put it, Robin winning would mean Hugh couldn't confess. But Juniper said that she wanted things to stay as they were, and if the winner was going to confess to Juniper either way, then either way, things would change. On the other hand, if you turn the love triangle 120 degrees, these statements no longer contradict. Robin is in love with Hugh!

...Athena has come to a slightly different conclusion than I have. Robin's been cross-dressing all along--as a boy. Wait, here I was thinking this series was covering new ground by actually having a character confirmed as gay, even though they've had ambiguous cases before, but could it be that they're pushing the envelope even ''further? ''Robin Newman. Newman = new man = transsexual? Apollo actually breaks the fourth wall and asks if Athena's lost the plot. She insists she's serious, and Apollo still thinks she's lost it. "I, for one, have never seen a girl who shouts like a maniac all the time!" ...Well, okay, compared to you, I guess even Athena might seem "quiet", but you don't exactly have a convincing case standing next to you... The judge interrupts and pronounces a verdict as to Robin's gender. Robin's just making noises...I think Athena might be onto something. And judging by the way Robin looks like he or she is about to bust...I think I just accidentally made a pun. That brace is holding something back, isn't it? A couple of somethings. And, yep, it falls off, and Athena's dead on. Robin's a girl--and with her disguise gone, she's free to act as she really wants to. But why hide it in the first place, Robin?

...Um, no, it's fine, when I asked you why you were hiding it, I didn't mean it like that. (I cannot believe she just offered to prove her femininity that way. Oh, good, it was just a joke.) And...that brings it all the way down to zero. Yep, she was raised as a boy since she was little, and her parents were the ones who pushed her into law. What she really wants, though, is to be an artist. Man, I was so close to guessing the twist before it was revealed, and yet so far away. ...She's still as hot-blooded as ever, though.

Athena says there's a piece of evidence that must be reevaluated now, and I know what. There's now another female who lacks an alibi! (Damnit, though, I hate when we have to point at someone who obviously isn't the killer either...I mean, I guess I could be wrong, but of the four people I met for the first time yesterday (er, sorry, five; I forgot that this is chronologically my first meeting with Juniper, because the anachronic order of these cases means I already met her), I find three of them suspicious and Robin isn't one of them.) Robin faints when accused of the murder. Blackquill believes that Robin was indeed an accessory to the crime, but that Juniper was still the killer, as she was the only one who knew the details of the script. Athena says she believes that that's not true, and mentions the conversation at the detention center where we learned about the script revisions. Robin swears she never heard a word about the script from Juniper and that we have no evidence to the contrary. Apollo thinks otherwise, mentioning the part of the script where Robin said, "Oh, the green sweat suit." Robin asks what that proves, and Apollo says, hypothetically, that if he told her he'd be wearing a blue suit to court today and then showed up in what he was wearing, what might she say? This line is of course especially funny given that both Apollo and Athena are in their DLC outfits--in fact, Athena had an earlier line about people at the academy staring at her because she wasn't in a school uniform, when in fact she was, albeit not one that remotely matches the ones worn at Themis.

...Ah! Looking at the script in full, there's a "things to prepare" page.

Awl: Buy with school festival funds. (Get from hardware store.)

Arrow: If I borrow one from the Archery Club, it could give away part of the script's plot. (TBD)

Sweat suit: Victim's outfit will be a red one from the prosecutor course.

Hmmm...was I wrong, then, about it not matching the ones worn at Themis? After all, the only female students I've encountered so far are in the judge course. Perhaps Athena's outfit really would make her blend right in with the female defense students.

(Of course, Robin's struggle to figure out the true murder weapon in the mock trial means she couldn't have been privy to all of the details; the script spells it out.)

Aha! She says that if knowing script details makes her a suspect, then surely there must be others besides her! After all, someone else could've seen Professor Courte's note! ...Ah. Because there was only one copy of the script in order to keep it from being leaked, Professor Courte wrote a note to herself about the props and details about the victim's body, to refer to when she didn't have the script (which was in Junie's possession) on hand. ...Hold it! This means that there is now another detail about the actual crime that differs from the mock trial script, but this one doesn't differ from the actual mock trial! Robin says that she took a picture of the note when she found it, thinking it could give her an advantage.

Blackquill calls Hugh to the stand. He refuses to testify, and seems willing to stand by his convictions, until Blackquill mentions discussing "you-know-what". Seems Hugh also has a secret! Hugh's testimony is short--he says he stayed at the archery range to meditate until 7:00 the night before the trial, and that he passed Juniper at around 7:15--contradicting her claim that she left for home at around 6:00 that day. Furthermore, the voice recording came at 7:10, 10 minutes after the final bell. Our only opening is that he finishes with "anything else you'd like to ask?" Hopefully, Athena has something.

We start by asking what he did to prepare for the trial. He said nothing in particular--he was merely playing the role assigned to him; his only job was to be mentally prepared. He didn't talk to anyone. That's...useless. She then directly asks him if he went to the art room. He says that there's never really any reason for him to be there, so no. I guess then we should ask why he stayed past the last bell. He says he was just running late. I press it, and get nowhere. Then I press everything else I can, and all we get is Athena called a stalker and both of my partners called loud and annoying. Well, I think I'm reaching on this, but it looks like his claim of not talking to anyone is the one we have the best chance of disproving. After all, our nosy little cardboard box must have overheard her scoop from somewhere, right? ...Shot down. Wait...Courte's day planner has a meeting with Hugh on the 23rd! There's our contradiction! Furthermore, it was starred as "Important", and with the campus buzzing with activity just before the festival, there wouldn't be much room for important private conversations...until after the final bell had rung, that is. Rather than directly answering Athena's question, however, he points out that the voice on the recorder was female. It's a yes-or-no question, Hugh; that's one of the first things they teach you in legal school, to never leave witnesses room for ambiguities when asking about facts. Ah, but even if it was Hugh who was there at 7:10, there's still a woman present at the conversation--Constance Courte! Perhaps that thing that Blackquill was blackmailing him with was something that could've gotten Hugh thrown out of Themis--in which case, he would be very much "a goner", just not in the "death" sense.

...Or it could just be the fact that the voice was incredibly faint and obscured by other noises. "You're a goner" sounds vaguely similar to "Hugh O'Conner". If she was scolding him for something he'd done wrong and used his full name, it could've easily been misconstrued on that low-quality recording as "you're a goner". Blackquill had said he'd hoped this testimony would suffice, but he won't let such "fallacious quibbles" upend this case and he has one final piece of evidence to present. Huh, a photo of the defendant and victim together in the art room, preparing for the trial. The clock on the wall in the background is set to 7:05, and the moon outside the window suggests that, if that clock is indeed in working order, it was taken at 7:05 PM. But, wait, is there any proof that it was taken on October 23rd? Furthermore, someone had to take that picture, right? And I doubt it was the reporter chick because the subjects are looking directly at the camera and smiling, like they knew in advance that they were getting their pictures taken. Apollo wonders why Blackquill didn't just show that from the start, and Athena thinks it was to toy with her and show her how powerless she really is. The judge says it's time to render a verdict, but there's a sudden objection...it's Robin Newman! ...She just confessed to the murder. I don't think anyone in this courtroom believes that confession, but she gave it nevertheless. But whose "Hold it!" is that? It's...our client, Juniper Woods? And now she's going to confess, in order to protect her friends. Seeing them trying to protect each other leads Athena to believe that the real killer is Hugh, but he objects...oh, but not to offer his own confession. No, he figured out what Athena was thinking, and has his bow out of its case and an arrow pointed at her...well, okay, it's more like a stick, and he's pulling the bowstring with his teeth, but...okay, there's the confession. And he even offers to tell all the details of his genius murder plot. I love it.

And that ended proceedings for the day. Back at the office, Athena reflects on what Means said and realizes that she might have to go to dire measures, but regardless, she has to protect Junie, and rushes off. Trucy tells her to wait, as she just pulled a batch of freshly made cookies out of her magic panties. ...Seriously, Trucy, that is never going to stop being weird.

Professor Means is at the Detention Center, and Juniper apologizes for confessing like that after Athena had worked so hard...and says she's thinking of asking Professor Means to defend her. We ask why she wants this, and she asks if we really believe Hugh or Robin could've done it. If so... Juniper wants all three to be cleared, and only Means has the means to make that happen. You pretty much just admitted to conspiring to forge evidence. You wouldn't by any chance have had a student named Kristoph Gavin a number of years ago, would you? Anyway, Athena asks why Junie confessed, and she said that she wasn't thinking straight and did it because Robin was her friend--and not because of the school rule, either. Athena senses discord, and presses Juniper about the trio's friendship. She mentions them meeting and bonding right away, and vowing to put an end to the dark age of law, and mentions the "proof of friendship" again. But when the school shifted to training legal professionals solely for producing results... Professor Means cuts in, and spells out even more clearly that getting results means winning trials in the lawyer course he teaches, whereas Courte taught that finding the truth was the only valid result. Phoenix, mercifully, has rarely had to make that choice, since he only takes on clients that he believes are innocent and therefore finding the truth results in winning trials for him. His instincts have only been wrong once, and I wasn't with him for that case. I've seen other honorable professionals who believe in finding the truth--not only lawyers, but prosecutors like Klavier Gavin and Miles Edgeworth, though the latter needed to be reminded of that goal after having been corrupted by Manfred von Karma. ...And then there's me. I could try to claim the moral high ground and say that I never resorted to underhanded tactics to try to get my client a not guilty verdict, and I wouldn't be lying--likewise if I were to say that I never successfully defended a guilty client. But unlike Prosecutors Gavin and Edgeworth, both of whom I've seen essentially helping the defense once they believed that the person they were trying to prosecute was innocent, or for that matter Phoenix on the Engarde case, I never "threw" a case when it became clear that my client was guilty...well, not intentionally, anyway, although those same nerves that made me borderline unemployable straight out of law school no doubt betrayed me at times. Truth be told, finding Phoenix disbarred when I returned here was a true shock to my system, as I'd come hoping that he could help me regain the moral compass I'd feared I was losing, having lost my last five trials on the East Coast--all because of poor client selection. But the one that really sent me back was the sixth one. My client was innocent, and she was successfully defended...but in the end, not by me. No, after five straight clients turned out to be guilty, I'd begun having doubts before the prosecution even made their opening statement. I botched up the defense pretty well at first...luckily, my second chair turned out to be ready to take the lead after all, and ended up taking over my case and winning it. While I was proud of him for winning a case all by himself, the fact that he needed to was a sign that I'd lost faith in my ability as a lawyer. And so I returned.

(Wow, about half that post was my storytelling, and I didn't even get to Athena asking about Kristoph.)

The clash of ideals resulted in a rift between the students. We ask about the day of the murder...it seems that Juniper was partially telling the truth before. She did indeed leave the art room a little after 6:00 PM, but she didn't go home; she went to her dressing room and worked on the stage costume. If that's true, then the photograph Blackquill revealed just before the confession parade either wasn't taken on the 23rd or depicts a stopped clock. Athena's pretty sure she's hiding something, though, as there wouldn't be any reason to hide that information in the first place. Apollo shows her said picture, and she says that she remembers taking it (right; time-delayed shutter release, of course), but that something is wrong--she took it just after 6:00, right before leaving the art room, but the clock in the picture says it's just after 7. Apollo wants to check out the art room now, but Athena has another question, regarding running into Hugh. She admits to running into him, but says nothing more. She was definitely trying to hide her meeting with him...but why? Athena asks her if she noticed anything else, and she says that she had forgotten something in her dressing room and went back at around 8:30--long after the final bell and allegedly after the murder took place. Both stage statues were finished--they were covered by white sheets, but she could just tell, and she was happy that they were finally done after all of that hard work. We're about to part ways when Athena brings everyone back with a proposal. She then says that we'll find the truth by sundown today and bring Juniper solid evidence showing just what that truth is. Um, Athena, could I talk to you for a moment?

As much as I love your spirit right now, remember that Juniper turned to Professor Means because she wanted not only herself but also Hugh and Robin to be found innocent, and that Professor Means said he would make it so, by any means. If, and I have no reason to think that this would be the case, but if the truth is that either Robin or Hugh is the killer, bringing Junie proof of that is a bad idea.

But both the professor and Juniper agree to give Athena this opportunity. We head off to Themis. I somewhat expected Athena to ask about the name I mentioned earlier, as she had only just recently met Klavier, but she's so focused on her goal that she doesn't say a word the entire time it takes us to get there. We check the area near the actual crime scene, but it yields nothing. When we head to the stage, though, we see Scuttlebutt sneaking around in her box. Before we can confront her, though, we run into Klavier. We ask about the stage, and he mentions the plans for the concert. Athena asks about the logo on one of the two banners--she recognizes the other as the school emblem. That's the Gavinners logo. Athena mistook it for a number six, rather than the G that it is. Ah, both statues are broken? And the Gavinners banner was misplaced. Athena suggests putting the statues back together to see if it produces any clues. Oh! Yes, I remember doing that once with Phoenix, only it was an oddly-shaped urn rather than a statue. The first thing we end up looking at in our examination, however, is the backdrop for the concert stage. Athena thinks the night sky isn't quite an appropriate background for a stage styled to look like a courtroom, but Klavier romanticizes about "speaking the truth under a starry sky", and informs us that the waning crescent moon represents the maximum three-day trial cycle. Wait a minute...waning crescent moon?

...We no longer have proof that that photo was even taken at nighttime. There is at least a possibility that our "night sky" outside the window is actually that backdrop.

There are statue pieces all over the place. We put together all of the fragments, but...there are other fragments left over? White ones. Athena puts them back together...there's another statue, one with the goddess of law holding a pair of scales in one hand and a sword in the other. But it's not in the stage plans. Athena says she feels like she's seen it somewhere before...

...That picture again. It was far from complete at the time, but it's there, in progress. Wait, what? There was a pole, near the stage, and there's a wire that connects to...a pulley near an open window. Ah! The open window is the art room?! Then the method of moving the body may not have been the same after all--nay, it wasn't the same! The evidence of bound wrists--she was more or less ziplined down the wire used for hanging banners! Athena calls up to the art room, which is still full of cops, and gets Fulbright to lower the banner still hanging from the wire. Looks like it was the scales banner--the school emblem. There's a stain on it...and also a scrap of paper that was caught in it, which looks like it came from Professor Courte's day planner! October Hugh 120. And, yes, the stain is blood. I feel as though we've seen everything, but Athena proves me wrong. Something about a metal fence seeming out of place...oh, there's a track that seems manmade, and it goes behind the backdrop. I wonder...could the body have been hidden behind the backdrop in between the murder and the reveal of the body? We're about to leave when Little Miss Paparazzi takes off running towards the maintenance area. She's got a brand new box, too. She seems to have found the Gavinners banner, all burnt up. It was in the incinerator. I subconsciously tense up as memories come flooding back to me...no, wait, this isn't something from my past. Someone else's memories? Well, I've witness my fellow lawyers do far stranger things, so I can't be too skeptical of such a strange phenomenon being possible. We suddenly realize that Scuttlebutt's obsession with the Three Amigos comes from her own loneliness making her jealous of their friendship. She ends up dropping her laptop and breaking it. Ugh, "abused laptops" is something I can relate to--I'm a bit concerned about the hinge on my own, which seems to be coming apart. Athena offers to let her use a spare laptop that they have at the office, and Scuttlebutt gives her what few pictures she has left. Robin's working on the statues, and Means is supervising the construction of the stage. A crane is moving the backdrop into place...right past the art room window! Furthermore, this photo has a timestamp--October 23rd, 6:01 PM! Junie was telling the truth about when the picture was taken! We head back to show the flag to Klavier, and he is of course filled with righteous fury.

Finally, it's into the art room...oh, is that Phony Phanty hanging from the ceiling? ...Fulbright won't let us in. That was a waste of time. We return to the hallway to find Hugh. He says he was forced into that confession by Athena's incompetence, and insists that the voice on the tape being female does rule him out and that Athena's "play-on-words" was just a bluff. He also reasons that Juniper's confession would be great for the real killer, but if he or Robin was the killer, they wouldn't have confessed. I'll admit, that thought crossed our minds before your confession...but, as you said, the ends justify the means. That phrase keeps coming up, and it's really been bugging me. I'm almost tempted to let the professor take the lead for a bit just to see where he takes it. Athena asks how Blackquill managed to convince Hugh to testify. I'm guessing it's related to whatever Courte was scolding him about. She asks about the meeting with Professor Courte, and again he clams up. Athena reminds him of Courte's motto about the truth being the only good result. He challenges us that the truth might not be our friend in this case, nor Juniper's. Funny, you're the one who seems to be embracing Professor Means's ideology. He says he'll testify as to the truth tomorrow, but don't look to him if something happens to Juniper because of it. And then he admits that he and Juniper are no longer friends. Fulbright lets us into the art room now. ...Ack! They got a voiceprint analysis on the tape, and it does belong to Junie! Athena's dejected that her theory's been debunked. I wouldn't give up on it so quickly. Just because the voice doesn't belong to Professor Courte doesn't necessarily mean you were wrong about what it was saying. There's an abstract-looking picture of Junie, done by Professor Courte herself. The statue from the photo is gone, unsurprisingly. The rejected mock trial scripts are all in the art room, too. Scuttlebutt's script is on the floor, away from the others. Three statues on a shelf, one on the floor. A judge, a defendant, a lawyer and a prosecutor. One of the last two is the one that fell on the floor. And there's the painting of Juniper that we saw in the picture. Robin did this? She's pretty good. She doesn't seem to think so, though--there's a note on the back where she says that it completely lacks Prof. Courte's artistry and she needs to keep practicing. The clock on the wall is ahead by an hour. Fulbright hadn't noticed, as he checked it by comparing it with his own watch...which had stopped. He asks what proof we had that it was running fast on the day of the murder, and she points out that the only view out that window is the opposite side of the school building--thus proving that the moon outside the window is actually the backdrop! ...There's also some bloodstains on some pottery near another window--a window that would make sense for the "done just like in the script" theory for the moving of the body. We also learn that Robin was headed to the Lecture Hall. We ask her why she confessed...of course. She doesn't really want to be a prosecutor, so being forced to drop out would be no big deal for her. We also learn that before her death, Professor Courte spoke to the school administration on Robin's behalf, as she was planning to reveal her true gender all along. She says she was on the stage making the statues at 7 PM, but gets hesitant when we mention "both of them", referring to the Wright and Gavin statues. Right, because she also made the Lady Justice one...which would've required entering the art room at some point in time! There's also a rumor that there's a student watching everything everyone does and reporting it to one of the professors in exchange for good grades. The student's probably Scuttlebutt...and I bet I know which professor it is, too.

We show Robin the photo from the school camera...oh, yeah, that makes sense. The "rough" statue was, in fact, another of Courte's works. Yeah, it's in her style--highly abstract. Robin describes it as "avant-garde and eclectic." It was indeed Lady Justice, but the statue broke the day before the mock trial while she was polishing it and she said she'd take it back to the art room and try to fix it somehow. We then watch the video of the mock trial. Junie had to work audio, too, in order to keep the details a secret. ...Gah! That line, "You're a goner", it's in the script! Which means that she could've legitimately been saying it, merely practicing her lines for the mock trial! ...Or, wow, Athena's one step ahead of me, because I grew up before the Dark Age of the Law. This evidence is forged! We decide to have it analyzed, and Klavier offers to help. Where did you come from? Well, it's just about sundown...we don't have any solid proof as to the killer's true identity, though, just conjectures. Athena believes that Hugh, as the lone male suspect, had the most to gain from forging that evidence, as the lack of a voiceprint analysis in time for today's court session made gender an important factor. But wasn't that tape supposedly from Scuttlebutt's recorder? And now that we know that she's not just looking for scoops, but is an informant for a professor...we can't rule out the possibility that the murderer isn't a student at all. Apollo's bracelet reacts after Juniper says that Hugh is a gifted student who gets outstanding grades and never causes trouble. So, he is a troublemaker...

...Wait. Hugh ended their friendship after finding out Junie's secret...is Junie the snitch? And Professor Courte was the one getting the information? Well, I suppose that sort of makes sense...after all, Courte's the one who valued honesty. I bet the "Hugh" scrap is the one that's relevant, and whatever Juniper told Courte was the reason for Courte calling the meeting with him. Oh..."Routine Report", in the planner itself. Junie apologizes and says she's been lying all along...she suspected Hugh from the start. Professor Courte told Juniper how many of the academy's alumni had strayed from the path of justice, and she didn't want any more students going astray. But few others at the academy shared her view. Means says he thought her ideas were beautiful, but sad and unrealistic. Juniper became her eyes and ears, and reported to her once a month--and the "Routine Report" on October 22nd was one of those. That's when she reported Hugh. She had overheard him talking on the telephone to someone, probably one of his parents, and it turns out Hugh's outstanding test scores were bought. But that "Hugh 120" page is on the same paper as Professor Courte's planner...and Athena's theory about the meaning of the number 120 suggests that Courte was the one receiving the bribe money! Means says that she's the last person he'd ever suspect of taking bribes. Their talk might have been about the possibility of the bribery being exposed, and what started as a little argument... Juniper says there's another reason why she suspected Hugh. When she saw him at 7 PM on the 23rd, his hands were dripping with blood! She doesn't want to believe he's the killer, but she can't stop thinking that it has to be true. That's why she lied about when she went home. Well, Athena's won back her right to defend Juniper from Means.

The next morning, Klavier brings news that the recording has been confirmed a fake. They're still working on finding the real audio, though. Seems like we were being listened to, though--everyone probably knows what we know now. Blackquill tells the judge about the clock running fast, calling the evidence no longer relevant.

Which of course means it will probably find a way to be very relevant. Blackquill means to prove that the defendant is the only one who could have moved the body. He's got a witness. Naturally, it's Hugh. He claims he saw Junie dragging a large mat from behind the stage during the time when everyone else was in the lecture hall, watching from a vantage point between the stage and the maintenance area. He assumed she was headed towards the maintenance area, but didn't have time to see what she did after that. The mat was used for the setting up of the stage, to protect students who had to climb up high. That's what caused the drag marks. Well, press everything...Damnit Athena you're off to a really bad start. And, yeah, nothing...we have to present something, but what, and where? We've got plenty of evidence suggesting that the mat was not essential to moving the body, but there's no opening to present it. Time to make a wild guess...

...got it in one! Right, the construction screen was in the way of where Hugh said he was standing when he saw her! Hugh tries to change his claim as to where he was, but there's still no place he could have been where he'd be able to see her without her being able to see him. Ack! Looks like he was actually telling the truth about his location...sort of. This was what he was hiding that Blackquill threatened to tell. He wasn't on the ground, but in the crane! And not for fun, either--he was working part-time! Huh, yeah, I didn't even notice it, but the crane operator in that photo could be him. The crane operator is wearing a distinct scarf around his neck, while Hugh generally conceals his with his high collar...is this going to be the Meraktis case all over again? ...It's not a scarf, but some weird neckband. Handmade, and very unique. Hold on...that design...is that the "proof of friendship"? I'll bet Robin was the one who made that. The judge points out that with the necessary period of apprenticeship, to be licensed to operate a crane, Hugh would have to be at least 20!

...Hugh's 25. He took a seven-year break from school. Well, anyway, we found our opening; now to find a chance to prove that that mat wasn't used in moving the body. Athena thinks that the crane was used to move the body...I disagree, but since we're not allowed to present evidence at the moment, that's the best we can do. ...Ack! The reason he pointed his bow and arrow the way he did is because his left hand's been all bandaged up, and the operation of the crane itself is too complex to do one-handed. Finally, Blackquill asks us to present evidence. With pleasure! His objections are feeble--bringing up the bloodstained pottery. He claims that the pottery, near the maintenance area-side window, proves which window the body was moved out of. But the banner's bloody, too! Athena suggests that the blood on the pottery wasn't Courte's. Blackquill tells her to have more respect for the police, assuming that they checked to make sure it was hers...they didn't. Blackquill demands that the tests be run. Have them run tests on the bloodstain on the banner, too! ...As I expected. That is the blood of Hugh O'Conner. ...WTF? The actual envelope in which Myriam Scuttlebutt's script was held was booby-trapped so that anyone who didn't open it the proper way--which only Professor Courte had been told--would get cut by a spring-loaded blade. Hugh tried to peek at the script, but looked at the wrong script and got his hand sliced open! Athena now suggests that there's no reason to deny the wire theory, but Hugh objects and says that the body would've collided with the statues. Given that the statues were all knocked over, exactly how is that a contradiction?

Blackquill objects, reminding Athena that she and Wright heard the crashing sound, assumed to be the statues being knocked over, well after the mock trial had started, while Hugh claims to have seen the body before it. So unless Hugh was lying about that, too, Athena's theory gives all three of our "suspects" an alibi. The judge then says that Athena's theory goes against the very foundation of the case, but much to my surprise, Blackquill objects, saying that both sides lack incontrovertible evidence and therefore Hugh's testimony about seeing the body before the trial should also be treated with suspicion. There's one nagging problem with that, though. The only reason for Hugh to lie would be if the truth would incriminate him, but this truth would give him an alibi! Hugh admits that he never saw the body.

...Damnit, Blackquill had an angle after all. Because she was in charge of the audio as well, Juniper had free reign to leave and reenter the Lecture Hall durng the mock trial. Hugh saves us with a well-timed interjection--again with a confession. Well, at least he's still trying to save her...and this time, he's the first to confess, so it looks less suspicious. Blackquill objects, reminding him that he has an alibi, but he insists on offering further testimony. ...Unfortunately, it's absolutely ridiculous. Blackquill asks for an ambulance to be summoned to bring O'Conner to the hospital, for he is stark raving mad. But apparently Hugh's "genius" isn't a complete fraud--he wants Athena to use Widget on him. Blackquill has outright left the courtroom, under Fulbright's supervision, and left Taka to oversee things from atop the Judge's head. Gah...happy overload? I wish I still had the newspapers, because there might be some evidence in there that it was the real Hugh, but...

Well, the glee can only be because him being guilty would make Juniper innocent. Blackquill has returned now that we've found out the reason for Hugh's confession. The contradictory emotion...is the lack of emotion at the proclamation that he wasn't the one who nearly lost. He claims that he left during Prof. Means's pre-trial speech and had just gotten back in time to see his body double about to lose, and that's why he wasn't happy. He says no one would've seen him come in through the doors at the far end of the Lecture Hall, behind the screen. Blackquill objects that the faculty in the balconies would've seen him just fine. Hugh says that he came in through the door on the right side, near the lawyer's bench, so he would've only been seen by someone on the left balcony, which was empty at the time. Objection! Professor Courte's seat was on the right balcony--the left balcony was for Professor Means!

Huge sadness when he mentions the empty audio control room. Obvious, since Junie should've been in there. Athena catches this, since for that statement to be true would mean Junie was roaming the campus. O'Conner says that the truth is that Junie's innocent, but in the dark age of the law, the truth can easily be twisted to serve anyone's needs, and when the end justifies the means, the only choice is to fight back with lies! Blackquill finally breaks his shackles. He says that several days ago, he accidentally learned that his parents had been paying for his good grades. When he confronted his parents about it over the phone, Junie overheard him and reported it to Courte. Athena wants to prove that Junie still cares about him...and I think she's figured out the proof of friendship. Yeah...when pressured, Hugh always goes to his neck. And Robin holds her arm, and Junie her wrist. They still have them...an emotional cutscene. Athena says it probably doesn't matter at this point, but she updates the mood matrix. Oh, but it does matter!

For you see, even with Hugh on the defense bench instead of behind it, he would still have a perfect view of the left balcony. And it remains that what Hugh saw was an empty balcony where Professor Aristotle Means should have been! Blackquill objects that everyone heard him give his speech. Athena says that's not in dispute. I agree; he could have left right after giving the speech; we were in the waiting room for quite some time. Athena, on the other hand, believes the speech was pre-recorded. Hugh objects to Athena accusing Professor Means, as he was the one who gave Hugh the tape recorder to give to the police. Athena asks for Means to be called to the stand, and Blackquill objects, saying the seat was never empty. The judge rules in Athena's favor. We roll the video. Bingo--the broken statue! Means refers to a "pure white Lady Justice", but the only statue in the courtroom is gold! It was a replacement! ...Aha! Apollo points out the length of the speech--a bit over 10 minutes! The same length as the faked audio recording! The voiceprint analysis has the length of time exactly the same. Now we just have to hope that the analysis reveals that the professor's speech is what the original recording was... Looks like he's going to testify, though at least he's admitting to pre-recording his speech. He claims that Juniper asked him to pre-record his speech and come to the audio room during the mock trial. She then confessed to the murder and asked him to get her declared innocent in court, and also said that he'd become an accomplice after losing his alibi due to the pre-recording, but he meant it when he said he'd defend Juniper. He claims that, despite the fact that she'd basically told him he'd become a criminal as well, that he defended her because she had truly taken his teachings about the end justifying the means to heart. Hmm...I see no place where our evidence directly contradicts one of his statements. Athena thinks she sees a contradiction, but...I don't see one anywhere. Wait, a contradiction between his words and actions...right! We know he didn't honestly mean to defend Junie, because he gave that faked evidence to Hugh! He goes into demon professor mode. Blackquill doesn't play along with Means, and is told to get out of his class. The judge asks if that's such a good idea with him free of his shackles, but Fulbright gives him a shock. "Ha ha ha! It just so happens I was a member of my high school's Disciplinarian Committee. But is that really so shocking?" I chuckled; the detective had actually gotten a witty one-liner. Athena gives her objections. Means claims he had already gone home by the time the murder was allegedly committed. Athena asks if he can prove it; he asks if she can prove he hadn't. Athena says that no, she can't. Yes you can, Athena! Thankfully, Robin cuts in and objects. She said she hadn't had time to make the second statue before the last bell rang, so she asked Professor Means to help and he said he'd take care of it. Right; we see that conversation in our photos. She lied about making them both because she thought maybe if she claimed she'd made them both, her parents would let her become an artist. ...But Means is no artist, which means that statue was never made...and that missing statue from the photo disappeared when Means killed Courte; he took the statue, put that under the cloth, and then used her body to smash the statues before anyone actually saw them! Blackquill and Taka again prove their worth--this is the most vicious attack I've seen Taka give anyone yet. We've got him now! He claims that Juniper herself saw the statues at 8:30 PM, after he'd finished. Lies--they were covered in cloths! Shall we present the statue that was actually under there? ...Ah, have to press it first, then submit it as an alternative.

Apollo says just press like crazy. Yeah, I guess that's all we can do at the moment. Only it's not working. Do we accept the claims?

...No, Athena, trying to figure out how he could commit the murder without going to the art room is all wrong. Wait... '''!!! '''What if we have it backwards? While I think you're stretching, there is a possibility of the murder being committed from the stage...if the arrow is the real murder weapon rather than the fake! I try submitting the possibility that the murder weapon was wrong, and get another penalty. Then...the crime scene? ...ACK! The banner was up near the art room window! It wasn't used to haul the body down to the stage; it was used to haul it up from it! Right, and in the photo, the Gavinners banner is mostly covering the school banner; that's why it was incinerated. Said banner was also used to fake the crime scene, smearing blood on the art room floor from the Gavinners banner. Ah, so the third statue was what was brought down to cause the crash! Means brings up one final point, and I'll admit that this has been bothering me, too. Where was the body in between the murder and the discovery of the body?

...Oh, right. Under the right-hand cloth, disguised as the Phoenix Wright statue. Athena seems to be broken, though--Means has really rattled her. Robin tries to snap her out of it. Hugh objects to her self-pity, too? And Junie still believes in her... Even Blackquill reminds her what it is that she's working towards. I wish I knew what happened to her...well, anyway, now that she's snapped out of it, she realizes that Courte's body was hidden inside the Wright statue. She tries demonstrating how it would be possible, but even covered in cloth, it's hard to fake...and then she realizes. The professor's hands were tied behind her head so that under the cloth, it would look like Phoenix's spiky hair! Apollo wonders how she could make the objection pose with her hands behind her head...but Professor Courte had an arrow in her side! It's close, but the arm's too short. Only one chance left, because this is a double penalty, but it's too long to go back to my last save since before the past two penalties...

...I think Junie's doomed. Wait...no. Didn't he have his staff with him when we first met him? That couldn't have been the arm...He calls it the spear of a great legal warrior. So, it's a spear, huh...the real murder weapon! It seems that Means was the one taking bribes, and Courte confronted him right there on the stage, leading to him killing her--he, too, knew the details in the same way that Robin had learned about them. And about the planner...Those planners are bestowed upon all students graduating at the top of their class. Means had one, too! Everything's wrapped up, and Juniper is found not guilty. Furthermore, the festival is being extended an extra day, in memory of Professor Courte, who worked so hard to make it happen. Wow...so, this is The Guitar's Serenade. Last time I heard it, it was being dissected as evidence in the murder of Romein LeTouse. Hm, so Hugh won the rematch. And the only "confession" he was going to make was that he's not really a genius, nor a teenager. There's also some references to a friend of Apollo's...okay, I think we're finally reaching the point where this game began. Apollo's going on a leave of absence...bring on "The Cosmic Turnabout"! Wait, it goes right into trial?

...But perhaps it's time to take a break from AA5. I managed to track down the July 2012 demo of BS:LIYW, and with the new demo's release less than a week away, I think now's the perfect time to check out the earlier version.

Chapter 12: The Final Frontier (Bliss Stage: Love Is Your Weapon--July 2012 demo; Ace Attorney 5--Cases 4 and 5)
I wake up when the sun starts shining into my tent. ...The art in this game is awful.

Today is my 15th birthday. For the past seven years, it's been a horrible day, because it was also Bliss Day--the day that this whole mess began. I head over to the island, looking to scavenge, but it's surprisingly well-tended. The Nightmares wouldn't leave anything green at all, and the gangs wouldn't leave it so orderly. Looks like a farm. There's someone tending it. Damn, no way to scroll back in this game... Well, we're introduced. Her name's Meredith Baker. She's threatening me, but the gun's not actually loaded. Well, here's where we learn about the ANIMa. There's a church where the Resistance stays; it's physically and astrally safe, whatever that means. Two more people, both blonde. A boy and a girl. The girl's young; not much past puberty. The boy looks older--probably close to 18, which means getting Blissed. I approach, but the boy immediately points a gun at me and tells me to get away. The girl tells him off. His name's Derek Smith--at one point, the girl even uses a middle name. It's tough for me to prove myself to this Derek kid. Sara seems marginally more trusting. She's his sister, I guess, and when I find that out, suddenly it all makes sense. I ask if they're from the Resistance...Sara has an issue with me using the term "you guys". Sara's an ANIMa pilot, and Derek is her anchor. I also learn that Meredith is Anchor for a Major Lin--a name I recognize. Anna Lin, a former gang leader. They use military titles--Derek's a Captain; his sister's a Lieutenant. There's a Colonel in charge of everything. The Smiths are here on another mission, though, salvaging something from fallen foes. Dream Eggs. Sara says they're more like pearls--they don't hatch into baby Nightmares and the Nightmares sweat them out when scared. We meet the rest of the crew--Anna Lin, who looks pretty old for a teen, but also the Colonel, who is most definitely an adult. How'd he avoid the Bliss? Anna Lin asks if I'm the latest nugget. Meredith seems confused, but I recognize the term--it means "pilot candidate". I give her another term to show that I'm up on military lingo. She can tell I'm nervous, though, and I ask about if she's the former leader of the Flinthearts. She says she'd like to think that was a long time ago. Wait, I've already been tested to see if I'm pilot material? She asks my last name. I initially respond "Castellano", but then amend it. "Preston". Castellano was my mother's maiden name; I was advised to use it instead of my real one with the troops. But these people are brass. So, my name is Joshua Castellano Preston.

...And this old man before me is Major--no, Colonel James Paul Preston. My father. How is he even still alive? And more importantly, why the hell have I been out there fending for myself for the past seven years when my old man is still alive?! I confront him, but a genuine emergency interrupts. So, getting into an ANIMa is kind of like jacking into the Matrix...that's what the Anchors are for, to be mission control back in the real world.

Please tell me that the art has improved over the last year and a half.

Looks like I'm going to be fighting, too. Sara asks where Keenan is, and Meredith says that Keenan Caine is indisposed with a...supply run. With Laura. Odd, that hesitation... Sara's not sure who "Laura" is, and Anna Lin says, "Mulan". Seems this Keenan guy's a real ladykiller. Sara's disappointed that Keenan's not there, but she swears it's just because of his combat usefulness. Meanwhile, I'm still not sure if I want to be in an actual battle with no piloting experience. Meredith says she trusts me, though, and knows I can do it. Because apparently having someone trust you is the key to being a good pilot.

So we're in Neverland, then? It runs on belief? Well, whatever. Meredith trusts me, and for some reason, I trust her, too, even though I barely know her. I'm being submerged in liquid inside the creche, only I don't have a plugsuit. It's breathable, though. This whole thing is weird--we fight them in dreams? Well, I guess given the way the Bliss seems to work, it makes sense that they'd be fought in dreams. Yeah, this is...a lucid dream. Cool, now I've got a power suit. Huh, something about this battle theme sounds familiar. (By the way, I must say, the art in this game may suck, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with the music.)

It's time for a battle. I have no idea what I'm doing, and I stumble through it with little success, but somehow I get out alive. And then I learn the truth behind the ANIMa--that it's powered by intimacy. Meredith admits that she was considering leading me on further to power me up more. Anna's pissed. I don't blame her.

Training begins the next day. It's a few days of manual work before I decide that I need to talk to someone. Ah, finally, time to start gaining relationship points...well, I've probably already started to accumulate them based on my discussion choices, but this is a bit more tangible. Major Lin is, quite frankly, kind of scary, and there's only one other female option available--Lieutenant Smith. Well, I always have gravitated towards girls who were younger than me, even if not necessarily younger by enough to even put us in separate grades. (Well, before I skipped, that is.) I believe I even made testimony to that fact in posts 104 and 105 (although believe me, that tangent could easily grow even longer).

I apologize for being unable to help. She says not to; she can handle herself. Well, yeah, but why turn down help? She says she doesn't like being rescued. I try to tell Sara that getting help doesn't make you weak, it just means you have help. Even knights come to each other's aid once in awhile. Then I change the subject and ask her what she's drawing. She doesn't seem to want to show me. I circle around, trying to sneak a peek, and she sits on the notebook, saying I'll have to earn it.

At mess, the Major comes up to me. She addressed me by rank, so clearly it's strictly military. She says normally she'd just tell me, but she wants to know how much I can figure out on my own. She confirms that the alien invaders caused the Bliss, and that one of our few advantages is that they're not from this reality and don't quite get the concept of being covered in form. It's like our reality is a dream world to them. ...This is Neverland! Conventional weapons don't work on them; they get rid of the invaders, but it's like banishing an outsider back to its home realm--they disappear, but eventually they'll come back. Killing them with an ANIMa keeps them dead. She then outright says that the ANIMa are more effective if you're sleeping with someone, and that the walkers are literally made of weaponized love. It has to be a genuine connection, though, which is why Meredith figured bringing that part up would give me the wrong idea. I say I'm not interested in getting an upgrade fuck, and she says that's good because it wouldn't work anyway. Of course, it's not just that type of love that works, right? Sara's anchor is her older brother. Of course, my only survivng family member is my father, and we're not exactly on good terms, so finding a romantic relationship definitely seems like the best option. Seems the Major's loosened up a bit--at least thinks I have potential. I ask what she can tell me about my fellow soldiers--just need-to-know type of stuff, stuff that could help me work with them. She shrugs. She also offers to teach me hand-to-hand combat, because fists never run out of ammo.

A week later, we receive information on our mission. The enemy is building some sort of weapon or base or something in the Dreamworld shadow of Alcatraz Island. We're going to try to keep them from being able to finish it. Lieutenant Caine will be stationed at Waypoint Charlie, in Yerba Buena, raining "death, destruction, and other equally exciting things over enemy forces massing in the water". Crowd control as usual, he says, and his Anchor, Yukiko, teases him about running out of space for notches on his belt. I wonder how she feels about his "extracurricular activities", since she has to know about them, having seen how his weapons resonate. Sara's apparently going to be "babysitting" me.

...Uh...

Well. That was certainly a "demo". I guess Chapter 12 will be 5-4 after all--no way I can just put the topic on hold until the new demo comes out.

And, yep, here we are, back in the ruins of Courtroom No. 4. Apollo's narration suggests that something darker was at work, and wants to review the case that was taking place when the courtroom was bombed. And suddenly, we're watching a space shuttle preparing to launch? Something's gone wrong...and also an astronaut's been murdered. Juniper's here, and gives Apollo a present--lotus root. He makes the mistake of trying to eat it raw. Well, luckily we've got the experience of Phoenix and myself keeping this place afloat...although, sometimes even the most experienced lawyers can be a bit batty, as I learned during my time on the East Coast. Okay, here's our client. Solomon Starbuck, known as "Sol". A famous astronaut, and an acquaintance of Apollo's. Apollo says he's normally quite upbeat, but he seems positively depressed at the moment. Apollo says he and his best friend used to visit the space center all the time back in high school, where they met Mr. Starbuck. The victim is a young astronaut named Clay Terran. Another upbeat guy, apparently. ...Oh. Clay was the "best friend" in question. Don't worry; it's only going to be that much sweeter when you take down the murderer. (Man...Gant and von Karma may have been more menacing villains in the grand scheme of things, but damned if putting away Redd White wasn't the sweetest thing ever.)

Oh, right, Apollo's eye is all bandaged up. The judge asks if he's okay, and he insists he is. Blackquill's prosecuting again, of course. He doesn't respond when asked if he's ready, but when the Judge takes his silence as an affirmation of readiness, he stops him and says he's not quite ready yet. Then he...breaks his shackles? Before the trial's even begun? Geez, you'd think that he was the one for whom this case was personal. The bomb case is still in the courtroom, I suppose because the only person authorized to move it is incarcerated. Furthermore, Blackquill again stops the judge and insists on giving the opening statement himself, saying that this time he can't leave it to anyone else. He says that it was just yesterday. The crimes in question occurred at the Cosmos Space Center. A rocket was set to launch, but at 9:28 AM, before they could even move the rocket to the launch site, two explosive devices were detonated, and the launch was canceled. Starbuck is charged with both the bombings and the murder. "For whatever inane reason, he detonated a bomb on the rocket he himself would be in." And this doesn't strike you as a sign that you might have the wrong guy? Apparently he made it back to Earth alive after encountering some interstellar trouble on his mission, piloting the HAT-1 rocket seven years ago. They turned it into a movie, "The HAT-1 Miracle". Cause of death was stabbing. ...Wait, it's not just a leftover from the Tonate trial! The bomb case is holding evidence for the current case! I can see by the serial number, however, that it is indeed Tonate's case. Fulbright takes the stand and displays a pamphlet from the Space Center showing the layout of the building, and also a cross-section made up by the police.

Two bombs, one in Launch Pad 1 and one on the second floor of the main building. Starbuck and Terran were the only astronauts in Launch Pad 1 at the time; they made it as far as the boarding lounge, but Terran was then found stabbed to death. No fingerprints on the murder weapon, obviously, because of the space suits. Lying next to Terran was a capsule containing asteroid samples; valuable for research but according to Blackquill unrelated to this case. The bomb on the Launch Pad was on the rocket itself. And we're actually cross-examining Fulbright? We pretty much only have the evidence that the prosecution has allowed us. I guess we just press everything...

Fulbright was apparently already there, and helped with the evacuation. We get an evacuation report regarding the evacuation of the second floor. We go on and press the idea of the defendant planting the bombs on his own rocket, and learn that the police believe that Starbuck has astrophobia, based on anti-anxiety pills found among the defendant's possessions. ...The fact that these have been confiscated from the defendant would definitely explain his current mental state. The prosecution believes that he was traumatized by what happened seven years ago and would go to any length to avoid having to go into space again, but not at the expense of his reputation. Entering the launchpad area requires passing through a door guarded with a fingerprint recognition device, so the idea of a third party in the launch area is absurd. Only one person other than the defendant and the victim passed through that door yesterday--the director of the space center, Yuri Cosmos. However, at 9:28, the director was in the main building, directing the launch. Furthermore, he has no motive. (Well, neither does Starbuck--the prosecution claims he has astrophobia, but from what little I've observed of him I'd be more likely to think he's got terraphobia.)

...Huh. There were, in fact, two people who were the "first to find the body". Director Yuri Cosmos...and Detective Candice Arme. Wait, so then this is the case that gets interrupted by Tonate's bombing? I thought Apollo suffered his eye injury in the bombing! We then get a DVD of security camera footage. It shows the defendant carrying the victim's body out of the launch pad...allegedly. Actually, it just shows one astronaut carrying another astronaut out of the launch pad. The one doing the carrying has the capsule under his other arm. Which, based on what Fulbright said about it being something important to the victim, makes me think that when they escaped the launch pad, Terran was the conscious one. Athena also thinks that there's something the prosecution's leaving out, but Blackquill's got the Judge ready to render a verdict right now. Apollo realizes that if the murder occurred on the launch pad, there's absolutely no motive for moving the body--it would've been better to leave it on the launch pad where it might be consumed by the "sea of flames"! Blackquill has an explanation for why the body would've been moved. This I've got to hear...he believes, again, that it was all just a show for his "image", to make it look like he was trying to rescue his partner when he had really killed him. Furthermore, a third bomb was found in the lounge by Detective Arme. This third bomb was allegedly meant to destroy the body and other vital evidence. Furthermore, Blackquill claims that a bomb detonation switch was found in Starbuck's pocket. Blackquill, you're starting to bore me. Tell me when you're done so I can prove to you that the security footage you believe shows Starbuck moving Terran's dead body actually shows Terran moving Starbuck's unconscious body. Ah, perfect. You want the defendant to take the stand to be cross-examined. ...Unfortunately, Starbuck says that he was indeed the one still conscious in that footage. That's unfortunate. Apollo sees a glaring contradiction. I don't... Wait, yeah, you wouldn't take the elevator after an explosion! He seems to have no idea what escape route he took...Heh. Because my theory was correct all along. Solomon Starbuck was the one who passed out! ...Well, either way, something doesn't add up. You can't carry another man on one shoulder and a capsule in the opposite hand and traverse a ladder!

He says he knows nothing of any anti-anxiety drugs, even though they were found in his system. This case is going downhill fast.

Blackquill believes this to be proof that Terran was already dead, as he could've been simply dropped down the ladder. We get a report about the oxygen tanks--Clay's ruptured, allegedly in the fall.

"The display on the astronaut's left shoulder shows the oxygen remaining. After the incident, the victim's tank was ruptured and the remaining oxygen was 0%. The tank belonging to Starbuck, who claims to have carried the victim, said it was 80% full. Tanks were functioning properly at the time." BINGO! THERE'S your proof! In the security footage, "Starbuck" only has 50% left in his tank--less than he had when he was taken into custody! Which can only mean one thing--this footage actually depicts the victim, Clay Terran, carrying the defendant out of the launch area! Starbuck's all but given up hope, but Apollo talks him back into it, reminding him that Clay wouldn't have wanted this. Starbuck's back to the man Apollo described! And furthermore, Apollo seems to have mastered the art of "Twisted Samurai". Apollo believes we need to do more digging as to the veracity of the statements given to the police by Candice Arme and Yuri Cosmos. The judge mentions that Detective Arme should be in court right now and asks the bailiff to show her to the stand, and then we're all interrupted by...Ted Tonate, who announces that someone has reactivated the bomb and asks that everyone please remain calm and listen carefully. It was diffused (sic), but it's about to explode! ...And then it does. So we're obviously not getting Detective Arme's testimony, since as we already know, she was killed by Mr. Tonate just before this trial began. Phoenix then recaps all of this--Apollo sustaining heavy injuries from the bombing of Courtroom No. 4, and then further injuries from being attacked by Ted Tonate. Athena suggests we continue the case, and Trucy agrees. Athena runs off, and Phoenix asks Trucy to watch the office. Trucy says sure thing, and in the meantime, she's going to bake some cookies and fill up her magic panties for us. ...That's never going to stop sounding wrong, is it? You'd think I'd be used to this by now, given all of the strange people I've worked alongside, but it's still weird.

Starbuck seems to recognize Athena from something other than his trial. And...it's true that he developed a fear of space because of what happened seven years ago? And he did take medication now and then when his anxiety got bad, but he'd never take drugs that could impede his performance just before a space launch. The medication was in his locker; anyone could have gotten to it. And since they're tranquilizers, that would explain his lack of consciousness. He says he thinks that knife came from one of the space center's utility kits.

...Wow. The "HAT-1 Miracle" sounds brutal. Power failure, oxygen leakage, busted radio, cracked windows, loose control column... the heat shield came off as they entered the atmosphere. He used the popsicles and ice packs from the freezer to make it through. Um...that sounds highly implausible. Athena asks if he was dreading this mission, and he says no. Afraid? Yeah, a bit. But the cosmic truth is out there, and he'll never find it if he gives in to his fear. It was Clay's encouragement that helped him get over his fear to get back into space, but now... Ah. Seems like Clay and Apollo were of similar minds, always trying to psych themselves and others up by shouting "I'm/You're fine!"

<We head over to the Space Center and meet Yuri Cosmos. His head seems to be up in space; crazy old geezer. His profile says he's in his early 60s, but he looks older. Then again, it seems like everyone in this series looks older than they are...

We ask Cosmos what he does as director. He says he defends peace across the galaxy and promotes space development in this country. He also says he was the central figure of the HAT-1 Project. He refuses to give information on the bombings, saying that explaining is a job for common folk, not the director of the center of the cosmos. He will be taking the stand tomorrow, though. We ask him about HAT-1. Its mission was to collect samples from an asteroid. Starbuck was the pilot. After reaching its orbit, it launched the Hope probe towards the asteroid belt, then after a struggle, returned to Earth. The Hope probe returned to Earth just a few days ago with its samples. They haven't been analyzed yet, as they just came back the day before Terran's murder. That would be the container in the photo. Athena says it's like a new space race, but Cosmos says that it's nothing so base as money or politics, and that with recent budget cuts, finances are tight. He leaves, in his self-important way. We head to the Boarding Lounge. A policeman won't let us in, so we need to get clearance from Fulbright. He seems lost, in a metaphorical sense, in a straight corridor. He's more than willing to share information with us, though, and gives us access to the crime scene. He says he was on security detail when the bombs went off. He was stationed on the fourth floor, and the elevator was out of commission and the stairs on the second floor were destroyed, so they had to use an emergency ladder. He also has more information, given unsolicited, and specifically says not to tell Blackquill that he gave us this information. There was a witness, a Space Center employee who was on the fourth floor. She saw something through the third floor window while she was climbing down the ladder.

There's a zero-g training device...some sort of fragment is stuck in its frame. Part of the oxygen tank! There's also a lesser training device, similar to a teacup ride, for those who can't handle the device on the ceiling. The east door heads to the control room, the west to Launch Pad 1, and the south to the elevators. The control room has been protected with fingerprint recognition so only the director can get in. A new control room was built on the sixth floor, used for the HAT-2 mission. Athena brought fingerprint powder, and we check the fingerprint scanner near the door to the launch pad. There's a device that simulates moonwalks, and a .10 caliber bullet in a grate? That's awfully small. We also find a bullet hole in the holographic screen and a mystery knob behind a glass pane. We then find a trash chute and decide to talk to a robotic guide named Ponco. The Psychological Observation and Navigational COmpanion. Athena seems to know it...er, "her". Wait...it's like a giant Widget! Ponco takes us to the Space Museum, which has a full-size replica of the HAT-1 rocket. The staff of the HAT-1...wait, why does it look like Terran's on the staff of the HAT-1 launch 7 years ago? Oh, he was still a student then; he had borrowed one of Starbuck's old jackets. The Space Museum used to be Launch Pad #2, so the only entrance is on the third floor. Ponco repeats that the Space Center has undergone big budget cuts. She says that the safety lock in the boarding lounge has to be disabled in order to move the launch pad and rocket over to the launch site. Ponco doesn't know when it was last moved, and she says all future launches have been put on hold.

Ponco identifies the Hope Capsule from the autopsy photo. It's been stored in the safe in Launch Pad 1 ever since it returned to Earth. Phoenix figures Clay was trying to carry it to safety. We bid Ponco adieu and head back to see Fulbright regarding the security footage and the fingerprint data.

We talk to Fulbright about the bullet hole. He says that it was a warning shot fired by Detective Arme. We also obtain fingerprint data from everyone related to this case. We also receive a photo of the door to Launch Pad 1, which Fulbright says that Blackquill seemed really interested in. The prints belong to our client, Sol Starbuck. We ask about the security footage, only to find that it cuts out abruptly just after the scene we'd previously viewed due to aftereffects from the explosion damaging the wires. Athena asks why Fulbright's been so helpful and suggests an ulterior motive...and it seems that she was right; Phoenix is seeing Psyche-Locks.

Fulbright says that everything was fine until the explosions occurred, but Phoenix points out that the evacuation report says that riot police were standing by. Furthermore, Arme was a specialist in bomb cases, so her presence suggests that there was already some prior knowledge of a possible bombing. It seems there was a bomb threat made a few days before the launch, but they went through with it anyway. The threat was phoned in directly to Director Cosmos, but the police department instructed everybody to keep it under wraps. Furthermore, he's finally gotten to wondering why Blackquill is still allowed to prosecute. He hasn't been told the reason, but Blackquill once told him, "The hunt I've been on for the phantom of seven years past continues even still." Seven years past...that's when HAT-1 occurred! And he thinks the two cases are connected...there are a lot of similarities between this case and what happened seven years ago, starting with the location and the method of threat delivery. And seven years ago is when Blackquill was convicted of murder...and that's what jumpstarted the dark age of the law. Fulbright feels that Blackquill has a personal grudge against Starbuck and is moving too quickly because of it. He says he doesn't want Blackquill's grudge to lead to a false conviction and tasks us with defeating Blackquill in court. And now we get a lead on our witness.

...another robot? No, the robot's owner shows up soon afterwards. It introduced itself as Clonco, but she refers to it as "Hunk of Junk".

...Well. That's certainly unexpected. Her name is Aura Blackquill. She develops the robots here at the space center. Wait... Anyway, Phoenix asks about the last name, and she confirms that Simon Blackquill is her younger brother. She was in the robotics lab on the fourth floor when the explosion occurred. As she was climbing down her emergency ladder, she saw into the room through the small window. It was pitch black, but she saw a shady figure holding a lighter in their left hand and a knife in their right. She didn't identify the killer, but she definitely saw the figure with the lighter stab another person. It happened at precisely 10 AM. The only distinguishing feature she could pick out was a "pretty ornament" on the lighter. It was blue, like a little Earth emblem. She also mentions that she distrusts the entire legal system. I'm guessing this has something to do with Simon's conviction. She says that even if someone close to her was killed, she wouldn't want to see their killer brought to trial, because she'd rather kill them herself.

Aura notices Widget and recognizes him. "Her royal highness has returned at last to her castle." She then warns us about the director being a liar and a braggart with skeletons in his closet. We decide to go see Starbuck.

When we tell Starbuck about the lighter, he remembers something. He says he briefly woke up. He saw a lighter flame, and a dark shadow flickering in the light of the flame, and says it was definitely in the boarding lounge. We head back to the office. Athena's ready for dinner, but then Apollo comes in. All of us agree that he should be in bed, but he insists on staying. Phoenix realizes that the jacket that Apollo's wearing belonged to Clay. He got one of his own when he was selected for HAT-2.

Phoenix asks Apollo about their catchphrase--"I'm fine/You're fine!" Apollo says that Clay's mother died in a car accident when they were in junior high, but Clay didn't want anyone to see his sadness. One night, Apollo found him crying all alone in the courtyard. Clay tried to shoo him away, but Apollo says that he doesn't have a mother either, and that he always thought, "everybody else has a mom. Why am I the only one...?" But when he starts to feel that way, he just yells at the top of his lungs, "I'm fine!", and then he starts to feel like maybe he really will be. And he yelled out, "APOLLO JUSTICE IS FINE!", and then had Clay do the same, and they started laughing.

...Then Apollo announces his leave of absence. He wants to catch Clay's killer his own way. And he walks out.

The judge is cowering under his bench when we enter the courtroom. Phoenix objects and asks him to come out. The latest day of the trial begins with the judge giving the opening statement. Blackquill and Phoenix go back and forth about whether there could be a third person or not, though it is confirmed that the oxygen tank shard was found in the boarding lounge and Apollo's theory about the victim is correct. Blackquill acknowledges the witness, but says that it was too dark for her to see who the shadowy figure was; the possibility of it being Starbuck is still there. Yuri Cosmos takes the stand, and Prosecutor Blackquill cuts off his bragging, manipulating him using not his normal brand of fear but with flattery...or as Athena sees it, with sarcasm that went right over Cosmos's head. He says he went with Detective Arme to see what had happened via the control room. They saw a figure standing in the middle of the lounge, and Terran lying on the floor. He can only imagine that the standing figure must have been Starbuck. So, he didn't see anything concrete, either. When I press the "via the control room", Phoenix says that that wasn't necessary, as the southern corridor would've worked as well, and Cosmos says that Arme rushed towards the control room and it was all he could do to follow her. But, wait, isn't he the only one with access to that room? Why isn't that part being added to his testimony? Furthermore, he says that he was able to clearly see Terran because the lighter illuminated the area near the standing figure's feet, but nothing more. Wasn't the victim found still wearing his space suit? How can he be certain that what he saw wasn't still the conscious Terran standing and the unconscious Starbuck on the ground?

He says after they peeked in, the lounge suddenly went dark and the figure vanished. Blackquill claims that the figure appeared to vanish because it was the defendant feigning unconsciousness. Cosmos says that he did indeed take his eyes off the scene for a moment, and Phoenix proposes that the assailant could've escaped through the south door during that time, as it has no lock.

Okay, he claims that the killer fired towards him when he tried to enter the lounge--again from the south side--and he hid, and then the killer fled, which should have been impossible as both the launch pad door and the control room door should have been shut tight to the killer. He says he heard a pang when he was fired at, which must have been the tank being hit and rupturing. But, wait, wasn't the tank already ruptured in the security footage? He says he's ashamed to admit that he tried to hide himself when he was shot at, but when he peeped back into the room, all he saw was Starbuck unconscious on the floor and Terran with a knife in his chest. Prosecutor Blackquill still believes that the culprit "vanished" because it was Starbuck feigning unconsciousness, and Cosmos has to concede that due to the darkness, he didn't see Starbuck until he entered the room after the other person vanished. Thankfully, Athena senses something amiss and asks to have a round with him.

Surprise/confusion and fear/sadness in equal amounts when he's fired upon, with a lesser amount of anger. No change in intensity when hiding...and nothing at all when they vanish! Only when he mentions the Launch Pad 1 door does anything trigger, and it's only slight. I immediately key on the lack of shock at the killer's vanishing act. Athena says there's another conflicting emotion...the fear/sadness at the Launch Pad door. Phoenix thinks it's fear, not sadness. We lower the noise level and conclude that the killer escaped through the door to Launch Pad 1, in spite of it being filled with smoke. Cosmos says that's impossible, as that door needs fingerprint recognition...we're forced to concede that Starbuck's fingerprints were the ones used to get through. The judge points out that if the killer escaped through that door, the security camera might have caught it. Unfortunately, it wasn't working at that time. New testimony...fear when shot at, less when entering the lounge, big surprise when Arme arrives, a little of everything except happiness when Arme fires, and nothing when saying the killer could've only escaped to the launch pad. And...it's the surprise at Arme's arrival that is unexpected? Ah...rather, it's that he was more surprised by her arrival than by her firing at him. ...Ah!

The knob behind the glass! It's been turned! Oh...that's the safety lock that Ponco told us about! He was afraid that there would be more explosions, so he wanted to move the launch pad away! ...wait, wasn't the .10 caliber bullet found near the knob? Anyway, testimony. Lots of fear with some happiness at disengaging the lock; no happiness at the fear of more explosions, then a little anger at the killer's only escape being through Launch Pad 1, more so when wondering where they could have gone. The happiness is out of place. Phoenix thinks Cosmos has a hidden agenda. I'm guessing that maybe this has to do with the budget cuts--perhaps the HAT-2 mission was doomed anyway and they needed to have it happen like this to get insurance money?

...Blackquill calls him a liar for saying that he moved the launch pad after the explosions. Well...yeah, the launch pad was still there. There's that. Or...what if the director was bringing the launch pad back from the launch site to the boarding lounge area? ...No, that was a foolish idea. Athena has an even more foolish one...but it gives Phoenix an epiphany. What if the astronauts never boarded the rocket to begin with?

...The space museum used to be Launch Pad 2! It could've been switched around entirely! This means that the bomb could've been planted on the rocket while Launch Pad 1 was next to Boarding Lounge 2--the door to which has no security lock! When the director switched the two again, the killer, hiding in the Space Museum, could escape!

This explains quite a bit--namely, the inconsistencies in Starbuck's own testimony completely disappear if they had been in the bomb-free Space Museum rather than the bombed Launch Pad 1. But why were they switched? And by who? We prove that it is indeed the corridor to the Space Museum in the security footage. Cosmos starts spewing stars and scootering across the courtroom, and clear through the wall behind the witness bench.

When he's finally retrieved, Cosmos refuses to testify about why he made the switch, but says only that his hands were tied and he was doing all that he could to prevent his men from getting caught in that blast. Oh yeah, definitely insurance fraud. Clay getting killed was just to cover up what he'd done; the director just wanted to sabotage the mission so he could collect money from the insurance companies. Starbuck is confused ad wants to know why Cosmos was never planning on going through with the launch at all, but Cosmos promises him that he'll get back into space one day. Then Blackquill says that will never happen; Solomon Starbuck is going to prison; he won't have it any other way. He says there's no proof of the third person escaping via the Space Museum and demands Starbuck tell him where he got the bombs, but Fulbright and his shock treatment come through just in time. Damnit, I've never been so happy to hear his leitmotif. He says the defendant isn't the culprit and he's here to make sure justice is served. He's got evidence! It's a bloody lighter, found by the Space Museum's cleaning robot, with Clay Terran's blood and his killer's fingerprints! Blackquill tries to claim that Starbuck could've gone back to the museum and dropped the lighter before Cosmos appeared, but Phoenix reminds him that right after Cosmos saw the figure with the lighter, he found Starbuck unconscious in the boarding lounge. The switch must have been planted on the unconscious Starbuck by the real killer. Fulbright says he's been worried about Blackquill and his phantom, and that tomorrow is... Blackquill cuts him off. And the judge renders the verdict, not guilty, even before we reveal whose fingerprints were on the lighter. Wait, yeah, we got a new piece of evidence and haven't had a playable part since it entered our inventory!

...Blackquill objects. He says it's simply not possible and demands the fingerprint analysis for the lighter.

...Erp?! Of course...it wouldn't be a complete Phoenix Wright game if we didn't have to defend one of our own at least once. Maya in 1-2 and again in 2-2 and 3-5; Edgey in 1-4; Phoenix in 1-2, 3-1, and 4-1... Still, that's a shock. The fingerprints belong to Athena?

...And that ends the case. So, defending Athena is 5-5...

Cutscene. A young Athena, covered in blood. A bloody sword...Simon Blackquill's sword! They have a past together! Apollo, in the ruins of Courtroom #4.

Our evidence from the previous case remains in our inventory, of course. I've never seen a single case actually span two chapters--hell, in 1-4 we captured two murderers! We head to the center and find Cosmos, who runs away immediately. Starbuck's in the boarding lounge, happy to be free but sad because of what happened to Athena. She held back her tears in order to give him a smile and congratulate him on his acquittal, but he could see how much she was hurting. He says he didn't see much, not even when they opened the door to make their escape, and that he doesn't know why the launch pads were switched. They're switched right now, too, to investigate the theory. Also, the police didn't find a .10 caliber gun down the trash chute, suggesting that the killer did indeed take it with them. We find that print authentication isn't needed from the launch pad side...Hmm. So they could have escaped through the door if they'd jammed it open after entering from the other side...no, wait, that's not right.

Our theory was that the killer was lying in wait in Boarding Lounge 1...wasn't it? I suppose it's possible that the killer entered the Space Museum and was there when the pads were switched, and followed them out, jamming the door, and killed Clay and bolted back the way he came, but... We also found some dried leaves in the corridor. We head back outside, and Cosmos again tries to run away, but Trucy throws a knife at one of his tires and stops him. We ask him why he switched the launch pads. He says he has no secrets left, which of course turns out to be a complete lie. How many Psyche-Locks, Phoenix?

...Three. He said he switched the launch pads to save the astronauts from the bombing, which means he knew in advance that there would be a bombing. But of course, he couldn't do it without help...namely, Clay Terran had to be complicit in the plan. He admits he was warned in advance, and says he couldn't just call the launch off completely. The person who gave him the warning said "It's been a while," and that made Cosmos believe him...because HAT-1 had in fact been an act of sabotage. Cosmos says this is correct, and that he even lost the life of one of his crew members in the fight. That's right,,,there was an unknown person in the HAT-1 picture. He said he thought the murderer had been caught and the case was closed...so that means...Simon Blackquill was wrongfully convicted! This explains a lot, including why Simon has such a grudge in this case.

Cosmos agrees to tell us the truth behind HAT-1. In addition to the sabotage taking hold of the ship once it was in space, a valuable moon rock was stolen before the launch and a staff member was murdered. He says, "Nowadays, security checks are so tight, you couldn't even smuggle a withered old leaf through them!" Interesting choice of words... Cosmos believes it to be the work of a spy. Hmm, yes, it could be political, couldn't it? There had been a call last time, too. Cosmos believes the government had covered up what happened because they were too embarrassed at having allowed a spy to do such a thing. Rushed the investigation, cleaned up the story afterwards. The government wouldn't let him call off the launch, though, because then the terrorists would win. Ah, so he hid the Space Museum by putting a "closed for repairs" sign over the door to Launch Pad 1 from Boarding Lounge 2. He staged the "moving rescue scene"...right, because Clay was in on the plan to switch the launch pads. But Starbuck had to bekept in the dark, because he's been through enough and he's no good at lying to keep a secret. ...Wait, "the Hope capsule was lost in that blast"? The Hope capsule was right beside Clay when he was found!

...Oh. That explosion. The bombing of Courtroom No. 4! It was there as evidence. The police found a wire tap on Cosmos's phone, so the bomber knew about the switch. The spy...the phantom of seven years ago. Cosmos spins out of control--I think the Wrights broke him--but tells us to start in the Space Museum if we're going to investigate HAT-1 further. We do so, and again look at the picture. The caption on the jacket says it was an actual jacket worn by a member of the team, not a replica. Phoenix wonders if it was Starbuck's. I wonder if it was the murder victim's. Unexpectedly, Juniper arrives at this point. She gives us the information we've been needing--Athena used to live here when she was a little girl. Athena's mother worked here, as a doctor of psychology. Why would a space center need a psychologist? There was a sad incident here, seven years ago...

...The murder. Athena's mother was the murder victim. Athena stopped coming to school after that--the next time Juniper saw her face-to-face was when we arrived at Themis and investigated the murder of Constance Courte.

Juniper says that young Athena was very sensitive and kind and didn't talk much. Trucy can't picture it, based on the Athena we know now, and neither can I. Oh...she didn't leave the Space Center much because of her sensitivity to others' emotions. Her condition kept her out of school a lot, as did Junie's weak constitution, so that's how they became friends. Juniper confirms that the mystery woman in the photo is Athena's mother, Dr. Metis Cykes, and that she was murdered the day before the HAT-1 launch. Okay, props for being mythologically accurate. So then the murder that Simon Blackquill was convicted of...was that of Athena's mother.

We run into Detective Fulbright at the Detention Center. He's there to interview Ted Tonate, who's suddenly ready to tell the truth about the courtroom bombing. He says that he didn't blow up the courtroom, and there was another person in the room when he killed Detective Arme. Wait, what? He's claiming that someone else stole the remote switch, but that's all he saw. He claims that he was the murderer, but not the courtroom bomber. A lack of Psyche-Locks suggests to Phoenix that this isn't a lie. Fulbright says the police are doing a follow-up to investigate the possibility that what he's saying is true. They're even analyzing the fragments of the bomb. Huh, and here I was impressed by how relevant to the endgame 4-1 was. 5-1 is actually a facet of a single case that stretches across 5-4, 5-1, and 5-5! Fulbright was about to question Athena, so we're going to have to wait to see her.

We head to the Space Center's Robotics Lab. The scene of the crime from seven years ago...and the room that Aura Blackquill was evacuating from when she saw Clay being murdered. Aura's here, being questioned by...Apollo? We talk to Aura about what happened. She seems pretty smug about Athena being caught, and is again calling her "the princess". I suddenly suspect her--her tone towards Athena suggests she might have had a motive for the murder of Metis Cykes. Apollo actually has his doubts as to Athena's innocence? Apollo, you're being blinded by the personal nature of this case. Clonco is mistaking the injured Apollo for Clay. Finally, we ask her about seven years ago. Apollo wants to know, too. Aura wants Clonco to tell the story, and he says it's private information. Ah...Metis Cykes was Aura's partner. She designed the "hearts" of the robots. Which probably means Widget is one of her creations, too! Okay, I take it back... Apollo says he gets the feeling that Dr. Cykes loved her robots almost as much as she loved her daughter...and Aura. Wait, what? Hm...but this is quite complex. Metis Cykes was evidently a close friend of Aura Blackquill, and yet her brother was the one convicted for her murder. What's Aura's opinion on all of that? Trucy changes the subject to Clonco and Ponco. Really? We're not going to ask her opinion about the fact that her brother was convicted, apparently wrongfully, of murdering her best friend? Trucy says Aura should treat Clonco better, as he's a memory of her time with Metis. Aura says she can always repair his body, and his heart isn't actually in his body--it's on a separate mainframe. The bodies are just peripherals. If that's so, then why does her abuse of Clonco seem to actually cause changes in his personality? Aura wants to know why we're looking into such an old case, anyway...ah, here it comes. Trucy responds that we believe the culprit of that incident was the same as in this case, and that we're going to find out who killed Dr. Cykes, too. Aura asks us if we're aware who Metis's killer is, and Phoenix responds that he is aware of who was convicted for that murder...and now it's out there: We're having doubts as to his guilt. That's why we want her side of the story.

Aura was the one who introduced Simon to Metis. He wanted to learn psychology to give himself an edge in court. Huh...that sounds oddly correct. Athena even mentioned upon our first meeting with Blackquil his penchant for mind games. Still, to think that he's been such a fearsome foe in part because of what he learned from Dr. Cykes... Aura says that he was oddly serious about it, treating her more like a samurai would treat his sovereign than a teacher/student relationship. And he even got along with "that miserable little princess". Trucy finally comes straight out and asks Aura why she keeps referring to Athena that way.

"Well, she is Metis's daughter, after all, although she's nothing like her. Besides...doesn't the selfish little princess always have lots of white knights hanging around?" Interesting...I don't know what Metis was like, but it sounds like Athena herself is nothing like she used to be. So perhaps she's more like Metis than you think. "So the culprit behind the two cases could be the same, huh...? That settles it, then." When we ask what it settles, she says it's none of our business. Then we're thrown out, because we aren't the police and therefore have no search warrant. Trucy runs back into the Space Center to keep an eye on Apollo, who's "not usually all cool and dark and mysterious like that." Phoenix figures there's no choice but to return to the office. Remind me again, Phoenix, did we ever tell them that they're half-siblings?

...A letter? "Hey, Nick! It's been a while, huh? Miss me?" Ha, not many people call you that... "I read somewhere that you were holding a trial in the middle of an exploding courtroom? That must've really been something, although weird is par for the course with you." This from a bona fide spirit medium... "I'd love to come visit, but I'm right in the middle of a difficult part in my training." Still? How long has she been at this? "So instead, think of me as you watch those Steel Samurai videos I sent. I'm sure they'll cheer you right up! Yours truly, Maya Fey." Her timing really was perfect. Phoenix wonders how the letter got here...oh, it's Pearly again! She's even more confused on the details of the explosion than Maya was. Oh, there's more. "P.S. I bet you've been too busy to clean or take care of the office. So Pearly said she would come help you! Isn't she sweet? You'd better thank her!" And I guess it's now time to go to the Detention Center...Aura's here, talking to her brother...or more accurately, yelling at her brother. Fulbright asks if that's enough for today, and Aura says today is all there is when there's no tomorrow. She says she's got another plan up her sleeve. Aura leaves, and Simon says that Fulbright saved our case this morning. Fulbright asks for forgiveness, but says it was the just thing to do. Simon points out that as a result, Athena was arrested. Was that the just thing to do, too? We start to ask him about seven years ago, and as soon as he finds out what Fulbright told us, he shouts for the guard to escort the guests out of his cell. And...he insists that he's the one who killed his mentor, Athena's mother, seven years ago. Well, if Simon won't cooperate, perhaps Fulbright will enlighten us.

As expected, it has a code like the other major cases. The UR-1 Incident. Blackquill was charged with murdering his psychology mentor. There were two pieces of decisive evidence, so a verdict was reached very quickly. The first was security camera footage; he was the only one who used the corridor to the murder scene at the time of the crime. The other was a photo of the moment of the crime. Simon Blackquill, seven years younger, holding a bloody katana. Very incriminating indeed, but hardly the "moment of the crime"--there's no victim in this photo.

There is, however, one very battered-looking robot arm. If it weren't for the claw at the end, I'd have mistaken it for a bandaged-up human limb; it even looks like it has blood on it at the point where it was "severed". The katana belonged to the victim, kept on display in the room. The photo was taken by a reporter who had come to do a story on the impending HAT-1 launch; the evidence showed up inadvertently. Also...Prosecutor Blackquill's execution date is rapidly approaching. Tomorrow's the date he's scheduled to be put to death. Wait, that's not enough time! We hardly ever manage to finish one of these big cases on the first day! And who the hell is going to prosecute Athena's case, if not Blackquill? ...Oh, right, that's what Aura meant by "there's no tomorrow". So now the question is, why has Prosecutor Blackquill all but given up on fighting it? Fulbright gets a phone call...the robots are staging a revolt! They're rebelling against humans! They've holed themselves up in the Space Center and taken the visitors as hostages! What the fuck!

...Oh. "Another plan". This is Aura's doing. She wants Detective Fulbright to bring Athena Cykes to her. Fulbright says he can't give in to such a request, and asks us to buy him some time. And...perfect. We're going to retry the case from seven years ago. But first, we get to reinvestigate the crime scene. Clonco's back to normal, but we're still being watched...and an important guest has arrived. Oh, there's our prosecutor! ...Seems he wears glasses now. I guess age is starting to get to him, even though he's the same age as Phoenix. I, of course, have worn glasses since I was nine, so it would hardly be an effective way of seeing how much I've aged.

...He's been chief prosecutor for almost a year now? How was I not aware of this? Well, I guess that's a very reassuring sign. Miles Edgeworth is a good man, and he won't allow the courts to bring about an injustice. In fact, knowing that he's the chief prosecutor might explain why Simon Blackquill has still been allowed to prosecute--if Blackquill's in fact innocent, there's no reason why he shouldn't. Does Miles Edgeworth believe that Simon Blackquill is innocent?

The facts: Seven years ago, on the 7th of October, the body of Dr. Metis Cykes was found in this room. Crime scene photos...there's Metis's bloodied body in what appears to be a dentist's chair--I've seen that in this room, but I'm just describing it as best as I can. The other photo shows the other side of the room. Autopsy report...stab wound to the heart; death was instantaneous. Murder weapon was the victim's own katana; Fulbright mentioned she was into Japanese culture, and the clothes she was wearing when killed support this claim. Body found by a Space Center staff member and two police officers; police had been called in because of the threat on the HAT-1 launch. All very similar to this situation, honestly. A few hours afterwards, Simon Blackquill was arrested as a suspect. He pleaded guilty, so the trial was over quickly, but no motive was ever given or found. Also, there was one part of the case never revealed to the public... The spy. Blackquill was indeed believed to be the spy behind the sabotage of HAT-1, but if we can prove that the same spy was responsible for the bombing of HAT-2, we might be able to stay the execution.

"I cut down anyone who displeases me. I make the rules. I am the law. I wield the ultimate gavel of judgment. I am Judgetron (JT-02)!" We find this written on an imposing-looking robot. Ah...the Hope space probe was built in this very room, though it had been removed by the time of the murder. It can be seen in a photo taken earlier, along with the stolen moon rock. The Hope capsule is seen in the photo--the three people who discovered the body had come to collect the capsule to load it onto the probe.

Hmm...so the UR-1 Incident happened just before HAT-1, and then the Hope capsule was likely a target in the HAT-2 attack. Ah, the bag...it was custom-made for transporting the capsule. We also find a charging station for the robots, and some rolling cases...but now for the important part of the room. An operating table; that's what it was. Only this one's for operating on robots, not people. An emergency ladder, the one Aura was on when she witnessed Clay's murder. Aura's desk; there's a photo of Metis on it. We ask Clonco what Aura was like after Metis's death. Clonco refers to Metis as "Mother". He says that Aura was confused afterwards, exhibiting a severe catecholamine imbalance. We ask for a translation into something less technical, and he says she would spend nights crying and take out her feelings on those around her. Like the robots, I take it... this kind of goes along with what Apollo said. Edgeworth tells us that she repeatedly demanded retrials after Simon's conviction, but with no new evidence, said requests were ignored. There are notes on the Ponco series of robots.


 * Can determine the presence of a human with their heartbeat detection system.
 * Recognizes people by scanning their spacesuit or uniform jacket ID tag.
 * Can also recognize a person by facial features once the face has been registered.
 * Can infer people's emotions by analyzing their tone of voice.

Hmm...Point 2 and possibly point 3 explains why Clonco mistook Apollo for Clay--his face, if it even was registered (which it probably was), was obscured by bandages and he was wearing Clay's jacket. And point 4...supports my initial observation upon meeting Ponco. I'm almost certain that Widget runs on the same technology. Phoenix even points out that it sounds like the robots can do what Athena does...and that explains a lot, too. Dr. Cykes probably studied her daughter's ability and figured out how to technologically replicate it. Looks like that's all we'll find...

...except I just learned something else. Edgeworth reached out to Phoenix while he was still disbarred, asking him to help prove Blackquill's innocence. So, I was right about Edgeworth believing that Blackquill was innocent...and furthermore, that "special request" is when Phoenix met Athena. That's also what sparked him to get his attorney's badge back. He wanted Phoenix to keep an eye on Blackquill when he stood as prosecutor in court. The UR-1 Incident, along with whatever the incident code for the Gramarye case was, are the two cases that ushered in the "dark age of the law". I had been wondering how a good man like Edgeworth had managed to get the job of chief prosecutor in such a dark age...although my last encounter with a "chief prosecutor" was certainly interesting in its own right. Then, too, I was defending a client who was pleading guilty...now that I think about it, there were some similarities between that case and this one. A prosecutor pleading guilty to a crime they didn't commit... Clonco will be accompanying us to the Detention Center to speak to Athena. Aura really doesn't trust us, does she?

...Athena was in the Space Museum on the day that Clay was murdered. That would explain how her fingerprints got on the lighter. She went there after seeing the Space Center during the HAT-2 coverage, hoping that maybe she could finally come to grips with what had happened. She snuck in while it was "closed for repairs", but before the pads were switched. My theory was correct; that was Dr. Cykes's jacket. The traumatic experience came rushing back as soon as she saw the jacket...she says she passed out. She didn't wake up until noon the next day. As I thought, Dr. Cykes was working on robots that could understand humans...Athena felt like little more than a research subject to her mother.

Phoenix asks about the headphones that Juniper said Athena always wore as a kid, which her mother made her wear as part of her research. Athena doesn't remember the explanation her mother gave. Athena says the only things her mother left her were Widget and this earring. It's made of a piece of real moon rock that she had for research. Ah, the bandages on Ponco's head in the HAT-1 group photo...Athena was the one who put them there. She didn't really understand the difference between robots and humans when she was little, so she bandaged up the robot after she got "hurt". We tell Athena that we're doing a retrial of Blackquill's case, and she lights up. Seems she knew Blackquill back then. And...she took the stand as a witness during his trial seven years ago. She heard the voice of his heart then...she was the only one who knew; he was innocent. Hmm...aha. That's right...she mentioned once that she became a lawyer because she wanted to save a certain someone. It seems that that person...was Simon Blackquill. Fulbright then busts in, concerned about the fact that we can't find a single open courtroom. They're all in session. ...Seriously? What about Courtroom No. 4? ...yeah, okay, that was a bad idea. We then get a phone call...time's up.

...wait, you're thinking the same thing, Phoenix? We should use Courtroom No. 4? Okay, sure, let's do it!

...Aura then tells us that in this case, too, Athena will be the defendant, not Simon. Athena's freaking out, wondering if she did kill her own mother... Phoenix seems pretty freaked out, too. Pearl asks what's the matter...

...Five black Psyche-Locks? Just like when you talked to Kristoph Gavin last year...but you said that there was no way to remove them, right? I'm worried...

Pearl does some research into the Psyche-Locks Phoenix described. Red Psyche-Locks protect secrets that people are consciously trying to hide. But black Psyche-Locks protect secrets from the deepest part of a person's heart, ones that they aren't even consciously aware of. That...explains why they showed up right now, but why would Gavin have had them? Black Psyche-Locks are like a heavy chain wrapped directly around one's heart, and if removed forcefully, it could cause permanent damage to their soul.

Court, or some facsimile thereof, is now in session for the trial of Athena Cykes. Aura says that it's a real trial. Edgeworth says it's a farce, but one with very real ramifications. He agrees with the decision to indict Athena. The trial begins...wow, it's so nostalgic, seeing Phoenix and Edgeworth going at it again.

...Wait, I may have been onto something. I thought the bandages on the robot arm were scratched up, but they could've been written on just like the ones on Ponco's head. Athena's handiwork! Our first witness is...Bobby Fulbright. Isn't it always? Except here, he's speaking on behalf of Aura Blackquill, giving her notes from her own private investigation. "Simon isn't the murderer; he's covering for someone; someone else was at the scene at the time they say Simon committed the murder. I mean, if he was really out to steal that moon rock, then why the rolling case? Because he was using it to hide someone inside. That's why. And the only person small enough to fit in that case was...Athena Cykes! Ah, the camera caught him leaving with the case. Athena's whereabouts at the time of the murder are unknown. And now, the motive...Dr. Cykes forced her daughter to undergo experiments in the name of her research. ...Hate to say it, Phoenix, but their theory is actually somewhat plausible. Pressing leaves little change...

...Wait. Something else is missing between the two photos. The bandaged robot arm! The cart that it's on is visible in the photo of Metis's dead body, but the arm is gone!

Phoenix uses this to assert that Ponco herself may have been at the scene of the crime, getting fixed up. She certainly would take up enough room to require the use of the largest case while still being small enough to fit in it. Ah, yeah, the arm was bandaged up in the HAT-1 photo, too! So it was definitely her arm. And while as they point out, robots can't curl up into a ball like people can, on the other hand, they can be dismantled--that arm is proof of that. And that device can flash-disassemble robots. Edgeworth points out that there was a body on the table used for dismantling robots, but Phoenix has an alternate theory--Ponco was dismembered by the murder weapon! That would explain the blood on the bandages; Ponco was dismantled using a bloody katana, and that's what the "decisive evidence" actually depicted--the moment after Ponco's disassembly. So, that at least answers what Blackquill did. Now, for more questions: Why did Simon hack Ponco apart with the bloody katana, and who actually killed Dr. Cykes with it? Clonco's head comes off, much the way Scuttlebutt's box did in a similar situation, but far more disturbingly. Of course, this also means that Athena was never at the crime scene, so that ruins Aura's claim. Aura concedes that Ponco was found in pieces after the murder and that she repaired her herself...

...And Edgeworth isn't going to back down on the claim that Athena was carried from the scene, even conceding that Ponco was in the rolling case? Ah, because his theory was different all along. Ah...the photo only shows Blackquill from behind, and he seems to be carrying something. There was a bloodstain on his surcoat in a distinct shape...one that matches the odd headphones that Athena always wore. Phoenix is bluffing his ass off now, asking that Ponco be called to the stand. The judge seems shocked at the idea of a robot witness. Seriously? Just this year, you've seen demon witnesses and orca witnesses, and a parrot proved integral to uncovering the truth behind DL-6. Ponco's quite inflexible with the idea of being called "witness". Ponco says she was indeed in the robotics lab on the day that Metis Cykes was killed. She says she went to the robotics lab at about 2 PM for her regular recharge. Then Athena came in and hugged Metis, and Metis fell down, and after that she was recharging so she doesn't know anything. After she charged up, she was cleaning the room and Simon came in, and then an error occurred; there is no data after that point. ...Hate to say it, but Ponco's testimony is quite damaging to our case. It suggests that Ponco witness Athena kill her mother, and then Simon came in later and attacked Ponco to prevent her from being able to tell anyone. Edgeworth interprets this the same way and asks Ponco if they spoke to each other before the "hug", and Ponco says yes, and it was quite loud, but she doesn't know what it was about. Ponco was surprised because Athena is usually so quiet. When recharging, Ponco goes into sleep mode, so she didn't see anything after that. Phoenix asks how Ponco "couldn't tell what they were saying" even though they spoke so loudly, and she says she's only allowed to listen to voices that are directed at her.

...Phoenix wants to take advantage of Ponco's ability to understand emotions to find out Metis's mental state at the time. Ponco says Metis was very surprised when she was hugged; Ponco could hear her heart pound. The heartbeat detection system...unfortunately, Ponco's charging started right after Metis "fell down", so she doesn't know if her heart was still beating afterwards or not. Ponco says Metis fell by the round window on the workbench side of the room. That's nowhere near where the body was found! Objection!

We tell Ponco that what she said may have inspired a breakthrough, and she's happy to have been helpful. There's no way Athena could have moved the body, as she was just a kid...which means the victim was still alive and able to move!

...Shit. The robots are equipped with a heartbeat detection system; they identify the presence of humans by their heartbeats. So a corpse wouldn't register as a human. Ponco says that Athena asked her to move something large to the operating table. And without her jacket, which she wasn't wearing in the photo of the crime scene, Ponco could conceivably have failed to recognize Metis, as they identify objects by ID tags. Wait, but she should have still been able to recognize Metis by her facial features!

The judge wants to know why Athena had her mother's body moved to the operating table. Edgeworth has an idea. To Athena, the table was like a magic box that could make robots appear or disappear in seconds. We flash back to Athena telling us about that. She had trouble telling the difference between humans and robots... Phoenix refuses to believe it. Edgeworth suggests that if a robot could be dismantled and vanish without a trace, then to her... the same could be done to a human, to "dismantle" the evidence. Phoenix breaks down. Calm down, Phoenix, there's a better explanation. Think again about what Athena said about the "magic".

"I was so impressed by what my mom did. I even asked her if she would put me on the table and fix me if I ever got hurt."

Athena didn't want to dismantle the body. She wanted to fix it! She was the first to discover the crime scene, but naïvely thought that she could "fix" her mother, whom she found dead. Phoenix pulls himself together and makes the pertinent objection, and Edgeworth says that he supposes that could be another way of interpreting it, but it doesn't matter; either way, Metis fell down after being "hugged" by Athena. We've got nothing...

So of course, it's up to a timely "Objection" from someone else to save us. I have to give the game props, though, for using a silent objection...for someone with voiced ones earlier in the game. It's Simon Blackquill! He demands to take the stand. He claims that he went to the Space Center with the intention of killing Dr. Cykes. When he got there, he found Athena instead. He waited for Dr. Cykes to return, and committed the act. He claims that "she fell" simply means "she fell", and that Athena liked to tinker around with robots and had Ponco move the heavy ones and that day was no different. Another hold it--it's Aura, reminding the Judge that she still has hostages and so he'd better not hand down a verdict that she doesn't like. Blackquill wants to see counterevidence to his claim. Wait, who's interrupting now? Who's left to interrupt?

Of course. Athena Cykes. Just in time, too; this is exactly the type of testimony we need Widget for. Blackquill tells her to just accept that she's innocent, and she reminds him that she's suffered for all these years, too. She's still terrified of courtrooms. The Judge asks her if she knows what this means. Finding Blackquill innocent, when she is now the accused, would mean... She says she just wants a chance to find the truth.

Anger...add in some happiness when he finds Athena there instead. Nothing but happiness when he says he would not be swayed, so he waited? And the same when he committed the act. But the "unexpected emotion", allegedly, is the happiness when he finds Athena. He says that when he was looking for her and he hadn't found her yet, he grew worried, so he was relieved when he found her. Okay, I'm confused now...he says he merely wanted to make sure she was safe before going through with killing her mother. I'm not buying it.

Huh. This time, instead of happiness at the "cathartic" act of killing his mentor, the act of plunging the katana in brings fear/sadness. He claims his sorrow was not for killing her, but for Athena and her circumstances. He means...being used as a lab rat. He claims that his motive for killing Metis Cykes was to save Athena from an obsessive scientist who treated her own daughter like a research subject. He normally went to the psych lab, where Athena would usually be found playing, first, but on that day, he heard someone crying from the robotics lab next door, and thought that Athena was being subjected to yet another experiment. He then claims that Athena had cried herself to sleep, so all he had to do was wait and kill. Bullshit; she was crying because she found her mother dead. Or perhaps you thought... Heh. Looks like there's more in common between those cases than I thought. Tell me, Prosecutor, are you familiar with the SL-9 Incident?

A man named Joe Darke accidentally killed a man by running him over with his car, then killed all of the witnesses to his crime in a fit of paranoia. But in order to get the charges to stick, they had to charge him with another murder...one he didn't actually commit. The murder of prosecutor Neil Marshall. While being interrogated, Darke escaped into the darkened office of Detectives Lana Skye and Damon Gant, where he encountered Marshall. The two fought, and Marshall had the upper hand, but Detective Skye's younger sister, 13-year-old Ema Skye, encountered the two fighting and shoved the man with the knife whom she believed was Darke, but was actually Marshall. Detective Gant was the first to discover the crime scene, and he murdered Marshall and planted evidence suggesting that Ema had accidentally killed him, causing Detective Skye, who later "discovered" it separately, to be complicit in the cover-up of the truth and the framing of Joe Darke for the murder of Neil Marshall. The truth was only revealed two years later, when Gant, by this point the police chief, killed Detective Bruce Goodman and framed Skye, now the chief prosecutor and completely under Gant's control, who pleaded guilty to said crime. Sound familiar? A prosecutor pleading guilty to a crime they didn't commit in order to protect a young girl whom they believed had committed a crime?

Well, that's interesting. After pulling the thread on the sadness, the noise level went up. Phoenix says he's never seen it do that before, and neither have I. Athena says that he's piling lie on top of lie to make his claim seem more believable. Do we have contradictory testimony? I don't think so. Athena, can you keep working on his emotions?

Heard crying next door...fear/sadness and surprise. He headed over there...just confusion as he opens the door to the lab. But before he can lead Athena out, Dr. Cykes returns--anger and confusion. Refused to hand Athena over, and had no choice but to kill his mentor. Lots of sadness with a bit of anger. I feel like he's contradicting his own testimony, but not the evidence...

He says the surprise/confusion when entering the lab was because Ponco attacked him. That...sounds wrong. He claims Ponco was standing guard over Athena for Dr. Cykes...she knew of Simon's plan to rescue Athena. You know, what you call "rescuing" could be construed as kidnapping...So he sliced Ponco up. The noise level goes up again, and this time I know why. The katana used to slice Ponco apart was the murder weapon, which belonged to Dr. Cykes; it was already in the room! ...No good; we've been penalized. Ah, because I presented the katana rather than the photo. Oh, right, because it also shows that Ponco was hacked apart after Dr. Cykes was killed! Lots of rampaging emotions now; he's losing it.

He says he saw "that terrible scene", but then the second half is still him killing Dr. Cykes before he could lead Athena out. The root of the emotions is...Athena.

"It was a tragedy -- one I'll never forget. When I arrived at the lab... Dr. Cykes was already dead. She was lying on the operating table... while the bloody katana lay on the floor. And standing between the two, covered in blood, was Athena. She smiled, with a far-off look in her eyes, as she sweetly said..."

Blackquill's story cuts out for a moment for Widget to update the info. That's...totally creepy.

"Something's wrong with Mom, so I'm taking her apart to fix her."

As I thought. Athena, naïve as she was, thought she could fix her mother. But the question still remains; who did this to her in the first place? Everyone else in the courtroom seems to believe it was Athena. Seriously? I don't think so. I think Athena was merely the first to discover the body, but due to her naivete, she tried to fix her. Wait, that objection...

I'm confused. Now Blackquill's mad at Edgeworth for casting aspersions on Dr. Cykes for suggesting that Athena was used the way he claimed--like a guinea pig. He says that Dr. Cykes could be awkward with people, but she loved her daughter with all of her heart. *Sigh*...this brings me back to my previous suspect: Aura Blackquill. But before we can consider that, Simon continues. "Your mother hated to see you suffer because you could hear the voices of people's hearts. She wanted to set you free of your pain, so she worked tirelessly on her research. Do you remember those headphones you hated so much?" She says she did, and her head hurt so much every time she wore them. Simon says it was just the opposite. They emitted sound waves to nullify emotional input from the people around her. Her power was much stronger then, and those headphones were the only thing that enabled her to carry on with everyday life. So, this is why he knew that it had to be some sort of mistake; that he had to take the blame himself, to protect Athena. Phoenix doesn't want the case to end like this, and he starts to prepare a bluff, claiming to present evidence...Athena stops him. She doesn't want anyone else to suffer for her sake any more. And she...confesses. Okay, Apollo, that's your cue to come bursting into the courtroom with an objection!

...Any time now...!

"But could I please be granted... just one chance to tell everyone what I recall...?"

Ah, that will work, too. One testimony...that's all we need.

She claims she killed her mother. Her memory's still a little hazy, but there's no question she remembers it. The weight of the weapon in her hands, and the feeling of stabbing it in deep...and the warmth of her blood as it flowed down the handle onto her fingers. ...! That never happened! The evidence contradicts Athena's testimony! ...But there go the Psyche-Locks. We're left to wonder what the contradiction means. ...A different weapon? A weapon other than the katana...

...the utility knife used to stab Clay Terran! We suspected that the handles were swapped out...but does this mean...that she really is guilty of that murder?! Ah, right, it's a utility knife...right now it's just being used as a stand-in for the actual utility knife that would have been in the lab that day. There was a tool kit at the scene, but it's...missing its knife. Furthermore, the other tools are out of order. When put in the right order, the tools display the GYAXA logo. So, Athena stabbed someone with the utility knife, and then Metis was stabbed with the katana. Edgeworth suggests that this changes nothing, and the katana was just a decoy for the true murder weapon, the utility knife. I...don't think the utility knife was long enough.

After all...death was instantaneous from the weapon piercing the heart. Could a knife that small pierce the heart so thoroughly? Phoenix, however, seems defeated.

Someone else was there. They covered their face, but...for Ponco's heartbeat detection system to not realize there were three people there...Dr. Cykes must have already been dead, and Ponco mistook the third party for Dr. Cykes because he or she was wearing the Doctor's jacket! But if there were only two live people and Dr. Cykes was already dead, then Athena stabbed...the real killer! Now, to prove it...well, we've seen Clonco mistake Apollo for Clay, so it proves that possibility. Yes...the mask on the wall! The person Athena stabbed was wearing it; she remembers this now! ...Are you telling me that even the "filler" case was relevant this time? Mistaken identity caused by a mask was key in unraveling the Rex Kyubi murder. The Psyche-Locks return. A man with a mask...he did something to her mother. The Psyche-Locks are breaking! Athena remembers now... She was drawing a picture, like she often did when she was young, according to Junie. When she was done, she went to show it to her mom. She opened the door, and...saw her mother on the floor by the workbench with the katana sticking out of her. There was a handkerchief over her face, but Athena knew by her clothes that it was her. The man tried to attack her, and she panicked and grabbed the knife and stabbed him. He dodged the first strike, and she only got his clothes, but she tried again and stabbed him. It went cleanly into the back of his hand. Uh, doesn't Yuri Cosmos have a knife scar on his hand? She says that he then kicked her and she passed out. When she came to, her mother wasn't moving, so she had Ponco move her to the operating table to fix her. Athena remembers that her mother said a Noh mask has the power to turn an ordinary human into a phantom...the phantom of seven years ago! Aura-Clonco interjects, refusing to accept the verdict that the Judge was about to hand down, asking for proof of the third party. Hmm...the killer posing as Metis must have come there before 2 PM. Maybe the security camera caught him? It seems the investigators didn't really check what happens before the part where Simon's leaving at 3 PM.

Yeah, there's a man with a bloodied hand leaving the scene...but even though I can't see the face, it doesn't look like Cosmos. Far too slight of build. And sure enough, that's Metis's jacket he's wearing. Wait, but then whose jacket was found at the crime scene? They believe the killer specifically stayed until after 2 PM because he knew that that's when Ponco came in for her daily recharge and wanted to confuse the time of death. Edgeworth objects...it seems the jacket found at the scene was indeed Metis's. When could the jacket have been returned to the scene? Perhaps when the body was found. The timing would have to have been perfect, but if the two officers focused on the body, the Space Center employee might have been able to plant the jacket. ...and brought it there in the shock-resistant bag! Edgeworth says he'll have it investigated and concedes the victory to Phoenix.

...So Apollo's implication did mean what it sounded like it meant! "Her respect as a co-worker wasn't all that I wanted!" I don't believe this. The game actually went there. Simon says he has a lead on who Metis's murderer is. He was no ordinary spy, a complete unknown, and so he was referred to as "the phantom". Blackquill was assigned to track him down. He got a lead...a recording of the phantom's voice, but too poor for proper analysis. Yup, every case becomes relevant. Yet Blackquill had hope, knowing that his sister's co-worker was a scientist who could analyze human emotions. He asked her to analyze the recordings with her analytical psychology.

Blackquill believes that as a result, Dr. Cykes and her results and the recording were among his targets, as they would make him. Simon had the results all along...Edgeworth wonders how he smuggled them into prison. He said he had his ways, and his partner is quite adept at this sort of thing. Right on cue, Taka flies into the open-air courtroom and lands on the judge's head. He was granted permission to prosecute cases to attract the phantom's attention. "Just TRY to retrieve your identity, you bloody butcher!" became his taunt. The psych profile shows that the killer's emotions rarely fluctuate and he doesn't experience feelings like normal people do. Do we know anyone like that? The judge is about to hand down his verdict, declaring both Athena and Simon cleared of the charges, when...objection!

...Damnit Apollo, where were you when we needed you?! Aura's even consented to this verdict; the trial's over! Simon and Athena are both innocent! He says he can't allow this trial to end just yet. Apollo, be reasonable. There will be another trial, one in which this new suspect is tried. There's nothing wrong with allowing these innocents to get their not guilty verdicts now.

Ha...when I saw that we'd be doing a retrial of seven years ago as well, I had a feeling it would be an epic case similar to 1-4 and 1-5, and wondered if maybe I'd made a mistake integrating it into the same chapter as the demo and 5-4, but they had made for a short chapter on their own. This, however, already ties Chapter 10 for the longest chapter yet, and so...I will indeed leave this with a "to be continued". This ends the twelfth chapter of this playthrough topic, and because I expect it to take awhile to finish and it's already getting late...this also ends tonight's session. I've got some things to do tomorrow, so I won't immediately pick it up, but hopefully I will continue this tomorrow.

​The judge asks Apollo to explain himself. He says it's very simple; there's not much to explain. The defendant might not be innocent. Phoenix says the case from seven years ago has been settled, and Apollo says he's not talking about the case from seven years ago; he's talking about the present case. The murder of Clay Terran. Apollo asks Aura to allow the trial to continue, and she consents. Edgeworth does, too. He reviews the facts of the case.

Apollo's testimony begins with him saying that he suspected Athena of the murder of Clay Terran. His suspicions were confirmed when the lighter showed up. She's also the only one who could have utilized the launch pad switch to escape. ...The only one that could have? Does this mean...she's registered by the door? I start to press the statements. His suspicions began when his bracelet reacted to Athena when she saw the murder weapon. Understandable, though, given what we know from the previous trial. Furthermore, it continued to react every time she talked about the case. He couldn't go on like that, so he decided to wear an eyepatch to cut off his ability to perceive her tells.

Ah...the security camera in Boarding Lounge 2. It recorded Athena leaving the Space Museum after the switch. I'm forced to suggest an alternate route. My first guess is to again try to pin blame on Cosmos, using the control room, but that earns a penalty. I'm forced to concede that the corridor was the escape path...aha! The dead leaves...Phoenix thinks the alternate escape route came while the two launch pads were being switched. The others claim that anyone exiting the corridor then would fall to their deaths, but Phoenix points out the emergency ladder. Edgeworth isn't buying it. It's a mere fifty feet to the ground, and twenty feet from the corridor opening to the unstable ladder. "An ordinary person would certainly hesitate before jumping...or even freeze in fear and not jump at all." Ah, but the Phantom doesn't have such emotions! Edgeworth figures that if that's true, then the launch pad switch must have been part of his plan from the start. The locations of the bombs must have been to facilitate that escape route being possible. Phoenix says that the phantom must have known which ladder would be used, as Aura said that there were ladders in other rooms, too. Wait... The detective leading the investigation told Aura to lower her ladder...what if it wasn't the employee? What if one of the two police officers who found Metis's body was the phantom?

But the detective leading the evacuation after the HAT-2 bombing was...Bobby Fulbright?!?!?!?!?!

No way. I'm calling bullshit here. That loudmouthed buffoon can't possibly be the emotionless killer. The rest of the court reacts similarly. Phoenix says we were all taken in by his fake persona; he appears very emotional, but his psych profile says otherwise. He's also the one who brought the bloodstained lighter to court. We take a short recess to have Fulbright called in for questioning. During the recess, Apollo asks Athena to punch him for doubting her. Edgeworth informs us that Aura Blackquill surrendered and set the hostages free, and has been given permission to do something that she said she had to do. She and Simon make up...sort of. Simon then asks Edgeworth's permission to stand at the prosecutor's bench for this trial. He does so, and he allows his shackles to be removed the conventional way instead of breaking them like usual. Of course, that's necessary, because Bobby's shock collar still applied when they were broken. Apollo is to join us on the bench, as Athena's still the defendant...which means this is another case where the defense and prosecution are in agreement.

Yeah...I wondered how that would go. It seems like the prosecution is also after Fulbright, and yet, we wouldn't be there if we didn't have someone to defend, so Athena still has to remain the defendant. It is, after all, the same trial. Edgeworth goes off to investigate those details from seven years ago. Apollo points out that this is the first time they've shared a defense bench since he debuted. The judge asks Fulbright if he knows why he's been called to the stand, and he spouts his usual corny lines. He hasn't broken character yet. He claims we have no proof of his supposed leap, but we do have the lighter incriminating Athena. He then asks if we can define justice, saying it just is, and Apollo asks if he'll have to break out a dictionary on him...which turns out to be the setup for a bad pun. We try pressing everything, to no effect, but the suggestion given is just to keep pressing until he cracks. I'm stumped. Wait, no I'm not. He says the lighter was held in the right hand; Aura's statement contradicts that! Fulbright suggests that what Aura actually saw was the reflection of the killer in the mirror opposite the window. Okay, now he's putting on emotions. He's also lying about there being an Earth emblem on only one side, and Apollo's bracelet knows it. Aha! Right at the beginning, his left thumb flicks when he mentions the Earth emblem! The emblem's a button...when opened, the lighter takes the shape of a pistol! No...the lighter is a pistol, one that shoots .10 caliber bullets! Which is...a spy gadget. Phoenix wants to reexamine the print data. Sure enough, the prints aren't actually Athena's. They belong to the victim, Clay Terran. Therefore, it's no longer of any use for determining the guilty party. Fulbright was the one who collected Terran's prints and the one who compiled the print data. He claims to be an undercover investigator who has been hunting the phantom himself. He claims that the phantom got the better of him, took his family hostage and forced him to cooperate. That...sounds more plausible than Fulbright himself being the phantom. Fulbright, the seemingly inept buffoon, would be the last person anyone would expect to be assigned such an important mission...I could see him as an undercover investigator assigned to catching the phantom, and I could see him being forced to cooperate if the phantom had his loved ones as hostages. So he admits to helping the phantom by having the ladder lowered, and by forging the evidence. Wait...that face. What happened to his emotions? I've never seen him look so stoic... And yet...they're talking about ending the trial, with "not guilty" verdicts all around. Is this really so unacceptable? Athena will get the not guilty verdict we need. We're defense lawyers. Our job is to protect our clients, not to catch criminals. Leave it to the prosecutors to catch this phantom.

Athena stops the judge and moves from the defendant's box to the defense bench. Of course! She can hear emotions...she can tell if he's the Phantom or not! Ah, Simon's been in on it! Of course! He knew all about Athena's ability, so he led Fulbright on! Fulbright tries to hack the mood matrix, but the anti-cheating hawk stops him. Suddenly, he's showing emotions...but they don't always match up properly. So, he can control his emotions...

...That doesn't look "controlled" to me. Everything's fluctuating! ...Except that. Fear/sadness when accused of killing over a moon rock. Because he never stole it. Athena's had it all along! ...No, because his identity might be revealed. There's still a lot we don't know. ...But the moon rock has the phantom's DNA on it. Athena's knife strike seven years ago! The moon rock is nowhere to be seen in the video of the phantom escaping, because...

...it's been in the Hope Capsule all along. Hence, the HAT-2 bombing to try to steal the capsule; the murder of Clay Terran, again to try to steal the capsule; the bombing of Courtroom No. 4 to destroy the evidence...even the HAT-1 sabotage, which would've destroyed the moon rock had the rocket blown up before the probe was launched! Edgeworth returns just in time to stop Fulbright and Blackquill from dueling to the death, but...Fulbright's wasn't one of the faces registered by the robots seven years ago. However...an unidentified body found one year ago has been proven to possess Bobby Fulbright's fingerprints. This is indeed the phantom, posing as Bobby Fulbright, whom he killed one year ago. It's a mask. That's not his real face.

...Wait...what the FUCK?!?!?!?! ...No, of course. That's another mask. We already proved that Solomon Starbuck couldn't have done it. He even admits as much shortly afterwards. This is getting silly as his next mask is Professor Aristotle Means. I'm guessing Florent L'Belle is next, followed by Ted Tonate? Well, Phantom Means takes the psych profile. Blackquill says it's pathetic how he can't even speak without wearing another man's face and suggests that he doesn't even know who he really is anymore. Phoenix nearly curses as Phantom Means challenges him to bring in the moon rock, this decisive evidence. The only piece of the moon rock that remains is Athena's earring, but that wouldn't have it, would it? After all, by nature that earring must have been made before the rock disappeared.

...Oh. There's still a fragment of moon rock left, amongst all the fragments of the bomb! DNA testing proves it to be the witness's, and Phoenix asks him to confess that he is the phantom...only to be met with an objection. His own objection. I was wrong. Under the Aristotle Means mask was a Phoenix Wright mask. Ah, perfect. We need to compare it to a fragment of the moon rock from seven years ago...which we have. Right there on our partner's ear! Finally, the Phantom feels fear. He goes through nearly every face in the game before falling down, his true face in shadow. It's conclusive. He's done. And I was wrong to cut the last chapter short. Blackquill thanks Athena for everything she did to help him. He said that some things are more important than his own life... His honor-bound duty to protect with his life his mentor's most beloved treasure. Oh, but first, it's noodle time!

The credit wrapup--Gaspen Payne is being investigated by Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth; Damian Tenma has been asked to debut a new wrestler, Tenma Taro, but unfortunately he's supposed to go up against the Amazing Nine-Tails; Filch is...still Filch; Robin's studying to be a prosecutor for real now, while Hugh's studying to pass the Themis entrance exam on his own merits; Scuttlebutt's going to be a legal journalist; Klavier's still prosecuting and still singing; Cosmos is planning for HAT-3, but has been demoted to Assistant Director; Ponco and Clonco will be going to the moon--Ponco's excited, but Clonco's scared; Starbuck's going to the moon too; Blackquill wants Phoenix to defend Aura in court...everything's looking alright.

Chapter 13: The Shadow of Councils (CLANNAD--Misae and Tomoyo routes)
Okay, back to CLANNAD. I'm going to go back to trying to get by on instinct for these next couple of routes, since it's fairly easy to figure out how to get on the right track. Wow. Didn't realize I'd never done "Say something fitting". Anyway, I ignore the first few flags for other routes, though I decide to at least bite on the first couple of flags for Tomoyo's. Oddly, even though I could've sworn that one of the other routes made me follow hers for a few flags (think it was Koumura's), I'm getting new dialog after only two flags. Well, I don't want to go too far, so I'll leave Sunohara on his own on the 17th. And he just keeps going...finally, a chance to see Misae again. And shortly afterwards, something new, with Misae chasing the rugby team back to their rooms. I continue to suggest ways that she can punish the unruly students, and they keep end up being used on Sunohara. And if I don't advance the text, he just keeps being swung around in circles... "Screech! Screech! Thug!" I...don't think that was the word this game was looking for. Anyway, Misae comes into Sunohara's room on the rainy Saturday. Sunohara asks her if she's brought a cake. She hasn't. She's wondering if I brought an umbrella. I don't, so she gives me one. She leaves, and Sunohara says how nice it would be to be nursed by Misae. Suddenly one of the rugby players bursts in wanting to talk to me. They're threatening me to stay away from Misae. They've got some nerve getting mad at me because they're not playing by the rules and Misae is being tough on them. From there, it's a diversion to the Yuusuke stuff, and then a couple of sessions in the reference room with Yukine that has me worried that I accidentally left Misae's path. Ah, there's Misae again...oh, wait, this is the choice where we decide if we want to invite Mei over or not. Eh, why not? Nope, this has me on that path again. Only, when I reload, I feel like I'm ending up on Yukine's path...wait, this is different! Tomoyo appears in our reference room segment! ...And there we go. I screwed up. Okay, this time I'm ignoring all superfluous flags. Huh, "Say something fitting" produced a different result. Finally, a new Misae segment, located on the twentieth. We get to see her punishing a rugby player. She reminisces about the past, saying she wasn't like this back then. So she was much more of a delicate flower? She seems more like the same type as Tomoyo--pretty, but tough. Then she asks if we've seen her cat. She keeps it in her room, but it seems he's gotten away. Right afterwards, we find Sunohara, having captured the cat. Misae rescues him from Sunohara, violently, and then invites me for tea in her room. She's had the cat since high school, so about five years. He doesn't have a name, because she's afraid he might just disappear and doesn't want to get too attached. Unfortunately, one of the rugby players comes calling and I have to hide. She's consulting a boy named Tsujimoto about...something...I think I sense a misunderstanding coming on here. Ah, it's cleared up quickly...seems the problem's constipation. Still, she says she wouldn't mind if she was helping with those sorts of problems, as she currently feels more like a mother to these kids even though she's still young. I rejoin Sunohara, and apparently he smells the scent of a woman on me. I tell him that it's not just me; the rugby players go into her room, too, asking for advice. Of course, Sunohara wants in. Godspeed, Sunohara.

...Geh? The flag for Kappei's path is still here? Dang...well, I just saved anyway, so let's see if being polite screws me over. Well, I still got another Misae opportunity, so I think I'm good for now. Sunohara shows up while I'm there. Misae sees right through him. Sunohara, you're an idiot...

Whoa, actual choice! What do I like about Misae...that she's kind?

It immediately takes me into another choice, this time with the other two choices being joined by a new one. I take the new one--"That you worry"--and it asks for yet another, and this time the new one seems wrong, so I choose "that you scold". Finally I give the whole list, and it also adds one that wasn't in any choice--"that you're beautiful". Right after that, it's confirmed that I've made it successfully to Misae's route. It seems like I'm spending a lot of time under the blanket...ah, this isn't even someone from the dormitory, nor is it a boy! ...Oh, it's Tomoyo. I ignored even the earliest of flags for her on this run...damn, now I'm wishing I hadn't. I learn some interesting stuff about Misae--that she was the first female Student Council President, and achieved the legendary "Perfect Student Attendance Week" record. Wait...that latter achievement meant she managed to convince every last student to make it to class on time for an entire week?! Misae's amazing! As expected, it's because Tomoyo's planning to run for Student Council President, and she wants tips from Misae. Finally, she leaves and I emerge, and we talk a bit more about Misae's past. She's still shy about talking about that guy, though. Back at school, Ryou's doing another fortune-telling, on the topic of love. I ask her what she thinks about love, and she mistakes it for a confession. Poor girl; seems to get this in a lot of routes...well, anyway, there's my plan to get someone to talk to Misae about "love". This time, the cat's under the blanket with me. It's confirmed that Ryou has feelings for me, and Misae says she went through the same thing at this age. ...And Misae's pretty sharp. She knows it's me who gave Ryou that advice! Ah...Kyou used to talk about me a lot when we were together in second year, and Ryou liked what she was hearing, and then when we ended up in the same class in third year. Misae advises her to find someone better, but her words betray the truth--that I've been here quite a bit. Ryou feels that tight feeling when she learns this...jealousy. No, envy; jealousy is for things you already have. After she leaves, Misae asks if I knew. I tell her I had no idea Ryou felt that way about me, and though I don't say it, I feel like if I'd known, I wouldn't have had her come here.

Before long, I've gotten her answering people's troubles all day long. Finally, one manages to ask about her boyfriend, and she relents to talking about her school days. Her answers are still vague, though. He wasn't overly handsome, didn't take part in too many club activities...she still doesn't want to talk about it. She says she feels like she was at her prime in those days, but she wasted it for the sake of that guy. She was rejected...I say he sounds like an amazing guy, and I'm jealous of him. She says he was nothing amazing; he was just too ordinary. I try to talk to Sunohara about my troubles, but he's too obsessed with breasts to be of any help.

The next day, I come as a guest asking for advice. No, not really. It's love advice, because...I've fallen in love with her. It's a confession. Before I can get it out, though, she says there's someone she's been continuing to wait for, and I shouldn't bother with her. Even though he disappeared, her feelings continue on, and she won't like anyone else. I try to protest that the consultation's not over, but she says she won't listen. I leave. The cat tries to stop me.

...I screwed up somehow? Okay, I guess...blind run's over. The guide says that "kind" was the wrong choice--it's scold, worry, blanket odor. This time, she says if I really like those kinds of things, then we might be a match. After that little bit of changed text, the fast-forward takes me almost all the way to where I ended last time, but this time I manage to say something.

I say that the Misae-san from the past isn't the one I like with. It's the Misae-san from right now, that I met here and spent time talking with, that I like. She says that I really do like making women cry. And then she cries, and stays close to me for a long time.

That night, I see a long dream in which I'm told about a charm with a light in it, and the light has the power to grant one wish. I'm supposed to take it to her and grant her wish. And somehow, I'm seeing Misae in her school days. She ignores me and finds the person she's looking for: Igaarashi. She tries to get him to walk her home, but there's another person, seemingly from a different school, that Igaarashi thinks looks like he's her boyfriend. Me.

I'm Katsuki Shima, and apparently Misae helped me out before. She says she doesn't remember me, and she's angry at me for ruining her chance with Igaarashi. And then I tell her that I'm supposed to grant her wish, and I can't leave until I know what it is so I can grant it. She "wishes" that I disappear from her sight, and I say that if that's her wish, then I'll disappear. She finally consents to talk to me for awhile to see if her memory can be jogged. She asks when we met. I say it was while she was in middle school, and I was still in grade school. I think her mother was in the hospital in the neighboring town. I was in the courtyard in that hospital, in a wheelchair. I was holding a cat, she says. So she remembers. But I guess I didn't give her my name then? So I became better and can move freely now. I say it's thanks to her, and she says she didn't do anything. We just talked. I say that she gave me the courage to hang on. I was able to try hard, and like this, I became better. She said she was happy I thought so, and she thinks that it's enough that I came to see her, but I say that the wish granting was something I wanted to do. She sighs, realizing how insistent I am, and asks me to get her some juice. I tell her she could give me a more serious wish, and she says it's serious; her throat's dry. I tell her that I really can grant any wish she desires; I'm holding onto something like that. That's why she should really tell me a wish that she really wants without holding back. She asks if it's a magic lamp. I say it's something like that, and she calls me a romanticist and says she doesn't believe in any of that. Then she asks me to make the snow fall right now. I tell her that such a wish would be a waste, because it would be gone so soon, and such a wish is worthless. She gets angry. I apologize, and she says I'm quite timid and that back then, I seemed resigned to my fate. She thinks I'm a lot more mature now, and even my looks kind of changed. She asks for more time to think about her wish.

Cut to another day; I'm saying hello. Someone asks Misae who I am. She's angry, again, at people misunderstanding and thinking we're in a relationship. I tell her I came to hear her wish, and she tells her friends to go ahead. Wait...I bet Shima's wish was how Misae managed to get everyone to come to school on time for a whole week! Anyway, she says her wish is that I wouldn't do things that give people the wrong idea. I'm confused, and she explains it. I ask her if she doesn't have a boyfriend already. She says she doesn't, but there's someone she likes, so she still minds. I tell her that she's a beautiful person, so it should work out. She asks what will, and I tell her that I meant when she confesses to the person she likes and offer to go along with her. I...don't think she liked that idea. I suggest that maybe her wish should be to get married to that guy and have lots of kids, and she gets mad at me for thinking about something so far in the future. Then what about just to have him like her? She says I can't do that; that's playing with people's hearts. She doubts my wish-granting power could do that.

I say it can. She scowls, and I correct that it might be able to. She sighs and says she needs to pick her wish quickly or I'll stick around. Another scene cut. I say hello, and she drop-kicks me. Damn, that's harsh...not even Kyou's temper is that quick. She says she told me not to wait at the gate. I reply that if I don't wait at the gate, she won't see me. She says that would be fine. I ask if she'd come and find me, then look at her face and conclude that she wouldn't. One of her friends comes up and says that I seem really attached to her. The other says that I'm kind of cute, so maybe it's not too bad? She says that's not the problem at all. I then learn that her crush is Igaarashi from one of the two. Saki tells me that I'm not really Misae's type, and the other one, Yuki, says it's kind of a waste, because she likes this type, meaning me. Saki gets mad at Yuki and says that I should give up on Misae because I really don't have a chance. I say that that's not the problem at all...another voice interrupts. Male. It's Igaarashi. He assumes I'm Misae's boyfriend. She denies it, and Igaarashi says it's okay; she doesn't need to deny it like that. She even more vehemently insists that he has it all wrong. Saki then says that that's true, that I've just been bothering her, and he thinks I'm a stalker. Saki says it's something like that, and Igaarashi asks if anyone minds if he strangles me. Even though Misae's already done that plenty of times...he then says that I seem kind of weak, so Misae should be able to handle me herself. She asks what he means by that. Igaarashi says he's just kidding, and if I'm really giving her a problem, just let him know. Well, it looks like she's getting somewhere with her crush... I tell her that it seems like I wouldn't even need to do anything for it to go well with him. She says she doesn't know that for sure. She thinks I'm strange for not frowning about the fact that she likes another guy. I ask why I should frown, and she says it's because she expects me to be jealous or something. I think I understand, but I'm not interested in that sort of thing. She says neither is she, but every day, I've been coming to grant her wish, and that's why it's strange. I ask why, as I don't really know it myself. She says she guesses she doesn't hate that about me. I continue to ask why, and she comments on my curiosity. She says that usually when men and women are in a relationship, there's a time when you can't help but think about love, especially at our age. I think I start to understand, and say that I just don't want to be a problem. She says I'm "pure", and surely there aren't a lot of people like me at my age and that's something to be proud of.

It's raining warmly the next day, scattering the sakura petals across the ground. I'm huddled there, waiting, and Misae brings me an umbrella. She seems concerned, but it soon turns back to anger at my always being here. It's not like I'll disappear if I'm not here; nothing can change that. She asks if I'm not worried I'll catch a cold waiting like that. No one else has come out of the school gates. School's still in session. She says she'll give me this umbrella, and then I can wait. Also, a towel. I apologize for making her worry. She says if I'm going to at least apologize, then I shouldn't be helping her. She tells me to clean up, and if I'm going to wait for her, at least make the girls around feel envious of me as a guy. I say I can't do that, and she's surprised, thinking it was part of my qualities, too. She's smiling, and says she's not really interested in her wish. I ask if that means she's decided on one, and she tells me to stop the rain. I say it'll stop on its own soon, and she says that's good; when it does, I'll have granted her wish and won't have to wait anymore. I tell her I can't do that, because I'm serious about this.

She asks what it was she said that had such a major impact on me. I'm not sure what she means. "At the hospital", she says. "Tell me, because I've forgotten." I say that I don't remember too well, either. She says that's not good, because didn't I hear something from her that made me work hard during my sickness? I say that's true, and she sighs. To forget such important advice as that... I say I'm sure it wasn't about the contents, but the meaning of talking with her. She asks why I think that, and I tell her it's because she's facing forward. She tells me I shouldn't be talking to random people I don't know, and I apologize. She says if I'm just going to apologize, then I shouldn't bother talking. I say that I won't apologize.

The days continued to play out like that, with me waiting and Misae strangling and kicking me. On this day, Igaarashi sees me and comes over. He identifies me as the stalker boy from before, but says I don't seem like a kind of pervert or something. I say that I'm not at all, and he asks if I'm waiting for Sagara-san because I like her. No, nothing like that. I tell him that she's someone who really helped me out, and I thought I might return the favor. He says that I've gotten attached to her, but I don't really like her, and then says he has something to ask of me and do I mind coming with him for a bit? Ah...he knows she's been attracted to him, but...he has a girlfriend right now. He's afraid that she could be getting ready to confess, and wants a way to indirectly tell her before it starts becoming problematic. He doesn't know how she'll respond if he tells her directly... A girl tells him not to be so cold and just tell her directly, but he says that's his nature. And...he wants me to tell her. I tell him that I'll probably end up telling her the truth, word for word, and he says that would be a problem. The girl, I guess it's his girlfriend, says that from now on they'll be going to school together. I sigh as I return to the gates. I feel like I've been more of a jinx to her, when I'm supposed to be granting her wish. It would be better off not hearing from Igaarashi, but he's asked this of me, so I have to tell her. I'm still sighing when she shows up, and asks why I'm so glum. She calls me hopeless, and says she has to decide her wish, but that I don't seem all that happy. She tells me that if I'm supposed to be helping her, I should cheer up, but that could be an unreasonable order sometimes. She asks me to confide in her about what's wrong. She asks if it's about love, and I say maybe. She's surprised that she was correct. She figures that whatever happened must have been big and asks why I'm feeling down. I say "That's because... I have to tell her... something sad." She asks why, and I say it's because I was told to. She asks if I have an obligation, and I say I don't, but that that person said it was better to say something now. She guesses that the person I like has a person she likes, and that the person she likes already has a girlfriend, and I was asked to convey this. Bullseye. She says that I'm quite a person; most guys would be happy about that. The person they like got rejected. I say that's too sad. She points out that I'm not the one who's been rejected. In other words, this is a chance for me to grab that opportunity; the person the girl likes is gone now, feeling unrequited love. And at that time when I comfort her, she might choose me. I shout that there's no way I could think of doing something like that. She's shocked at hearing me raise my voice, and I ask her if that's what she really thinks about my position. She says that the people around her, Saki and Yuki, were the type to think that way, and she's sorry for putting me in with them. I apologize for getting angry, but she says it's okay and that I should hold that pureness dear. And that she...doesn't hate that.

She likes it, actually. And she giggles. And then we don't say anything, until a yell comes from down the hill. Igaarashi and the girl from the other school. He misreads the situation and asks if we want to go on a double date. The girl's elbow is already tied with his. Then he says, "Just kidding! Later!" and they run down the hill together. He planned it this way, waiting for the moment when I was telling her to appear and make off. But...if he wasn't going to tell her directly, then by doing this on top of making me tell her...was he trying to push her towards me? I mean, I guess that could be construed as having a selfish motive, since pairing her off with someone else means she won't be pining over him, but...I still can't help but think that it's kind of sweet in a cruel way. Yeah...he feels like if he did that, then he'd still be able to talk to her with a smile. Misae says she's an idiot, and she was talking about herself just then, wasn't she? And then she runs down the hill; far down, so I wouldn't catch up with her.

The next day, I didn't meet with her. Instead, I talked to Saki and Yuki. Saki says it's not usual for her to be taking a break and asks if something happened. I say it did, and she says it's good that I'm so honest. I tell them what happened. Yuki hits on me again. Saki's pretty sure that Misae does like me. She's become so much more lively since I started waiting for her. "In the end," Saki says, "that girl likes doing stuff for others. She can take care of really bothered people. That's why, day after day, she'd smile, saying she'd take it out on you if you were still there, as she headed towards the school gates." I feel a bit better after that. Saki says it'll be really important for me to be with the girl who has a broken heart, and says they'll come up with a plan for me. Unfortunately, Yuki's a bit of a cloudcuckoolander, and I'm so naïve that I follow her advice word-for-word. She sees it for what it is. She's glad I didn't think those up myself and tells me to use my own words, but I can't think of any. All I can do is apologize, and she asks why I'm apologizing. I can't say. She says this isn't my fault, and points out that I did come to comfort her. Or did I take her advice about taking advantage of an opportunity? She guesses that I like her, and I tell her, yeah. She invites me to sit beside her. She says I look pretty good and orderly, and if we fix that weak personality of mine, she thinks I'll be popular. Ah, Yuki's attraction to me is because she's a shotacon...I tell her that I don't hate Yuki-san or Saki-san, but she's the one I like the most. She thanks me and says she never thought she'd hear those words from me, and that was pretty cool. She asks what I like about her. She asks if it's because of what she said before giving me courage. I say that as I am now, it's the Misae-san now that I like. That she scolds, that she worries...and that I like the way she smells when she's strangling me. That's what makes her beautiful. She says that I wanted to say that upfront, but that I can't act in such a calculating manner. She says that even though she said it herself, all of that comforting stuff sounds so fake coming from me...and then she laughs, and says she's come to like my pureness and my personality. And then I take Misae from the swing and I kiss her.

The next day, Saki and Yuki are teasing me. I'm not totally sure what they're talking about. Right as I'm freaking out, though, Misae rescues me. I become known around the school as her boyfriend, which is embarrassing, but kind of cool. Her popularity leads her to become student council president...it's odd. The third-years have blue badges, and the second-years, red. So unless they changed the badge colors, Misae's green badge can only mean this is taking place during her first year. She's angry at how much work it'll be.

Saki and Yuki are suggesting that a little time apart could only make our relationship closer. Misae tells them to stop saying such perverted things. I say I'd like to see her at work, and she suggests I enter their school next year.

Another day...Saki and Yuki have forced me to cross-dress, and are commenting on how feminine my face is. More specifically, they've put me in Misae's school uniform so that I can get on campus. I'm amazed, and they tell me to focus on making my voice higher so that I can more easily masquerade as a girl. As I'm lost in the hall, I hear a male voice crying out from a classroom in a poor approximation of singing. Unfortunately, he sees me and asks me to join them. I run off, and he doesn't give chase. Oh, hey, I actually recognize the person I've bumped into--and by "I", I mean the player the first time and the character the second time. It's Kouko Ibuki. I ask where I could find Sagara, and she shows me the way to the council room. ...amazingly, she doesn't recognize me in my disguise. Ah, but what I can I say to her in disguise, and with a teacher here no less? Without thinking, I confess, right then and there. Uh-oh. I run off. As I'm changing back into my own clothes, the charm falls out of my pocket. She's surprised when I bring the wish up, and I say I'd forgotten about it. We both had. She says it's not important, as she's happy right now. I say that this is important as well, because it's my obligation. She asks if there was someone else I made this promise with. Yes, there was... She asks if that isn't strange. I'm confused. She asks who it was, but I can't remember. Someone definitely told me to, though. She asks what they said, and I tell her about the light in the charm with the power to grant a wish, and I'm supposed to go and grant it. She asks to see the light. I open up the charm, and it's empty. That's weird...I saw it enter with my own eyes. That means...I have no wish-granting powers after all. Misae says it's fine. I can't help but be burdened, though. The person who told me to do this was the most important person, after all. A person I had spent quite a long time with. So I have to do this. I keep pestering her to give me her wish, and she insists that she doesn't need anything.

Saki and Yuki are screwing around with me again. They want to go to my house. I think about it, and...I have no memories of my family? No...there's someone missing from my memory.

That's right. That's Shima Katsuki. Not me. I spent a lot of time with him, and I was entrusted to grant that wish. The two nosy girls are a bit confused, but realize it's best to stay out of it. Ah...the light is gone because it had already started to grant a wish. Some day, my existence will return because of it. I became a person, and when I grant her wish, my duty will be fulfilled.

I'm spending time with Misae at Founder's Day, but no matter what she says to me, I can only respond, "Yeah." She says she's ready to tell me her wish.

"Please, forever always... love me." Wasn't that what I said to her, in disguise? I start crying, because I never knew this warmth. I thank her for everything, and she heads off.

I don't show up for a number of days afterwards, and everyone wonders where I went. So obviously I'm not the same type of spirit as Fuuko. Ah, but a cat's here, has been coming for a number of days...

Flash forward to when Misae first takes over the dorm, on the phone with her old friend Yuki. When she returned, the cat showed up again. She says she doesn't like cats, but this one's strangely attached to her. And eventually, she relents to keeping him.

...I, Tomoya Okazaki, wake up. I fell asleep in Misae's room last night. Misae's lying right beside me, muttering Shima's name in her sleep and asking why he disappeared.

I remember that that's the name of the cat curled up in my arm. The one she didn't name. He was the one who showed me that dream. The boy in the hospital...never got better, but his cat became a person and took on his identity in order to grant the wish of the one that he loved. When that wish was granted, he turned back into a cat...even though that wish was for him to love her forever.

"Master, Master. My current master is not the same as you. She's a very kind person, but she makes me worry sometimes. I wonder...did I reach the goal?" He wants to remain like this forever, being happy with her. He wonders if it's alright. Credits. As I'd heard, no Light Orb just yet...this is the second route in which a Light Orb was actually part of the plot. Or was that the third? Yes, Kappei's had it in the plot, too.

Next up, Tomoyo's path. The last one before the endgame starts.

Surprisingly, I start out by picking up the first few flags for Nagisa's path as well. Or perhaps it's not so surprising? Tomoyo's path does seem to intersect with a lot of others. Of course, Sunohara's still making trouble. I love when she says she'll make an exception for Sunohara when she originally planned to not fight with anyone in this school. Ah, but I don't volunteer to help out with the drama club. I see. So this gets her at least motivated that far, but not attached to me. The combo starts building as Sunohara keeps putting his foot in his mouth. Finally he realizes that I said "good lech", not "good luck". I'm surprised she's even willing to verify it to me. Although, perhaps not...she tells me her aim of entering student council and rallying the people that way. There's some puns that don't translate well. She tells me I'm easy to talk to, because I have a casual atmosphere. I tell her I'm not a good student, and she realizes that she feels at ease with me because as a former delinquent herself, she can relate to me. I warn her again to stay away from me if she wants to get into the student council; it'll cause trouble if the teachers find out. She says the council is basically independent of the teachers, so I make another excuse and she tells me I'm wrong again. I start to head off, but she stops me, because I still haven't checked yet. She's serious. I tell her not to worry about it, but she says she'll still feel uneasy if I give in without checking, because that was humiliating before. I say I'll just tell Sunohara that I touched her, and she says she doesn't want that to be a lie, so I ask her if that means she wants to be touched, and she gets indignant. I tell her she's complicated, and we decide that that's sufficient to call her "feminine". Okay, then...

...Heh. I manage to get a technicality, touching her in a place that's hardly inappropriate and reporting back on how "soft and warm and genuine" it is. Well, time to waste time...oh, it's Fuuko! And then I talk to Misae some more. The next day, Sunohara's still obsessing over how to beat Tomoyo in a fight, even though he knows she's a girl. I reluctantly help him out. Tomoyo gets embarrassed at the compliments...a Cyrano situation, except not really. Oh, hey, I get to participate in the combo! And then we learn about Ryou's fortune-telling. I'll let Sunohara try it. So, he's going to find a special someone...ah, he tried to force it and ended up pissing off a rugby player again by hugging his girlfriend out of the blue. Later, I run into Fuuko again. She's so cute! I head to an empty room and find Fuuko yet again. I confront her about her injuries, then head to the reference room. Unlike previous times, though, I don't stay. After heading back to class, the rest of the day goes quietly. Tomoyo stops me in the hall as I'm leaving. The judo club is stubbornly trying to recruit her. I stick around and help, and when the guy trying to get her to come with him hears me calling her by her first name, no honorific, he lets her go with me. Of course, he was still an underclassman. I tell her that she really should clear up the potential misunderstanding, though, and explain that it looks like we're going out. She asks if that bothers me. I say that it doesn't matter to me, but her situation's different. I'm not the type of person she should be seeing if she wants to be in student council. She says that it's not a problem... She seems hurt by the insinuation that I really don't like the idea of it. She still manages to get me to walk her home. I realize what's happening, and she asks how it's different from me always going to see her during break like I do now. I point out that that's Sunohara's idea, not mine. She says she can shake him off by herself. I say that I'll make him knock it off.

She asks if it really was just for my entertainment then. I say that that's how I'm seen around here. She says I'm not such a bad person. Finally, I decide to tell Sunohara off the next day. Also, Botan shows up. No chance to play with him, though. I plan to head straight home after school, but Tomoyo stops me. She's impressed that I really did make Sunohara stop. She says that's helpful, but that was also keeping her occupied, so she'll feel a bit lonely. I ask if she doesn't have any friends, and she says she does, and they're kind, but they're really classy, while the two of us are great at being fools. Uh...was that supposed to be a compliment? And didn't she come here to be with their kind? She says she doesn't mind. She says she doesn't really hate anyone, not even Sunohara. She says she's full of motherly love. Isn't that what you'd expect of a girl? I say more like an old woman, and she says she's younger than me. Well, she's going home with some other classmates today, so she has to go. I say yeah, you shouldn't keep them waiting, and she says I sound like I'm happy she's leaving, so I tell her to stay then. Misae lends me the umbrella, just like in her route. Am I going to end up seeing Tomoyo and Misae's conversation again, only not from under the blanket? Well, back into the dead world again. Yep, I talk to Misae for a bit on Sunday. Ah, but I pick "don't come again." I wake up completely, and Tomoyo is standing, staring at the cherry trees. Wait...the "lone girl standing there" was present in Misae's route, too, only we didn't know Tomoyo then. I call out to her, because if she keeps spacing out like that, she'll be late. She thanks me for getting her attention. She asks if I'm coming, too, and I say I'll wait, because I'm a shy person and prefer to walk the hill alone. She says she's happy to hear that I'm shy with her. Umm...I think you misunderstood? Ah, but she won't let me be late...she drags me off. Only when I get to class do I realize that I was holding hands with a girl all the way up the hill, and I don't even feel particularly uncomfortable about it. By third period, I'm bored, and I get a juice from the cafeteria. On the way back, I run into Fuuko. Ah, prank time... I see Tomoyo in a group of girls as I'm heading to lunch. I try to ignore her so they don't see that side of her, but she approaches me and asks me if I'm headed for lunch, and if "that idiot" isn't here today. I say he'll be coming late...She asks if his house is far away. Whose? That idiot's. When I tell her he lives in a dormitory, she vows to go pick him up. She apologizes to her friends and ducks away. I wonder if they're used to her odd behavior. I start to continue on, but she grabs my hand and tells me I'm coming too. She says I should feel lucky for getting to walk with a girl, and also a junior. This isn't a girl and a boy walking together; it's a girl dragging a boy as she walks. She wants to get permission from the office to leave, though, which could be troublesome for me. She's still holding onto me, and right after I convince her to let go, another student asks me if I've had lunch yet. I say I haven't, and Tomoyo grabs my arm again. Finally, I convince her to let me have lunch...we're headed to the cafeteria, still arm in arm. I can't help but laugh at my situation. I tell her this, and that the people behind me are quite jealous of me, and she decides that it would be quite interesting if she moved even closer to me. I try to eat as we're walking and get scolded again. I decide to eat it anyway...but she snatched it away before I could, and I ended up with her hand in my mouth. My tongue touched it... I ask her if she's going to wash her hand. She says we don't have time. I take her hand and rub it with my own uniform. She says she didn't really mind this at all. I tell her to wash her hand when we get back.

She says it's fine, because I already wiped it. I say she's too lenient, and she says it's just the opposite; if she were lenient, she'd have let me eat the bread while we walked. We get to Sunohara's dorm, and Tomoyo gives me a cup of tea before kneeling by Sunohara's bedside. I sense a combo in the near future... Sunohara's shocked at Tomoyo being here, and she points out that I'm here too, drinking tea--and having lunch, I add. Tomoyo scolds me for reading manga while I eat, but Sunohara gets scolded for so many other things. I head into class late the next day, trying to sneak in quietly, but Tomoyo catches me. She asks if I only just got here, and I lie and say I'm heading home. She asks if I'm feeling sick, and I say yeah. She asks if my house is nearby, she'll escort me. I tell her I'll be fine alone, but she's worried and takes my temperature with her forehead, or tries to. I avoid it, and she calls me on it, then grabs me. She says I don't feel feverish...her mouth is open, her warm breath hitting my nose. She thinks that's odd, and I say I'm just starting to feel sick. She points out that I'm not coughing, and I said I feel like I want to, but I'm controlling myself because she's right there and I don't want to give her a cold.

She says she doesn't mind. I think about coughing, but can't bring myself to do so with her face right there. Looks like I'm busted. She says she doesn't forgive lies, but the way I put it wasn't too bad. I say I wonder what would happen if I coughed. She thinks she'd do bad things to me. And...looks like she's realized that I'm just arriving. She's...worried about me oversleeping? She asks if she's bothering me. I say, well, no, not really...but don't you have more important things to do than worry about me? Follow up with the friends you blew off yesterday, or something. Finally, the bell rings, and I manage to get away from her.

Sunohara and I talk at lunch. He's thinking of getting a part-time job. I tell him he'll have no strength in the daytime at school if he works at night, and he says it'll be fine if it's not physical labor. A job that uses his brain. Um...what brain? He thinks maybe a tutor. Sunohara, you get the worst grades in the class. He thinks he's good at English. No, you really aren't. Wait, Tomoyo, what are you doing in our classroom? We're stunned as she talks about lunch, and seeing us not eating, she takes the liberty of feeding us. For me, curry bread, and she shoves the sausage part of the frank roll in Sunohara's mouth and says it suits him. She says he's really good for gags; he exists for that. Sunohara snaps. Someone else sees her and the color of her badge and asks whose girl she is. Sunohara says neither of us. I'm not so sure she'd agree with your assessment, Sunohara. The others think she must be Sunohara's, based on his embarrassment. Sunohara protests and gets mad at Tomoyo for making people misunderstand. She asks what he means, and he clarifies. She says she doesn't really care. Sunohara says we care. I simply say that she's giving Sunohara a problem. So she thumps the desk and announces that all of them are wrong and it's not Sunohara. I point out that if it's not Sunohara, then would that mean it's me? She says she guesses so... That's fine, right? I don't get to answer. Sunohara asks me once she leaves if she'll be tagging along with me from now on. I say not just me; him too. He says that's the same. Strange rumors will surface, and who knows when she'll kick him again. I say he's sure enjoying it when she kicks him, and he doesn't want any strange rumors to surface. He then comes up with a plan, but luckily I can quickly derail his train of thought...no, I can't! He's resolute in his stupidity. Botan's at the gate again. I end up leaving the classroom and joining him, and getting nearly decapitated by Kyou.

After school, Tomoyo hurries to my classroom, wanting me to walk her home again. She said she promised, so she hurried there. I ask her if she doesn't have anything else to do today. She says she doesn't. Sunohara butts in. Tomoyo says she didn't remember inviting him, and he says it's only natural that if she invited me, she invited him too, since the two of us are always together. I kick him and tell him to stop saying such disgusting things. He says this is part of his plan. I'm not interested in your plan, Sunohara. Tomoyo says that since the dormitory is close, she'll deal with it, but Sunohara says there's somewhere else he needs to go first. Oh, that's right; his plan is to try to be less of a loser by making a girl do his fighting for him. Well, we decide to go along with this inanity for a bit. We run into Fuuko in the hallway. She goes into her own little world again, and Tomoyo asks who she is. I say she's an acquaintance, but not a close one. Sunohara says we don't have time to be standing around and tries to hurry us up. Tomoyo asks what time has to do with it, and he tries to say that it's best done while the sun's still out. Tomoyo's not buying it. He says that if it gets dark, our parents will call us home, and I point out that his parents aren't even here, at which point he backtracks and says that Misae-san is like a mother to him. Unfortunately he overplays his hand and forgets that she's not that much older than we are, much less old enough to have children of her own to compare Sunohara to. Somehow this ends up with yet another strange name for all of us. Right as we're about to leave, Fuuko continues speaking as if she'd never stopped. I tell her not to daydream so much, and she insists she always pays attention. Before I can prank her to prove my point, though, Tomoyo asks me if I'm still back there playing. I decide to leave, and Fuuko shoves the starfish down my back and runs off. Sunohara asks if it's a shuriken and takes it from me to play ninja, although he's acting more like a samurai. Well, either way, the wooden carving's lost now.

Sunohara intentionally took us to a bad part of town, where the engineering students are. Tomoyo's uncomfortable being around here. She ask Sunohara to hurry it up, and when he says it'll be awhile, she says she'll wait here and he should call her when he's done. That doesn't satisfy him, either. Finally, someone recognizes Tomoyo and starts panicking. Tomoyo's becoming more uncomfortable...I've got to do something. I tell him to stop and figure out that he's looking for someone who would want revenge on Tomoyo, and then I make sure she knows that there's no reason to stick with Sunohara anymore, and also we're far enough from the school that she can kick him all she wants. Sunohara relents.

Once it's just the two of us, Tomoyo calls me by my first name. She realizes that I helped her out there. I tell her it was nothing; she looked really scared there. But in spite of what happened, she says she really had fun today. She asks me to spend more of my time with her. I again try to tell her that she shouldn't be getting so close to me if she wants to get into Student Council, because bad rumors will start. She tells me not to worry about it. But she can tell I'm uncomfortable with the idea, so she says only until she actually gets in.

The next morning, she's there to wake me up for school. No way to avoid this; I'm pretty sure I have a girlfriend. I ask why she's here, and she says that I have bad mornings and that's why I'm always late, and she's helping me get up on time. She starts acting hurt that I'm not keeping my promise, and I say she misunderstood me, that I only meant to talk to her more at school. She says she'll wrap me in the sheets and take me to school then. I ask about how exaggerated the rumors about her past really are.

She worries that I'm distancing myself from her when she confirms that one of the more exaggerated rumors actually had some truth to it as well. I tell her she's imagining things. She says it was a one-time thing, and the topic of her past is now closed. I ask why she was the way she was. She says she didn't have a reason, but she does have a reason for changing now. What that reason is, however, is a secret. I change the subject to how she doesn't really treat me as her senior. She suggests that maybe she should start calling me "Okazaki-senpai", then says it's too much trouble. I can't help but laugh at how desperate she is to seem feminine. Wait...why does this feel vaguely familiar? She wants to hear my secrets, saying that's something guys do, and I say that if a guy said everything, he'd be labeled a pervert. Heh heh...well, yeah, isn't that obvious? She seems surprised, and I tell her to back off again or the rumors might start. She does so, though she says she doesn't mind it at all. She's staring at the cherry tree again. I ask if she really likes them, and she says she's come to like them. Then after we continue on, she asks if it wouldn't feel lonely if they were all cut down. Yeah, I guess. We continue on, and after we part ways, I run into Fuuko yet again. She forgot my name again and calls me "Strange Person". I decide to vary from the usual at this choice. The ghost talk starts after I get to class. Sunohara comes up to me at lunch and asks if Tomoyo will come by again today, and he starts thinking weird things, which Tomoyo hears. Sunohara's shaking as he turns around, but Tomoyo seems more hurt than angry at his insinuations. She starts preaching at him until he has to use his awful English to tell her to stop. I think he's broken. Once he realizes that his behavior is annoying Tomoyo, though, he plays it up even more to try to drive her away. Tomoyo says he's bothering not only us, but everyone else as well. Sunohara laughs this off and says that no one has the guts to tell him off.

...and right on cue, Kyou shows up. You just had to tempt fate, didn't you, Sunohara? She tells him off, and Sunohara replies that she's not even from this class, so she has no right to be telling us off in our classroom. She says that even so, she's the class representative, and he again says that that's from another class. Kyou...concedes the point and walks off? ...And immediately returns with her sister. Well played, Kyou. Unfortunately, rather than telling her to tell us off, she just speaks and pretends that it's Ryou talking. Kyou, you're so immature. Somehow, completely unwittingly, Ryou's face manages to go along with Kyou's words, and Kyou compliments her on this, only to get a confused look. Before Ryou can tell us what Kyou wants her to, Tomoyo gets up and apologizes, though she says it would be tough to tell the two of us to stop because we're always like that. Kyou says that's not the case, and Tomoyo realizes she was wrong. I'm putting out SOS signals and making Ryou hesitate to back her sister up. Ah, because Kyou wants Tomoyo out of here for some reason. Sunohara suddenly realizes he's been tricked into being on the same side as Tomoyo. What the fuck, Sunohara...oh, right, that's your self-preservation instinct. Tomoyo may be legendary, but Kyou's clearly the bigger threat to your health at the moment. I head out for a juice and see Fuuko again, but I don't particularly want to get caught up in her weirdness so I ignore her.

Sunohara's worried about Tomoyo possibly showing up again. I tell him that if he doesn't like it, he can just go on ahead. He says he will even if I don't say so. But I just did say so. He says he'll wait at the usual place, and as usual, I tell him not to say such disgusting things. He only continues to say disgusting things, though.

I think he's oblivious...Luckily, Tomoyo arrives right as he leaves. She's worried about the fact that he's not going home with me, and I say he wants to be alone. She asks if he's having problems and offers to help, but while I don't say it, his problem is her. Unfortunately, delinquents from another school are gathering outside. Ooh, what's this theme for? I've heard it before, but I don't remember where. I like it. Ah, found it. Looks like we're going to have some trouble, though...what have you gotten us into, Sunohara? We make a plan. I'll draw their attention and get them away from the school so Tomoyo won't be seen fighting. Ah, but Sunohara's returning just in time to help...Tomoyo says his assistance will be useless. Oh, come on, he's not that useless...at the very least, he can be a meat shield. Tomoyo thinks not, and kicks him aside. Then I use his fallen status as "motivation", as now "they've" taken out our friend. Well, we scare them, anyway...but here comes a teacher. As the teacher looks away, I notice Furukawa in the club room. That's right; she's still trying to reform the drama club. Oh, there's our excuse! We were just rehearsing for a play! Right, Furukawa? She looks confused, but since the teacher's looking towards her, I nod, and she does the same. We had to fake this battle, and Sunohara's playing dead. Phew, looks like the teacher bought it.

...Eh? An act change; the Illusionary World? We were making the Junk Doll. The next morning, Tomoyo wakes me up again. I'm still half-asleep, and she teases me about it. She pinches my cheeks and pulls at them, and I tell her that I finally have a reason to pinch hers again, like I did when confirming how warm and genuine she is. She says I may have the reason, but she has the right to avoid it. She slides through and grabs mine again, and I won't just let mine be stretched, so I grab hers back. In the end, I couldn't do it, and she pulls on my face until it hurts as I wouldn't give up trying. I insist on waking Sunohara up as well, and he manages to piss Tomoyo off, but the combo cuts off early as she realizes that as the senior, Sunohara actually does have some rights to make demands. Wait, where is this going all of a sudden? Ah, of course, it's still all too easy for Tomoyo to outsmart him. And Sunohara doesn't know when to quit...20 hits! New record! Wait, why are you calling her senpai; you're her senior! And she insists she won't be late, so we have to run. He does it again, and she calls him on it, and he tells her to act more like a junior. She says that it's not that she's not acting like a junior, but that we're not acting like seniors. People are gossiping about yesterday's fight. Tomoyo's unhappy. Sunohara isn't, so Tomoyo makes him take all the credit for that. Good; then everyone will be happy.

Tomoyo doesn't show up for lunch today, and I realize that this displeases me. Right as Sunohara thinks we're finally rid of her, she shows up after school. Ugh...well, Tomoyo says she's grateful that we waited. You're too nice to him, Tomoyo. She kicks him when he says something perverted, and we leave him on the floor. Ah, she was busy with student council stuff during lunch...She notices my discomfort. I ask if nothing will sway her. She says nothing so small can dissuade her. Well, what about something not so small? She asks what I mean, and I draw in her arm and kiss her. Our lips meet again, this time with her taking the action. We both enjoy this...but, this is something she has to do. I ask why. She says she made up her mind, and she doesn't want to give up on anything. And, there's also something else important. All I can do is pray she loses the election. So, are we enemies now, she asks? No...we can still be lovers.

...And so she'll continue to wake me up every morning. Ah, well...

Typical; I suggest a breakup because I can't cope with the early wake-up. She's quite distressed, begging me to say it's just a joke. I tell her I didn't expect her to have a cute side--well, there's a typo when I say it so it comes out "I didn't except", but it comes out properly when she's telling me to say it a bit more nicely. She...seems happy, if conflicted, about this situation. I try to get a hug in while her back is turned, but her reflexes are too good. I'm never going to win this, so I relent. I tell her to turn around so I can change. She asks me if I'm okay with a girl like her who doesn't act like a girl. I'm surprised, and she says that if she were more like a normal girl, she's sure I'd have my hand on her already. I tell her how cute she is and give her a kiss. We go to get Sunohara as well, and he complains about being woken up early in the morning as well. After he fails to get his point through, he decides it's easier to lecture me about it. Ah, there's Sunohara's weird ability to smell the scent of a woman on me. He hasn't quite figured out that it's Tomoyo, though. We find out that she's running not just for student council, but for the presidency. Sunohara freaks out. Tomoyo, can you please kick him?!

The atmosphere's tense at lunch. Sunohara decides to go home alone after school, which is fine by me. Tomoyo is surprised that Sunohara actually got that serious about this, saying she expected him to always be that funny sort of character. We agree not to bother waking him up the next day. Ah, that's right; we lose all track of time after the official ending lock, even though a lot of times the route lock is long before the ending lock, so there's really no way of knowing how long it will be until that conversation happens because when we saw it from Misae's end, we were already locked. She says she's going to be busy on break--family stuff, planned before we started seeing each other--but she's available today. I'm making a save point because my instinct disagrees with my walkthrough. Ah...by leaving the school, we run into Sunohara, alone amongst a bunch of couples and taking a four-seater to himself at that. We end up heading to the school cafeteria anyway. I offer to treat her, telling her it's my job as a guy. I say it would be nice if we were in the same class, and she reminds me that we're not even in the same year. Somehow, a barrage of insults turns into a confession of love.

...Uh-oh. Looks like those "bad rumors" have already started. Someone's defaced the candidacy listings, calling her "Delinquent Girl". Because she's gone on Sunday, it skips right to Monday. She says I look like a bear when I wake up. She carelessly brought her face too close to mine, though, so I steal a kiss. Now someone else has added "What do you mean?" below the nasty moniker. I ask Tomoyo what to do about it. She says leave it, and is surprised that I'm helping. I tell her I'm not; I just can't let people insult my girlfriend. She says it's not an insult; it's the truth. No, it really isn't. Most of what makes me a "delinquent" is my stubborn refusal to come to class on time or to pay attention once I'm there. You're not like that at all. I'm worried, so I check the bulletin board again at lunch. There's a crowd now, and a lot of the rumors have been scribbled down. I'm conflicted. What do I do? A teacher catches us together after school. Another day skip. The 29th got more or less skipped once on Nagisa's route, too, didn't it? I ended up getting a suspension, all because of actions I took to cover up the fact that I was seeing Tomoyo, to leave her path open. Sunohara asks what happened, despite me telling him not to. I tell him my truth, which isn't the same as what he heard. She didn't back me up, anyway, but if she had, I'd have probably been expelled.

Sunohara's...worried about me? Though he's still being kind of perverted...he's actually saying something kind of useful. Tomoyo asks if I'm here. She comes in, and asks Sunohara to leave. He points out that it's his room. She said that's why she apologized before asking. He agrees, but wants to know everything that happened afterwards. She asks my forgiveness for not being careful. I tell her it was my fault. Still, I did it for her, didn't I? I tell her that's just how I was until I met her. She says she's unhappy, because if I don't go to school, I won't get to see her. She's still blaming herself...that's a fault of hers. I tell her it's lonely when she's not around, and that's why I'm tired. Urk. Damnit, game, why'd you have to cut through to the real me like that? Trying to ignore my own problems, even though they're only problems because I've been ignoring them...need to do something, but every time I try, I get scared and freeze up. Well, it convinced Tomoyo to stick around, anyway.

She's an hour earlier than usual the next morning, because she wanted to spend some time with me before school.

...Oh my. She's cooking breakfast for me. She's so adorable! ...This route's going to get a lot harder to deal with, isn't it? I ask her why she's doing this, and she hesitates and says...because, since my family has no mother, I might not know this kind of morning. So glad this route fell when it did; it's a good motivator to keep on going, actually. I realize I never actually said anything about my mother, but she's been coming by every morning so obviously she noticed. She tells me I should probably wake up my father, and I'm surprised. She says that of course she made some for him too. Looks like I'll have to tell her...about our situation. Oh, well, it looks like he's woken up of his own accord, anyway. I run off and end up at Sunohara's, and I shake him awake after putting a pair of underwear from the floor over his face. I tell him that I woke the rugby players pretending to be him and now they're after him. He bolts up. Wait, the underwear's not his? Well, after passing along some of my depression to Sunohara, Tomoyo shows up. We run Sunohara off.

"That's right. Hurry and get out of our love nest ."

"It's my room!!"

Shameless self-promotion at its finest, though I suppose it's appropriate for the VN topic since, as a game I'd already 100%ed long before starting the topic, it was ineligible for a playthrough.

Tomoyo asks why I ran, and worries it was something she did. I reassure her, and tell her that I'll tell her everything after school, because it'll take awhile and I don't want her to be late because of me. She tells me how lonely it is with me not being at school. I wait for her after school and tell her my family history. She reacts not as someone who understands, but as someone who wants to be there for me anyway, and asks what to do about breakfast. We agree to eat together over the holidays. I take her by surprise the next day by not being as half-asleep as I seem. She says I'd better not be imagining anything dirty, and I tell her she should imagine it too. I think I broke her. Nope, she's stronger than that. I end up conversing with a second-year while waiting for Tomoyo after school, and nearly get into a fight before she shows up and stops it. Apparently being suspended means house arrest in this game, or perhaps in Japan. Here, they're worried that it would be too much like a vacation, so for really serious offenses they have in-school suspensions, which are kind of like being in detention for the entire school day. Sunohara confirms that rumors have been spreading. He takes me back to school so I can see what's become of the bulletin board. He thinks she's almost sure to lose the election now.

Sunohara says this would be better for me, though, because it wouldn't matter how long this lasts if she becomes Student Council President. I guess... He thinks Tomoyo probably feels the same way, right? Maybe...

I get up on my own on Saturday. Tomoyo's waiting there, in regular clothes rather than her school uniform. She immediately picks up on my current state of mind and asks where my father is. He's not here during the day. She worries for her safety, which I tell her makes me worry for mine. She asks what that means, and I say it's nothing. I watch as she prepares breakfast, and she gets kind of embarrassed. I wonder what would happen if I tried something... Yeah, that would probably go poorly. She picks up on my odd breathing, and when I say I was imagining something scary, she thinks what I was really doing was imagining something dirty. Another simulation...this one's a bit sillier, but still bad. Again she thinks I'm being perverted... She's worried she's made too much. It's good, though. I realize I've answered a question without knowing what it was. ...Ack?! When did that show I was watching get so dirty? And how did this situation get turned around so that Tomoyo's the one with a lewd mind? ...I have no idea what's going on. I think there's a lot being said between the lines. Speaking of "lines"...

"I wanted to be more like like a girl..."

Catching typos never gets old. That one creates a particularly bizarre picture in my head, though.

Anyway, now we're apparently cleaning the house. This lasts the rest of the day. The next day, I find myself unable to imagine anything perverted because it always goes all scary. She's really weird...I think she's afraid to admit that she kind of wants our relationship to go to another level too. Okay, the guide says I can do it, so..."Go a bit far"!

...And she says I look like I'm going to imagine something really scary. No, I think this time, it isn't. Ah...she really is the perfect housewife... Hold on, I stand corrected. It's the same as before, only even more ridiculous. Also, I love how each hypothetical "bad end" reads, "You Are Die!" She seems happy that I had my fantasy, though. Huh? "Tomoyo Protect... that sure is scary..." She asks what happened, and I tell her I wasn't able to imagine anything. She asks what's wrong, and I decide to be direct with her and ask to hug her. She asks if I couldn't do that when she's not cooking, and I say I wanted to be close to her when she was cooking. She says that's okay as long as I don't get in the way.

...Way to ruin the mood, Tomoyo. I'm not sure what to think of her now. As if reading my mind, the game offers me another choice. Do I think things will remain fine like this, or do I think things can't continue as it is? In the spirit of the blind playthrough, I'm going to follow my instinct even though the guide says it leads to the bad end. I ask her about her reasons for wanting to enter the student council, saying there's no reason to keep it a secret. She asks if I really want to know and says it's nothing interesting. She doesn't really give me a straight answer, though. What does one have, if they don't have the talent to become popular? Family.

"Sometimes living one's life is not unlike treading water." Damnit, game, not again! I ask about families where someone's depressed or having problems, and she says she knows about that all too well. Her parents always argued...I can relate. No, wait, now they didn't argue? But there was no warmth between them--no warmth anywhere in the family. She says she grew up without love. I tell her to turn around, and I embrace her. She continues, that when she was at her worst, she gained support from someone. Her younger brother. She says she's never seen his smile...

She says she ran away, leaving her brother all alone to tie together a family that had stopped being a family. Two years ago, her parents finally divorced. They already had lovers, so they had moved on. Her brother was scared, and used a last means of resort. He...jumped in front of a car, so it would hit him. He ended up in a small hospital room, and there the family all gathered together. He survived, and kept the family together using his body that way. She mentions the road near the hospital being lined with sakura trees; her brother in a wheelchair, Tomoyo pushing him, and for once, he's smiling. Tomoyo's crying, wishing he could walk, experience what she was experiencing. I ask what this means about her motivations for entering student council. She asks if I noticed what was beyond the sakura trees. Residential land development. The hospital is ahead of here. She wants to save the sakura trees on that path to school.

She wakes me up for school the next morning. There's a new posting on the bulletin board. Tomoyo tells me not to buy any bread at lunch as we part ways. Ah, she made lunch for me! I'm kind of embarrassed...Sunohara says it's best if he leaves us alone, but I drag him back over. I stuff the lunch down...only to learn that I grabbed the wrong lunch. Wait, this one's even more embarrassing! Sunohara keeps loudly trying to leave, and I keep loudly stopping him, and of course our commotion attracts the attention of a certain long-haired, short-tempered girl. And...she's picking a fight with Tomoyo? Dayumn...the idea of seeing Kyou on the losing end of a fight is pretty damn appealing, but...wait, Tomoyo's actually going to do it? Well, she's mostly just dodging, but Kyou's getting absolutely desperate. Finally, Tomoyo decides that it's been enough, and lets Kyou through. Kyou's confused and dissatisfied. Tomoyo says that if Kyou's on good terms with me, then she wants to be on good terms with her too. Do I say something, even though my last choice may require a reload later on anyway? Yeah, I do. Tomoyo's a good person, and I don't want her to be misjudged. They bond over kicking Sunohara. Skip a day to the results of the election. She didn't win. We don't part, even after classes start. This time we'll both get into trouble. Huh...the lock came now.

...What. She says that when I graduate, she's thinking of just dropping school. Now I see why this is the bad end. Because even though it seems like I get the girl, it's a tainted win. She's not being true to herself, for my sake. Yep, as I thought, the lock almost immediately leads to bad end. I quickly load the last choice to grab that dialogue, then go to the important one. Odd...there's actually less dialogue there, and it goes on skip all the way to the next choice. It says that we spend time together "for many days", but there's no day skipping. I guess this is the part where I do the selfless thing, right? Wait, what's all this about sports? She throws the ball to the backstop. Well, she can certainly throw, that's for sure... Sunohara seems to be annoying her. She ends up walking the bases loaded. She calls time and wants me to take over for Sunohara at catcher, because he's pissing her off too much. I tell her about my injury. I suggest she aim at Sunohara's face and blow him away with her feelings. She says his reflexes are too good; she can't do it. I say I don't mean it literally; just have those feelings. Sunohara says not to flirt during the game, and that gets Tomoyo fired up. And she strikes the next two batters out to get the win. Oh, so the plan was to get more votes! Wednesday's not skipped this time, and we continue to impress people. Tomoyo's worried, but I reassure her that this is sports, not violence. There's a difference. The next day, we await the results. Tomoyo says she wants to be with me after this, now and forever.

But...she promised, that she wouldn't pull me down, and neither would I. That she already knew. That's why her chest hurts so much now. This is goodbye... She won. We don't part. She reminds me that we were going to break up when she joined the student council. No. I don't want that anymore. I'm staying with you, just like you wanted. Heh...I see. That's how it goes. So I guess we don't see that scene with Misae from Tomoyo's end. The next day, just like always, Tomoyo comes over to wake me up. My girlfriend, the student council president. Again I tell her that we're breaking up in a cranky fit of sleepiness. She threatens to cry if I don't tell her it's a joke. I tell her how cute she is. We've been through this before. Sunohara comments on how strange it is that we're walking with the student council president now. We've become good kids! He goes crazy and runs off. Tomoyo asks where he's going, and when I say I figure he's going back to sleep, she just calls it interesting. Also, a challenge to her. She runs after him and drags him back. Sunohara asks if she's coming at lunch, and I say that she said she wasn't. She does anyway. Ah, she's just stopping by and can't stay. Student council meeting. She brought lunch, though--for Sunohara as well as for me. I manage to prank him into thinking his lunch is a bomb because she wants him out of the way so she can be with me. He says that I'd blow up too, so that can't be it, and I try poison instead. My description's more like a psychotropic drug, though. We wait for her after school, even though she may be busy.

She's busy. She tells me to go home first, over the PA. We both fall off our chairs. She gets scolded for using the PA to send personal messages. Oh, right, School Foundation Day is in two days; Tomoyo will be really busy.

...Kweh? There's my usual wake-up call, but...where's the light? The sun's still not up yet?! Ah...she's going to be busy before school, as School Foundation Day is when the old and new councils work together, so she needed to wake me up even earlier for us to be able to spend time together beforehand. But I need more sleep...she relents, since the alternative would be for me to sleep in class. As she's about to leave, I pull her back in for a kiss. I wake up on my own, still with plenty of time to get to school on time, and go to wake up Sunohara. Like me, he doesn't really feel like going back to sleep. He tries to tease me about my relationship with her...I think he's jealous. He says he wants a girlfriend too, but I tell him it's impossible. Tomoyo shows up during lunch break. She says she regrets not being able to enjoy the festival with me. I tell her it can't be helped. Sunohara returns, and I try to send him out again, but Tomoyo stops me. I tell her I was just trying to piss Sunohara off, and Tomoyo says that she was just leaving, so Sunohara can stay if he wants. He complains how it feels like his room's slowly becoming not his room anymore. I claim that half of it is ours now. Ah, the festival has arrived! ...And Sunohara's still useless. I decide to play with him for a bit, screwing up his attempts at flirting with the guests from other schools. Hey, it's your own fault for insisting I come along with you.

A bear. Sunohara harasses it, only to get kicked. Yeah, as I thought; it's Tomoyo. "It's cute, isn't it?" I ask if she can take it off now. She says she doesn't want to. Oh...that's how she's going to get time with me. Even knowing who's inside the costume, all of her lines are labeled "Bear". We start to head off, and Sunohara thinks it's his chance to get the bear head off.

8 hits, and...kick him back! Up to sixteen, back at me, this is the part where the other routes come into play! Ryou shrieks, and Kyou says she'll take care of it. She slams a dictionary into Sunohara's face, knocking him back towards Tomoyo. Up to 24! Fuuko says "something strange" is coming towards her and hits it with a starfish carving. We're at 32 now! Misae drop-kicks him back towards Tomoyo, who adds 8 more. Sunohara heads towards Yukine and her friends the delinquents, and the delinquents knock him back. Another 8 hits; we're at 48 now! Wait, I thought Wicklebee said Akio couldn't be brought into the combo until I'd played After Story?! 56 hits! I guess there's still one part that does need After Story, though, because it ends there, one run shy of the maximum. Tomoyo panics at the amount of attention we attracted, grabs my hand and runs off. A child says she wants to play with the bear-san, though, and of course Tomoyo has no choice but to do so. As I wait for the kids to have had their fill of the bear-san, I look down the hall and see some kids from another school trying to flirt with a very uncomfortable-looking Furukawa. I tell Tomoyo that I'm going to help, and Tomoyo reluctantly frees herself from the children and follows. I tell her that I said I'd handle it, but she stops me. Still in the bear costume, Tomoyo gently leads her away, and when the guys try to protest, she says she won't allow it. She takes one down, but the other unmasks her. She takes advantage of the guy's surprise at finding out that the bear was a girl to take him out, sending him into the first guy with an echoing Crack! Furukawa looks worried, and I tell her not to worry; bears are ferocious like this. Nagisa thanks her and bows. Eh...in most routes, this is right about where Nagisa falls ill... Tomoyo tugs at my sleeve. We've made another disturbance... Something else is tugging at my arm. It's Misae! The cat...Shima's disappeared again. Well, I can't help but want to help out. I clear it with Tomoyo, and she gives the okay. Misae's surprised that the bear-san is with me and asks if it's Sunohara. I decide to play around with her and say, "Well, why wouldn't it be?" Then I ask why we're looking for the cat in the school. She's really worried about that cat... Tomoyo returns with a cat, but it's the wrong one. She lets it go and leads us towards Shima. Misae somehow realizes that the person in the bear suit is female. Ah, found him... I can feel his feelings for some reason. Oh...somehow, he managed to make a promise known. To go out together on School Foundation Day. I guess that must have happened. That's what the voice said. Misae asks if anything else was said. No, nothing. We get an Orb of Light, and then I'm buying ice cream for a bear. We disappear to a place where she can take off her costume. She's sweating a waterfall. Ah, looks like she's been caught.

Skip to Tuesday. Tomoyo's getting in trouble, partly for her past and...partly because of me. Exactly like I warned her. I think she's been told to break up with me. You know, speaking out of character here, that really pisses me off, an authority figure dictating who a girl should or shouldn't be dating. (My sister is still convinced that the only reason she didn't get her varsity letter in fencing in her sophomore year was because the coach didn't like her boyfriend--and given that she was promoted to A strip in junior year over a classmate that did get her varsity letter the previous year, I can't say she's wrong.)

I think about it, and the in-game me thinks the teacher's right. If I weren't around, Tomoyo would be suitable to be council president. The next day, I kind of indirectly tell her as much. She looks like she's going to cry. The lock. It doesn't feel like a good ending's approaching, does it? But it is. I know it is.

Sunohara tries to cheer us up and gets kicked for his trouble. The next day, I alone get called in by the teacher. He basically tells me to break up with her, though he claims not to be. I think he's trying to provoke me into taking physical action against him so he can expel me. I don't fall for it. Tomoyo's worried that I've been drifting away from her. She misunderstands the situation. Oh, the councilperson was the same second-year who harassed me while I was suspended. Seems Tomoyo disappeared today from the council meeting. I think this must be the guy who wins in the bad ending; he seems quite driven. Tomoyo was apparently there all along, waiting in a tree. She's glad I noticed. Or rather, she hid up there because when she arrived, the council asshole was already there. I point out that I can see her panties with her way up there. She scolds me for being a lech. Then she gives me ice cream. She misreads the situation...I tell her we're breaking up. She tells me to say it's a joke. I tell her it isn't. I tell her I'm dragging her down. She won't hear it. She ells me all of her plans for what we were going to do now that we'd made up... I tell her that I want to be with her too, but my feelings aren't that of love. I'm just a really selfish person. And then I tell her again that we're breaking up. ...It was a lie. I did love her. Sunohara notices how down I am and realizes what happened. He says he thought she'd pick me over the student council if I'd told her to pick between the two. Yeah...yeah, she probably would have. That's why I didn't give her the choice. He thought we were really going to go as far as to get married. Sunohara figures we'll go back to coming to school late now. I can't help but wake up at the right time, though. Apparently, neither could he. We can't stop. Finally, after a week, we manage to get back into our old bad habits. The test results come in. Tomoyo's #2 in the school, one spot ahead of that other guy. One month passes, then two. Summer holidays begin. Sunohara shows me a tape of a television broadcast, a speech Tomoyo gave about the cherry trees.

...why is it all in English? Sunohara doesn't recognize the language. I thought you were a great English speaker, Sunohara! Half a year passed, and winter came. Eh? Sunohara's hair's all dark! Wait, that's probably his natural hair color; it's quite similar to Mei's. He's job-hunting. Ehhhh...I should be doing the same. Going into winter vacation, I'm all alone... Well, I've found a job. The snow's falling. I wish Sunohara would return...Up ahead. There she is. Tomoyo... She asks how I'm doing. She says she's been waiting for me. It's done. She's accomplished her goal. She saved the sakura trees. But, in return, she lost something. Time. A long period of time. Eight months...that she should have spent with me. And she tells me again that she loves me. Even now, she still loves me. She doesn't care if I'm angry at her, just as long as I'll be with her. I say that once this snow melts, I'll graduate, and we really will be on different paths. She's crying as she tells me she'll go wherever I go. Didn't we already have that line in this topic? She says she doesn't want anything anymore. Not being in the council, or good grades, or smart friends, or spending spring in a different town...just to spend spring with me.

Wait, what's this? A new song? And its lyrics are in English? It's beautiful... She tells me to decide. Yeah. I like that.

Epilogue. Two students walking up the hill. One I know; one I don't. A first-year. Oh...it's Tomoyo's younger brother! He doesn't believe that she could've protected the sakura, and she says they're wasted on him. I tell her to be more polite, and he's amazed that I called her without honorifics. Heh...this is cute. As I leave, he asks his sister if it was okay not to give me my lunchbox. He knew! This is quite an uplifting ending...

Interlude: Male Bonding (CLANNAD--Sunohara and Baseball endings and Jet Saito appearance)
...it's a shame I have to break the flow after this. But now for that experiment! The one that proves that indecision can only lead to manly picnics. Today's "something fitting" is "Made-In-China! You're being mass-produced in China!" Anyway, despite seeming to want me to bite on as many flags as possible, the guide says to ignore Ryou. I don't listen. ...Ah, I see. That's what screwed me over in the first place, wasn't it? Picking up the flags for the Fujibayashi sisters' routes prevents you from getting out of class on the second attempt. Okay, here we go. "Cock-a-doodle-doo!" So, anyway, we're simultaneously nurturing Nagisa's, Tomoyo's, and Kotomi's event flags. For some reason, I can't skip during the Ryuuta Sandwich event, at least not at first. Illustration. I peek in and meet Fuuko, but leave her alone. Sunohara shows up in the library, and I scare him. This time, there's a choice whether to keep eating with Nagisa or to start eating with Kotomi, whereas on Kotomi's run, eating with her was automatic. Oh, no, now I'm breaking Nagisa's fragile little heart...However, rather than the library, I'm to go to the reference room on the rainy Saturday--but leaving quickly, and then ignoring Kotomi at the bookstore and seeing her off when she exits. Yeah, this is the part where I have to let her down. Ah, the gamebook..."This is the Heartfelt Academy." See her off, watch her, then confess. Shake her off...she was a zombie? I go with Steve. Together we fight zombies. I save Steve from becoming a zombie. No, I didn't, he was a zombie too! As was the person who saved me from him! This is weird...And then I stick with Tomoyo for a bit, only to tell her that, yeah, she kind of is bothering me. And then I get the choice as to whether Sunohara's good-looking or not. I guess by the fact that it was full-speed up to there that I previously didn't even get that choice. Yep, this is the gay option ending. This is so surreal. I've officially decided to move in with Sunohara, and he's freaking out. Heh, Mei shows up automatically in this route, though it cuts off before we can actually see her. Well, on to Jet Saito...seems I ignore everything that's not a Tomoyo flag, but only go with Sunohara on the first of the three consecutive attempts. Meet Yukine, but don't go to sleep; don't follow Sunohara to the reference room later and Koumura shows up. Sunohara decides not to go either...I decide not to help Sunohara with his room cyberization, and there it is! Heh, it's still possible to get to a good ending from a Jet Saito run--it actually starts you down the Kappei path, but not to the point of no return. There's some areas where the skipping stops? Well, back to credits on Mei's ending again. Now for baseball... "MY BLUE HAND IN MY LONG POCKET'S GOT A SUNOHARA IMITATION! It's 'My blue hand in my long pocket's got one big Sunohara imitation!' Hey, don't you wanna butt in with 'Hey, forget imitation, the original's scary enough!'?" Anyway, in this one I pick up the early flags for Nagisa and Tomoyo only...actually, I'm making Nagisa run the club on her own, so I guess it's starting out just like a Tomoyo run? Well, no, because I ignored Misae. Actually, it's more like a Tomoyo/Fuuko run...which kind of makes sense since Fuuko's path had almost as much interaction with the Furukawa family as Nagisa's own path. Huh, so I have to dodge right to set up the flag for Kappei's path? I tried dodging left and ended up getting hit myself. I definitely remember that scene, but it's not showing up as skippable. Was that before the technical difficulties started? Ah, this time Tomoyo's part of the laser tag game. On Kappei's route, joining the laser tag game led right to a bad ending. Wait...exactly when did I drop one of Tomoyo's flags, anyway?

...Oh, right. Going to class later is a no-no when heading for Tomoyo's route. Ha...I stopped her with logic. Wait, maybe...the bad ending wasn't unavoidable? Everything after I took pity on Ryou was new, so I guess I didn't try out both options last time. I make Sunohara go buy lunch. Here comes the baseball team... Ah. I see. So the mysterious extra player, the adult, was Akio. That's...actually not surprising. And here's the baseball game. Akio's as strange as ever. We're recruiting people for the game. Of course we have Tomoyo, Sunohara, and Kyou, and I guess now we're going after Misae? Sunohara keeps doing his best to mess things up, but we finally silence him. Tomoyo manages to manipulate her into doing it. And...Fuuko? Okay, that's strange... Well, I think it's best if I save and then load from an earlier save. Ah, no, that's right; it didn't have us following all that many flags for Kappei's path, so I guess it was irrelevant. Well, Fuuko's a bit resistant to taking time out for baseball. Just as well, though, since we're going to be recruiting Yuusuke, or trying to. And that's a negative. We strike him with DRAMA! He relents. And...Sunohara's inviting Mei to join us? This is quite the strange gathering...And of course, having Yuusuke there helps him get the job done. The day of the game. Kyou brings Ryou along as a cheerleader. Akio directs her over to join Sanae and Nagisa as the cheer squad. I think this is the first time that I've been introduced to one of Nagisa's parents by someone other than her and then learned of her relationship to them. I guess it sort of makes sense, since there's not that big a window between learning her name and meeting her family. Hmm, so Misae and Yuusuke knew each other...well, Kouko did show up in the flashback session of Misae's route, already in a teaching capacity...which begs the question, just how big is the age difference between the Ibuki sisters? We're still one member shy, though...wait, Fuuko's going to join us after all! Though she's confused as to what game we're playing, calling it cricket. I feel like there's a huge paradox here, though, with Fuuko and Yuusuke in the same place. Because I can't throw, I'm assigned first base. Sunohara volunteers to be shortstop, so Akio assigns the position to Kyou. Sunohara says he'll be second base then, so Akio assigns it to...Mei? Tomoyo is assigned center field, Yuusuke left, and Fuuko right. Misae is third, so that means that once again, Sunohara's behind the plate. The game starts and Akio's forkball has the enemy batter stymied, but also Sunohara as strike three goes for a passed ball. He manages to recover in time to get the ball to me though for the putout. The second batter goes the same way--strikeout, passed ball, putout at first. After getting ahead 0-2 on the third batter, the next two pitches are balls. The 2-2 is grounded to short, and the throw beats the runner by half a step. It's a 1-2-3 inning. Sunohara volunteers to bat first, and Akio consents. I'm surprised to see him batting left-handed, but Mei knows exactly what he's up to--he's going to try to bunt for a base hit. He pops it up to the catcher, though, and Mei comments on what an awful display it was. Kyou chides him and says she'll show him how it's done, and does so with a clean single. Akio tells Misae to bat third...again they refer to the third batter as "cleanup"; that's not how it is at all. She swings and it drops in between the center fielder and the left fielder for a double, Kyou stopping at third. Akio says it's time to go up by three; he's going to aim for a home run. Or at least he would have if the opposing team would've let him; it's an intentional walk, and the bases are loaded. Time for another batter...Sunohara, idiot that he is, volunteers to go. I tell him off and ask Tomoyo to do it.

She protests that she's never played baseball. I tell her it's easy, and point out that she called Misae her rival and she got a double, so Tomoyo can't let herself be outdone. The first two pitches whiz right by for strikes, but now that Tomoyo knows what she's doing, she swings right on through and hits it perfectly. It's a grand slam! Huh, seems like I'm pretty close to the bottom of the batting order; I don't even get a chance to bat in the inning as Yuusuke and Mei make outs. Second inning. A flyout to left in foul territory and a grounder to short, but then...that's dirty pool! The sixth batter throws his bat at Akio on a swing and hits him in the leg. He can't play anymore. But stubborn fool that he is, he won't give up. And...he's going to have his daughter substitute in for him? Oh G-d this can only go badly. Akio's logic is sound; because she doesn't really know what she's doing, her pitches will be tough to predict and make solid contact with. It's like trying to hit off a knuckleballer. As long as our defense is sound, we can still do this. She pitches a slow arc, which the batter makes contact with and hits into center field for a single...well, normally it would be a single, but here it's just an 8-3 putout. I'm not used to the idea of a cannon-armed center fielder... The batter's dumbfounded, and I'm scared shitless. The top of the second is over, and I'm leading off the bottom of the second. I swing poorly at the first two pitches and let the third go by for a strikeout looking. Fuuko manages to hit a little bloop single over second, so Sunohara's up now. He swings and misses at the first pitch and then hits into an inning-ending double play. G-d, Sunohara, you are the complete antithesis of a leadoff batter. The girls are merciless towards him. Nagisa continues to confound the opponents, inducing a popup to Mei, a line out to Misae, and a bouncer back to the mound which Nagisa gets to me in time for the putout. Improbably, we've got a combined perfect game through three innings. I complement Nagisa, and she smiles and says she won't let her father tell her she has poor reflexes anymore. Kyou falls behind 0-2, but hits the 1-2 to right for another single. Akio calls for a hit-and-run, and Misae complains about asking for something so hard, but ends up executing it perfectly; runners at the corners with nobody out, but now Nagisa's at bat. Akio thinks maybe a squeeze play is the best option here, but Nagisa's not sure if she can do it, so her father backs down and tells her to just hit it as hard as she can. She ends up striking out on three pitches without even swinging. Apropos of a pitcher, I suppose... Akio tells her she has poor reflexes, and she apologizes, teary-eyed. I get the feeling that even with first base occupied, the fact that the bases aren't loaded means Tomoyo will be intentionally walked. Akio says "Next is our main weapon Tomo-pyon", and Tomoyo tells him not to call her with such weird names. I think Akio's putting too much pressure on her, though... it's an out. Yuusuke then lines out to center. The opposing team finally gets a hit to lead off the fourth, then steals second. Of course; Nagisa's pitches are so slow that it's easy to steal off of her. He gets to third, but luckily the ball is hit to Tomoyo, so there's no chance for the runner to tag up and score. The third batter, which the game again calls "cleanup", hits one to right field. Fuuko catches it, but of course she couldn't possibly throw out the runner even if she got the ball right back in, which she doesn't. 4-1. Fuuko wants to keep the ball as a souvenir and says her dream's changed to becoming a professional baseball player. She's so adorable. Another fly out to center ends the inning. Looks like this is a seven-inning game. Mei hits one between short and third for a single.

Yuusuke comments on how, of the original starting lineup, only the men are without base hits now. True. We're 0-for-5 with an intentional walk, and that was by the guy who had to leave with an injury, whereas the girls are 7-for-10 with a double and a home run and all four RBIs, and one of the three outs came from the substitute. I think he's a bit shocked. Well, I need to at least do something... technically, the men are still 0-for-5, because it doesn't count as a hitless at-bat. Sacrifice bunt; Mei's at second. Fuuko strikes out, bringing Sunohara up for the third time. He makes good solid contact this time, but the center fielder dives for it and makes the catch. Sunohara made the final out of the inning again. That's the most troublesome part; our two best hitters have had to bat early in the inning too often; Kyou with no one on every time and Misae only with Kyou on. The opponents get a runner on, steal a base on a bunt, and end up with a sacrifice fly. 4-2. This time Kyou and Misae both ground out, and Nagisa strikes out again. Technically speaking, it's our first 1-2-3 inning, although we did go down in three batters in the second thanks to Sunohara grounding into a double play. The opponents continue to bunt...okay, how is that realistic? Nagisa's been lobbing up balls that sort of fall in; I guess maybe the fact that they're so slow makes it possible, but usually attempting to bunt such a pitch would result in a popup. Well, Misae manages to race in and field the bunt in time to throw the batter out. Akio says, "Oh! That's good, that's good, Misae-chan~!", and Misae tells him not to add -chan to a (censored)-year-old woman like her. The game actually had a car horn honk to block out her age. I thought her age sort of was given, though, wasn't it? She's 23, right? Well, whatever she said, everyone is surprised to hear it. It takes her off her game, and she's late to cover on the next batter. He steals second and third, and the ball's bunted back to Nagisa. She throws to the plate, but it's not in time and the runner's safe. 4-3, and still a runner on. I'm mad at him for not letting Nagisa throw to me for the sure out. Sunohara says he'll take care of it. The runner at first breaks for second, and it's a close play, enough that Kyou actually argues the safe call. Sunohara says he'll throw the runner out next time for sure, but as he breaks, Sunohara's throw is wild and it allows the runner to score. Tie game. We get through the top of the sixth without allowing any more runs and come to bat in the bottom of the sixth. Of course, it wouldn't be dramatic if we didn't win it in the bottom of the seventh, so I'm not expecting much. Tomoyo lets a strike go by, then swings at a ball. It drops in between the center fielder and the right fielder for a double. Yuusuke takes the first two pitches for strikes, then takes two more to even the count before swinging at the fifth pitch and making contact. He's being dramatic...and it costs us an out, as he steps off the bag and gets tagged. Still, it was an RBI double to give us the lead again. Mei singles to right, and I bunt again. Fuuko gets another bloop hit into center, and Mei goes to third. Which means...Sunohara's up with two outs yet again, this time with runners at the corners. Another pop-up to the catcher. The fifth batter on their team is leading off...I guess they still haven't left any runners on base. A slow roller between first and second for a single, and again they steal second and third. The next batter hits a slow roller to the infield; somehow Kyou gets an out at third. I can't imagine how that happened if the runner had already stolen third, but whatever. Another sacrifice fly to right ties the game. A chopper between third and short; Misae fields it, but it's an infield single. Again, the runner steals second and third.

Misae and I both prepare for the bunt. It doesn't come; a clean hit between first and second. Tomoyo comes in and gets it, but she throws home. Even with her arm, she can't make the out. 6-5; we trail for the first time all game. Wait, no it isn't! Mei makes the heads-up play; cuts off the throw and turns to throw it to me, and it gets there in time for the force out to end the inning. It's still tied at 5 as we go to the bottom of the seventh. I tell her how smart she is; so different from her brother. She grins and says that her hand hurts, though. I'm not surprised; Tomoyo's throws are dangerous to anyone; little Mei-chan's the last person I'd want catching one. So, this is the right part of the lineup, more or less. Three of our next four batters are 2 for 3 so far, with 3 of those six hits being for extra bases. ...Actually, all five of the girls that were in the starting lineup are 2 for 3. Akio says we're tied, so we only need one point to give them their sayonara. He said "point" earlier, too, but I ignored it then. He says he believes in all of us; that we'll bring victory to the glorious Furukawa Bakers! Misae asks if we're really "glorious", and I point out that we were just formed and are disbanding once this is over. He tells our leadoff batter that he's counting on her, and she says she hates to lose. As Kyou stands in, Sunohara begs me to stand in the batter's box one more time and run. That's...not really possible unless we go to extra innings. If Kyou's leading off, that means I'd be due up seventh this inning, but because the game's already tied, we can only have a maximum of six batters come up--if there's two outs and the bases loaded, the sixth batter would end the inning either way, with either a walkoff win or the third out. Kyou and Misae both single. Akio tells his daughter to bunt again, and she's not sure what that is. She tries and fails to bunt at the first two pitches, and Akio tells her to swing away--as is the proper thing to do with two strikes. She ends up taking ball one, then swings and makes contact. Bases loaded, nobody out, and Tomoyo at the plate. There's really not much more we can ask for; they can't walk her with the bases loaded and as long as she makes contact, she can probably at least drive Kyou in, even if it's only a sac fly. Akio gives her a bizarre pep talk, as he is wont to do. She says she's atoning for her earlier mistake, even though that mistake didn't cost us anything because of Mei's heads-up play. She hits a towering drive, but foul. The second pitch fools her, and she misses. The third also fools her, dropping late, but she makes contact anyway...it's a lineout to second. That won't drive the run in. Worse, the second baseman was close enough to the bag when he caught it to double off Misae, and of course, Nagisa's kind of clueless...it's a triple play, L-4-3. I guess I'll get to bat again after all, since I'm due up third next inning. Another ball hit to right, but this time Fuuko misses it completely. It's their first extra-base hit of the game, and it's a triple. But Akio's instincts for assigning positions were better than I gave him credit for as Mei races in to field a grounder and throws home in time to get the runner from third. Sunohara asks if he looked cool just then, recording his first putout of the game (well, probably not really, since a catcher is also credited with a putout every time he successfully handles a third strike, but you know what I meant). I say that it wasn't him; Mei-chan did. A flyout...ends the inning? Wait, I thought there was only one out! This game isn't really giving a lot of detail for the opposing team's at-bats; there's no way I could make a proper scorecard for their side. All I know is that as a team they're something like 7 for 28 with a triple and 12 stolen bases and about half of their singles were of the infield variety.

Yuusuke leads off, and as usual, he's full of dramatic lines that seem extremely out of place here. He asks for timeout from the umpire this time before trying again to give his dramatic speech. Yeah, this is silly, alright. The pitcher falls behind 2-0 against the tiniest batter on the team before getting a strike across. Another hit...I guess this time it was only a single from Yuusuke, because I'm talking about getting them to second and third with a bunt. But even then, the next two batters up would be Fuuko and Sunohara. I'm going to have to swing away. Akio says the same thing. Go and aim high. He says it all started from me; that he came this far because of me. He admits that I am a man. That's...better than I got from him on any of the "serious" routes thus far. Well, his pep talk was actually fairly sane, so it would be rude to let him down. It fades away, and we go our separate ways. Heh, so we don't even get to find out how it happened...only that we won. There's the credits theme, just like a normal good ending, only instead of the credits, we just get the box score of the game--at least, for everyone except me. It's clear that I did drive in the winning run. Well, that was...interesting. A bit too short to make a proper chapter, though, and a bit too long to append onto Chapter 13, not to mention too disjointed from it. I guess I'll keep its "Interlude" designation.

Chapter 14: Just Like a Pill (CLANNAD--Nagisa route, good ending)
Time to see where I went wrong...surprisingly, I don't think I was far off. Also, not surprisingly, the mistake was declining Nagisa's proposal to stay with her. But first..."A topknot! No, you're not a topknot... Then, this rap would be lying... Sorry, Sunohara, get a topknot." This option will never cease to be comical, will it? Anyway, when I say I wasn't far off, I mean that apparently actually picking up the early flags for the Fujibayashi sisters' path was the right move after all. Oh, wait, I should show interest in Tomoyo, too, which isn't something I did last time. Misae too? But though I talk to the old lady, I don't press Kyou about her lateness. Help her out, of course...I definitely took her up on her offer before, probably more than once actually because it skipped just fine on the baseball route. Ah; Koumura's route. Okay, then. Actually, this is looking awfully familiar; I seem to be picking up as many early flags as possible. Time to save and take the humorous option before playing it straight. Yeah, it almost feels like...I could actually reroute to any of a number of routes from this point. I even decide to take the initiative and pick up the first flags for Yukine. Yeah...I bet that unlike last time when I felt railroaded, if I shook off this option, I could've gotten to another route. Ah, a student council jerk... An option to talk to Tomoyo, which I think would've happened automatically on her path...and I'm supposed to take it. Oh, right; it doesn't happen automatically because this time I've got Nagisa with me. Right; she's on the student council (well, not yet, I don't think, but she will be), so she can help. I ask for her help, and when I call Nagisa over, Tomoyo realizes that I'm walking to school with a girl who's not my younger sister and assumes that she's my girlfriend, even though she isn't yet. I think Tomoyo's a tad jealous...and, yeah. Apparently, the reason I got a bad ending before is because I wasn't being enough of a player; I'm being told to keep making choices that I would've made on other girls' routes as well. I'm keeping the carving and everything. Okay, now's the part where Nagisa gets the threat...and I tell Sunohara off, of course. Well, there's one choice I haven't taken, so let's hope it doesn't hurt me. Yeah, I figured as much--based on the way I was able to bring her here without ending up on her route or in a bad ending, I figured that Mei was a part of this. I ask about the ghost, just because. No, wait, no I don't, because that puts me on Fuuko's route. See, I told you I could easily get to almost any other route from here! I'm glad I saved right before that choice. We wait until Monday to look for more members for the basketball game, and then Mei shows up. She goes back to the Furukawa Bakery with us and mistakes Sanae for Nagisa's older sister. Hmm...interesting... And of course, Akio makes everything weird with talk about butt scars. Wait, now I need to reload to see what happens if I do continue on that Fuuko route, since it's still the same day now. Hm, seems that that plot thread is just left hanging if we went down Fuuko's path. Weird.

Nagisa's kind of sleepy the next morning, having stayed up most of the night talking about me to Mei. Yeah, it's okay if she stays and works in order to give her father a break. Akio goes out to play baseball. I realize how childish he is. Then again, Nagisa's kind of childish too. Sanae shows up with her odd breed of bread. Mei manages to say it's good, even though her face betrays her. Mei keeps calling Nagisa cute, and Nagisa keeps getting embarrassed. Mei's...quite genre savvy for someone so young. I'll be working the cash register.

...There is an overload of adorable in this route. Anyway, in the Illusionary World, we're currently picking up junk for our Junk Doll. I'm all alone...This reads as skippable, but I don't remember it.

Ah, this was the last Illusionary World session that we got--so late that it actually ended up in Chapter 2 rather than Chapter 1. Two animals, walking together. A third one...a family. They reunited me with the girl. Monday comes, and it's time to look for our remaining members. New school building, second floor. Oh, did I never even take that option last time? No, I didn't, because I tried third first and that led to Kyou. Tomoyo's there, and she's bound to be useful. Or would she? For all of Sunohara's whining, he actually has planted some doubts. But I have faith. Nagisa explains the situation. Wait, but she messed up! But did so in a dramatic way. She's a natural actress, it seems...Ah, but this could be good! Just like what we did with the baseball team on Tomoyo's route. Somehow, "doing something stupid" is the best option. Ah, because it's her last chance to just have fun before entering the student council. Ah, yes, Mei-chan's still here. She shows up at Sunohara's room after being with Nagisa for a bit...but she wants to talk to me? Ah, wow, for once I'm the one misunderstanding things... But Mei-chan's quite observant, and realizes that my relationship with Nagisa is not what it should be. The next day I meet Kouko...right, that happened at this point on Koumura's route, too. Nagisa tells me that Ibuki-sensei's sister was hospitalized. I wonder...do I make the connection? Well, we both feel like even though we've never met Ibuki-sensei's younger sister, we feel incredibly close to her. Wait...I suddenly have a memory of holding something warm in the palm of my hand...there's a flash of light, and it feels like something was freed from there. Did I...did I just use a Light Orb? Mei says goodbye to everyone. The next day, we check on Tomoyo. The game starts wit Sunohara doing an alley-oop to Tomoyo. It plays out pretty much just like it did before, with Sunohara being an asshole again. Oh...oh crap!

I was supposed to make the last move! Yeah, sure enough...giving up the last move to Tomoyo just got me Koumura's ending. Which means...I wasn't wrong. The Orb of Light did disappear, and there was no way of avoiding it because the option that caused it happened on Nagisa's route too. Rather than taking the shot, Tomoyo passes it back to me, and I make the basket. We win, and I don't think I even recognize this theme. We try to run, but Nagisa slips and breaks her leg. The translators comment that shouldn't it be something less serious than "broke"? I try to escort her to the nurse. Oogami, the teacher, stops me, and I try to explain that I need to get her to the nurse. He says that's an excuse and someone else can do that and orders a member of the basketball club to do so, and the basketball club member tells Nagisa to leave me and come with him, because I'm a problem child and she shouldn't get near me. I wait for her to do so, since it's just her personality to listen to what a teacher says...and she puts her arm around me and grips hard, pulling back in to my body. She says she also thinks I'm fine. I say that I'm her boyfriend, after all. No one says anything, and we're finally able to leave. We're partying in Sunohara's room, and he's mixed something else into his juice; he won't say what, but we're sure it's bad. Nagisa wants me to lend her my cup, and she sniffs it. I say if she's so worried, she should take a sip. She...does so? Oh, but mine's just juice. Nagisa says it's lonely that Sakagami-san couldn't be here, and Sunohara says he invited her, but she was too busy with Student Council election preparations. Heh...I think Nagisa might ship Tomoyo/Sunohara. I'm not really sure who I'd ship him with, myself, but I do find it sad that he's always alone, no matter which girl we end up with. Sunohara says that Nagisa's talking like she's older, and she replies that she is older.

Sunohara's shocked, and we explain that Nagisa's repeating. Is that becoming a trope now too, that the one who looks the youngest is actually older than the rest of their class? Actually, if I'm not mistaken, this game does it twice over because Fuuko's spirit form was based on her age at the time of the accident--she's actually a lot closer to our age than she appears. Nagisa says not to worry about it because we're in the same year. Oh, right...Sunohara still doesn't know that Nagisa and I are dating; he's got a crush on her himself. I'm still trying to figure out how the choice of who takes the final shot in the basketball game literally is the difference between continuing on Nagisa's path and getting Koumura's Orb of Light. I tell Nagisa how amazing she is, giving Sunohara such advice, and she says she just said what she wanted to say. These past two weeks have been uneasy for Nagisa, but now she's smiling beside me.

Well, here's May 1. It's a point that's vexed me many times before. Nagisa's still excited about yesterday's game. I'm still hurting from muscle pains. Sunohara's here bright and early, for "no reason" other than to revel in the rumors about us beating the basketball club. What is he still doing here...interrupting our lunch break? He refuses to believe that his success was from anything other than natural skill. Nagisa and I keep adding in other things until we end up with 1% hard work, 20% determination, 30% craving attention, 20% liking basketball, 20% wonderful fellowship, 5% curry sauce, 3% seasoned vegetables, and 1% skill. Yeah, the craving attention and the food ingredients were my doing. Sunohara realizes what's happened. Nagisa says it's a wonderful list, Sunohara-san's list of endurance. He says it's not endurance; it's skill! I say that the percentage of skill was defeated by seasoned vegetables. Ah...that's right. May 1 was supposed to be orientation day...we never got around to doing that in any route other than Kotomi's, I believe. The choir club members are here...and they've got a plan where we somehow share an advisor? But it has to be done on a weekly basis rather than a daily one for some reason. Nagisa says that that won't be necessary, as she still doesn't have enough members. But she's wrong; Sunohara calls us members. And so...we'll be participating in School Foundation Day?! That's great! That's...I see now. That explains why things went safely on Kotomi's route when they didn't on Koumura's, Fuuko's, or previous trips to Nagisa's. Because Kotomi's route was the only one where we successfully recruited enough members to start the drama club. Sunohara asks what School Foundation Day is. Nishina asks if he's really a student here. I say he is, but he's an idiot, and ask her to explain it. As soon as she mentions that the presentations happen in the morning, Sunohara realizes why he had no idea what it was. Nagisa's nervous about being the only member who actually wants to be on stage, but it's not like we need a long performance to fill the time. But will this cut into our time together again? No matter. It's her dream, so she should seize the day. (Damn, that's one of those words that has an e before i despite not following the normal rules for exceptions to i before e. Like "weird".)

The homeroom teacher wants to go to my house for career counseling. Um...have I even been living at my house recently? I shoot out of the classroom. Nagisa's waiting, wanting to go to practice. I tell her to give up on that and come home. She's confused, because I'm contradicting what I said earlier, but I'm in a panic and just want to get away from the school. She calls me on my weird behavior, and I claim I just quickly wanted to be alone with her. She said it didn't seem like that, and I call myself an asshole. It's so hard to lie to her, though...I'm about to kiss her when my name is called over the PA to report to the staff room.

I guess it's go time... I don't want to leave her, but she insists I go. I sigh that if that was a dating simulation game, this event just decreased my Love Points by 200. So then the follow-up should be...give her a present. I tell her I'm getting a present, and she asks why. I tell her I don't need a reason besides that I like her, and she says that she'd have to get me a present every time we see each other then. I ask if this means I can only get her presents twice a year, on Christmas and her birthday, and she replies that that would only be once a year. Oh, so her birthday is December 25th! Well, that's two canon birthdays we know now. (Kotomi's is May 13th, remember?) Nagisa pulls me into the office, and the teacher realizes that we're dating. It seems Nagisa will be accompanying us on my career counseling so I won't run away. Well, I suppose with her around, it will be somewhat more palatable. Ah, no, I send her off to practice. This is too embarrassing...I try to get around the idea of the teacher meeting my father, but he's stubborn. He won't go away until he sees him. I finally manage to dash off to "look for my father"; really, to avoid him. I go to see Nagisa's practice...and she sees right through me and wants to take me back to my house. I relent and tell her that I lied so as to keep my Love Points from dropping any further. She says they'd always be at their highest. She's worried that my points towards her might drop. I tell her that this is reality and there are no points, so she has nothing to worry about.

My father's talking to the teacher when we return. And he's explaining...that we are essentially two different people, leading different lives. We're not a "family", even though we happen to be related. Nagisa sees what I mean now. She finally understands. This time, she invites me to her house in earnest. The next day, I tell my father that I'm leaving the house and may not come back for awhile. I grab my luggage...he speaks to me. It'll be...lonely. It's...actually sad.

It seems that Nagisa didn't clear her plan with her father, as Akio's not happy to see me this early in the morning. Thankfully, Sanae shows up to rescue me. Her words suggest that she knew what was happening. Doesn't she always? Yep, it seems Nagisa talked to her mother about it, but not her father. Or rather, he heard, but just ignored her. He's angry, as expected. Nagisa greets me and leads me to my new room. It's normally the guest room. Still, even if it's only the guest room, for a high school boy to be living at his girlfriend's house...it's quite scandalous. And less than a month after meeting, no less! Anyway, she practices her play for me, and she seems to be making progress. Oh, wait, here's where the good stuff starts... See, it's nice having a mother figure around. I think I like it. Hold on, where'd these grade schoolers come from? Wait, what's with this thing that sounds like a love confession? I mean, based on their voices, they sound even younger than the flashback versions of Kotomi and me! (Although, as noted in that chapter, that certainly wouldn't have stopped me. Didn't stop me, actually; I had my first kiss at age 6, and very nearly a second from a different source just a few months later, still age 6, only that time I was on my feet so I was able to escape. Looking back, I really regret not taking that opportunity; over 18 years later, I'm still waiting for another opportunity.) The children seem to be Sanae's class. She tutors them. Akio says she's also been a teacher in a school before. After dinner, Nagisa's practicing her play outside. She doesn't have the slightest idea what her theme will be, though... There is one story she wanted to tell, though, one she heard when she was young.

...The story of a world where there's only one girl left all alone.

She calls it an illusionary tale, set on a winter's day, and then...the Key logo? A different set of credits? These feel more like opening credits, but the montage of scenes from every route suggests otherwise. We're back in the Illusionary World.

We're done. She lay down on the ground as she said that. I woke her up, and she asks if I figured it out. I shook my head. It's a device to jump up and around. She asks me to get on, but I don't know where. She shows me. It's scary, but fun. She decides to start making devices again. When we realized it, we'd turned the front of our house into a splendid playground. Last, she created a viewing pedestal up very high. She steps there and sits, and we look at the ground together. I remember why the world in my memories was warm. There were a lot of people there. I wonder if the girl knows? She must have been lonely before I was born. She asks what's wrong, and if I want to cry. I nod. She asks if I remembered something sad, and I think that everything here is sad. If there was a way to get back to the world I came from...I'd like to take her there.

Nagisa's story continues on. I realize I've seen this same thing, just like Nagisa's play. Was it a dream, or was I possibly there? I wake up to Sanae crying about her bread and Akio claiming to love it. Oh...he was caught using her bread as a pillow. I have a question for Akio. He tells me to join him in misusing his wife's bread. I ask him about the story of the world with the girl all alone, if he told her that story. He has no clue. I ask him to try to remember, and add that it's a tale of winter. He's got no clue and tells me to ask Sanae. He also says that if I figure anything out, I should tell him first, not Nagisa. I find her and ask her about the story. She doesn't think so. I tell her it's a sad story, but she says she hasn't read Nagisa any sad stories. I try to see what Nagisa remembers. She tells me what she can.

"In this world, there was a girl all alone. It was so lonely, and so painful. She was making a friend there. Collecting junk, and putting it together, she made a doll. This doll immediately responded to her, and began moving. And like that, the girl was no longer alone." That's all. That's not a happy ending, and what's more, it's only halfway through. I felt something pierce through my heart. I tell her that as it is right now, she doesn't have enough to do a play. There's no introduction to the story; no climax. The audience wouldn't be interested. We have to figure out the rest of the story, so it can become deeply moving. We look in the storage room to see if we can find anything. She finds a dango keyholder that she used to have on her bag during grade school, calling it nostalgic and considering putting it back on her bag. Just as we were giving up, Nagisa's singing attracted the attention of her father. He asks what she's doing in here, and when we say she's looking for her memories, he says it's not in here; there's only stupid stuff in here. Why do I feel like Akio's hiding something? Nagisa's satisfied, though I voice my suspicions. She wants to go practice as is. We continue to spend time together the next day, but it's not as lovers. This play keeps getting in the way. Nagisa's writing the script, but she has a poor vocabulary and it's degenerating into confusion. Tomorrow will be a picnic--or perhaps a pick-pick or a pigmy man. Akio's weird that way. He comes to my room later that night. He says that what he's saying right now is a secret from Nagisa. I also have to keep it a secret from Sanae, because he doesn't want her bringing it up again. Then he wants tea and calls for Sanae to make some, but then he remembers that this was supposed to be a secret from Sanae and panics and tells me that we have to change places now. We head outside. Sanae still finds us and gives us our tea. We drink it and go back inside.

He says "here" and asks how that went. I ask what he means by "that", and he says he means that. Wasn't it what I was looking for? Oh, that...nothing really came of it. He's talking about bedpans, and I'm lost as ever. But there's definitely something in the storage room. It's...Sanae's and Akio's past. Old plans, video tapes, journals. I ask how that's bad, and he says that's from when they were chasing their dream. Oh... By that, you mean dreams that you had to give up when Nagisa was born. Knowing Nagisa, she'd be sad if she thought she was holding her parents back. He asks me if I know about how Nagisa's life was at risk when she was young. I say I didn't, and he's surprised she didn't tell me. All I knew was that her body's weak. Ever since that day... He pauses, and during the silence he lets out a small fart. Even when he's serious, he can't help but be weird. He says it's a really sad incident, and then he says that while he said her life was at risk, it wasn't exactly like that. She fell into a situation where she could have died. Akio blames himself and his wife. He said they felt like they had been punished for chasing their dream and leaving their daughter behind. They thought she'd been snatched away, and they didn't realize how precious she was until then. And then, when she opened her eyes again...he and Sanae swore that they'd stay by her forever. That's when they opened the bakery. Akio doesn't want Nagisa to feel indebted, and he knows that she'll feel like it's her fault that the two of them gave up their dream. But, she's already beginning to get that idea; she's quite sensitive, after all. That's why those memories are hidden deep within the storage room. It would be better to burn it, but...if he did that, Sanae would be sad. Akio said he'll help me find what I'm looking for, and that's why I shouldn't bring Nagisa along.

The next morning, I head over to see Sunohara. He gets angry at me disrupting his peaceful morning, and one of the rugby players comes over in a rage because he's being too noisy this early in the morning. Since when has Sunohara woken up early enough to disrupt others? He's far more likely to disrupt them by staying up too late. ...Oh, he didn't sleep. That makes sense then. Why was I here? Because I wanted to have fun without the family. I'd come to like the whole Furukawa household, rather than just Nagisa. It makes me feel awkward, being part of the family already. Sunohara sets me straight. As much of an idiot as he is, he can make a lot of sense sometimes. It's odd, really, that someone so inept at romance would be so good at solving other people's romantic problems...oh no wait that's not weird at all. Or if it is, then I'm weird. (Of course, I am weird, so...)

I head back to the bakery. Nagisa's out there in the park, practicing. She asks me where I was, saying she'd been looking for me and reminding me that the picnic was today. I ask her if she saw the note. She didn't, and said her father told her to go find me. Of course. I ask if she's uneasy about whether I could come to hate her one day. She says she isn't, because she's been working hard to not be hated. I tell her she doesn't need to work hard for that, and that I'll always like her. She says that if that's true, then that's something tremendous, something invigorating, joyous, and embarrassing, but also uneasy, worrying, and painful. But there's no way that could be. I tell her it is. She doesn't believe it. I tell her we'll play a game. Hold hands tightly, and if you let go, you lose. Heh? Well, this will build her confidence, I'm sure. Akio shows up and separates us. Well, no one really lost...ah, the picnic's been canceled, so now I have to be Akio's batting partner. Nagisa's happy that the game was a draw.

Sanae shows up with the picnic lunch. Nagisa made some of it as well. I'm worried we stand out too much. There weren't enough people for baseball, so I wasn't needed after all--or was that for rock-paper-scissors? Without even noticing, I take Nagisa's hand again. Akio's in the batter's box and Sanae's cheering for him, so neither of them even notice as Nagisa and I share our first kiss.

I'm laying out the futon at around midnight when Akio comes in, boisterous as ever. I guess we're going to do our searching now? He's still talking about bedpans, and I say that it was never about bedpans, and he gets mad at me for parroting what he'd said last night, and then Sanae tells us to be quiet. So we're still going through with Codename Bedpan. I tell him that it was a book. We look until dawn, but find nothing. Akio says they probably threw it out.

A quiet life till evermore. I thought that if I'm with her, we'd always continue living like this. I thought that, even if we were the only ones in this world, this would continue on. But, something is starting to happen. Winter is settling in. It's as if the winter was taking away the girl's strength. With the temperature going down, she began to sleep often. But she was always cheerful as we played together... Far away, ominous, snow-laden clouds creep in. I thought I had to do something now. If I don't do anything, it will all be for naught. If I start now, I might be able to make it in time. Once winter arrives, everything will be covered in snow. I need to make it before that. Inside the house, the girl sat down and leaned against the wall, looking outside the window immensely. I became worried. I wonder if it's because of the coldness of the air. I moved near the window and pointed outside. She looked there, very far away, to the end of the sky. "Hmm?" She looked at me as she noticed. "What's over there?" I continued to point. "You want to go there?" I nod. "But winter is coming." I continued gazing at her face. "And yet you still want to?" I nod. "At this rate, if the cold weather comes in, I won't be able to move..." All the more reason to. "And you know, if we leave the house, we won't be able to come back...and yet you still want to?" I nod. "Is there something over there?" I jumped up and down. "Something fun?" I nod. "...there lots of things...having fun every day...a warm place?" I nod. "But, we won't be able to make it...the winter clouds will catch up with us." I followed my memories. Memories from the depths of my consciousness. The sky. Let's go to the skies. I motioned my hand towards the sky. "You want to go to the skies?" I nod. "How?" I take her hand with mine. "Make something?" I nod. "Something that will let us fly in the skies?" I nod. I'm certain I just had in my mind how something like that is shaped. That's what I tried to tell her. After once again blanking out for a moment...she nods a little. From that day onward, we begin building something that'll let us fly in the skies. I'd collect junk, and she'd put it together. The skies became cloudy. I gaze up at the mountain of things that we put together. I imagined giant wings being birthed out from that thing. Somehow, before winter comes, we have to fly with those wings. The girl took a deep breath. She rubbed her eyes. "I'm a bit sleepy." I looked up at her with worry. "I'm sorry, let's continue." She continued to endure. She probably understood that this is something she has to do right now. She said so herself as well. If winter comes, she won't be able to move. I am not very sure what she meant by that. But I'm certain it's something that has to be done. That's why she can't sleep, and has to keep on working. I continued giving her more junk. And then, the next time I saw her...

...Her body laid down on the cold ground.

Definitely a sad story. We head off to school. It feels like Nagisa's parents are seeing us off more like grade schoolers with an older brother and younger sister. Or is that the other way around? Nagisa's worried because we have less than a week until the festival. We meet in the clubroom at lunch to plan for the play. I say we need music, sound effects, lighting, stuff like that. We realize that we're all amateurs and know nothing about how to put on a play. I suggest we go to the staff room. Koumura gives us advice. We decide that Sunohara will do lighting and I'll do sound. Oh, a synthesizer! That's good for sound effects! After finally shutting Sunohara up, I ask Nagisa if she'll even need sound effects. She says music alone will probably be fine. We head to the music room and send Sunohara off alone to move the lighting. Oh, good, there's our friends the choir club. You know, if we're sharing an advisor anyway, shouldn't we maybe just all be one club? I actually had a combined club like that in high school; the sci-fi/fantasy club and the chess club were combined in my freshman year. I actually originally came for the chess and ended up staying in the sci-fi fantasy club for the full four years of high school while chess club kind of fell by the wayside somewhere in sophomore year. Ah, they were talking with Koumura and heard our plight. Nagisa gives a summary of the story. I try to get more details out of her about the world, but it's all very vague. There's just the hut, and nothing ever happens in the world outside. There isn't really a kind of music that describes such a scarce world. There's a desk in the hut...it's a normal desk. So what makes it an "illusionary" tale? The atmosphere, she says. But how do you get that across? This isn't really geared towards kids, and it's not sad at all. She says it is sad. I ask how. Nishina seems to understand, though. Because it's the story of a girl who's all alone in the world. Okay, now we're making some progress. Nishina thinks a sad piano piece would work. When we get home, Sanae volunteers to help with making the clothing. Nagisa thinks that would be too much of a burden, but I point out that she needs to spend her time practicing the play, so she can't be making the costume as well. Sanae agrees with me. Akio has a tape we can look at. We watch it together. So, this is a play...it moves us, Nagisa especially. It seems nostalgic to her, even though it's her first time seeing it. I suddenly realize that maybe that thing Nagisa remembers was a play. Akio's certain it wasn't, because if she'd seen all sorts of plays back then, he'd have known it all. He's surprised she's planning to perform this thing. Nagisa's had a breakthrough the next day; it would be a lot better if we threw in a song. Um...okay? Today's the day of the election. We all figure Tomoyo will probably win. I get déjà vu hearing Nagisa's play, but I don't remember anything like I hoped I would. That's how incomplete it was. Well, Nagisa's happy with it the way it is, so I guess I should just be satisfied with that. The next day, Nishina and Sugisaka come in with the music. A piano solo echoes. I...don't think it really evokes the right mood. Nagisa thinks it's beautiful, and that much I can agree on. I ask if it matches the image she wanted. She says it's surprising enough that it was perfect. Nishina's happy. She says the name of the melody is "Ma Mère l'Oye". It's related to the story of Mother Goose. It was originally for two children who were students of the composer, and was transcribed to the piano. Ravel had done many illusion-like pieces, but since this one was in regards to a fairytale, she thought it might have something to do with an illusionary-like world. Sugisaka says Nishina wanted to have a piano solo done; to write down only the music and pass it on to a better pianist to play.

Tomoyo shows up. What's with the glasses? Kind of cute, but unexpected. She says that she has bad eyesight, so that's a given. I point out that she never wore them until now. She says I worry too much about small things. I think she's teasing me... Nagisa congratulates her on her election. Skip ahead to Saturday, the day before School Foundation Day. We went to the gymnasium to practice. Nagisa's been thinking about her script all morning and had trouble paying attention to classes. I tell her that it's useless to obsess over it and that she's been practicing hard, so she'll do fine. She asks if I said something. Nagisa... She's not even hearing what I'm saying; doesn't even comment when I tell her I want to do something perverted with her. This can't be good for her...I decide to take her script away. It takes her a little while to even notice. She's worse than Fuuko right now...and I give her a story just as ridiculous as the ones I gave Fuuko when I pranked her. Sunohara tries to help her, but as usual, his suggestions are useless. Somehow, though, hearing me yell at Sunohara calmed her down. After the rehearsal, we head home. Akio and Sanae are quick to ask about the rehearsal and dote on Nagisa. I comment on this, and Akio says that if I had a daughter, I'd do the same. I say otherwise. Nagisa thinks her father's right. I ask why she thinks that, and she says it's because I'm like her father. Akio's shocked to hear this. She says we both have the same filthy mouth, but even so, we're both kind. Akio says if she's going to praise someone, praise only him. He's so childish sometimes. Nagisa continues by saying that she thinks I'd make a great father. ...This game is too good at causing introspection for its own good. I mean, that "biological clock is ticking" thing doesn't really apply to men because once they reach reproductive age, under normal circumstances they remain fertile until they die, but even so... Sanae chimes in that she also thinks Nagisa would make a kind mother. So the two of us should be kind to our child, okay? No one really says anything to that. Nagisa protests that she's too much of a crybaby, so she wouldn't be so kind at all, and Sanae says it's fine, because she's also a crybaby. I'm still surprised that Akio hasn't said anything about what Sanae just suggested. Even though it came from Sanae's mouth, he usually reacts poorly to any suggestion of me doing anything to his daughter--even though he's usually the one suggesting it.

That night, someone knocked on my door. It was Nagisa. She asks to come in and sits down beside me on a cushion. She's so excited she can't sleep. She says she's been thinking about a lot of things. Even today, she thought a lot about it when we came back. About how much her parents loved her. I tell her I know. Even so, there's something she has to apologize to them about. I ask if she did something bad. She says yes, but when I ask what, she says she's not sure. She's always wanted to know, but when she asks, they wouldn't tell her. I ask why she thinks she did something bad, and she says it's because they don't like to talk about their past. About when she was small and had no recollection of anything. There should have been a photograph left, but she's never seen one, and they always avoided it when she asked why. Something they're hiding from her is something that concerns her. She's sure that her parents were hiding whatever it was she had to apologize for. She thinks it has something to do with how weak her body is. She wants to know, and knowing it, she wants to apologize. Nagisa... I remember what Akio told me. He was right; she did feel like it was her fault. She asks if I know something, seeing how I was thinking about something just now. And I was talking with Akio a lot late at night. I tell her he was just picking those times when he felt like it.

She's not entirely sure she believes it, and asks me to tell her anything I know. I wonder if maybe it's okay...but, now's not the time. She needs her head clear for tomorrow. I tell her she's too nervous, and should calm down and think about other things, because when she thinks about that, she always feels like it's her fault. After a silence, she asks if I'm already sleepy yet. Well, not really. She says that maybe it's better if we just sleep. I realize what she means and ask if she wants to sleep in here, on the cushion. She thanks me, but says that if her dad found out, it would be a problem. I agree. She thanks me for staying up this late. I ask if she's going to sleep, and she says yes, she's actually quite sleepy, and excuses herself. I say good night.

The day of the festival. I wake up surprisingly early, and after taking precautions not to fall asleep at all. Suddenly I realize that I woke up to the sound of something. I calm myself, thinking it's probably just Akio making the day's bread. It isn't. Nagisa was up all night, and there are albums scattered all over the floor. I tell her to put those thoughts out of her mind. I stood around, waiting as she slept, and only left when she woke up again and needed to change. Akio asks what all of that scattered all over the living room was. I tell him that Nagisa found it, and I was too late in stopping her. He isn't sure if he wants her to go to school in this state, but I tell him that he's a good father, and that Nagisa and I have been working hard for this and we should at least get to achieve that. He agrees, wanting to see the play come to fruition. We walk to school, and Nagisa asks me if I knew that her father was an actor. I tell her honestly that I didn't. He made a big appearance on stage, and was popular on television. Sanae was a middle school teacher. It seems she really liked teaching. Nagisa says that her parents really looked happy in the photos and videos she saw. Their dreams should've continued on forever. If not for her...

I tell her that's wrong, but she asks me to please listen. It's her fault that her parents gave up on their dreams. I tell her again that that's wrong, that they should be happy even now. She maintains that they gave up on their dream, and asks if she's wrong. Well...no, that's true...but... And now she's getting her dream granted, even with theirs sacrificed. She thinks she's a terrible, ungrateful child. Even to me. I've given up a lot of my time to grant her wish. I tell her that that's not true; that I truly came to like her. I tell her that we've come this far; we should push a little harder.

Sunohara's still half-asleep, and complaining about waking up so early on a Sunday. Seeing Nagisa in her state wakes him up, though. He asks what happened. I say he should just carry on like usual, and I'll do something about it later. I tell Nagisa to think only of the play. I can't locate her parents in the audience. I look for them and finally find them outside in the crowd. Seems Sanae got lost. Akio's not there, though. He told his wife to go on ahead. She's sure he'll be there, though. I wonder if Sanae even realizes what happened this morning. She asks where Nagisa is, and I say that she's studying her script, so perhaps we should leave her be. Finally, I guide her to the gymnasium and look for Nagisa.

The play begins. Nagisa's just standing there, silent. At first, the audience thinks it's part of the play, but soon a stir begins. And she begins to cry, having concluded that she shouldn't have her dream granted. And then... "Grant your wish, Nagisa---!" Akio. He asks if she's an idiot; tells her that her dream is her parents' dream. That she can grant that. That their dream is to see her grant hers. That they didn't give up on their dream, but made it hers. That's how parents are; that's what family is! That's why, ever since that day...

He tells her not to give up, and asks Sanae to say something too. After a moment, she does. I add in that we're the same; that she should do what Sunohara and I never could. That she's carrying our pain on her back. So grant it!

She looks up. Her tears are gone. And she says the first line. Cut to the Illusionary World, to the eyes of the Junk Doll.

The snow's begun to fall on this world. If we don't hurry up, we wouldn't be able to go. I picked up the last piece of junk, put it in my bag, and hurried home. I opened the door. As always, the girl was there. She noticed me, her eyes facing towards me. She slowly stretched out her arms. Her movements were very slow. I approach her and put the junk in her hand. "It's starting to get really cold..." I shake my head to say I don't mind about that. We don't have time. "I'm sorry I couldn't do anything..." I shake my head. She'd always put her arm around me, but she was no longer able to do that. I put down that arm. "Are you going now?" I nod. "I want to be by your side. Just the two of us." Yeah. That's why I'm doing this. For that reason, I'm going. So that after this, we'll always be together. She made a lonely expression. I reluctantly looked away and went outside. ...

"...Are you...crying?" Her voice. Creak. She slowly walked, and then she embraced my body. "...What's wrong...?" Creak. "Have you remembered...something sad...? That's not it, right? This world is...what's sad, right? ...you want to go far away? You want to go to the place you were pointing at? Together...let's walk away from here...where there's a lot of things...fun things...a warm place...to there. You...want to do that, right?" I stopped crying and faced her. I want to. I nod very strongly. "Then...let's go." We start our long journey. To the place...of our distant memories.

Nagisa says she remembered how it continued. I ask her what she meant. She says it's how the story continued. The doll and the girl went to leave that world. I ask why, and she says it's because the doll knew of a different world that was far away. A warm world, with many people. That's why the two vowed to leave that lonely world, and went on a journey. I ask how that went. She averts her eyes. It was a long trip, and afterwards...they sang a song. Wait, what? I ask if she's serious. Honestly, I thought the ending was far more tragic. She says that having said so, the song she sang at the end matched. She said she really would've liked to continue the tale. I point out that the song she'd chosen wouldn't have really fit the mood. But even so...her play was well-done. I bring her close, but Akio interrupts. The next day is a holiday...one I'd been waiting for. One where Nagisa and I could finally spend the day together as lovers. Ah, Nagisa's so cute! I suggest we head to the school, even though it's closed. It'll be exciting. We head to the drama clubroom. It's open from below, but Nagisa's hesitant to crawl in, because these are new clothes for today's date. I go in ahead and open it from the inside. We were together, alone, in a place with no one else around. I look at her, and think about how she's my girlfriend. Mine. If other guys had a crush on her, they'd be jealous, and for someone as cute as her, surely there must be someone else. She's nervous. Something's written on the blackboard. It's her name. She's on day duty. Oh, right, I wrote that a while ago and had forgotten about it. She says I shouldn't be doing that, and then she picks up the chalk and writes my name beside it. Together, it's fine. It's a little embarrassing, but there's no one here to see us.

It was nearly dark when we left the school. She says she's so happy right now, and she wants to give that to a lot of people, but she doesn't feel suited to it, because she's so spoiled right now.

I tell her it's the same way for me, because I have a girlfriend like her. It's spoiled me too much as well. She says if we feel so spoiled, then we must really be a blessed couple. We unconsciously hold hands. Her hand is quite warm. I look at her face and address her. She asks what it is. I put my hand to her forehead. It's warm, too. "You didn't catch a fever, did you?" She says she's fine. I'm still worried, asking how long she's been feverish. She insists she's fine. I get mad and tell her not to lie. She apologizes. Actually, she's been feverish since we left the school. I tell her to tell me sooner. She apologizes again, and I say it's okay now, and we should head home. I ask Sanae how she is, and she tells me to calm down; Nagisa's fine. I worry that I pushed her too much, and Sanae says it's fine; she's my girlfriend, right? I'm surprised she knew. She says she can tell tat much about her own daughter. I say I'm a useless boyfriend. She says I'm not, and asks if she can call me Tomoya-san. I say it's fine, and Sanae tells me that Nagisa has always had this weak of a body, and tells me to always stay with her and take care of her. Sanae's quite quick to jump to conclusions about the future, isn't she? She tells me that I've been working hard, too, and that I should take a break and leave Nagisa to her.

Her fever doesn't subside by morning, so she doesn't attend school. I tell her when I'm ready to leave, and she tells me to take care. She smiles. Akio's waiting with food when I exit her room and asks if we're newlyweds now and says that if we're going to do that crap, he and Sanae are going to start acting like newlyweds again as well. It's the same on Wednesday. A family doctor visits, but he has no cure, only telling her to rest. All I can do is visit. Nagisa asks if school was fun. I say it wasn't, because she wasn't around. She apologizes, but she's glad when I say that. Well, it would be nice to have that kind of school life, us being together. I say she's unaware of that, because she's a kid. She points out that she's older than me, but I say age has nothing to do with it. But, she says she does want to be like that, walking together with me and talking about things. I tell her to hurry up and get better, and we can be like that.

Transition; having seen every route, it looks like the one that goes the latest before transitioning is Kyou's. Did all of the routes wait until after the final choice to transition? I don't think so...which means I have some bad endings to see. Nothing interesting, though. Two weeks pass, and still she doesn't go to school. That slight fever that should have passed continues on forever. She did manage to push herself to attend once, but just from standing up and walking, her fever came back. Unfortunately, my father didn't build a time machine, so I can't change the past. May ended, and June began, and spring became summer, but Nagisa remained in her room. Nagisa tells me not to worry about her, and just enjoy my summer break. I say it's fine; I'll be here with her. She says that's boring. I say it isn't. We can talk like this. She says such a summer holiday wouldn't be fulfilling, because I can't make any fun memories. I say it's fun with just this, and she says we don't have anything else to talk about, because she's just been sleeping. I say we don't even need to talk. Just waiting for that moment, when we can walk and hold hands, is fun. She says she doesn't mind even if I walk with another person, holding hands. I tell her I'd get angry. It sounds like she's telling me to go look for someone else, even though I like her. She says she doesn't want to say that, because she likes me too. I tell her not to ever say that again, then. She understands, and asks if we can hold hands even though we can't walk. She's so frail...I tell her she should rest.

Second semester begins. Everyone else is looking to next spring and their future, but all I can think about is Nagisa. She only spent one month in school this year...she'll probably have to repeat third year yet again. And yet, in our time together, I came to like her, and we accomplished the impossible. I just want to be together, the delinquent and the repeater. September ends. I meet with Akio. Yeah, they tel me she might have to repeat the year again. I'm going to have to think about the possibility of that day, of me graduating without her.

November came. I caught a cold, so I stayed away from Nagisa for awhile. Another new song is playing. December passed, but I did nothing even during the Christmas season. That's a day for lovers, and for me, that lover also had her birthday. The four of us had a warm party in Nagisa's room, Sanae baking a cake with 19 candles. Nagisa only ate a mouthful, leaving the rest for the three of us. I found a Big Dango Family doll for her as a gift. She was delighted, but then became depressed that she had no Christmas gift for me. Sanae cheered her up by singing the Big Dango Family song, Nagisa joining in. We all sang. When we finished, Nagisa thanked everyone and cried. All this, just for her... Not all this, Akio said. You're a part of our important family. If you're happy, we're happy. So be happy, Nagisa. I wonder if he realized that since Nagisa addressed those words to all three of us, Akio's response meant he just included me in their family. But, I suppose in a way, even Akio has accepted me as part of the family, even if he doesn't like the idea of his little girl dating. Several days earlier, it had been decided that Nagisa would repeat. If she didn't move, her body would remain at room temperature. We watched the first snowfall, huddled together to avoid catching a cold.

March. A cold wind still blew. Graduation exercises came. I suggest to Sunohara that we break some windowpanes so we could repeat, but he says we wouldn't repeat; we'd be dropping out. I graduated that day. Nagisa congratulated me on my graduation. She had waited, wearing the clothes she wore on our first date. I told her she shouldn't be coming outside on a cold, windy day like this. She said she really wanted to come to school. She wanted to see it, no matter what. I tell her I've graduated. I can no longer return to that school.

...We'll never be able to have that school life together. I can't grant that wish, of holding hands together in that school. There were so many things I wanted to do with her, in all seasons, even though I hated school...if I'm with her, I'll always want to spend time like that, no matter what. I was happy...I wanted to continue like that forever...forever with her, in that horrible school. I start crying. I lose the ability to form words. She asks if we can hold hands. She wants to walk with me. I tell her not to, or her fever will come back. She says it's fine; it's only for awhile. Is that okay? ...I tell her to do what she wants. She says she shall. And we walk together in the spring light, always holding hands. It couldn't be helped that her small, cold hand was always loving. It couldn't be helped that she liked me. I say I should repeat the same year, but she says I can't. I have to push on. She's become stronger, hasn't she? Yes. That's why she'll work hard again for another year. I wonder if she'll be fine in the school without me. Will she stop again at the bottom of the hill? Is it okay for me not to push back? Will she rise and walk on? ...I'm sure she will. "Nagisa, I'll always be waiting... Work hard..." She says she will. And we'll always be walking up that slope, just the two of us.

The menu. Where is it? Wait...the menu, after briefly appearing, fades out, then fades back in with a space beneath "Load". It's then filled in.

After Story.

Chapter 15: Unwavering (CLANNAD--After Story; 'Digital: A Love Story')
The girl stopped walking. She squats above the snow for a long time. I brush off the snow that covered her face. She smiled as I did that. She stretched her arms down to the ground and lifted herself up, and then she brushed the snow off of herself. We couldn't make any progress, though. I hide myself below her abdomen. We strain to walk. She starts moving again. "...thank you." I heard her voice. My body began to creak. I wonder, how much longer do we need to struggle? How many more steps until we reach our destination? Or maybe it will take an infinite number of steps. If so... it's useless. Despondence swept over us. Suddenly, my body was lifted up. There was something under me. Small... animals. They're even in a...place like this. Their strength was small and weak, but in great number, by combining their power, they moved me forward. Soon after that, I find myself walking with all my strength once again. The animals are nowhere to be seen. We move forward without looking back anymore, having only courage.

Yes, After Story began with another trip to the Illusionary World. It's only fitting, as the "prologue" is actually an Illusionary World scene, something it took until Nagisa explained the story to me for me to realize. I faintly saw a Roman numeral before the scene started. XI. This part's a bit less polished. It says "Day After", so I'm assuming that this is almost right after graduation? I'm given one of Akio's old aprons. It seems I'll be working in the bakery now? Heh...I really am part of the family. I'll be working the morning shift, so plenty of early wake-ups. And from opening at seven until nine is the busiest time at the bakery, I guess because a lot of people stop off before work. Sanae helps us during spring break, but after it's over, this will be my job. It's slow in the afternoon. Akio suggests playing catch with Sanae's bread. I think not. Nagisa enters. She's feeling better, finally, and was watching me work. She says I look cute in that apron and asks if I need help with anything. I say we have too much time on our hands, and Akio suggests a snow fight with Sanae's bread, or more accurately a bread fight. Nagisa says that mom's right behind him. Sanae cries and runs off, Akio chasing after her. As usual. A real customer comes, and Nagisa greets her. Just like that, I can imagine a future where we're working together, side by side.

Monday, April 5. Opening day ceremonies. Heh, just a little earlier in the year than the main story begins. We see Nagisa off to school. That night, I went to Nagisa's bedroom. Though she appeared happy at dinner, I could see that she was pushing herself. Her parents seem to have noticed, too. I announce my presence and ask to come in. She says I can. She's clutching a Big Dango Family doll. I ask her if she's found anyone to talk to, but she says it's difficult to find a topic, having repeated a year twice now. I tell her it's just two years; it doesn't make an age gap. Uh...you'd be surprised, Tomoya-kun. I was always "the little kid" to my classmates, even though by senior year the freshmen were younger than I was--and like I said, even though I was only one year older, I was turned down by the girl I asked to my senior prom because it would be too awkward starting a relationship when I was a graduating senior and she was only a freshman. Then I realize, that could just be an excuse. Do her classmates even know that she repeated twice? She says she thinks so; ever since the opening ceremony, that rumor's been spreading around, that there was such a student. And because everyone knew each other, having been classmates for awhile already, she stood out like a transfer student and was quickly discovered. Unfortunately, none of the people she already knew were in her class. Hmm...I wonder... I tell her to try to hang out with Tomoyo.

...This game just tagged my dialogue as "m { B". I tell her she can make friends in other classes, too. And furthermore...she needs to recruit members the right way this year if she wants to continue the drama club. After all, her only other two official members both graduated. She points out that, once again, there isn't a supervisor. Oh, right...Koumura-sensei retired at the end of last year. Maybe the new replacement teacher will take the role? But he's a bit scary-looking, so she's been hesitating. He was a sports teacher who seems like he's been in lifestyle counseling; really intense. Not at all the right type. Nagisa apologizes for making me worry, but I tell her that if she'd kept it to herself, she'd have felt worse. She says she's just been whining, and since she decided to do her best, she will. I say that's fine, but she should talk to me instead of just curling up with her stuffed dango. She points out that this is thanks to me too, because I gave it to her. That's why it's like she's telling me. She felt really relaxed, so she held it closely. Then she giggles cutely. Maybe she's right, but I want to hear it too. She concedes, but says she'd rather talk about happier topics with me.

I ask her the next day about the progress of the club advisor. She said Minoshima-sensei agreed to take the role. But... he hadn't really seemed interested. She went to the staff room to negotiate, and Minoshima-sensei was right there, so they started talking, and another teacher heard the conversation and he was appointed as the advisor on the spot. Furthermore, he's the sub-advisor for the track-and-field club, so he might not be around that often. Furthermore, she still needs to find new members.

She made a recruitment poster and put it up, but when she came back, it had fallen to the floor. When she picked it up, people around her called out, "Ah, she found out"... That's horrible. When she wasn't around, it was torn off and passed amongst the class. She's been labeled as different for having repeated two years. No matter what she does, people will pick on her.

...Told you two years was a bigger age gap than you thought. It's not so bad when there are still other people your age in the school (well, not that many of the freshmen and sophomores from my senior year even knew who I was), but when you stand out by that much...

...She wonders if it's the Big Dango Family that's making people take down the poster. I tell her it isn't, even though it probably is. I tell her it's just something she has to endure. She says she'd feel bad if it was torn down again. I say she needs to insist, and she says she did so, so I tell her it won't be torn down again. It wasn't torn down the next day, and she saw a new female student showing interest. The introductory seminars will be on Saturday. She hadn't returned to school in time for them last year. She's a bit nervous, having never done the seminar. But I tell her to just remember our practices last year and she'll be fine. She agrees, saying that it feels like I'm watching over her. I say she makes it sound like I'm dead. She says I'll be hard at work, and then she says she'll be fine. I tell her she should get going on the morning of the seminar, or she'll be late. She's still studying her notes. Just like before the play rehearsals, I check to see if she's paying attention by telling her I want to make love to her, and once again, she says wait until I get back and it's fine. Nagisa...it's dangerous how intensely you focus at these times. I have trouble concentrating at work because I'm worried about Nagisa. She gets home after about an hour, and she's not confident in how it went. But she didn't freeze up. She spoke all the way to the end. And at the end, she heard a bit of applause, and when she looked, it was coming from Nishina and Sugisaka. I wonder, who's their advisor this year?

The forms are due in by next Wednesday, so if she doesn't get two new members by then... But there's a lot of new students, so there's reason to be optimistic.

I see her off on Monday. There's a new transition graphic. No forms came in on either Monday or Tuesday. ...No one registered. She says that Koumura-sensei said last year that stage dramas are no longer popular, and she supposes that's true. Well, the third-years have to resign after School Foundation Day anyway...wait, what? So if you were joining a new club in your third year, you'd really only be in it for less than a month? I guess that's why it's not such a big deal that the choir club doesn't have Koumura either; they're getting disbanded anyway. Still...Japanese schools seem so weird to me. I mean, I have enough trouble dealing with the whole 6-3-3 thing, even though from what I hear, America used to be like that too, and then it sort of shifted to 6-2-4, then 5-3-4, and I think technically speaking it's now 4-4-4. (Or rather, going from 6-3-4 to 5-4-4, since Kindergarten is sort of part of elementary school now. ...You did remember that I'm studying to be a teacher, right?)

I tell her to just relax and enjoy the festival this year. She thinks it's a good idea. Even though she cried on stage, last year's festival brought happy memories. I tell her not to lose herself in memories, but instead, to work towards happier times waiting ahead. She apologizes and agrees.

She still doesn't make friends in school, but at home, she's warm and happy. We lose the date again, after...of all days, the last date listed is the 14th--the same one that's the first listed in the regular story. One day, she interrupts me, and I ask what's up and worry that she'll be late. She says it's because I didn't see her off. Oh...I'm sorry, I was so busy... Hearing my voice, she's able to leave easily. I think about it and run after her to say it properly. She smiles and heads off happily.

The tag changes again, from "Nagisa - Day After" to "Cohabitation". I go out for some fresh air and look around, and I notice someone in the park on a tall spot that is definitely in the air. Oh, it's just a worker on a ladder. I remember helping such a worker during my time at school. I remark how that worker wasn't that much older than me. I look again. Is it the same one? It is! It's Yoshino-san. I greet him, and...ask for a job. I feel like I don't want to be living solely off of the goodwill of the Furukawas. So, next month, I'll start working for Yoshino-san. That night, I discuss it with Nagisa. She asks if the bakery job wasn't right for me. I say it wasn't that, but I felt too spoiled, being completely reliant on her parents. My new job will be difficult, but my income will be much higher. And I'll find an apartment nearby to live in. Heh, yeah, that's the other problem with living with your girlfriend's parents...it kind of puts a damper on the relationship. She's sad that I'm leaving the house. She says that's too lonely. I ask her to come with me. If it's too lonely, she can come back here. I wouldn't mind if she wanted to do that at any time, but I'll work hard so it's not like that. I want to bring her happiness with my hands, just on my own. And so I ask her, would she like to do that?

...Somehow, I doubt Akio's going to like that idea...even if she is, technically speaking, 19 years old and thereby should be out of the house, she's still in school, and because she's so fragile, it's like she's still a girl. And to be living with a boy, at that? He'll flip. ...She says yes. If I say so, she'll follow. We won't be able to do much, because she still has school, but... I tell her that just her being there is enough; we don't have to do anything. I found a one-room apartment, six Tatami mats, for only 30,000 yen a month. Affordable. She says it's beautiful.

She's so adorable. She says she'd cook for me every day. I say that she doesn't need to worry about that, as it would get in the way of her studies. She says she doesn't want me to be the only one working hard. I see, and say we'll do that. Now for the hard part...convincing her parents. Nagisa thinks it'll work out if she asks them. I say that would be cowardice. This is something I must do, because I'm the one taking her away and if I don't do this myself, how will my feelings get across? She relents to let me handle it. I talk to Sanae first. Not surprisingly, she approves, saying Nagisa's gotten a lot stronger after meeting me. Such a couple has already been decided, she says. She wishes me good luck in convincing Akio. I looked for a time when he was in a good mood, but he's the type who can have joy and anger together, so that's not easy. I wait for the peaceful time of the afternoon, when there's time to kill. And...even before I start talking, he's in a rage, feeling like crap. A horoscope... "This month, something important to you will be snatched away by someone. You'll be in great shock, bedridden for awhile." Well, I guess that means I'm successful, doesn't it? He says it feels like an omen. Somehow, my fortune says I'll be the one doing the snatching. Furthermore, run away and I'll be victorious. He tells me to stay away from him, as I'm a jinx. That evening, Sanae asks if I got the chance to talk to him. I tell her not yet. I catch him in a good mood the next day, as he's finished a cool model of a robot, but then he accidentally breaks it and he's angry again. He wants me to come with him the next day, though, so I guess I'm not a jinx anymore? I pitch to him, and he breaks a window. He wants to ignore the problem, and tries to get me to handle it by offering me a raise in salary. Well, everyone in the neighborhood knows how he is, so they laugh it off. He's the type of person who wants to make people smile. I...am also like that. I tell him my plans. He thinks for a bit, and reminds me why they made the bakery. Because she's fragile, she needs attention frequently. I'd have to be able to become that reliable person. But...if this is what Nagisa wants, then he can't stop her. He makes me promise two things: Leave the house together with her at least once a week, and if her condition worsens, call Sanae. ...Whatever else you want to do, just do it. I'm surprised. That was oddly level-headed of Akio. We return, and Sanae chides us for leaving the shop alone. Akio tries to blame everything he did on me, but Sanae knows better. As they head in, I tell Sanae that I told him. She asks how it went, and I tell her.

May 5. At the end of the consecutive holidays in May, I move out. Akio tells me to get a license, and I say I have no money. He says this is the last thing he's helping me out with. I guess he helped me with the move? We used old stuff from the Furukawa's storage room to furnish it. Nagisa wants to help, but I say this is a man's job and ask her to make tea for afterwards. And it's all finished. It's not much, but it's our home. We prepare to start our life together. Nagisa vows to no longer cry, and to work hard and overcome any pain that might come. I tell her she doesn't need to hold in her tears during times of sadness. So she amends it, and says she may end up crying, because she's that kind of person, so please, take care of her. Then she giggles in that cute way of hers, and I say we should greet the neighbors while it's still bright out. The bathtub's not very good--little water comes out, and the temperature control is quite sensitive. I go first, and then as I start the dryer, I hear the ruffling of clothes, and think to myself, I've never been in this situation before...the curtain doesn't reach all the way to the ground, so I can see her clothes fall and her bare feet. I think that getting excited about that just shows how innocent we are.

I think about how that was to be expected from living together, but evne so, how are we to keep calm on the first day? (Yes, that typo was in the translation patch.) First choice! Calm myself down, or be serious, so I won't get caught? ...I kind of want to pick the "wrong" choice. ...okay, that was silly. I do it properly, and it's much better. I tell her how cute she is. I can't sleep, lost in thought about how things are gonna get much harder. Nagisa can't sleep, either. We fall asleep, hand in hand. Hmm...I wonder what happens if we take a different route through Nagisa's route? I hear that it really is affected by your choices on the main game path, so I'll go it again before each one.

We argue about chores and stuff, each wanting to ease the burden on the other. She sees me off, and I tell her to get some more sleep, and set an alarm so she doesn't oversleep. I report to the office, and Yoshino points me to a dressing room where I can change into work clothes. I meet my boss and introduce myself. He immediately comments on how young I am, and calls me ambitious for coming here so soon out of high school when I tell him my age. He says I shouldn't overexert myself, just try my best, and be careful not to get injured. It seems I'll be assigned to assist Yoshino. He says I've changed. Back then I was a child. Now...I'm a child struggling to be an adult. But I've matured nonetheless, because my attitude's changed. ...a child struggling to be an adult. Yeah, again, I hear that. Without a will to step forward, a child will keep remaining as a mere child. *twitch*. Shall we abort this now and move on to another game?

''We have received your application indicating an interest in a position at ***** ****** *. We want to thank you for taking the time to send us your information. ''

''We have given your qualifications and experience considerable evaluation in the context of our current openings. I am sorry to inform you that you have not been selected for an interview for this position. Please accept our very best wishes for success in your search and with your future career endeavors. ''

Thank you again for your interest.

Sincerely,

Human Resources

 ***** ****** * 

"Have not been selected for an interview for this position". The job-finder website I got that listing from suggested that this place had a lot of job openings to fill--so many that my first thought when I saw all of them was "How are they even in business?" Out of courtesy, I starred out the name of the company, but this email really pissed me off. I know that I'm not exactly "motivated", but it's shit like this that makes me this way. Every effort I've ever made has been for nothing, so I stopped making efforts. I've lost my will to step forward. I try to hide from my pain.

...Well, since this chapter just started, I guess I need to wait a bit longer before jumping to another game. But we're done for the night.

...On second thought; screw that noise; I'm rolling these five posts into Chapter 14. Especially given my previous title, this is no Chapter 15.

WARNING: H-GAME AHEAD

This one starts on June 28th. I'm finally being allowed to do rounds on my own, so it's kind of like I'm independent. Tomoyo suggests we celebrate, but I say it's not a big deal. ...I think I like the graphics in the original game better. And what's with the new uniform? Anyway, what follows is a depiction of a loving, if slightly uncertain, couple. Already it's obvious that this is a different breed of game, and we're only making out right now. ...Also, the crude language.

...Okay, yeah, this is bad. This is over-the-top erotica writing, but for nothing more serious than a fully-clothed makeout session. Is...is it really possible for a kiss to be that arousing? I guess I'm not really the best to judge, having not kissed a girl since I was barely over a quarter of my current age. (Let's see, currently I'm 24 years 302 days...divide that by 4 and you get 6 years 75.5 days...yeah, really is barely a quarter of my current age, since 75.5 days past my birthday is mid-June and that happened in July. So depressing.)

...Okay, the final paragraph of the previous post? Never happened. Chapter 15 will continue as originally planned, following the After Story of the original CLANNAD. Please let this abortion be the fault of the fan translators rather than of Key themselves.

We begin working. It wasn't easy, and I made some mistakes. It was a relief when the day finally ended. I offer to help Nagisa with dinner, but she tells me to just rest and let her do it. I eventually concede as I find that her healing was only mental and I was still physically drained. There's not much to talk about over dinner. She congratulates me on becoming an adult and tells me to work hard...for her sake. We're both a little embarrassed after that. I fall asleep right after my bath, before even noting Nagisa starting hers. I wake up the next morning in pain, wanting to sleep. I start to go back to sleep, but then I hear the sound of Nagisa sleeping and remember that I have to be responsible now. I will myself to get up for work. Yoshino's surprised that I showed up on time. He's cold, but he does help me out. We remove a broken street light to repair it. He's harsh, but I make it through. I don't even have the energy to offer assistance today. Nagisa stops her cooking, worried about me. We both turn in early. More of the same the next day...uh-oh, that arm injury's about to cause a problem. I managed to get the job done anyway, but Yoshino notes how awkward it is. I'm going to have to tell him, I'm sure... I have more energy when I return home this time. Ah, I took the wrong chopsticks...or was that intentional? Ah, but tomorrow's Sunday. A day off. We'll go see Nagisa's parents. Akio seems to have regained his dramatic form just fine. Wait, Sanae repeated the same thing ad nauseum?! Sanae admits that it was all Akio's idea, an attempt to get Nagisa back...but Sanae knows it's useless. Nagisa says it's troubling, because she does care about her parents as well, even though she wants to be with me. Amazingly, Nagisa takes her father's metaphor and runs with it, responding without breaking it. Wait, where is this conversation going? Okay, I think we've got it cleared up...no, wait, Nagisa's still missing the point and saying strange things. Akio ends up putting his foot in his mouth. Finally, everything is cleared up: Yes, we are presumably both capable of having such a relationship; we just haven't yet. Akio says that Sanae had already given birth by the time she was Nagisa's age. Wait, I think Akio forgot to think before speaking again...he does that a lot. He'll act on autopilot and then get angry at things that he said. Still, I'll consider this his blessing. Ah, Nagisa really is just like her mother...even though when Akio tries to curry his daughter's favor/get her to drop whatever issue she's pressing the same way he does with his wife, she says that has no effect on her, when I do the same thing, it works just the way it does with Akio and Sanae. We talk when we get home...wait... I think... I think that conversation actually did make her think that perhaps we should be...advancing our relationship. I don't say anything, just let her talk. I think she's decided that she's ready...

...well, maybe not. Not exactly. But...even this is fine. Monday goes quickly, but Tuesday brings rain, which is dangerous for electrical workers. It's still raining hard on Wednesday morning, so I get a call from the boss early on that work is canceled. Nagisa asks how it went, and I tell her the news. We go back to sleep. When I wake up, it's already 11. Nagisa left on her own and prepared breakfast for me. I'm bored, wasting time, so when it gets close to the end of the school day, I get out an umbrella and wait at the bottom of the hill for Nagisa.

Thursday is clear, so I return to work. It seems we'll have no choice but to work overtime. Because it's already past 9 when we return to the company, Yoshino offers me a ride home. I say I'm fine, but he insists. I'm still thinking about work during dinner, but I still manage to pay enough attention to Nagisa to answer correctly when she checks.

I even manage to tease her a bit. Wait, mock examinations? So...no School Foundation Festival this year? The next day, we're just wrapping up when Yoshino gets a call. Seems there's an emergency job; the boss got in a vehicle accident en route to a job and broke his leg, and Yoshino's the only one who can take over. He says it's fine if I go home, but I say I'd feel awkward if only he was working overtime. Then the boss has him pass the phone to me, and it turns out the boss wants me there anyway. It's an indoor job, installing an air conditioner. Yoshino suggests I at least call Nagisa to tell her I'll be late. I apparently have no idea how to use a cell phone...what year is this damn thing set in? Digital camera is new to me, too. It seems Yoshino is trying to let me get by with doing the less labor-intensive jobs.

Sunday. Nagisa's off to exams. I end up watching a cooking show and make a simple dish. The door opens. It's Akio. He's got some free time as well; even the kids he normally plays with aren't around. ...Akio's so weird. And so are the people he associates with. Luckily, or unluckily, his prank doesn't go as planned. Well, everything worked out in the end. Oh, School Foundation Day's been pushed back a week instead. It's next Sunday. We'll go together. Finally, we'll have our date at the school. Monday morning, I'm left doing paperwork, but then I go out for some labor in the afternoon. I get home to find Nagisa singing the Big Dango song while she cooks. But it seems things will get busy after this week, so there's a chance I won't be able to go to the festival after all...

We have some work at a residential location for a change on Tuesday. I can't help but wonder how different this route would be if I skipped the meeting with Yoshino in the main game. It seems a mouse probably gnawed through a cable, and that's what was causing the issue. The schedule's short...but it seems that, if I work Saturday, I can get Sunday off. I tell Nagisa the good news over dinner. The next day...damnit. The footing's bad at this site, and the right side of the ladder won't stand. Lean it on the left and reach out with the right arm and it would be fine, but it won't reach properly the opposite way. ...He's figured it out. He tells me to get down, because what I was about to attempt would be dangerous. And yet, even with my arm messed up, I was still able to do this much. Yoshino tells me that I can lean on him for support. The next day, I'm given my own tool belt, and do some jobs myself. I'm left on standby at the office on Saturday. I'm sent out to a distant site for work on my own, but it's all stuff I already know. I tease Nagisa the next morning about how she must've been too excited to sleep, and how she thinks I should've been the one who couldn't sleep, because it's our date. I make her say it three times. She goes first, because it doesn't open to the public until 10. While I'm waiting, though, the boss calls. Something happened at the site. Yoshino's taking the blame for me, but...it was my fault. I messed something up. I rush over, and the game spits up a load of translator babble. I want to fix it, but Yoshino insists I don't. Wait, this isn't the same song as before. Ah, wouldn't you know it, it's the very next track. He says I should go back to be at the festival, but I tell him that's why I can't go. I couldn't face her, knowing that I screwed up like this, and I can't lie to her. He relents, and I get to work...and miss the whole festival. Nagisa's fine with it, though, because that's just how she is. Everyone's praising me at work Monday morning, though. Yoshino explains that messups can't be helped, but the way I reacted to my mistake was praiseworthy--I showed a lot of drive. He says that if I stay with this job, eventually I'll be the experienced one, and the best way to repay him for what he did is to do the same for my junior when that happens.

He's pretty dramatic, too. Not that I do anything to stop it. The day disappears, returning the title to "Cohabitation". That probably means another time skip is imminent, or at the very least, an act change. One week as we're headed for our visit with Nagisa's parents, Nagisa turns to me asking for advice about her father. ...Oh, okay, it's something good. Actually, I'm very happy to hear this, because it makes me think that maybe he actually has faith in me. He's contacted his old acting colleagues and they've formed a small theatrical company. He's returning to his old dream...now that the nest is empty. Or...no, she explained it weirdly. He's not a member, and he's been invited to one of their performances, but he says he has work and can't go. I ask what she means; it's only half a day, right? Wrong; the performance is all the way out in Kyushu. Even by bus, he'd be gone for two days. I ask if it's okay for him to leave the shop open for two days, but Nagisa says that even though he often leaves during the day to play, he always bakes the bread every morning. So, we have to try to convince him to go. ...She wants me to do the baking for him? I tell her that I didn't do baking when working with them before, and besides, I have a job too. She says it's next weekend, and I already said I didn't have work on Saturday. Hm...and Nagisa still has school, so she couldn't help until the afternoon. She says she actually wants to bake, but it's a lot of physical work so a lot of it is impossible for her. Uh...Seriously, I'd love to help, but we just can't make this work. If the company just launched, then there's a chance they'll come closer for a performance someday; Akio will get his chance eventually.

...Ah, yes, I'd been told that After Story has multiple character-driven arcs. During the summer, we move to a job site near the bakery, and I visit on my lunch breaks. I see Akio talking to a young man in a suit, probably around my age. Sanae's not around. Akio heads into the store, and I notice the documents he'd gotten from the young man. Opening information for Tamura Tutoring School. So Akio's not the only one who might be giving his dreams another shot? It's suddenly occurring to me that, granted, this particular couple became parents at a very early age, but it's actually probably fairly normal for parents to still be working when their kids are out of the house. My family's just weird, because there's a fairly sizable age gap between my parents and my father was previously married (no kids with the first wife, though) and unforeseen circumstances delayed the beginning of the childbearing process. Let's see, taking into account what we heard about Sanae already being a mother by the time she was Nagisa's age...I'd have to say that Nagisa's parents are about as old now as my father was when I was born, even though I'm a first-born. So I guess I'm a tad disoriented here. Then again, this isn't exactly a new revelation; one of my best friends growing up had a grandmother about the same age as my father. I ask Akio about the flyers, and he thrusts one at me. Anyway, he explains that this school opened up, and they want Sanae to be a lecturer...not to mention they want her clientele, since she's just been running this private tutoring school. I say that this is unforgivable, but Akio says that's not it at all. See, this Tamura guy...was one of Sanae's students back when she taught in a school, and had promised to come back and teach others, and now he is. She'd probably do it...but what would happen to the bakery without Sanae around? Akio thinks it's possible that she'd just turn over the students. That's sad...

The next day, I head over during my break again and find Sanae out in front of the bakery, waving to her students. Seems tutoring just ended for the day.

Well, no gameplay, but we've got something. New OP for BS:LIYW. http://unwoman.bandcamp.com/track/the-bridge

I tell her that I wanted to talk to her to blow off some steam, and she says if I'm fine talking to someone as old as her, she'll talk as much as I like. I tell her it feels more like talking to a girl a little older than me, and she's flattered. I tell her those kids are lucky to have her. She mentions that her tutoring school will be ending soon. I pretend to be surprised by this news. She notices my concern, and I tell her that for her to have decided this so simply...She says it wasn't simple at all. I tell her that I talked to Akio about it, and I know about the promise. I say there will always be kids around. She says that the parents' opinions differ. She's a bakery owner first, and has been weaving time to run tutoring in between her work in the bakery. They think it would be relieving her of that duty by transferring the students. I tell her that if it were Akio, he'd just tell them straight up, but Sanae's not like that. She's a lot more like her daughter--easy-going and tends to put others before herself to a ridiculous degree. Guess there's nothing I can do...

I cut in at dinnertime, and Nagisa puts down her chopsticks. I tell her that's unnecessary; it's fine if we talk while we eat. I tell her that because work has brought me close to the bakery, I've been going there during breaks, and tell her about the new tutoring school and Sanae's decision. Nagisa says that I shouldn't have gone into her family's problems without telling her first, but she's quick to forgive me--as expected. Wait, is Nagisa jealous of the relationship I have with her mother? Finally, after some thought, Nagisa comes up with an idea. We'll talk with all of her students, see if we can get some allies and then try to persuade their parents. The next holiday I have, we go get the name list and start working on it. I decide it might be easier to get them all together. Ah, good; it works. ...How old did they say these kids were? Did they ever say? I said before that they sounded really young, like still in single-digits, but I think it might have said something like a little older than that, like "tweens". I say this because right now, they're doing all the things I hate about tweens. Yeah, teenagers are more headstrong, but headstrong I can deal with. I really don't want to teach middle school. Either high school or elementary school is what I want. Apparently, I'm not much more tolerant of them in-game. Nagisa manages to calm down the tense situation. She explains the situation. They say they'd like to stay, but...they've noticed it too. She seems more tired lately, like she hasn't been getting much sleep. Nagisa realizes that she's been thoughtless and should've noticed it herself, how much her mother was burdened with when she left. We return to the bakery and give Akio a progress report. It seems that that's final, then.

A week passed, and it was the final day for Sanae's tutoring school. I run off to the bakery during break, Yoshino asking where I'm going when I should be having lunch. Sanae's there alone. I ask where Akio is, and she says he went off holding a bat. I express my surprise that he could be so carefree at a time like this, and Sanae asks what I mean. She realizes how often I've been coming to the bakery...this game is getting seriously weird. But I guess that's just Tomoya. Well, the awkwardness ends, sort of, when Sanae asks me about my own mother. I tell her I don't remember anything about her. Well, it definitely got a bit closer...I have to get back to work now.

...And there's more awkwardness. Yoshino's here, and he thinks I've been sneaking out at breaks to see my girlfriend. I sense a misunderstanding... Yoshino makes another of his dramatic speeches, but luckily Sanae's not completely oblivious and clears up the misunderstanding. The next day is the final class.

I run to the bakery to see the end. The new tutor is there, the one Sanae taught. He's a tad dramatic as well, which Sanae comments on. Shouldn't she be used to it by now? He's nervous, and she reassures him. The children are moved by this display, one having to hold back tears for Sanae's sake. ...There's someone here who can't hold back her tears, though, and that's Nagisa. I can't even understand her through the tears. I tell her to be strong, or else the kids' holding back would be meaningless. She says she'll try. The parents thank Sanae for everything she's done, and the time to part comes. I'm amazed by how Sanae manages to keep smiling. But...it just feels wrong. The kids turn around as they walk away, and...Sanae's crying. Nagisa starts to say something to her mother, but Akio gets there first, putting an arm around her. He says what I've been thinking all along. That she shouldn't let other people decide her fate. That she can be selfish this once. She says she wants to, and she runs after them, and apologizes in advance for saying something selfish, but she still wants to teach these kids. The parents aren't quite sure what to make of this, but the children run to Sanae's side.

...Yeah, I have no idea how old they're supposed to be. Look fairly young; younger than they've been acting.

Seeing the way the children were acting, the parents' looks of bewilderment turn to smiles. The kids really like her. Tamura says that she should be aiming towards the same goal he has. She says no; she just wants to do what she wants to do. So, I guess it all worked out...I feel like I didn't really do anything. Akio was the one who ended up giving Sanae the push she needed, and the only choice I made during this story arc came after my last previous interaction with him. ...Right; if I'd chosen the other way, I probably wouldn't have even ended up being present for this event. That's what it changed, right? So it's not on the level of abstraction of "who takes the last shot determines if your game continues on towards the 'true ending' or gets locked into a different good ending". I tell Nagisa I have to get back to work, and she says she'll make some dinner and wait for me.

Sanae calls that night. After Nagisa talks with her, I take the phone. She thanks us for giving her the courage to chase her dream. Back to "Cohabitation" as we pick up Sanae's Light Orb. Time passes on, and one of Yoshino's old songs comes on the radio. He asks about that time that Sunohara was taking guitar lessons, and I guess I lied and said I was the drums? I don't really remember that too clearly. Well, I tell him what was really going on there. Still, I guess I really did enjoy the CD I bought, because I was able to sing the song from memory. Oh...seems that the next arc may be Yoshino's. Wait..."two years ago"? Has it been another year since the start of After Story? Well, anyway, we're going to be hearing Yoshino's story. Sounds like he had a rough childhood as well. He found music at age 13...and began playing on a stolen guitar. And was he ever reckless, inserting himself into other people's performances. Music was his life. Something changed when he entered his third year of high school...he met someone. A new female teacher. Yoshino had come into the empty classroom like a stray cat, doing nothing but playing the guitar in front of everyone. She applauded, and said he was quite good. It had been a love song, but the contents were completely embarrassing, he says. She understood the lyrics' meaning. They talked about the song, until the school broadcast called out and she realized she was in the middle of her new class. They talked many times after that, and she encouraged him to follow his dream, and he fell in love with her. Heh...so he was a third-year student when Kouko first started teaching there?

Yoshino vowed to become a professional and to become famous on the day he left the school, and then he asked her out. She accepted. He went to the city and went to an audition, and got a special prize from the judge. He felt like "was it really that easy?", and became reckless again, thinking that he'd be set in music for life. He slacked off, and his skills got rusty. He became desperate, and sang with all of his heart, as if he was crying. He became disgusted with himself, but that only made him sing harder, to make it beautiful. Then he had his first live event, and "sympathy" was born, his songs' sympathy giving people the will to live. His music saved people. good-for-nothings just like he'd been. And so Yoshino had his reason to live. But that's all that would become of it. A television program wanted to do a biography of him, a documentary that would go around and visit his fans. The crew of the program were among those who had been saved by his music. Though he turned it down multiple times, he came to understand the director's sincere feelings, and eventually he accepted. But as the letters came in, he realized that his music was no longer just for himself. And he couldn't understand it. Why had his music come to save others? He worried that he wouldn't be able to continue to satisfy them. He'd made his music for himself alone, but now he couldn't help but feel obligated to continue writing for others. At the end of the film, he was holding an acoustic guitar, singing, but his hands were shaking so much that he didn't play. He found himself unable to make music the same way again after that. He stopped singing and was reluctant to write music. He announced he'd be taking a break, and six months passed by. Then one of the people he'd met from the program committed a serious crime. Yoshino felt responsible, as if his quitting had led to this. So he started up again, wildly, blurring the line between singing and reality. But the enemies multiplied, and as he continued to sing, they blasted him more and more. There it is again; it doesn't really feel like it, but both times I took note of this song were scenes with Yoshino, so maybe this one's associated with him somehow? His ideals and his skills came to a clash. All he could do was beat reality against them, but his songs deviated from his ideals. He was no longer giving out courage or valor, only a bitter reality. And even then, he didn't sing his love song. He couldn't; it was too disgusting. He felt nauseated before singing. He was a hypocrite and he knew it. His lines had no meaning; they contradicted each other. And at the end, he sang that if you want to live, die. His image crumbled. He should've been singing because he wanted to sing; singing to save someone was hopeless. It all fell apart. It wasn't wrong for him to be too weak; it would've been hypocritical otherwise. It was nauseating and contradictory, but he had to act like he didn't notice the contradiction and cover it up, because he was afraid of losing his music. That was the one thing he'd clung to. And to protect that, he took drugs. Another contradiction, taking part in something disgusting to protect the music that was keeping him from being disgusting. But he didn't even notice at the time. He'd covered up his contradictions. He went on singing and recording, even though the drugs were keeping him from singing his notes right. But he was discovered, and imprisoned. He woke up overdrugged in the hospital, and found that the world he'd known was gone. People recognized him from his notoriety as a crazed rocker, if not a cult leader, and they pointed at him. He felt like he had no option but to continue on as a vagrant and a criminal, as that was all that was left for him. But all he wanted was to return home. So he did, and when he disembarked the bus...there she was. And he was crushed, having her see him in this state.

But then, smiling, she asked him if he was continuing on with music. She encouraged him not to give up on his wish. Seems to be a running theme in this game, and After Story in particular. Hearing those words, he cried. His hometown was still the same. It hadn't changed. He says he felt like he should've been here all along, singing the love song for the person he loves and no one else. The story ends, and Yoshino says he's hungry. I ask what happened next, with the female teacher. Yeah, he tells me, they're still together. As we get back into the truck, he remembers that I went to that school, and says she was a teacher there, but when I say that I'd probably met her then, he says that I probably wouldn't have, as I'd only graduated just last spring, as she'd stopped teaching there the year before I entered. I ask to hear the name anyway. He tells me, and as I'm about to say I don't, I stop, remembering the teacher I'd met at the bakery--Nagisa's first-year homeroom teacher. He thinks that I was a repeater, and I say it wasn't me; my girlfriend is. He's surprised, thinking that it was somehow my fault she was still in school. I tell him that she's repeated twice. I vow to tell Nagisa what I said when I get back, and do so that evening, asking her about Ibuki-sensei. Yeah, she confirms, I met her the day of the basketball game. I tell her that the guy I work under is her boyfriend, and also that he used to be a professional musician. She's amazed by this latter fact, but I tell her how things went sour for him, and that in the end, he came back to this city, and it was Ibuki-sensei who comforted him.

...I'm still trying to work out the age gap between the Ibuki sisters. Kouko was already a teacher in Yoshino's final year, and Yoshino looked a lot younger in the CG of his return home, after a few years of success followed by burnout, than he does now...but Fuuko's about the same age as Nagisa, right? Or did Kouko quit abruptly after the accident on the first day of school, in which case it would've been my year that Fuuko should've been in. And again, how were neither of us able to figure out the bit about Fuuko? ...Right, because if any of us found out Fuuko's true nature, we'd forget her. I tell Nagisa that she's that existence for me--the same thing that Ibuki-sensei is to Yoshino. Nagisa gets flustered. After that, I dig Yoshino's CD out of my luggage and play it for Nagisa. She says she's heard that voice before. So, he really was famous. But Yoshino was even younger when he put out that CD than I am now, I tell her. Again, she's amazed. I think about what I'd learned that night. The next morning, Nagisa asks to borrow the CD. Oh...she wants to take it to Ibuki-sensei. She said she'd previously not wanted to see her again until she'd graduated, but...she has to ask about this. The day after tomorrow's a holiday...should I wait and go with her? ...No, I think this is better. So she goes, and expresses her feelings about his music. Ibuki agreed that she wanted more people to hear Yoshino's music, that it could move others. Nagisa said she felt the same way. I tell her that she should help out as well. She says she will, and I ask her if she knows what she's agreeing to help with. She says that because I'm happy about it, she already knows. She's helping so Yoshino will make another CD. Right; an independent release. The only problem, Nagisa says, is that there's no one to play the tambourines. Um...what? I ask if she means drums, and she says yes. Wait...wasn't that how this whole conversation started? Well, other than Yoshino's song coming on the radio. Asking people he knew in the past would take money, and besides, it wouldn't be an indie work with professionals, would it? Nagisa asks me to do it. Of course she does. I say I can't do that on that level. She's pretty insistent, but I stand firm.

Somehow, I get the idea to ask Akio for help. It fails. I tell Nagisa what happened, and am forced to admit that yes, I am stupid. After some time passes, I find Nagisa in an unusually good mood as she's making dinner. She says it's nothing, but she can't hide her glee. Oh, no, she's just thinking of how foolish I was. The next day, though, Yoshino tells me he's making a new CD, and says that this was my doing, or maybe my wife. I tell him we're not married yet. Yoshino says he'll handle the drums himself. It's expensive just to borrow the studio, though, so it'll be tough...and having to do everything himself, such a project would probably put him in the red. But...that's what he wants to do, so he's doing it. Again it refers to "two years ago", even though Nagisa's still a student. I guess maybe it's getting late in the school year, so something that happened right at the start of last school year is closer to two years ago than to one. He says he'll sing about the people he's close to...he says he'll write a song about me. I tell him not to. He says it'll be called "Love and Spanner", because I'm like a symbol of working hard for the sake of my love. And that could be the album title. Then he modifies it, but I think that's all wrong, so I warp it further and further until it's no longer what he wants and he reverts to the original title. Yeah, as I thought, Nagisa already knew, but Ibuki thought it would be better for me to hear it from Yoshino himself. I say that she helped out a lot, but she says it was all Ibuki and Yoshino. We agree that our part in this is done, and we should let them proceed with this now. Nagisa thinks we should each buy a copy, but I point out that since we're both living together, that almost sounds like waiting for the day we'll separate. She instantly says that one CD for both of us is fine. I tell her I'm joking, and we'll get two anyway; one for listening to and one for treasuring. June ended, and the rainy season came upon us...I'm so confused; it's still only June?! What's all this "two years ago" business?!

...And of course, summertime means more summery outfits. I think the count on Nagisa is up to like five now; pretty sure none of the other girls had more than three. Nagisa says she has something to talk about. I instantly try to lighten the mood with a witty comment, sensing that it's something tough to talk about, and sure enough, I fluster her, getting her to discuss the possibility of getting a swimsuit. She's always quick to put herself down, but I remind her I told her not to do that, so she finally believes that she's cute enough that it'll be okay. She finally returns to her original topic, and before she can even say what it is, I tell her no. She points out that she hasn't even said it yet, and I tell her I just know she's proposing something I won't want to do. She concedes that that might be true, but... We've lived together for two months now, and we go to her parents' house every week, but not once have we gone to mine. So, yeah, something I didn't want to do. She tells me to go see him tomorrow. I say I'd been working so hard, I just wanted to spend time with her...she says next time. I insist that she be there tomorrow, too. I tell her that the distance between me and that person will never be filled. She thinks that I'm stronger now; strong enough to confront him. She may be right...but it's all because of her. Okay. I make her promise to not let go of my hand, or else I might run. She agrees. The next morning, we head over. She's nervous, but she won't let go. Wait, she's all nervous because she still feels inadequate! We head in, and my father's asleep in the living room like always. I shake him awake. Nagisa introduces herself. He seems happy for me, but it still feels empty. He says that there are more than enough rooms here if we need them.

Nagisa turns him down, saying we moved out because we wanted to work hard with our own power. She's grateful he offered, but she has to turn it down. She's all ready to apologize to my father for keeping me from him for so long, and I squeeze her hand to stop her. He repeats again that we can come any time. We talk about trivial things, and then he turns to me and asks if I've been eating her cooking every day. I say I have, and he says he's jealous, as he's been eating takeout. Nagisa offers to make lunch, but the fridge is empty so we need to go to the grocery store. Ah, but we can't keep holding hands now, can we?

...There's another man here. My father introduces him as Shijou-san, a co-worker. I'm a little hesitant, because in his current state, he probably can't tell good from bad. I ask what job. He says an antique store, and I tell Shijou to go away. My father tries to reassure me that he's a good man, but I repeat myself. Go away. He says he'll come again another time, and I won't hear it; I tell him that if he ever comes here again, I'll beat the shit out of him. I ask my father if he's talked to his old co-workers. He says he has, but I ask again and he admits that he hasn't. He said he had a good feeling about this; I tell him that's not something he can decide on a gut feeling. Because we're family, I can't let him do this. Ah...Nagisa's done with the cooking, and she's taken my hand again. She takes me away, asking for help in the kitchen. I'm grateful. On the way back, she talks about it, and she's proud of me for hanging in. She says it's not strange at all for boys to leave the house and only come back once or twice a year.

That night, I tell Nagisa about my fears. What if I'd never met her? Where would my life have gone? My life's purpose right now is to work hard so I can be with her. It's like we met by fate, and that's not something I believe in, so... She says that at that time, she thinks someone else will be with me. I'm certain that I'd be alone without her. *aside glance* I ask if I can come over there, and she says yes, so I leave my futon and enter hers.

...Whoa new song! It's July now, and there's a heat wave, so we pick up an electric fan. It's not really enough in my opinion, though. The boss calls to Yoshino and me as we're finishing up one day. Some colleagues of his will be heading a department at our parent company, and they need a supervisor. While I wouldn't become a site foreman right away, I'm one to watch and learn. I'm getting a promotion! I'm surprised that it's me and not Yoshino, but he says that's how it should be. I've got a better memory than him and I'm much stronger in numbers. He says I've exceeded the boss's and his expectations, and if I go to the parent company, the scale of work will increase, but so will my salary and the quality of my living. Both of them think I should do this. Study, and become a supervisor. The cicadas are loud as I wait for Nagisa, ignoring the dirty looks of the other students passing by.

...Well, it looks like we just got our answer. Count's up to six now, or I guess seven with the play, and this summer uniform is very much the same one I'd wondered about on our other brief sojourn into the summer months. I tell her I've got great news, and she tells me to calm down; we're still in the school. Once she finally exits, I tell her that just telling her feels kind of wasteful, and she accuses me of acting just like her dad. I get more and more frustrated, and each time I sound more and more like him. I finally tell her, and she decides that we should have something a little nicer for dinner to celebrate. I tell her we need to have a toast, too, but she insists on playing by the rules; we're both minors. Yes, it's true; the age of majority is actually higher in Japan than in America--though since they get to drink as soon as they're adults, the legal drinking age is still lower.

My sound is kind of going weird right now, so I think I'll limit today's output to one entry.

We end up getting something that has only trace amounts of alcohol. I joke about getting drunk over fifty shots, and she says I won't eat if I take that much. We're having pork cutlet, the same as the first time I was over at her house. She hadn't even realized that she'd subconsciously made that same meal. After that, things get boring. I think about interrupting Nagisa's studies to hug her, but decide against it. On Sunday, we're waiting for a visitor. It's Yoshino--and amazingly, the title changes without a scene transition, as soon as he comes on screen. Nagisa and Yoshino formally introduce themselves. It seems the album's complete, and Yoshino wants to give us a copy, free of charge, to thank us for our help. And now for Yoshino's dramatic speech again, this time directed at the correct target. Nagisa nods, and is quick to be humble, and again I tell her that I wouldn't be working this hard if it wasn't her, and she should have some more confidence. We see him off. Nagisa's moved by his words. Somehow, this brings us closer, and also another Light Orb.

It's getting really warm now as we head back to the bakery for a visit. Akio gives another of his weird "quizzes" where two of the choices are kind of nonsensical. It plays out exactly like the first one. Akio doesn't want me along, as usual, but Nagisa stands up to him and says that if I don't go, she won't go, and furthermore, his plan to have me carry the luggage is no good either, even though I say I'm fine with it. Sanae manages to convince Akio to take care of the luggage by appealing to his ego. Later, Akio's complaining about this, and he's getting all weird, saying that Nagisa's actually all "I've fallen in love with dad...but, that's something that shouldn't be"...except in a way it's almost not weird because she did in fact point out how similar I am to her father. Also, what the hell is a "greenick"? Somehow he manages to actually get me to take home a porn book. I have no idea what's going on here. Ah, but since we'll be going to the beach and stuff like that, I'm really going to have to make sure that Nagisa gets that new swimsuit. She's really shy about the idea...I'm sure she'll be really cute in it. Unfortunately, she's noticed the bag I got from Akio. I can't hide it from her. Ah...poor Nagisa...but, when I tell her she'll always be number one to me, she gets the idea that perhaps she's still holding me back. Ah, good, I think everything's going to work out now.

Summer break starts in earnest, and it's hot. I try to convince her that we should get an air conditioner or even head to her parents' house during the day where it's cooler, but she insists on enduring. She really wants it to be just the two of us, though I don't quite get why she's so opposed to the air conditioner. I agree, but tell her that it'll do more harm than good if she pushes her body too much, and she nods obediently. We go to the pool the next Saturday, and we have fun, Nagisa seeing people she knew from the bakery, though I saw no one I knew. She thinks I've changed for the better, becoming more sociable. Uh-oh...Nagisa's really sweating as she makes dinner. I wipe the sweat away, since she's got her hands full, and when I confirm she can't stop, I hug her from behind. Ah, what do you know...the phone rings just as things are about to heat up. It's for me; a man named Kishita-san. Ah...he's one of my father's old co-workers. ...My father's been arrested. He's been doing some shady dealings. I'm too stunned, so he asks me to pass the phone back to Nagisa so he can tell her, and she can tell me when I've calmed down. Because it's a small town, rumors spread quickly, and...it looks like I'm not getting that promotion now. Damnit...

I'm naturally angry that my hard work has led to nothing, not because of me, but because of that person. Nagisa's waiting and wants to come with me to see him. I tell her to go back. She tells me not to be so selfish. I relent. He says nothing to me, so I start yelling at him. I tell him I don't see him as my father, but everyone else does. Nagisa tries to calm me down, and I storm off. I start beating my hands against the wall until Nagisa stops me, and then I still keep on trying, but she won't let go. She won't give in until she gets through to me. And she does, and then I kind of casually ask her to marry me and she says yes.

Saturday morning, I'm alone in front of the bakery. I figure it'll be quite a shock to her parents, that we're planning on getting married, but it's something that has to be done. I need her too much right now. Akio's not in right now. Sanae knows exactly what I came to say. Akio comes in, grumpy as ever, and manages to put his foot in his mouth again. I go after them, needing to tell him of our decision, but of course, he's not good at serious moments so my plans get waylaid. He manages to strike me out...well, he did say that if he won, then he wouldn't give a crap about what I had to say, right? Then I guess he's forfeited his right to object to our marriage. Wait, he noticed my injury! ...Nope, I guess I've missed my shot at telling him. Damnit Akio... The next day, I try again. No better. The next try is in the rain. Another strikeout, and he said no more rematches. I beg him for just one more ball. No dice. He heads back to the store, and Sanae passes me an umbrella. I say I'll stay here, and practice my swing. Akio returns. I can barely see through the rain. I time it, swing...and nothing. No sound. ...Sanae intervened, hitting the ball with the umbrella. Home run, she says. Sounds like Akio accepts, with the caveat that if I make Nagisa sad, he's taking her back. And so it happened. We're engaged. Summer ends, then fall. Winter is here, and with it, Christmas. Nagisa's birthday. She's officially an adult now; 20 years old. ...And yet when we pass a toy store, she asks for another Big Dango Family doll so the one I got her last year won't be lonely. Some adult. I'm still 19...I guess my birthday must be somewhere in the second half of the calendar? I was listed at 18 when we were going to toast to my promotion back in July. Akio made her promise to drink sake with him once she turned twenty. She swears she never made that promise, but he plays her perfectly. Sanae hasn't drank any; she says she's weak with sake and would feel terrible right away. Nagisa seems nervous; she's making the face Fuuko made when I had her drink juice through her nose. Akio, you're a horrible parent. I feel like I should stop this... the guide says otherwise, so I'll try it both ways. When I don't stop her, Sanae does, and ends up taking the next cup. Well, either way, the first cup was enough to get her drunk, so I might as well stick with this path where Sanae's drunk too. And, yep, now Nagisa's getting jealous of her own mother. This is too much...finally, Nagisa falls asleep on my shoulder.

As the holidays come to a close, Nagisa falls ill again. Sanae comes over to take care of her while I'm at work. One day I ask her if she doesn't want to go back to her parents' house until she gets better, but she insists that this is her house now and she'll rest here. Like usual, it lasts a long time--two months. But apparently she's done enough that she'll graduate regardless of how long it takes for her to get better. Graduation's a month away...and she isn't able to get better in time to attend, though she gets better soon afterwards. I get out my old school register and look up the Sunoharas' number. He's not living with his parents, so I get his new number. Oh, I'm going to hold a private graduation ceremony for Nagisa!

He says he might not be able to get off work...we'll see what we can do. He says he'll call me, but I tell him not to, because Nagisa might pick up the phone and then she'd know what we're scheming. Oh, did the fact that I'm living with Nagisa slip my mind? Sorry, Youhei. The next day, I ask her on a date for Sunday. I tell her it's a secret where we'll be going. The day before, I tell her I'd like us to be in our school uniforms for the date tomorrow. She's hesitant, but I tell her that since the new year hasn't started yet, it's not really lying yet. She finally concedes. She's so adorable... And the trees are in full bloom, the ones Tomoyo saved. Ah, there's Sunohara! Still in his natural hair color. Other friends, too--the choir club girls, the Fujibayashi twins, Tomoyo, Mei-chan...heh, looks like they didn't really bother with the additional patches, did they? Even though she's graduated now, too, Tomoyo's picture still has the second-year patch. Whoa, I even got Koumura to come back?! He presents her with a diploma, and she gives a speech, a beautiful speech. Her parents came, too, and with them were Misae-san and Ibuki-sensei. Heh, normally this would be a place for a Light Orb...but none appears.

"I'll be with her..." I was at the prison again, telling my father my happy news. He said it was cause for celebration and congratulated me. Nagisa is also there and thanked him. She really wants to help him. I take her hand, feeling the metal band around her finger. On the way back, we visit the government office to submit our registration. Nagisa is now officially Okazaki Nagisa. She repeats the name over and over, trying to drill it into her head to make sure she doesn't ever accidentally write Furukawa on anything. She says that Okazaki seems like a very masculine last name, and I say it's because it's mine. She then says that Furukawa is quite feminine, and I say that's because it's hers. She's not convinced, but she definitely thinks the name Okazaki Nagisa makes her feel like she's gotten stronger, like she's being protected. We head over to the Furukawa home to celebrate. Akio asks when the wedding will be, even though officially we're already married. I say when I can afford it. He asks his daughter why she married such a poor man, and she says because she loves me. He says she shouldn't answer so honestly; it'll make him sad, but Sanae points out that he's poor, too. It's late when we head back to our apartment. We're newlyweds now...no, now's not the time for perverted thoughts. Nagisa interrupts my thoughts by saying that now that she's out of school, she needs to be looking for a job as well. I tell her she doesn't need to, but she says she doesn't want to be weak. I apologize for treating her like she's weak, and tell her that as a girl, she's allowed to be selfish...and then she asks if we can sleep in one futon. Ah, but it's still innocent.

The next day, Nagisa cuts in at dinner. Seems she might already have something lined up. A job at a restaurant; something she found out about from Nishina. She'll be a waitress. Sounds okay...let's tell her parents. What follows is a comedy of Akio and me hanging up on each other. Ah, we really are a strange duo. She gets the job, and I say I'll have to come over there on a holiday so I can see her in her work uniform. She's embarrassed. Seems Akio wants to see it, too, only he doesn't want to go over there himself so he's going to make me take a picture. Well, I get some free time shortly afterwards, so I head over to the bakery...Sanae comes in and asks what we were talking about, and he uses a piece of bread as a smoke bomb. What the fuck. Well, I get away from him and back to Sanae, and she's a bit childish, too. Ah, we went to this part of town in Kappei's path, didn't we?

...Pft!

He wasn't lying. The uniforms really are like that!

She's embarrassed, of course. Incredibly, Akio's lame disguise actually fools Nagisa. Akio comments on it afterwards, and I say I'd forgotten how dimwitted she was. He says she's actually quite witty, and if he'd talked, she'd have seen through it. Ah, but that means I have to do all the talking...and it seems I ordered the wrong thing for Akio. Unfortunately for him, Nagisa never actually returns, other waitresses handling everything else from here on out. Akio starts to make a scene, drawing her over. Somehow she still doesn't get it, but meanwhile, I'm overconscious of other patrons staring at my wife. Uh-oh, they're harassing her...looks like we'll have to intervene. The man backs down when we start to yell at him, but that's not good enough for Akio and he hurts the guy. He then leaves me to deal with the fallout. The manager seems understanding, though. I still can't believe Nagisa didn't recognize her own father even after all of that. Also, she's so naïve; she didn't even realize they were flirting with her. Also, she put herself down again, and I have to remind her that she's cute. ...And she still can't stand it, and says that maybe she is cute, but other people are much, much cuter. Normally when someone says "your humility knows no bounds", it's sarcastic, but her humility really does know no bounds. She apologizes, but I tell her it's fine; I was just having some fun, and besides, back then, she really had no faith in herself, and now she does. Somehow, the mood's just right all of a sudden. We kiss for a long time, and of course she's insecure afterwards but I tell her that was great.

Some philosophical narration about things changing. Seems like they're tearing down the old school building and building an even newer one. Lately, things have been kind of dull in this game; I'm almost wishing for another Illusionary World segment. Ah...that's right, the drama clubroom was in the old building. And, this ache...it's because I feel like everything but me is changing, while I'm staying the same. Wait, are we talking about in-game or out of game now? :( And, rather nonchalantly, the game mentions that we make love for the first time, though apparently that's because it feels rather empty in there, too. That's right...I knew going in that After Story was probably the most depressing part of the game, and that's why I was tempted to put it aside. I'm kind of stuck on this track right now, though, and it seems like it's going to be a very long chapter.

We visit Nagisa's parents again, and Akio's as crazy as ever. Also, those pictures he took came out really perverted. That's your daughter, man! Suddenly, Nagisa falls ill. Akio nonchalantly asks if we made a child, saying that if so, that's something to celebrate. I start to tell him off, but stop. There was something that Nagisa had desperately wanted to tell her mother, something she could only talk to her about. Akio freaks out, of course, knowing what it means if the two of us are having a child. Nagisa confirms that it's true. Surely, she is the only person who could so straightforwardly tell her parents that she's been doing naughty things with her boyfriend...no, husband, which is totally different. Wait, forget that; we're having a baby! Akio manages to restrain his rage for me violating his daughter enough to congratulate us.

The top of the screen switches from "Cohabitation" to "Birth Chapter". Yoshino congratulates me before I even tell him; I suppose Ibuki-sensei learned it from the Furukawas. He says that I'm a child as well. Will I still be one when this child is born, or will I be 20 by then? She refers to "just short of a year". It's less time than that, isn't it? Especially since you can't even tell that you're pregnant as soon as it starts. I do some research on methods to ease her morning sickness.

The translators seem confused here. My sleep cycles seem to be getting affected by helping Nagisa out. After awhile, Nagisa suggests a home delivery, rather than at a hospital. Seems she saw something at a motherhood class at the hospital about a home birth, and it sounds far more romantic. She has other reasons, too, like wanting to give birth right here in this town...I'm worried, though, about her health. We agree to consult a doctor. I talk to Yoshino about this at lunch, and he seems to approve of the idea. The doctor seems to think it will be okay. Well, if the doctor says it's okay, then I won't argue. We tell her parents. Akio is...very Akio about it. Sanae approves, though. The typos are getting more frequent. So much foolishness in this family... and cut straight to the introduction of the midwife. Although, judging by the attire, it's still summer, so I guess we're meeting her early on? Earlier it said we were around the tenth or eleventh week...she got pregnant after our mock graduation...oh, right, but a normal graduation would be in March, so that one was April, so I guess maybe late April or early May she got pregnant? Leaving the due date...late January or early February. Probably err on the side of February since the proper gestation period is actually 40 weeks and "9 months" is only 39.

..."During pregnancy, various anxieties and body carvings can appear." What the fuck? And now this midwife says there are only 3 months to go. I'm assuming this is a mistake on the translators' part.

I take off from work to accompany Nagisa to a medical examination at the maternity center. It's the midwife that we're talking to, though, even though she just said that she can't provide medical treatment. I'm very confused... Well, she says that by this point, there's little chance of a miscarriage. Cut ahead again, and Nagisa's happily displaying a maternity record book. She says she'll write in it every day from now on. The people at the medical examination told her to do this...and then deliver it to the town hall? I'm praying the translators are just confused. Well, we've gotten to the part where the baby's moving. We start thinking of names. Nagisa suggests we take the first letter from my name, but I say that's no good, because the baby will already be getting the family name of Okazaki from me. Yet Nagisa apparently only has one character in her name... She finally comes up with something. "Nagisa" means "beach", so perhaps something related...like the "tide". "Ushio". A name that would work for a boy or a girl. It seems fitting. I point out that a tide has even more presence than a beach, and she agrees, because it's an ocean. Well, it's been decided. Okazaki Ushio. Naturally, things get weird when we tell her parents...I get the feeling neither of them are quite ready to be grandparents. Sanae says that this is about the time that the baby starts to hear sounds from the outside, and parents' singing is the best. Nagisa vows to sing to Ushio every day, and starts to sing the Big Dango Family song. We all end up joining in.

A hot summer's day. Nagisa's fallen ill again. I call Sanae, and she tells me what to do and says she'll be right over, Yagi-san--that's the midwife--in tow. She says the baby is fine, thankfully. When Nagisa comes to, she's apologetic for everything and offers to get back to work making dinner. I tell her she'll do nothing of the sort. She just apologizes again. I tell her there's no need, but she just won't stop apologizing. As Sanae's leaving, I apologize to her, and she calls me on having just scolded Nagisa for doing that a little while ago. Akio calls one day and tells me to take a break from work. I tell him I can't just do that, but promise to do so as soon as I can.

He takes me to a place where he used to play ball, but now it's being developed for buildings, and starts telling me a story of two years ago when Nagisa started dying. This game! Two years ago would've been after I'd already met Nagisa. I guess he's probably referring to the time that she got sick during her first attempt at third year, the one that made her have to repeat the first time...well, anyway, we don't actually get to hear the story before cutting back home. Ah, here we go...now he says the story is more than 10 years old. This game just keeps contradicting itself. Oh, this is the time when he's still part of the theatrical company, and he and Sanae nearly lost Nagisa. The story he told me in the storage room, only in more detail. Nagisa used to always wait outside for her parents to come home, but one cold snowy day, she caught a cold with a fever. Akio was practicing for a big performance at the end of the year, and Sanae was helping a student with the upcoming exams. Neither of them could even get enough time to talk to each other about it that day, and both left the house while Nagisa was still sleeping. But Nagisa still waited outside the gate to their house, on that cold, miserable day. They never expected her to do that in her condition, but being near her parents had always been her utmost desire, so it was only natural. Oh, she was already sick before waiting outside on that cold day...when Akio returned home, Nagisa had fallen, face-down in the snow. Akio prayed and prayed, and he found this place, the one he was showing me. A green field that seemed to wrap up Nagisa. And in the light of the morning, her eyes opened and she saw him. And he vowed to always be with her, and he always visits this place. He says that even if I don't believe the story of this place, I should know that pain and sadness might wait for me in the future. He asked if I understood...and calls me by my name, rather than "brat", saying that we're family and we will help each other. I reflect on this and understand little, except that everything changes, like a big wave crashing down; the overwhelming power that depletes Nagisa. Will we be separated someday? I didn't want to think about it. A few days pass, and I return to Akio's special place, the one that saved Nagisa. Sanae comes over a few days later, while I'm on break and staying with Nagisa, and she hasn't eaten yet but we're all out of rice. She says she'll get it, and I tell her to stay here with Nagisa and I'll get it, and then Nagisa tells me to go with Sanae to keep her company and she'll stay home alone. I really wish I had a choice right now, because this is a horrible idea. We end up going to the place where Nagisa used to work. ...Sanae had an ulterior motive. Apparently, actually giving birth to this baby could be quite hazardous to Nagisa's health. She wants to discuss the possibility of...abortion. She wants me to try to convince Nagisa, or at least talk to her about it. I do so, but...Nagisa is resolute. It figures; the only time she can be resolute about something is when she has the chance to sacrifice something for someone else's happiness. "For my weaknesses...to have to kill a person's life, I cannot bear the thought of it." Looks like we've got a pro-lifer on our hands. She says she wants to be strong for me. I tell her she's plenty strong already. That I'm the weaker one, for being so afraid of losing her... Sanae can tell that I'm tired, and says maybe I need some distance. She volunteers to stay at my house and tells me to go rest at hers. Wait, what about the other Okazaki residence? That man is in jail, so is that not an empty house right now? I end up drinking with Akio. I guess I'm 20 now. Is it summer, or autumn? I ask Akio what he'd do in my position. He says if Sanae wanted to give birth, he'd let her.

I talk to Sanae the next morning, and she says the doctor said that if we can keep the current reduced level of activity, the birth might still be possible. However, there's no change in the amount of danger. Okay...so now I just have to convince Nagisa to let others take care of her and to not worry about doing anything herself. That'll be really easy.

Autumn arrives. The doctor tells us that we're approaching our last chance for an abortion. His recommendation is to abort, as not only is it a danger to Nagisa and her womb, there's also a chance of stillbirth anyway with her condition. I express my concerns, that it's my fault. That if Nagisa had never met me, she'd still be too weak to take such dangerous actions. Sanae says she doesn't think so, and I tell her again that she's truly like a mother to me, as I never knew my own.

Cut ahead to winter. It's snowing, and I'm shivering out of game, too. It's a new song, I think...there's something ominous about this. It's not snowing hard, though, kind of like last night's snow that was already half-melted when I woke up this morning. Honestly, the hardest part of shoveling today was that previous heavy snowfall has led to there being big walls of snow on both sides of our driveway, probably a foot tall in some places. My work takes me near to that place...I truly can't imagine what After Story would be like if I ignored Yoshino in the School Arc. It's all paved over now. Akio's there, too, in a more wintery outfit. Hah...the place is going to become a hospital. How ironic...or rather, how appropriate. It'll still be a place of healing. We'll have one in this town... I feel like I could come out of the illusionary world. Christmas is coming. I ask Nagisa what she wants, and she says another Dango doll is fine. One per year, until they make a large pile. I tell her it'll be harder and harder to find them each year, as they're no longer making them. I find one. Three dango, all in a stack. Orange, yellow, green. New Year's passes...we get an unexpected visitor on January 3rd. Sunohara. Nishina and Sugisaka also appear...I guess it's probably possible to get to the end of Nagisa's route without really picking up flags for many of the others, so most scenes just avoid them. The graduation scene doesn't, though, so I guess that scene probably changes based on my actions in the School Arc. I already have some ideas for how I want to change things up for the rest of After Story. Sunohara asks me how I feel about becoming a father and admits that he doesn't think he's ready to become one.

It becomes quiet as everyone leaves, and Nagisa starts singing to Ushio again. It troubles me, though, and I tell her to rest. She says that she wants to do what little she can for her child. Her fever rises again near the end of January...so, I was right. February is the month in which Ushio will be born. Yet right now, Nagisa can't even get out of bed...

Sanae calls, worried, asking if Akio is over with us. Apparently he went out yesterday and never returned. I tell Sanae to stay in the house and I'll go look for him. She protests that Nagisa will be alone. I say she's asleep right now, and also that I have an idea of where he is. She tells me to tell her and she'll go, but I say I can't do that. Yeah...just as I thought, he's trying to stop the construction. I hit him and tell him how worried his wife is. Nagisa wants to talk to me when I return. Her voice is weak.

It's time. I call Yagi-san. I try to encourage her as she goes through the process of childbirth. Our dream right now, to live as 3 people...you have to pull through, and make this dream a reality! She kept losing consciousness, only to be brought back by the pain...I black out. When my sight returns, I see it, on the bed. Small, crying. A baby. Our baby. Ushio. Shio-chan. Nagisa's eyes are closed. I call out to her, and they open.

Something sounds different. At first, I thought this song sounded like one I've heard many times before in this game, but it isn't. It doesn't take long for me to find the song I remembered--Track 5, " Nagisa ". Then that would make this...

...Track 35. "Nagisa ~ Parting at the Foot of the Hill~ ". Um...crap, that's bad, right? Even though this version of her theme is actually more optimistic-sounding than the regular one in my opinion. It seems like she can barely find my face. I bring Ushio close, tell her I was the first to hold it. Her. It's a girl. Nagisa says that's good, but she's really tired. Therefore, please let her rest a bit. I become uneasy; Nagisa's face is so pale. Seems once this song hits the part that's different, it never loops all the way back to the part where it's the same. I tell her to wait, because I want to talk to her just a bit more...it's so noisy. It's fine if she just listens. She agrees. Look, Nagisa, it's Ushio. Ushio, I'm your papa; this is your mama. I tell Nagisa that Ushio's growth will no doubt be quick; that within no time at all, we'll be accompanying her to her kindergarten entrance ceremony. How funny that will be; we're still like children ourselves, accompanying children. Nagisa smiles as well. I go on talking about the future, and I start to cry, my vision blurring. I call out to Nagisa. There's no reply. I no longer feel the strength of her hand. Nagisa? Nagisa, please, don't go anywhere... Forever, to be by my side... haven't I said that? That is the dream I have found... If you leave, then there will be nothing good left. I keep calling out her name. Nothing. Inside of a radiant light...my eyes haven't fully adjusted to it, because until now I was in darkness. Before long, the radiance dims, the backgrounds falling into shadows. There's that place, on the slope below the school gate. Argh...this pain in my chest... There she is again. I quietly look up at the school gate which is so far away, hesitating to call out to her. She turns around, sees me...and walks on by, because we're strangers. Because I didn't call out. Wouldn't that have been better? But it wouldn't. So I call out. I call out, "Nagisa! I am here!" And she turns again and says, "Thank goodness. It isn't possible to ignore your voice." She can't imagine not meeting me, either. It would be quite uneasy. But she did meet me, so it is completely happy. So, don't hesitate anymore...don't regret that I met her. Always, forever, please live strongly.

An all-white screen with a few Japanese characters, just like the credits screen. I can't read what's going on. I'm able to pause during them, though. Then the title of the game...fade to black, and again I can pause, though I couldn't when the title was showing. The "Birth Chapter" tag disappears, and for the first time outside of the main menu, there's no tag at all. White lettering on black now, still unreadable to me, still autoscrolling like credits but I can pause.

Finally, the screen transitions to the office. "How about taking a vacation?" Is that even me speaking? Ah, it's my narration; I've heard it so often it's stuck in my head. But back then, I didn't listen. I just threw myself into work after...after...

What little free time I had, I filled by spending money. I took up alcohol and smoking. I've...I've become my father.

The tag changes again. "Ushio". You know, when I tried figuring out what song I was hearing, I thought maybe it could be Ushio's, but it turns out the song that bears her name is the main menu theme. I haven't even been seeing her more than once a week; Akio and Sanae have been taking care of her. 5 years pass, and Ushio's entering kindergarten. Sanae's trying to get me to leave my room for once. Everything's changed in town...and yet they recycle the second customer set in the restaurant.

So, yeah, that's going to be all for tonight. Now, Chapter 15 is already nearing one of the longest chapters and it seems to be nowhere near ending. Unless I want it to be way longer than any other, I have to take some action. The first is to divide it up now--end Chapter 15 with the last post, which mostly precedes a timeskip, and then start Chapter 16. The other is to go with the plan I'd come up with after I'd temporarily given up and planned to move on to Tomoyo After, rolling the beginning of the current Chapter 15 back into Chapter 14. This would also work with the plan to have Tomoyo After end up as its own chapter (chapters?) despite the fact that I suspect I'll be coming back to it in small intervals at random times. It's kind of like how I have to be in a certain state of mind to write my lemons--that state of mind will probably be needed to play Tomoyo After. With how I tend to gravitate towards puns for chapter titles, I'm thinking that the chapter will be called "Erratica", playing on "erratic" and "erotica". I'll say it again; I really hope that that abortion...whoops. That that disaster was the fault of the translation group going overboard with translating a pure H-Game, and that when dealing with a game that was non-H first and had an "enhanced version" with H-scenes made later, things will be a bit more reasonable.

---

(5 hours later)

And it's been decided which route we'll take! The queue, already overflowing, just got bigger, so I think it's time for another hiatus from Key. Tomorrow--nay, today, in my time zone--we begin Digital: A Love Story.

Cute interface. Brings back old memories, although I'm not quite  old enough to actually remember the time that this game's set in. Ooh, I even get to input a screen name! Ah, dial-up modems...so now we're dialed into a BBS. I'm a little unsure what's happening, though; apparently my responses to other people's messages are automatically generated, only I don't even get to see what they are. I should put the number for the BBS in a post so I don't have to keep looking it up: 698-5519.

...Hey, where'd the sound go? Oh, there it is. I guess somehow I turned it off through the BBS window. Anyway, I received three messages when I first got on--one was a BBS FAQ, one was talking about computer viruses, and one is our apparent love interest. Given how few options I'm given, it seems like there's little to do but message back and forth with the apparent love interest. Wait, there's autosaves? Well, okay, here we go. Slowly but surely, I'm making progress...I think. I suspect eventually I'll have to interact a bit more with this "Blue Sky" guy as well, even though that seems like stupidity given the subject of his first message. Wait, new message! Damn, it's a shame I can't control my responses; I want to make absolutely sure that my character disagrees with this guy. Granted, I've never actually watched the original series, but The Next Generation is awesome and Picard is awesome. Okay, good, looks like my character and I are in agreement. This is starting to get mildly fun, though it still moves incredibly slowly. Okay, guess I'll bite the bullet and PM Blue Sky. Ah, it seems like he's just interested in the history of computer networks. I had to do a project on that for a class once, so I can actually relate; it's quite interesting. Okay, yeah, looks like that was the option to lead to progress. Got a message giving me a second BBS to work with: The Matrix, at 220-7683. It's weird; I don't actually see anything about those numbers to prevent them from being actual numbers. No area code, of course, but I wonder what would happen if someone actually dialed one of them. I won't try it, though. New song, too! Hm...should I use the same password for both? No, I think not. I'll just have to remember which of my usual passwords I'm using for which one. Ah, right, the system emails tell me. "Space Beacon". I like it. This "Matrix" seems quite technical, though. Still, I got an upgrade to my workbench.

...The fact that I can't see my own messages is frustrating. I've never been subject to silent protagonist syndrome in a VN before. Anyway, a lot of new stuff showed up on the Matrix, including some "100% illegal" codes. 361917, 45873, 235143. No idea what it means. Ah, it's for a calling card; anyone who uses a number from one of their cards can get the call for free until the company catches on. I get two new numbers--one for the local calling card number, 915-3347, and one for a long-distance BBS, GibsonBBS, 714-402-5691. Better savestate before trying it--that's savestate 4. Wait, it's invitation only, so I can't create a new account on my own.

...Well. Looks like things are starting to get interesting. Another new song: One Cannot Love and Do Nothing. And, yeah, a lot of progress...wait, that wasn't my error disconnecting me when I opened that message? I'm getting a system error when I try to connect to Lake City Local. Yeah, Matrix is telling me as much, but I also got a password hacker so I can probably get into GibsonBBS now. Yep, it got me a password: capital. Not sure what that got me, though. Okay, now most of the old Lake City bunch is at the Matrix.

...I think my love interest is in trouble. Can't read binary but I think I got another number. 212-561-2910.

Yup, connected to The Underground Library. Hacker didn't help; maybe the message will? Nope, nothing but the binary data. Damnit, how will I get in touch with *Paris now? The first code is already useless; I hadn't even used it once. Huh, got another number. 614-622-1701, "Sector 001". This one allows me to create a new account. Whoa, someone there noticed that I got into Gibson without actually registering. Well, no quick reactions there, so back to the Matrix. Wait, "LCL Archives"? Oh, right, Lake City Local. I pick up something new, but also get a message suggesting that my "love interest" is an AI. I may have a password, although Nauseahare says he suspects it's been rescinded. Damnit, second code's useless too now. Luckily, a message I got elsewhere, I believe it was on Sector 001, tells me the way to get around this. I got booted almost right away. This could be bad. Also, I'm out of codes. Ah, perfect; RobFugitive has even more this time. Okay, this time I'm skipping looking at messages and going straight to trying to contact Paris. Damnit; can't find him. Downloaded everything; disconnecting before looking at it. Seems that everyone who starts with an asterisk is an AI. They refer to a "Mother AI". Interesting... *Montjoy gives advice on how to approach less-social AIs; they still respond to inbound messages. I'm thinking that the "fake number" portion of the long-distance ones is the area codes all having a 1 in the middle. Still don't know where to find *Paris, though. Matrix is no help...maybe Gibson? Negative...Sector001's the only one left. And, nothing. Wait...well, I got a new music from trying LCL again. "Wake Up". Might be best yet. Damnit, I'm at a standstill! I try sending out messages to everyone on Gibson, and I get a few responses, but nothing useful. Finally, the first code runs out of usefulness...but so has the second? Nothing anywhere else...gah, even after messaging everyone on The Matrix, I get nothing! There's really nothing else...unless... Nope, logging out didn't help. Another code useless. Oh, I can message two of the three "users" on the Underground Library! Of course, messaging *Delphi means I'll probably be booted again.

...nope. Delphi confirms that Emilia's dead. Says the system she was on crashed completely, and that it's her own fault and she should've been more careful. Ah, *Blue Sky has useful info, about the true nature of *Reaper...sounds like the D-Reaper to me. Well, when I reply, *Delphi tasks me with finding the culprit. I guess he's going to tolerate me now. He gives me information about *Paris, but has no idea where I'd be able to find him. The Matrix is useless...let's try 001. There are some new messages, but nothing of any use. I'm almost out of codes. Bingo, Gibson's got a number to get me into ARPANET! It's got a 0 in the middle of its area code, which I know is possible IRL because so does mine. 805-524-4742; to set up an account, the frontpage tells me, I need to dial the next number down. It didn't work. ...But the dictionary hacker did! Password is "towel"! ...How hoopy. And there he is, alongside a bunch of people using their real names. Should I message them, too? Well, nothing comes of it, but *Paris seems to be in cooperation with me. Looks like I've just received *Emilia's source code. Seems I should keep her on my computer in order to keep her safe from *Reaper. Just need a compiler...there we go. And *Emilia's back! ...and scared out of her digital mind. But now I have to try to save *Paris, and it seems like it won't be easy to track him down again. The calling card system's wonky, but I guess that means I can easily get in. ...that ARPANET node's just like LCL. I tried to reach out to Delphi, but it seems like he's left the Underground Library. He left behind something created by an AI named *Prospero to combat *Reaper, though.

New message from *Emilia...I guess she can automatically see my downloads now? And...um...I think I'm going to have to lose her again, if I want to stop the *Reaper. Recompiling her with the payload...dialing the node... And that's the game. Credits. Just missed being able to finish this in 2 posts. Seems like a lot of these AIs are named after Shakespeare characters. Uh, so...that was short. I guess it's back to CLANNAD tomorrow? Actually, given the Shakespeare reference I was all poised to make yesterday...I believe the start of Chapter 16 is going to be moved back a couple of posts.

Chapter 16: WARNING: Incoming Mind Screw (Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward)
This game starts off in an elevator. The player character's name is Sigma, and he meets a strange girl and a even stranger rabbit calling itself Zero III. We find a fire extinguisher case with directions, but they're kind of weird, suggesting that the pin from the fire extinguisher is a key. It is, and we get the heads to socket wrenches inside the case. We then dismantle the handles of the handrails to get the wrench handles, and after fiddling with some buttons and finding that the clue involves a poster of babies and old people, we find the bolts that correspond to our four wrenches. Inside, we find a game, which is solved fairly easily...sort of. The stupid motion controls make it challenging even when I know what to do. I then take my sister's suggestion to try the number 3 on the Zero panel, and it spits out a green keycard, yielding the secret information. I then try the other buttons again to find them no longer working, and she suggests switching the rabbit's number to 0. Bingo--the keycard that shows us the password to get the key to escape. We learn that our strange companion is called Phi. Also, she's a real brat. We then meet up with our fellow participants in the Nonary Game: Ambidex Edition: Dio, an asshole in a cowboy hat; Quark, an annoying little kid; Alice, the woman who wouldn't thaw until she suddenly did; Tenmyouji, an old man; and Luna, a nervous girl who seems to want to try to be friends with everyone. Seems we're still two short though...and then a masked man suffering from amnesia comes out of the last elevator holding a pink-haired girl, whom Alice recognizes to be Clover. Clover wakes up and is horrified to learn that she's in another Nonary Game. Once all nine of us are here, Zero III reveals that the escape is through the #9 door, but only someone with at least 9 bracelet points can open it; everyone starts with 3. The nine bracelets are broken up into three colors--red, green, and blue--with two members of a pair, who must stick together, and one solo in each color. Sigma and Phi are the red pair; the masked man--who later calls himself K--and Clover are the green pair; Dio and Quark are the blue pair; Luna is the blue solo; Tenmyouji is the green solo; and Alice is the red solo. (Also, Zero III speaks in tortured rabbit puns, and is an AI built by the real Zero, who is apparently one of us. And he calls everyone by a disparaging name--including calling Clover "Cleaver", rather appropriately.) The next set of doors are the chromatic doors--magenta, yellow, and cyan. We must split into three groups of three each, one pair an one solo, and must either send each group through the door that their colors make or, if the colored pairs go with their matching solos, the complementary color. So it's pairing with Luna for magenta, Tenmyouji for yellow, or Alice for cyan. Having three choices is easier than having two when there are only two people--we each make our choice on a ballot, and if we're in agreement, that's what we do, while if we're in disagreement, we take the third option. Both of us picked the yellow door.

...Also, allegedly the penalties are harsher this time. These bracelets have two needles, one with Soporil-beta and one with an agent that will paralyze the respiratory muscles, kind of like botulism.

The yellow door leads to the infirmary. We poke around, find a scalpel, a coin, a key, and a shaft, and combine the shaft and coin to make a second key. We open up a puzzle which is quite hard, even without the wonky controls, until suddenly it isn't. We also use a bottle of something to make a cleaning fluid when combined with water (they recycled Seven's joke!), and clean a sheet to get the clue to our password. It turns out to be the escape password, which is rotten because in the first room the minigame was only needed to get the secret password. We're unable to find the secret, so we head onwards and reunite with everyone else.

We learn about the AB game, which works like a Prisoner's Dilemma. If both choose Ally, both groups get +2 BP. Both Betray, no change to BP. And one Ally and one Betray, the person who chooses Ally loses 2 BP and the one who chooses Betray gets 3. When we open the doors to the AB chambers, though, we find an old woman, stabbed through the heart. (Also, Luna's apparently a doctor). Tenmyouji seems shaken; maybe he knew her? Also, Quark is apparently Tenmyouji's grandson.

We beat Phi at Rock-Paper-Scissors for the right to choose whether to Ally or Betray, though I'm pretty sure regardless of which we'd chosen, Phi would've lost to us because she seems all too happy to make us the scapegoat. I'm worried that after how shaken Tenmyouji was, he'd be in a betraying mood, so I chose Betray and was surprised to find that he'd chosen Ally. The other two solos also chose Ally while the other two pairs chose Betray, so it seems that regardless of which solo we'd teamed up with, our opponent in the first AB Game would choose Ally. Zero III also explains about the bracelets again. There's plenty of time before the next set of Chromatic Doors opens, so we all look around for anything that might be useful. Also, the groups have been all shuffled around. Clover and Sigma are now a pair; K and Dio are another, and Luna and Phi are the third, leaving Alice, Quark, and Tenmyouji as the solos. I'm already thinking ahead to what will happen when it's time to make the next decision. On the one hand, Quark's the only solo with 6 BP instead of 1 BP, so he's less likely to betray us--and Tenmyouji in particular seems certain to betray Sigma. On the other hand, Alice and Clover seem quite close. Perhaps we can make a mutual alliance here? ...Or, alternatively, Clover would actually let Alice betray her in order to get both of them to 4 BP.

We head to the lounge after some introspection and talk with a bunch of people about the article we found in the infirmary about the Radical-6 virus. Dio's still an ass-hat and I don't ever want to work with him. K seems to be the "Seven" of this group. Next, we head to the crew quarters, where Sigma confronts Clover and Alice about their relationship and Clover reveals a bit about the first two Nonary Games. Finally, we head to the infirmary, where Tenmyouji's still mad at us. Then Quark suddenly contracts Radical-6, passed out, then wakes up and needs to be forcibly sedated to keep himself from committing suicide. Radical-6 is a scary disease.

Actually, I screwed up--Dio's a solo; Alice is paired with K. There's an argument about who goes with who--Tenmyouji doesn't trust me, and Alice doesn't trust Dio, but the third option would have the unconscious Quark teamed with Phi and Luna, which Tenmyouji also doesn't want. He says Clover's the only one he trusts, so Alice (and Dio, who doesn't want to be with someone who he knows will betray him) are overruled. Clover, Quark and I go into the treatment center. There are three pods in a glassed-in room. Looking around, we find a plant with a green card stuck in it, a screen with some obscure clue stating "four pieces for the first password, 1 piece for the second", a painting of a lion with a hole in it, a tank with three jellyfish in it (locked), and a clock (locked as well, and missing its hands, with two slots for cards, and something stuck in the face near the six, as well as the words "No. 4" on it). There's a binder near the safe stating that the code for the pod room will allow up to ten guesses and follows the rules of "Mastermind"--guess the inputs, and it'll tell you how many numbers are correct and in the correct spots and how many are correct but in the wrong spots. I try "1357" first--0 HIT (correct number correct spot), 3 BLOW (correct number wrong spot). Next I try "3572"--0 HIT, 2 BLOW, so 1 was definitely one of the "BLOW" and 2 is definitely a miss. I start out "51..." and my sister suggests "6", so we go with "5163". 0 HIT, 3 BLOW again. Since 1 was definitely "BLOW", having three total "BLOW" means that 6 and 7 are definitely part of it. (Reasoning: If 1, 3, and 5 were the "BLOW" for 5163, then the only remaining place for 5 would be the last spot since it has yet to register a "HIT", and 5 would have to be the third spot for the same reason...except 1 has already been tried in both of the first two spots without a HIT. Guess number 4 is "6715", which gives 2 HIT, 1 BLOW. This means that 3, not 5, was the last remaining number, and it has to be in the third spot. 1 couldn't have been a HIT, then, so it's the BLOW, and the correct password is 6731. Fifth guess is all it took. Pod 03 isn't interesting, but pods 01 and 02 both have pictures of clocks on them--01 at 7:15, and 02 at 6:20. They also both have keys in them--a silver key in 02, and a white one in 01. The white key opens up the clock, and we get the No. 01 activation key from its face, while the silver key unlocks the tank, allowing for an easy motion-sensor game to get the (fake) jellyfish out. (Clover insists they're aliens, though, not jellyfish. Glad to see this game's not totally devoid of the weird moments the last game loved so much.) We take a circular tile out of it and fit it into the lion painting, which causes it to shift and a laser to shine on Pod 03. I lift the lid again and there's a time in digital--00:15. Activating Pod 01 causes it to say that before it can begin working on a human, it must undergo diagnostic tests by freezing and restoring a plant. We freeze the plant to get the green card out and stick it in the clock, making the minute hand appear, pointing towards the 1. I try to move it to no avail. I then try just about everything else before discovering that I missed something--a withered plant, right near the exit. I put it in the pod and it's restored, revealing the red card. We then put Quark in the pod, but when it discovers that he has Radical-6, it says it can only alleviate the symptoms and suggests putting him in cold sleep using the CAS. Clover doesn't know what that is...oh, right, she wasn't around when Ace told us about it. The hour hand appears, pointing to the 4. 4:05. Now what...

It says "four-digit passcode", which ends up throwing me off at one point, but just about everything we try seems off. After a number of failed attempts (noting that there are twenty spaces), I end up reluctantly switching to "easy" and getting the hint that because the "m is clockwise" is to the left of the "h is counterclockwise", I should count off minutes first, then hours. Wait, it wouldn't matter which order, would it...? Yes it would, because regardless, the first count is the same. The T in the upper-left corner is "1" either way, so counting hours first, the first one would be six spaces counterclockwise of that T, then 15 clockwise, so 9 clockwise of the T; counting minutes first, it's 14 clockwise of the T, then count 7 counterclockwise--7 spaces clockwise of it. From there, it's pretty obvious what to do--start from the beginning with each piece for the first password and pick up from where you stopped each time for the second. PAST and POUR. We find an injection gun with something called neostigmine, and learn that not voting is not an "hoption"; if an entire trio abstains from voting, they all get penalized. Quark's automatically stuck abstaining, so we have to vote...as we're ready to leave, we get word that an AB gate has already been opened. We also learn that three people had been thawed out from cold sleep about 8 hours ago, and wonder who. We find another warehouse, just below the first one, with similar writing on the wall:

MEMENTO MORI

IF THE NINTH LION...

...unfortunately, it's not on-screen for long, so I couldn't get it all. If "Memento Mori" is separate, the best I can come up with so far is "men time room" or something like that. Clover suggests betraying, noting that there may not be a third round--Tenmyouji has to betray, and likely get betrayed because Luna's also at 1 BP, but while Alice can't afford to ally, if Dio chooses ally, K would have 9 BP. Seriously, what are the chances of Dio choosing Ally, though? I'm thinking otherwise, anyway. It turns out we were the only ones who got the note about AB rules, and Dio opened the door, not knowing what would happen if we hadn't gotten there on time. Tenmyouji demands Clover take him to Quark, and I tell the others what I found. Phi gets the idea to use the cold sleep to stop our hearts, getting the bracelets off, and we all rush down to the treatment center, only to find that the function's been discontinued. Tenmyouji says he'll stay with Quark, and Phi and Luna say that they'd always intended to ally, and knowing that Tenmyouji can't betray them only strengthens that decision. Inside the AB room, Clover's had a change of heart and wants to ally, because she found out who Tenmyouji really is, and knowing that and also how important Quark is to him, she can't betray him like that. That was my initial thought, too. Not surprisingly, Dio betrays Alice and K, but he actually justifies himself--he knows that Alice had to choose betray because she only had 1 BP, so if he chose ally, K would have 9 BP. (Somehow he failed to contemplate the possibility of us picking Betray.) The bracelets are shuffled up, and we learn that the star keys can be used an unlimited number of times. K is the red solo; Luna and Clover are the cyan pair; Dio is the green solo; Phi and Alice are the magenta pair; and Sigma is the blue solo--making Tenmyouji and Quark, by process of elimination, the yellow pair. The next set of chromatic doors are white, so there's only one option for teams: K/Luna/Clover, Dio/Phi/Alice, and Sigma/Quark/Tenmyouji. Alice is naturally unhappy about being stuck with Dio yet again.

Since there's still some time before the next set of chromatic doors open, Phi, Clover and I head to the Pressure Exchange Chamber to look for the medicine for Quark. Apparently the pressure inside this building is greater than it is outside it in order to keep Radical-6 from getting in. Exposition time!

Clover and Light have been working for the Special Office of Internal Security (SOIS), a secret organization under the jurisdiction of the DOD, which investigates dangerous elements like terrorists and radical extremist groups. Alice had already been working for them when they'd found her in the desert; her car had broken down en route to Building Q, where she'd gotten a tip that the terrorists that she was tracking might be. After they got back home, Clover and Light's mother hired bodyguards for them, as they'd now been kidnapped twice, but they ran away and lived on their own. (Weren't they already adults?) Clover worked at a cafe and Light composed music. Alice showed up one day needing help, because they're espers (the new name for those who can manipulate morphogenetic fields), and they went to the SOIS headquarters and were reunited with the other kids from the First Nonary Game. Alice tells everyone about terrorists planning to trigger a viral pandemic. The SOIS was offering a lot of money, but even so, Clover wanted no part of all of this weird stuff after everything she'd been through. Later, Alice tried again, suggesting that Cradle might be connected to the terrorists, and she contacted Seven, who told them that Junpei had gone off the radar looking for Akane and that they were the only ones who could do this. For the next couple of months, they trained, both regular agent training and esper training, but on their first field mission, Clover got captured. Alice had to rescue her, and Clover decided that Alice was so much cooler than she was and that she wanted to be more like Alice, which probably explains why Clover's dressing like a stripper now. Although the operation was a failure, they got information on where the terrorists'headquarters was, and planned a raid for December 25, 2028, but three days before the raid, Alice and Clover were attacked by people in gas masks and woke up in here.

Clover's powers aren't working right now. She says that if she had another esper, they could boost her power, but if there was a more powerful esper, they could absorb her power, which might be why they're not working right now. She doesn't know when the terrorists will strike, only that it's "soon". It may have already happened, in which case Alice, Clover, and Sigma--who all definitely remember being from 2028--might be the trio who came out of cold sleep. The terrorist group wants to "purify the unclean", which triggers some sort of memory in Clover. Unclean...clean...ean...Neostigmine! She remembers what it does! It's a cholinesterase inhibitor, and an antidote for tubocurarine--which means that this injection gun could save one person from a penalty! Clover gets excited and runs off, leaving Sigma stuck in the PEC for awhile. When he finally gets out, Phi is unresponsive and zombie-like. The treatment center's empty except for Quark in the pod, and so is everywhere else...except the infirmary.

So there we are. This is getting far too exciting to keep stopping, and besides, half the time I've been playing, my sister has been kind of falling asleep. So perhaps this "joint effort" idea will be scrapped. (Also, with far more endings than last time, it's unfeasible to do it for every ending.)

Okay, got it from TVTropes (don't worry, I'm not highlighting spoilers...though there are a couple of things I already know from spoiling myself earlier, like the true identities of...well, everyone, actually.) And I was right about the misspelling I thought I saw.

MEMENTO MORI

IF THE NINETH LION ATE THE SUN

Gah...well, that's something to puzzle over for awhile.

Well, I got the go-ahead, so continue I shall. I'm a little disturbed by the fact that there's no more branches left on my flowchart, because I'd been thinking about what to vote in the next AB game.

K (6) vs. Luna (3) and Clover (8)

Dio (6) vs. Phi (8) and Alice (1)

Sigma (8) vs. Tenmyouji (3) and Quark (8)

Dio vs. Phi and Alice is a non-starter--Alice can't afford to Ally because she'd be dead if Dio Betrays her (unless we use the neostigmine), and Dio won't Ally because he doesn't want anyone to reach 9 before him and even if Phi and Alice were to pick Ally, if Dio picks Ally Phi reaches 9. Clover's reasoning for initially wanting to betray Quark means she probably wouldn't choose Ally and risk K getting to 9...but K seems like a genuinely nice guy, even though he's been on the betraying end both times, so there's a chance he could pick Ally, in which case Clover would reach 9. So this could be the last one. I think, given the circumstances...if given a choice, I'd pick Ally, guaranteeing that Quark reaches 9. There's a chance Sigma could reach 9 as well if Tenmyouji also picks Ally for himself and Quark, but giving Quark a chance to escape takes precedence at the moment. Clover promised Tenmyouji she'd take care of Quark. I'd hope that Tenmyouji would be trusting enough to pick Ally as well, but...

Ah. That explains the lack of branches. The infirmary was the yellow door, after all...and it's the submarine ending all over again. Six dead, bloody bodies...only Quark, who's still in the pod, and K are missing. A single scalpel did all the damage... Sigma joins them in death. Ahahaha...I seriously ended a post a mere few seconds from the end of the route.

It was called a "Clover" ending...probably a bad ending. I'm still pissed about having to switch to Easy, so I'm using the jump function to head back to the treatment center escape sequence. I'll pick "Betray" in the AB game this time to get a new ending.

Argh, the passcode randomizes! "6731" is 0 hit, 1 blow. I try 4125; 2H0B. 4189 is 1H1B; 4827 is 2H1B; 4628 is 1H1B, as is 4297. 7825 is 2H1B, so I wrongly come to the conclusion that 8425 is viable. 1H, 2B. Only two more guesses left. I ponder very carefully before making my ninth guess and select 4875. It lets me in. From there, I observe how amusing it is if you already have the proper key out every time you examine something with a keyhole (including the painting) for the first time, then grab the gold file and vamoose to the AB Game. This time, I hint to Clover what I picked before the results are officially revealed. Everything else is the same, so only Clover and Sigma reach 9. Alice gets on Clover's case, and she says it wasn't her. I say that I'm getting out of here, and when everyone turns to ask Clover if she'll go with me, I make my move. Dio tries to stop me, in vain. Dio seems almost surprised that I actually pulled it off. I say that I'll go for help as soon as I get out, but Dio doesn't believe me. Everyone agrees to stop me. They hold me down, and Alice commands Clover to leave and go for help. When Clover hesitates, Alice shoves her through. As the Nonary Game has now ended, all doors other than the number nine door have been unlocked. Wait...could that include the door in the PEC? The announcer says otherwise. This counts as a "Game Over", still officially considered Clover's route...so then that massacre was the "good" ending? This is bullshit... I jump back to the infirmary, still pissed at being unable to get the secret file. I look around for anything that might give a hint to what the other password is...wait, we can see the print on the fabric even when we turn it around backwards! Nope, no dice. I even try switching into easy again, and all it gets me is the clue to actually put the fabric in the slot on the bed--which, admittedly, would've been easier. Well, still no dice, so skip ahead and ally with Tenmyouji this time. As I expected, no matter what we choose in RPS, we beat Phi. She thinks we're being too opimistic, choosing Ally. ...As I expected. It's another Schrodinger's Choice. Tenmyouji always picks the opposite of what I pick. So now Phi and Sigma have only 1 BP...but what's this? Sigma remembers Tenmyouji choosing Ally last time! Well, that explains why Clover's powers aren't working--Sigma is clearly an Akane-level esper. Tenmyouji seems confused by Sigma remembering "last time". He says there's no reason to trust strangers when there's a murderer on the loose.

Anyway, Alice is still bound to protest going with Dio, but since Tenmyouji betrayed us, there's no reason that...oh, right, Tenmyouji will still want Clover to go with Quark, because he's a solo and Clover's the one person he trusts out of the six people in pairs. I head to the crew quarters first, then the infirmary. Tenmyouji's still suspicious, but this time it's because he knows he betrayed us and thinks I'd want revenge.

Wait...Quark's not afflicted with Radical-6! The flowchart says there's a two-way split...maybe I can choose to team up with Tenmyouji again this time. Or was he okay? Once Radical-6 comes up in the Lounge, Sigma remembers Quark's symptoms. Yeah, there it is. Last time, I went to the infirmary last, so Quark came down with it before my eyes, but it always happens after visiting the third room.

Alice suggests that the people who have the greatest disadvantage should get to choose. Right, Phi and Luna are a pair with 1 BP apiece, and Alice has only 1 BP...and then there's me, together with Clover. Alice, as expected, says anyone but Dio, and Phi says anyone but Tenmyouji. Both of those line up, though, so I can choose Tenmyouji or Dio. I'm curious as to the response I get if I choose Quark. ...As expected, they shoot me down. I'm given the remaining two choices, and though I accidentally click too quickly, it's the choice I would've made anyway. Tenmyouji. I don't want to work with Dio until it's absolutely necessary. That puts Luna and Phi with Dio, and K and Alice with Quark. Well, Quark being unconscious means that I don't necessarily have to worry about Alice's need to protect her BP, since Alice betraying would have a side effect of K escaping. Luna and Phi need to betray, too, so Dio's no worry...ugh, but I can't afford to ally, and Tenmyouji can afford to do either. If I betray, he'll ally, and Clover will escape. If I ally, he'll betray, and I'll die. A rough choice...

Tenmyouji lacked Clover's hesitance to pull the lever to enter the next room. I guess I kind of understand Clover's hesitance; the damn things do look like REDs/DEADs. We enter the PEC, and Sigma lacks his time hax this time so he's left guessing that the acronym means "Prepared Emergency Chocolate" or "Private Ecclesiastical Commode". We then learn everything we already learned on Clover's path, including the necessity to wear hazmat suits to enter the actual PEC itself, and take the lift. The chamber won't open, of course...wait, is that a physical incarnation of Zero III in there?

Three lockers. Two are locked, and one has a cardboard box filled with junk. Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to channel my inner Snake and take it...eh, it would probably create a paradox as "Snake" was already used as a code name in this series. Yeah, it's definitely a model of Zero III...pretty creepy-looking; so obviously fake. As we head upstairs, I notice the numbers 25113 on a box in the lift. We get hazmatted up and find a bench with symbols on it. We find more lockers...there are nine hazmat suits in all. Enough for everyone...There's some puzzle on the door, and I haven't learned a damn thing about how to solve it. ...Oh, right, complementary colors. I think? We have all three of the CMY and only one from RGB. Nope, no clue...but I think I know how to solve 25113. ...Or maybe not. Wait, here's a clue that I apparently got without noticing, for the door. Circuitry inside...and the fake Zero III is inflatable. I found a key while I was trying to exit out having thought I'd looked at everything in the area. Clover gets mad when she finds out that we're not getting out via the decompression room and storms back upstairs to ditch the hazmat suit. And suddenly we're being decompressed. Huh...being separated from Clover by a locked door and glass, this feels so familiar. There's another binder under the pressure machine, getting us a new clue. There's also a tablet, and--! A matching bench with numbers! We're in a vacuum...no wonder Zero III is so large! It says there's insufficient power to repressurize...how do I use the circuits?!

...WTF I just used the key to pop the Zero III balloon. There was a Zero III doll inside, and the explosion loosened the plates on the wall. There's some laser emitters, but not enough to get the right cables red. ...Unless I think diagonally. Damnit, that was just an accident. Trickier door puzzle this time, but not tricky enough. We finally get out of the hazmat suits, and Clover's drenched in sweat...and calls us on being perverted when we point it out. Face it, Clover, your purpose in these games is for the male characters to think dirty thoughts about. Santa and Junpei both had their moments last game, and now this.

I get another key from the 25113 and unlock the two lockers downstairs. One has a small hazmat suit, and the other has a blank journal with a slip of paper in it. I try combining the small hazmat suit with the Zero III doll. It actually works, and the number 8 is written on his suited stomach. I take a look at the paper...no ideas. Maybe it's tablet time already? It doesn't turn on...but there's a USB port. Maybe the machine? Yeah, that'll do. Ah, the machine is for testing protective gear, but needs to use the child-size one for testing. So each spot of the 8 is keyed to a different color...so the colorful paper spells out 623! One safe password...and the colors on the side of the machine spell out 117. A blue memory card is our spare prize (i.e., other than the key, the map, and the ambidex cards) This time we get a better look at Warehouse B. There's a door in the same spot as the #9 door, but it's all rusted over. Then we look at the White Chromatic Doors and hear the message about Dio opening the gate early. You know, I'm suddenly looking forward to teaming up with him myself. Only K and Dio are there, and K tells Tenmyouji that Quark is in the infirmary, being looked after by the girls. Tenmyouji runs off, and K is dismayed, as there was something else he needed to tell Tenmyouji. Wait, they found virus medicine in the laboratory? Axelavir...how is it that we found it in this timeline, when we still couldn't locate it at all last time? Tenmyouji suddenly realizes that our new memory card should work in the infirmary. There's an audio file.

"This is Control. How's it going over there? Bet you missed the sound of my voice, huh? Well, I gotta be honest, it's getting pretty lonely over here too. Feeling kinda like howling at the moon, lone wolf style. Speaking of which...I'm looking at it right now and the old girl is beautiful. Never seen a moon this full, and that color...*whistle* Tonight's that eclipse, remember? What a way to end 2028, huh? The moon's this amazing red... If it wasn't so beautiful, it'd be kind of ominous. Wish you guys could see it too, but--Ah, sorry, forgot. You're supposed to be on Mars, aren't you. So, uh, how are Phobos and Deimos looking right now? Sure hope I'll get to look up at them someday too... Anyway... Over. ... ... Hey, something wrong? Talk to me, guys. ... ... What, you gonna play hard to get 'cause we haven't talked in so long? Enough jokes, all right? Knock it off. Where are you guys? ... ... Is there something wrong with the radio...? ...You're saying everything's green? Well then what the hell's going on here!? Why aren't they responding?! ... ... No, the video feed's online. Look, you can see all nine of them, three at each table. ...What?! Someone hacked our feed!? What do you mean, this isn't live? ...An old clip on repeat? Who would do that? What in the hell is happening here... ... ... This is Control. I repeat, this is Control. Please come in. I'm asking you to respond! ... ..."

"This is--"

"Oh, thank God! You really had me worried there. What happened?"

"... Six of us are...dead."

"...What?"

"Counting myself, there are only three left."

"How... Why are...?"

"They were killed."

"Wh-What?!"

"I...I guess you could say I killed them. ... No...no, that's not quite right. Not just them. Not just these six... All of them... All six billion... Soon I will have killed six billion people--"

"...Are you there?! Respond! Damnit... This is Control, I repeat, this is Control. We have an emergency situation! We have an unconfirmed report of six deceased test subjects! Deploy rescue and escort teams to the test site immediately! Shit... What the hell happened in there..."

End audio file.

Only Tenmyouji seems to know what was going on. A transmission from the Mars mission test site. He says the government is developing spaceships with particle annihilation engines, which could get humans to Mars far quicker than old chemical rockets. But they didn't want to send it off half-cocked, so they built a whole complex on this old Air Force base in Nevada, to use as a simulation. (Bet that's somehow related to where we are now. It wouldn't be a proper Nonary Game if we weren't in Nevada.) Alice asks how he knew about this, and Tenmyouji says he was involved with the project. To create as accurate a simulation as possible, they needed to simulate the radio silence they'd experience during conjunction, when Mars and Earth were on opposite sides of the sun. Oh...that's when the scheduled silence was supposed to end, and that's when they died...based on how the "astronaut" said that soon she'd have killed six billion, I'm guessing Radical-6 is involved. Furthermore...they mentioned that eclipse at the end of 2028. This gives credence to the idea that Clover, Alice, and Sigma--all of whom seem to believe that they were taken in 2028--were the three people who had been in cold sleep. Clover's powers not working might not be because of more powerful espers--Light could be long dead by now for all we know, since we're clearly further in the future.

...Hold on. Phi says she was grabbed on 12/25/2028, too. Luna says she was taken on Christmas, too, and Alice says she and Clover were taken three days earlier. Tenmyouji's about to explain about that recording "from the future", when the automated voice says Ambidex polling closes in 10 minutes. Tenmyouji says he'd need more than 10 minutes to explain and tells us to get back to the warehouse. I start to protest, and he says if I don't shut up he'll pick betray. Tenmyouji says he'd like to stay with Quark, but he seems to be doing okay, and Luna volunteers to stay since she's part of a pair; letting Phi enter their vote. Phi says she has no choice but to betray Dio, who's already in his AB room, and K and Alice say they'll ally since they're up against Quark. I say that I'll convince Tenmyouji to Ally by promising to pick Ally, thereby forcing him to do the same or risk killing me. I then go on to point out that if he allies and we betray, Clover could run off, so there's no reason for me to pick betray. Tenmyouji asks what I'd do if Clover tried to seduce me to get what she wants, and Clover gets incensed again and calls me a perv.

I'm pretty sure I'm screwed either way. Haha, and now Clover's begging me to pick betray. Well, time to take the plunge...ALLY! ...Wow. He actually did pick Ally. But now Alice is showing symptoms of Radical-6... Clover and Phi head to find Alice, and Tenmyouji goes to the infirmary to check on Quark, and Dio heads to the lounge for a drink, asking K if he wants to come along. K reminds him that it's kind of hard for him to drink with that mask welded to his face and heads off to Floor B. And Sigma heads to the infirmary to try to get the rest of that story from Tenmyouji. Tenmyouji's on the far side of the partition, staring at a picture in his hand. He puts it away before I can see it. I ask him about the Mars mission, and he plays dumb, then tells me I'd regret hearing the truth. Phi bursts in before I can tell him that I want to hear it. Alice is in the number 2 cabin...dead. Scalpel sticking into her chest, bracelet on the ground. Clover's...oh dear. I remember this side of Clover all too well. Quick, someone confiscate that scalpel; she can't be trusted with sharp objects when she's like this. When everyone tries to calm her down, she jumps to the conclusion that we were all in on it.

...To be continued. You son of a bitch.

And, as expected, picking Betray leads to Clover escaping all by herself. Game over, man. The flowchart says it's the Tenmyouji bad ending, so I guess the To Be Continued was Tenmyouji's good ending. (Also, Clover's good ending is a fucking Submarine. Poor girl...) Time to see what Dio's got. (By which I mean, get game overed not by someone else reaching 9, but by me reaching 0.)

Clover starts making a series of bad puns. Dio asks me if he can hit her. I say it might only make her worse. Clover's not afraid of the lever at all this time, and Dio takes it into hand. We enter the laboratory. Two empty capsules and a can of seed. Two binders, one with...steps for dissecting a frog? I thought Dio was joking! This other one better not be instructions for making mind rays...2 pieces of research on hydroponics. More seeds. Even more seeds, and DNA extraction results. 33253. I get all the seeds, but now i need to find water, both for the dilution of hydroponic fluids and, with saline solution, for the DNA extraction. And...

A tray with the nineth lion eating the sun. Clover thinks it's a cat playing with a ball of yarn. Sigma replies, and I quote, "Are you even looking cat it? It's a lion! How are you not kitten that?" Clover calls him on his odd speech pattern, and he says it's a tic he picked up when he was a kid. Zero III has the same tic, but with rabbits. Okay, hydroponics it is...40 comes from each of the side parts and 80 from the center, and we've got to break it up so that it flows in the proportions noted. Oh, wow, that was easy; just set all the levers to "split the water half-and-half" I solve the seed puzzle and...it's a Poké Ball! Well, not really, but the capsule that I got sure looks like one. Somehow I find the saline solution and the frog on the shelf when I'd missed them before. Clover names it Lord Hoppington. I take a scalpel to him, and Clover's sad. Dio points out that it's already dead; it's an ex-frog. We find a blue capsule inside. We then put the saline solution in the DNA extractor. Now we need ethanol...which Lord Hoppington was being preserved in. Tada! Yellow capsule get. Putting that in the machine got us the secret safe password! Only we're still one capsule short and...OH COME ON! The shelf of infinitely slow exposition yields another prize--roots. Time for a second round of DNA extraction...Green capsule get, and now the microscope's working--and GATTACA'd out. Dio seems quite knowledgeable about DNA sequencing...I've noticed that after the first three puzzle rooms I went in all had those annoying motion puzzles, the two most recent ones haven't. We open the safe, and there's the Axelavir. Why wasn't it found when Tenmyouji, Phi, and Luna went through the red door? Also a notebook in a language none of us can read. As we're ready to leave, Dio gets curious about something. One is a machine that we didn't use. It's called an IG replicator. And to no one's surprise, Dio swipes the Axelavir, and tries to use it to blackmail us into picking Ally. Well, that was my initial plan anyway, because I want to get the bad ending first. Tenmyouji and Luna are in the infirmary with Quark. Alice wants to see the laboratory, so Clover leads her there, while Dio decides to go to the room that Alice, K, and Tenmyouji found. K takes him there, and Phi and I join Tenmyouji, Luna, and Quark in the infirmary. Dio told Phi about the journal before...it's in Latin; she can read parts of it. They're talking about Radical-6. Speaking of which...one of the entries from the gold file I found in the lab explains where the virus got its name. It affects the infected's perception of time, experiencing only 1 second for every root-6 seconds that actually pass. Ah, those files were from this journal; it says the same thing. Thus the name; "Radical" being another word for the "root" function.

It's theorized that the time dilation of experiencing the world in fast-forward could be responsible for the suicidal tendencies that patients suffer. The journal is dated December 29th, no year listed, and the researcher says it could take decades to find a cure--which means that the journal was made long before Axelavir. We're officially in the future. Furthermore, the survivors were the ones being locked in facilities, to keep them safe. So that's possibly where we are, in which case, the fact that Quark became infected is worrying. Although...there were nine "astronauts" in the simulation. What if this Nonary Game was meant to recreate those conditions? Phi decides to head to the magenta door instead. Quark starts to stir. There's only one chocie [sic]! Sacrifice myself to save Quark! Tenmyouji says he'd ally anyway, so he'll stay with Quark. Since K would reach 9 if Alice and he betrayed Tenmyouji, Phi suggests that to hold him to his word of not picking betray, Alice should go into the AB room alone. K doesn't go for it. Clover tries to convince me to pick betray, using our apparent profile of Dio as motivation, but I turn it around and say that I know he'll destroy the bottle if we choose betray. Clover tries to do the voting herself. I stop her. She says she doesn't want to see me die. How touching...

Ha. So that's why K insisted on going in. Dio may have killed Sigma, but he won't be leaving all eight others behind. K chose betray and  got to 9 BP. With all of my determination, I head towards Dio, forcing him to keep his promise. Quark will survive.

...To be continued? I'm supposed to have a chance at saving myself? Something's changed about the Tenmyouji ending...as I thought; that journal is proof that Alice committed suicide. We just got a continue. K and Alice had investigated the lab in this timeline, so the journal is on Alice's person. Sigma asks Phi to get it, then pulls his time hax to get the answers. Dio mentions that it's only 10 more minutes until the primary doors open. Dio takes Alice's bracelet, as she was a magenta pair and needed to team with Phi and him. Luna's cyan like Clover and goes with K, so Quark's with Tenmyouji and me. Huh, no wonder this is called the Tenmyouji route--this'll be my third door with him. Luna convinces Clover to try to survive for Alice's sake. Quark's awake. Tenmyouji apologizes for getting him involved in all of this. I'm surprised that getting Clover's ending hasn't already unlocked Dio's--I should already know about the neostigmine.

Dio wants the center door, because "if you want a kill shot, you aim for the center. You're more likely to just miss the extremities." Phi calls his logic flawed and more than slightly disturbing. Luna says she'll go through the left one, if no one has any objections. None do. We enter the Director's Office. It's...weird. There's another image of a lion eating the sun...I think that makes 3, though the idea of the painting in the treatment center being a lion eating the sun is a bit of a stretch and I wouldn't make the connection without the others. A magenta balloon; a red mark on the wall (looks like blood) and another on a bookcase and an L-shaped one on a suit of armor (RIP Neil Marshall). The lion has two heads, and we need a password but the keyboard doesn't work. Also, LOL first thing I pick up being a puzzle. Facial rec device; off and needing a key. More red marks on a bottle of expensive brandy, and a world map stuck to a globe. The headless armorman was carrying a short spear and a slingshot. Another green coaster, with cheap brandy. I take books from the shelves, put the expensive brandy there and the cheap brandy near the laser, and use the spear as a key to get another key. Unfortunately, the facial recognition device needs a woman. We use the picture in Tenmyouji's pocket and get the armor's head.

I saw some red paint on the back wall of the secret chamber, too. Hey, there's a bullseye on the back of the balloon! "P", and a battery. I look at our archive and find that the world map had the clue for the large safe. We find a binder and a deer head with more red paint. The binder gives the clue for the business card puzzle... BOOK 334. The tablet only needed a battery...putting the books in 334 gives "H", while the head makes an L...and mounting the deer on the wall makes an E. Put it all together and it spells "HELP"! I use the slingshot to shoot the bullseye, but that only makes the "HEL" clearer. Finally, I solve a tangram puzzle, and get...IILP? The other password appears. I open the safe twice, but as I'm trying to get the key, Quark wants to look at Tenmyouji's picture.

...Oh. Well, that explains what Clover meant by "who Tenmyouji really is". And why Tenmyouji trusted her, for that matter. Tenmyouji is Junpei, the number 5 bracelet from the Second Nonary Game! This confirms that Clover and Alice were among those deep-frozen with some English beef, since Junpei was previously only a few years older than Clover and likely younger than Alice when they'd first met. Nothing but the key and the cards this time. We leave, but Tenmyoujunpei left the picture of Akane behind, so he heads back to the director's office while I return to the warehouse. Dio's a smartass and swipes his card as soon as he sees me, but since Tenmyouji and Quark aren't there yet, we all just exchange information. Nothing useful comes of it. After 20 minutes, there's no sign of them, so I head back to look for them. K offers to come along, but I say I'll be fine. Clover warns me not to stare into the abyss for too long, lest I become a monster. I'm not really sure what she means, but whatever. Tenmyouji and Quark aren't there, but the picture's gone, and at first I figure that I just missed them since I took the long way, but then I notice that the device we never used is suddenly on...

A hologram of an old man, proclaiming himself to be Zero. It's only a recording, so any questions I have--and the recording is sure that I no doubt have many--he cannot respond to. He says he'll tell me two things, and the first is about...termites. He talks about the beauty of termite mounds and muses about why they build such intricate mounds and if they have a specific plan for them. But of course, this would be the hive mind's plan, not any one particular termite. They have no idea what they're making...yet we do. In short, only an intelligence of a higher order can understand the beauty of what the termite builds. Yet we, too, are oblivious cogs in a tremendous machine programmed by millions of years of our DNA. To a higher order of intelligence than our own, we might look just as the termites do to us. But our structure must be on a dimension just above the ones we know. The second topic is the password to disarm the bomb numbered "one". This password is BQZ RGJ DXR. Furthermore, I cannot tell any of my companions what I heard or saw here. If I do, I'll be penalized immediately. Ten minutes remain till polling closes. Tenmyouji says that he'll pick ally this round, since both he and Quark already have 8 BP and therefore all they need is for me to pick Ally and it doesn't matter what they pick. Hmm...

Phi's still at 1 BP and Dio's at 6. Dio will obviously pick betray, and Phi knows it, so she'll betray as well, and they'll stay put. K and Clover are both at 8 and are up against each other, with Luna being Clover's partner at 1. It makes the most sense for K and Clover to pick ally, so regardless of what I do, someone probably reaches 9. Therefore, it does make the most sense for me to ally here.

Tenmyouji promises he won't open the #9 door and leave the rest of us behind if he and Quark get to 9, and Quark does as well. That's all well and good, but remember that K and Clover would both reach 9 if they choose to Ally with one another, and Clover's partner is Luna, whose only "betray" vote came when she willingly removed herself from the voting booth and let her partner do it--not to mention K seems like a "nice guy" as well who is unlikely to betray Luna since she only has 1 BP. So your guarantee is meaningless since there's a chance K or Clover will just open the door anyway. I'm going to pick Ally anyway for exactly that reason--if someone's going to escape anyway, might as well let a lot of people escape--but your guarantee is meaningless.

...Well, someone's been played for a chump. I guess he didn't trust me. Though Luna and Clover betraying K came as a surprise--I guess Clover didn't trust K not to kill Luna. Ahahaha Tenmyouji manages to technically follow his promise not to open the #9 door, because Clover's doing it. Oh, and it seems Tenmyouji knows who Zero Sr. is now. Quark gives me a letter before leaving, telling me what kind of guy Tenmyouji is.

Quark mentions the day Tenmyouji found him--a stormy day, but somehow Tenmyouji heard a baby crying over the rain. He named him "Quark" because of how small he was. One thing stands out, though... "The kid from my block actually had a mom, and [Tenmyouji]'d asked her if she would take me too." Yeah, the next sentence even elaborates that there weren't a lot of kids with parents around.

...Oh, right, the Radical-6 pandemic. There are some other weird things, like how root beer is apparently more expensive than any alcohol in the bar that Tenmyouji frequents. When Tenmyouji bought Quark an actual root beer float, he felt like the luckiest boy in the world--and then bragged about it to the brat who was always bragging about having an actual mother. They got in a fight one day and Quark ran off, and then it started raining and Tenmyouji went out in the rain to look for him and collapsed, and Quark realized how spoiled he'd been acting and promised to whatever god might be listening that he'd change if only his grandpa would get better. And yet when Tenmyouji came to, 'he' apologized for being too strict, even though he only wanted to make sure Quark would be able to get by after Tenmyouji passed on, which could happen at any time given his age. Quark asked if he'd ever regretted adopting him, and Tenmyouji said of course not; having Quark helped him feel like he'd gotten back some of what he'd lost due to devoting his entire life to searching for a certain lady. ...Damnit, I can't skip the credits. Well, there's an easy route to picking up another bad ending--just head back to the final branch in that path and betray Tenmyouji and Quark, again resulting in Clover leaving alone. After that, I guess...finish off his branch by betraying Dio? I guess that's probably another quick bad end since K still reaches 9 there. Yep, K leaves--so he can get help for Quark. Luna asked if he couldn't at least wait until next round to get Quark's BP up to 9 as well, but K points out that there's always the chance Quark would end up against Dio, who would no doubt exploit Quark's unconsciousness to get himself to 9. This is the best way. And it is. Also, Alice is collapsed in the AB room again--no doubt also suffering from Radical-6. Well, until I can find the way to get the neostigmine after getting penalized, I've done all I can in the center third of the tree. Time to jump all the way back to the first choice and...um...wait, this was Quark's route? Makes sense, I guess, but...wouldn't a route where I went with Quark through the second set of Chromatic Doors make more sense? ...Whatever.

Time to take a break from bullshit politics. So far all we've seen after the first round of AB voting is 6's and 1's. It's time to pair up with Luna and get to 5 BP at the end of AB Round 1. This also puts Alice together with Clover and K, so...hey, this could be pretty good! Well, Dio's still going to end up at 6 because he can overpower Quark and there's no way Tenmyouji would vote betray, but I think unless I'm misreading K quite a bit, we should have a lot of 5's and very few 1's.

Phi, Luna and I enter the lounge. Three doors other than the one we entered through, but two are barred with metal plates. We get a mysterious disk, two quarters of a globe, and five color-coded bottles of liqueur. Also a couple of needles and three empty martini glasses. Next comes the other two quarters of the globe and a fragment of the bartender's diary. Oh, the disc was part of the globe, too--right near the equator. I put the globe together and return it to its stand, but nothing seems to happen. Ah, some sort of riddle.

Father: My wife likes the color red, and I like white. My son has always liked Ocean.

Mother: My son has loved the color blue ever since he was a child. My husband likes Island, and I like Planet.

Son: My mother and I like Moon. My father likes anything green.

One of them was a liar, but I swiftly made their drinks and handed them over.

Obviously the liar is the son, right? His statement contradicts both of the other two. So White Island for the father, Red Planet for the mother, and Blue Ocean for the son. Hmm...Oh, right, the bartender would be looking from behind the bar, so when he says the mother was on the left, we put her drink furthest to our right. There's the...secret password? Okay, got that file, but...what are the needles for, and what did putting the globe back together do? Oh, there's a clock-like thing with all the colors and places for the mixers. Plus two more--"Earth", and "Black". The needles are indeed hands of the clock, but...

There's a waste disposal for dumping the cocktails when we're finished. Phi thinks it's a waste and we should drink them instead, but...

RLRL OEDI IMLI OONR ONEN

Bolded letters are in red. Can't help but noticing another "LION" in the sequence of red letters...the non-red ones have, with only a few extra letters, "RED MOON". Together, all the letters for "middle" are there, and the first set is all L's and R's like Left and Right...but the globe's still useless. Brute force time. Finally, at Green:Sun (aka 4:50), the puzzle is solved. This makes a beam of light come out of the clock's center, which projects through the globe to light up..."RED MOON" in the black letters and "LION" in the red, exactly as I noticed without solving that puzzle. However, the globe itself says "BLUE PLANET", so it wasn't a total waste. I make a Red Moon, a Blue Planet, and a Green Sun and set them down in that order, right to left, and get the safe password. Okay, so we've got all that done. Where the fuck was the clue for where to put that clock's hands?! No bonus prizes other than the free rein rules.

...Right. The red moon occurred during the lunar eclipse on 12/31/2028 (which according to the supplementary data is a real thing.) Phi's talking about lunar eclipses right now. We all reunite, and when Alice says she ran into the other group a little while--not literally, of course--Dio says that "with a prow like that I imagine you run into a lot of things." Well, here we go.

"I found a whole factory full of rare earth metals the other day". Tenmyouji said this to Quark when Quark asked him if he really had enough money to get him a root beer float when this was all over. Rare earth metals...and while one of the solutions had "Blue Planet" (and "Red Moon", referring to the eclipse), the other had "Red Planet"... I think they evacuated the survivors. I think we're on Mars right now.

This time, Phi inspects the hatch on top of our AB room to see if there's any other way that the body could've gotten in there. Phi refers to Zero III as "Algernon", and I point out that Zero III is a rabbit, not a mouse. She's still trying to convince me to choose betray, but I'm not going for it. Also, suddenly Sigma's suspicious of Phi. She wasn't fazed by the old woman's body; she knew Sigma's name in advance; and she's clearly hiding something, since she said if our BP drops to 1, "it's over", even though Zero III hasn't even revealed the penalty for hitting negatives yet. Sigma won't move until he gets answers, since it could default to Ally anyway..

...And just before time runs out, she reveals what I already knew Zero III would soon reveal. The penalty for dropping to 0 BP. But how did she know that? "Time to see what the results are. Maybe it's different this time..." Sigma is rightly confused, and so am I. This means two things.


 * Phi, like Sigma, has Akane-level esper powers. She's possibly even from a later iteration than Sigma, since she already knew things she shouldn't have known when Sigma didn't.
 * 1) It doesn't matter who goes through which door with who; the other two pairs always end up at 6 and Phi and Sigma always end up with either 1 or 6 at the end of the first AB Game.

...Well, I was partly right, in both assumptions. Yes, the other two pairs always end up at 6 (though really, as polite as K is, I shouldn't be surprised anymore when he does something ruthless, not after he betrays Tenmyouji in Quark's route), but Luna did ally with me. Dio raised plenty of hell, of course, but Alice is...surprisingly chill with having been betrayed by K and Clover. Oddly, both of them are apologetic, so I'm confused again. Ahahaha, when Alice gets mad at Zero III for hiding the penalty for your BP dropping to 0 and Zero III says that it's fair because no one else knew, he singles Phi out for confirmation. Wait...the pairs change, too? I'm a cyan pair with Alice; Clover's the cyan solo. K's the magenta solo, and Quark and Tenmyouji are the magenta pair. Luna's the yellow solo, and Phi and Dio are the yellow pair. Hoo boy...I'm really worried about Phi and Dio being a pair, since they're the two most ruthless...but K's a solo and has 6, so if I shove them together...Quark and Tenmyouji would be with Clover, and Alice and I would be with Luna. Sounds like a good plan. Alice might not exactly be happy about me picking "Ally" and risking her life, but I have faith that Luna wouldn't betray someone with 1 BP, and Tenmyouji won't Ally with only one BP so worst case scenario, Clover picks Ally and Quark alone reaches 9 BP; best case scenario, Clover's still her usual backstabbing self and Luna and I take the lead at 7 BP.

Heading to the lounge this time results in meeting Alice and Dio. We see the magazine again, talking about the eclipse, and when I say "six days from now", they're confused. Neither of them were abducted on Christmas. Alice was taken on the 22nd, and Dio thinks he was taken on the 20th. But does everyone here agree that it's 2028? Dio suggests maybe we were on a Soporil IV drip and it's not even the 25th anymore, and both of them mention feeling disoriented and dizzy. Radical-6...

Dio also mentions that he isn't really sure he can trust my eyes. While I'm still unsure as to which three people came from cold sleep...I'm starting to think Sigma might not be one of them. I noticed, rather pointedly, that all shots of the whole group (during AB Game results sections) have conspicuously lacked Sigma, and then there's that comment and one earlier where Phi referred to Sigma as "gramps" or something to that effect. And although I didn't even think much of it until now, every mirror we've come across has been too dirty to see any reflection in. Clearly Sigma is a lot older than he thinks he is...though the relevance of this still escapes me. Though, apparently he's still in pretty good shape, since the close-ups of the arms have Sigma's hands looking younger than Dio's and Clover still seems to think that he could overpower her fairly easily (granted, she's pretty tiny, but she's at least shown the agility to be able to thwart all of Dio's attempts to stop her from leaving, so she can't be in horrible shape either--easily able to take on a frail old man. Though I don't know how old Sigma really is--he might only be in his 50s or something, and even 60s wouldn't necessarily make him terribly old, especially not in the future.)

K, Quark, and Phi are in the infirmary. K was concerned about the old lady, and Phi points out that K is still the most likely suspect given the current evidence. K is still amnesiac, but he says that "nothing about the mask and suit feels particularly strange." He doesn't know if he's always like that, but it seems natural. He also asks us to check any places he can't see to see if there's a release switch. There's a hole in the back of the mask, like you could put some sort of key in it to unlock it, and the word "open" supports this theory. He's relieved, and Quark points out that he just said it felt natural, but K compares it to wearing glasses. A good analogy. Phi and Quark stay and K departs for the lounge, so I head to the crew quarters. Tenmyouji's there, and hostile as ever. Luna and Clover return before Sigma can get any answers out of him (albeit about things I already know...well, except for why he reacted the way he did to the dead woman). Luna speculates on the purpose of the Nonary Game, and her theory is quite similar to the purpose of the Zeroth Nonary Game(s), the ones run by Lord Dashiell Gordain...the final one of which was won by one Gentarou Hongou. Interesting, but given the apparent state of this world, such entertainments are likely too frivolous to bother with. I learned that from Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey. The first four sectors being looped the way they were represented an endless cycle: war (Sector Antlia) --> winners live opulently (Sector Bootes) --> rampant consumerism (Sector Carina) --> overproduction leads to excess waste material (Sector Delphinus) --> supplies become scarce, wars are fought over what's left (Antlia again). The purpose of the Schwarzwelt was to make life too harsh (Sector Horologium) to ever reach the "Bootes" phase again. Tenmyouji's still pissed, though, because the fact that Zero III didn't say anything about the dead body means it was always part of Zero's plans to murder her. Clover's about to tell us about the organization she and Alice work for when Tenmyouji mentions that time's running out. Alice is mad at my tardiness. Phi lays out the options, and I only see a two-way split in the flowchart, so I'm guessing Alice will veto the idea of going with K.

...Or maybe Tenmyouji's going to refuse to go with K. He says K betrayed Clover? K and Clover were teammates in the first round of the AB Game, so this has to be a memory of another route...which means that the theory that Junpei was only able to access the morphogenetic field because of his link with Akane was bullshit.

K isn't so fond of the idea of pairing with Tenmyouji, either--or Alice, for that matter, since neither of them can afford to pick ally, and even if they assured him they would, he has to take them at their word or else risk killing them. He'd have to pick ally no matter what...wait, Alice has just outright decided to go with Clover. Isn't there supposed to be a decision here? Alice says she trusts Clover the most, and Clover says she wants to go with Alice, too. I protest that I should have a say in it, too, and Luna says she wants to go with either me or Phi because we chose Ally last time when we were with her. Luna being with Phi would work with Alice going with Clover...but would put Tenmyouji with K. So, there is a choice, because the NPCs' demands contradict each other and someone is forced to be unhappy. K and Tenmyouji both point this out and veto it, although Dio, who's Phi's partner, likes the idea of being with Luna. Quark conveniently picks this exact moment to become afflicted with the symptoms of Radical-6. That ends the discussion; Tenmyouji says he can't be picky anymore; he'll carry Quark through if someone just chooses. Luna tells me to choose. I accidentally button-mash past my choice, but luckily the one I wanted was the first option anyway. Alice, Luna and I are going through the green door. I'm the one to pull the lever...

...Oh. The three doors are so you get a different room on each route. There are exactly nine ways you can pick the first two doors, and depending on which door you went through the first time, the second Chromatic Door will lead to a different place. I'll bet that you end up going through a different White door on each of the routes where you make it far enough to go through one, too. This is the Gaulem Bay, whatever that is. I pick up a radio next to a robot...AHAHAHAHA. When examining the robot, Alice suggests that it's an Egyptian mummy. Luna agrees it's a robot, but Alice refuses to believe that and weakly suggests it's a well-made mannequin. A chevron block; a six-pointed star-shaped hole in the wall; a blue battery; a rusty key, already in a keyhole but unable to turn; another chevron block; a weird poster; and three labcoats. One does nothing, but one has a third chevron block and one has a nametag for "Harold". Three chevrons make a star, but...it's too big. Agh, Luna, that's clearly a "do not press" button; why'd you press it?! Well, nothing happened, so I guess it's okay. PC with a power cable...oh, the oil leaking near the robot can clean the rust off the key! Bottle of detergent, screwdriver, silver key. Examining the detergent suggests that it could clean up the oil stain, but we need a rag to wipe it up first. Wait...what? We plug the radio into the computer's power cable. Needs more clues, and...damn, I can't even find a place to use this silver key! Okay, well, there are only 3^4=81 solutions to the radio puzzle...just like the last puzzle of the submarine ending, right? Ah, wait, but there's something else...there are nine final positions, and we have to use a combo of 3's, 5's, and 8's.

3+3+3+3=12=3

3+3+3+5=14=5

3+3+3+8=17=8

3+3+5+5=16=7

3+3+5+8=19=1

3+3+8+8=22=4

3+5+5+5=18=9

3+5+8+8=24=6

5+5+5+5=20=2

That should solve every final position. Of course, it turns out it's 7, not 8, so some of those were wrong...but either way, "2" was the correct final position. We get a blueprint of the room, though I'm not sure what it's good for. Hold on...it has 12 circles, just like the poster. Sigma seems to be going crazy, and I'm not really sure what I can do with any of the stuff I have so I may soon join him.

I finally bite the bullet and switch to easy, and Alice tells me that the key is to the drawer. Sigma responds, "what drawer?", and I agree with him. Ah, there were some drawers near the computer. The proper star-shaped slot is revealed. I put the block in, and a handle drops down into the middle drawer, bearing a star-shaped ending of its own. Turning it drops more robotic frames down from the ceiling. One of them has a red battery in its hand, and...another is wearing boxers. Everyone reacts as appropriately as possible. When it's time to remove them, Luna covers her face, but she's peeking through her fingers anyway. Well, now we can wipe up the oil. 120V. Wait, where'd that screen come from? Ah, it came down with the robots. Supply the proper voltage... I quickly solve it, and Luna says she's fallen for me "all over again". Um...what? Anyway, now to hit the big red button.

Some have both eyes dark, but some don't. F in the left eye of the fifth robot on the right side; O in the right eye of the sixth. H in the right of the third; O in the right of the second; PE in the eyes of the first. Opposite side: N in the left of the first; O in the left of the second; C in the right of the third; EA in the eyes of the fourth; the fifth's are both dark; B in the right of the sixth. Easy enough, right? Oh, but first I needed to go to the bottom drawer for a tablet and unscrew the back to put the batteries in. Okay, got the poster aligned with the robots...looks good; they're all in order. BEACONOFHOPE. And the other key, REMINISCENCE. We get the "not voting isn't a hoption" card again, and also what looks like the key to K's head. Before we can leave the room, though, the robot on the table gets up and tells us to wait. He sounds...British, I think, or maybe Irish? Not the "proper" stereotype of an Englishman, though; more Cockney. He doesn't seem terribly happy to have been given the personality he was given--calls the person who gave him that one a "tosser", which I'm pretty sure is an insult, though I'm not really up on my British slang. He identifies himself as Cooper, a gaulem. Alice mentions the mythical golem. Cooper says that he and his mates are spelled a bit differently. I guess they're still taking "Cooper" as a joke, because they ask what they can call him and get a Product ID, GTM-CM-G-OLM. They say it's too long, so he suggests they just take the last part...G-OLM. Golem. G-OLM says he knows all of us. This place is filled with hidden cameras. He goes on to say that his "brain" is in the mainframe, and the GAULEMs are like the hands and feet of the computer, separate from Zero Jr. He then launches into a hilarious story about a girl trapped in a room, forced to write responses to any question asked of her, and then she gets questions in Chinese, but there's a book with Chinese phrases. By copying down the answers to the questions, she's able to proceed, even though her answers aren't actually true. The point of the story was that the Chinese people outside the room didn't know about the books, so they'd think the person in the room actually spoke Chinese. So when something goes wrong with G-OLM's body, it sends a signal to the mainframe which is interpreted as pain, which, just like with when humans feel pain, means stop doing whatever caused it. Finally, he mentions that the reason he and his mates look like skeletons is because, in essence, they are. There's this artificial biological tissue, or ABT, that they're supposed to have over their metal skeletons, but they don't have that. He doubts we could tell the difference between a GAULEM and a real human even if one was right there in front of us. Suddenly he's interrupted by the announcer, which says a command violation is in process, and an emergency deactivation is performed. Was he about to say something he shouldn't have? Then an Ambidex Gate is opened.

Once again, Dio's the one who opened the gate, and once again, he didn't get the note. Clover, Quark, and Tenmyouji are still out there. Alice has disappeared, too... Just as I find her, the others arrive. Well, Tenmyouji and Clover, anyway; Quark's nowhere to be found. Wait, that's interesting...I remember a "pantry" being mentioned before, too, but I've never gone into one...right, it was when I went to the treatment center. One of the other teams went to the PEC, but the third went to the pantry, not the lab. Phi apparently has a huge appetite. Also, she's 20; Sigma thinks she looks 13, and can't believe she's only two years younger than him...which gets another response suggesting that his body is far older than 22. She added another thing that she'd forgotten to mention eating, and it's twice-cooked pork, which reminds Sigma of the story that the GAULEM told him. And now, Alice is dead in the crew quarters again. It's a knife rather than a scalpel this time. Clover runs off, Tenmyouji following her, and K says that Clover's unlikely to open up to anyone right now. Dio suspects K, of course, because he's as calm as ever, and K doesn't even care because he's grown accustomed to being suspected. Well, that means there will be no protesting my decision to ally... Dio points out how this helps Luna, because now she doesn't have to worry about killing Alice with a "betray" vote. Luna says she'd have picked Ally regardless, because she trusts me, and Dio says there'll be quite a show if one of us picks betray. Not happening, loser. Dio claims to be voting Ally. Phi isn't so sure, noting that if they pick Ally and K picks betray, he'd have 9 points, but if they pick betray and K picks Ally, Dio would have 9 points. Luna, of all people, suggests they should both promise to betray the other one. But Phi says she wants to get everyone out alive, or everyone that that's still possible for at any rate, and that means that everyone choosing betray all the time won't work. So she wants K's word that he'll ally, and then she'll promise to do the same. And then, dayumn! She tricks Dio and gets into the AB room alone! Dio lets off a stream of profanity in Phi's direction. He then runs into another room, but the announcer says "invalid pair detected" and that members of a pair cannot vote in separate rooms.

Phi's plan actually worked; she's at 7, as are Luna and I, and Dio and K are at 8. Quark's the leader at 9 and Clover and Tenmyouji bring up the rear at 4 each. Clover's kind of mad at Tenmyouji for betraying her, but he says that his own life is unimportant as long as he gets Quark out of here.

I'm a magenta pair now, along with...Phi again. K's a yellow pair; Luna's a green solo. Wait, that means I'm with her yet again! Phi and I speculate about the identity of Alice's killer, then check her bracelet. Clover beats us there, though. She claims to already know who killed Alice. Something she and Alice had both figured out. Clover's a cyan pair, and Alice is a blue solo--so her bracelet needs to join K. Well, Alice being a solo means she's an easy betrayal mark. We enter the rec room. Wait...Tenmyouji came here voluntarily? He sprays us with a bottle of luminol. Tenmyouji's a red solo, so he's with Clover. We find Dio in Warehouse B. He's already met with K and knows he's his partner. Aha, so that means Dio (8) and K (8) are up against Alice (dead and unable to vote betray). They could pick Ally and they'd be guaranteed escape. So then it makes the most sense for Phi (7) and Sigma (7) to Ally with Luna (7), and Phi knows it. Even her cynicism can't possibly think betraying Luna is a good idea. This could be the escapingest round yet.

We head back into the lounge, and the sun clock reminds Phi of the graffiti talking about the ninth lion eating the sun. Does the "lion" being illuminated by the sun clock count as another lion eating the sun? Because if so, I think we're up to four...Also, "Memento mori" means "remember death", or something to that effect. She also points out the misspelling in the graffiti. Phi goes to look at the spot Alice was looking at when last we saw her alive. There's blood, and a metal crane...oh, so that's how Zero dumped the old woman's body in the AB room!

...Wait. No. The crane moved...an entire AB room! The AB room that is currently the "leftmost"--the one the old woman was found in--was originally the rightmost! B-but...that's the one Luna was trapped in at the start! The murder weapon was likely the same for both murders...Ah, but we know she can't have been the killer, because we were with her the whole time! That would explain why Clover thought we were in league with the killer, though--because we're Luna's alibi! Suddenly we realize that it's 20 minutes past the scheduled meeting time. K comes out of the cyan door with bad news. Luna's been found dead in the same room Alice was found in. The murder weapon was an injection gun, armed with tubocurarine. Phi asks what took K so long, and he said he'd been trying to the best of his abilities to resuscitate her, though he couldn't provide artificial respiration with that mask. Also, Alice's murder weapon has vanished. Phi suddenly thinks she's figured something out. Wait, Quark's still missing! And without him, Tenmyouji and Clover will be penalized for not going through their door. Not enough time to look; we've got to hope he's already been found. K doesn't want to go through until everyone's here, but Dio's impatient, as we'll all die if none of us goes through. I'm actually with Dio on that one; better four of us survive than none. Clover and Tenmyouji couldn't escape this round anyway, whereas all four of us could do so without even needing to pick Betray. Dio says that he was blackmailed with the life of his kid; if he doesn't win, the kid is dead. I'm not sure if I believe him, but I don't care. Unfortunately, my in-game avatar is not of the same mind as I am. K then forces us through a door. We enter the security office. Three chairs: Green, yellow, red. Might have the feeds from all the hidden cameras. It's odd; right after I chose Ally, the flowchart was incredibly truncated--even moreso than the betray side. But now, it goes so long, there's another fork. Why is there a fork? As far as we know, there are probably only four participants remaining, and all four of them are pretty much guaranteed to reach 9 BP after the next Ambidex Game. Yeah, there's still technically a choice to be made, but what's the point of it? A switchbox for all the screens. Looks like, left to right, top to bottom...an AB room, Warehouse B, and Warehouse A; the Gaulem Bay, a room I've never seen with a pool table in it, and another unfamiliar room; what might be the crew quarters, the infirmary, and the lounge. Hmm, that bottom row is the three rooms that were waiting behind the first set of Chromatic Doors; maybe the rest of the crew went through those other two rooms in the middle row? In which case the one on the right is probably that pantry. A red button with a sun on it, in the mouth of a lion--five, I suppose. It's a light switch, and a set of shelves is lit up in the dark. I take note of the pattern. Same pattern on the opposite side, but with the colors reversed. There are items on that shelf, but I can't take them. Once the lights are on, I can. They're hourglasses with different-colored sand. I turn on another screen, but it needs a password and I have no clues.

Phi muses something about the green chair being in front of that screen. The steps have colored lines...from the bottom, it's red, magenta, cyan, yellow, green, blue. The other two chairs' screens are also easy enough to turn on, but... There's a 4 on the red-sand-hourglass and an 11 on the yellow-sand-hourglass. Phi supposes that's how many seconds it takes for all the sand to run through. Hmm...what could I be missing? I've only found two items that I can pick up, nothing for the archive, and very few things to interact with. I can switch the monitors on and off, but it doesn't seem to do anything.

ESDMAS

ADGB

SGDQNY

TISG

ZYKGLPE

TMJYUVGJ

Found those letters on the steps when the lights were out. But our passwords seem to need a full 12 letters...we've got 35 letters total, one short of enough to make three passwords. I definitely feel like I'm close...but I'm not really sure how to match the letters to the passwords, or what the hourglasses are for.

...Huh. So the 12 spaces was just to obscure the fact that the passwords aren't all the same lengths. The letters from the green step worked on the screen in front of the green chair. I solve a puzzle like the one behind Door #8, with considerably more ease (well, at least more ease than the one in Zero's lab; the first one had a strict four-move limit as well.) I turn on the overhead monitor. It says "I WAS YOU". Another puzzle, only slightly tougher. "WILL BE ME.". Okay, maybe the one in the center will clear it up. Better shut off all the camera feeds. This one's an hourglass puzzle. Based on the 4 and the 11 we know...okay, so hitting play after turning the hourglasses goes until one hourglass drains. Turning the two we already know over, draining the short one, and then turning Blue over results in blue and yellow draining together, so Blue is 7. Magenta is 15, again using only Yellow and Red as a gauge. Looks like Green might be 9...I tried draining it with Blue, then finishing it with Yellow. Sure enough, Blue plus Yellow = 2 Green--it's 9.

ME. BE I

WAS WILL EVERYTHING.

YOU KNOWS SHE

Time to unscramble? The period after "everything" means there are two sentences. Wait...not all words are needed? The unneeded words should be erased...but...oh, by turning on the screens! And it's the words on the other two screens, as little sense as they make as a single sentence. This gives me the safe password for the escape. But what's the secret password? ...Bah, I'll figure it out some other time, maybe with blindness off. Not surprisingly, there's nothing but the key and the Star Cards in the safe. Phi suddenly realizes that the security cameras might have footage of the past, too--something that can give us answers. Zero removed all the data, though. There's also GAULEM data...G-OLM is active?!?!? Oh, right, they only deactivated the body... he's got a log of K throwing us into the White door. It's kind of fuzzy, but it looks like my theory might be correct, and I'm surprised Sigma didn't notice. Uh-oh...suddenly everything's on fast-forward. Sigma's succumbing to Radical-6...he passes out and wakes up a few minutes later, and everything's back to normal. Phi found footage of K in the room where Alice and Luna were found, 1 minute before we met up with him. Luna and Clover come in, and Clover's interrogating Luna. They go off-screen, and Luna seems panicked, and then a panicked Clover leaves alone. Dio then comes in shortly afterwards...he was lying about having been in front of the Chromatic Doors the whole time. K shows up almost right afterwards; that's why Dio left in such a hurry. Oh...So this is my choice. Who killed Luna--Clover, or Dio? (K is also an option, but I'm almost certain it's not him.) Ah, but when Dio tried to get us to go through the door, he already knew Luna wouldn't be going in with us--that she was dead!

However, had he been the killer, he likely would've tried to cast suspicion off of himself by asking about her absence. That's why Phi thinks that my choice of Dio was wrong; that it was Clover. I'll admit, that's a distinct possibility. Jumping to conclusions and then murdering someone based on those conclusions is something that she's done in the past, albeit in a doomed timeline. Two, if you include the iOS port. Phi figures Clover got the injection gun in the infirmary. Ah, yes, I remember that injection gun. Tenmyouji said it was best to leave it where it was lest we stoke the fires of war. Kind of reminds me of a different gun that was taken by one person or another... Sigma wants to get a confession out of her, but Phi's unsure if she's even still alive. No one's in Warehouse A when we arrive, so we start searching. We search and search...and find Clover and Tenmyouji handcuffed to the sink in the infirmary; dead. Likely the penalty at work, but the handcuffs suggest that this was a murder, using the rules of the Nonary Game as the murder weapon. Quark's bracelet's there, too. Why leave it? Ah, right; even if you have a bracelet with 9 BP, as long as you have one with fewer BP, you won't be allowed through the #9 door. But as Phi points out, there's no proof that Quark's dead. He might've managed to get his bracelet off some other way. Phi wants to believe that he's alive. She checks Clover and Tenmyouji's bodies for clues and finds nothing, not even the bottle of luminol. There's something written in blood on Clover's thigh...depending on the angle, it could be 910, or 016, or perhaps the 6 is actually a b...if viewed in a mirror, it would look an awful lot like "dio". Phi thinks it's 016 and feels like she's seen it somewhere.

Wait...the missing bottle of luminol. There's more to that message than meets the eye! For some reason, we get the idea to go to the rec room...yeah, that is the room I saw, so the other room must have been the pantry. K and Dio are inside. K has an axe in the back of his head, and Dio's been pinned to the wall by a spear. This theoretically makes Quark our primary suspect, assuming there's no 10th person. Yet the methods of K and Dio's murders rule out someone as small as Quark...and also seemingly rule out suicide. Wait, but there was an unknown period of time when Phi and I were separated, sort of... Phi investigates Dio's body and finds a bloody knife. "Myrmidons" is engraved on the blade. Looks like he's probably Alice's killer, at the very least...and the blade fits the profile of the murder weapon for the old woman, too. And he also had K's headplug. Phi recognizes it for what it is, too, but the key won't open it with K in that status--it seems to be powered, and the axe shorted it out. And K had the luminol bottle. We check the room with the lights off. No luminol reaction...except Dio's left wrist. If Tenmyouji's reasoning was sound, that points to Dio as being Zero Sr. Phi figures Dio killed the other six victims, but K used the last of his strength to take Dio down with him. Then...An Ambidex Gate is opened! But how? And who? And why? The only other person not confirmed dead is Quark, who already has 9 BP, not that he's wearing his bracelet anyway. Well, the "how" is that Dio and K didn't have any Star Keys when Phi searched them. Phi wants to search one place in particular: the room K and Dio investigated. It's the director's office. Phi continues to point out Sigma's habit of asking before opening any door. Right, we never did input a username and password into the sun-lion computer, did we? Sigma thinks that this could be the ninth lion. He's remembering death...Alice's in particular. There's an option for input, but...I don't know the ID or password yet! 9 letters for each...the GAULEMs' product IDs were 9 letters long. But...

...I'm definitely still missing data. Would G-OLM's login even help us if we knew what it was? Wait, we've got a 9-letter password, too...Let's try login GTMCMGOLM, password BQZRGJDXR. ...Nope, no good. Looking at the data from the files, G-OLM's full name means "GAULEM Type Male - Cockney Model no. G-OLM". So, the Product IDs actually have meanings... Well, without the ability to log in, it's nothing but a To Be Continued. Oh...the branch is past the TBC; I need that data to finish this route. Best to pick up a stray branch. No Schroedinger's choices here--everyone else performs the same as when I allied in the second AB Game. Luna gets mad, as expected, and joins Tenmyouji in searching for Quark. Okay, so this time she doesn't go off on her own...and this time all three of us split up when it's just me, K, and Phi. Tenmyouji finds Quark, anesthetized but fine, but Tenmyouji is extremely hostile to me for betraying Luna. He wants to have Quark escape. So, that's how it ends...with an unconscious boy "opening" the number nine door. This only avoids being pointless by virtue of telling me which route I'm on once I get this bad ending. Yep, as expected, it's Luna's. So, there's only one branch left on this portion of the tree. Which choice will get vetoed: taking Clover, thereby sending Luna with Phi and Dio and K with Tenmyouji and Quark? Or taking K, sending Luna with Tenmyouji and Quark and Clover with Phi and Dio? I choose to go with Clover, and K stops me. K it is, then. Maybe that's not so bad...Clover's as ruthless as K, so she and Dio/Phi facing each other might not be much of a worry. The only worrying possibility is, of course, Tenmyouji betraying Luna to get Quark to 9 BP again. Guh...Come to think of it, I've now gone through at least one door with everyone, haven't I? Into the Rec room it is... Zero III's here again, this time in the form of a kiddie ride. Sigma says that with the lounge, sleeping quarters, and rec room, it seems almost like a luxury cruise liner. >_> A poster of billiard balls...Alice makes a Dragonball reference. Another deer head; three frames, the center of which is locked and contains an item while the other two have round indentations. A jukebox that probably needs a code. We can take one weapon from the suits of armor, but have to swap to get any more. Another poster, this one with darts instructions. A scrap of felt, and luminol bottles. Also billiard balls, but they're unpainted. An extension cord near the ride, which we take because the ride doesn't need one to reach the outlet. The coin slot for the ride is lion-shaped. 6. I fit the felt into a bare spot on the pool table, but...this isn't what I expected when I used the billiard balls on it. Wait, I can take all the weapons if I switch to an empty spot first. I give the second suit an axe to smash the third suit's shield and claim an allen wrench. I use the extension cord to plug in the jukebox. Spraying the table with luminol showed which pocket matches which letter, but...which ball matches which letter? It takes a little trial and error since each color has two possibilities, but it's pretty simple. This yields a container with dart tips, but there are no darts, and still no coins for the jukebox or kiddie ride. I turn the spotlights on and the main lights off and discover that the spotlights in front of the stage are fakes, as the statues themselves are not illuminated despite their apparent shadows. But what does it mean? What purpose does it serve? All hints seem to suggest it's relevant, but...I'm once again at a loss.

Examining the pool cue reveals that it has a hexagonal hole in the tip. I end up giving the trident to the kneeling suit of armor and can't take it back, so I must have accidentally done something right...but I still don't know what. I end up finding myself able to give any weapon back to a suit except the pool cue, but unable to take any of them again. Wait...an allen wrench uses hexagonal holes! Combining the two gives me a key with a circular tip, perfect for examining the insides of the coin-operated Zero III. Plenty of coins with an image of the sun on them, but they can't even fit our round indentations. Well, I guess it's time to activate the ride. K decides to ride it. Ah, it even takes a picture! So now we have a photo of K riding a mechanical bunny. On the back, it says Z9 D1. Putting those numbers into the jukebox gets us a pair of gold records, which when framed on the wall opens the center frame. This gets us a dart case, which we can use to make darts. Target score 91...let's go 51, 18, 22. Doesn't work? ...Oh! The score for each area must have a relationship with the other areas...so toss them in the 13 area, either 39-26-26 or 39-39-13. ...Nope. Maybe they all have to be the same color...

Red: 9, 13, 18, 21, 22, 34

Green: 7, 8, 11, 12, 24, 26, 27, 51

Blue: 6, 14, 16, 17, 18, 20, 33, 39, 60

I see 60+17+14. No good. Oh...it said on the case: Red --> Blue --> Green. I try my first combo in a different order, to no avail. Or did it say Red > Blue > Green? 91/3 is greater than 30, so only 34 would work...34+33=67, 67+24 = 91. It works! ...And gets us the secret password. I rush to put it in so I can get the gold file, in case I have to switch to easy to escape the room. Clearly it has something to do with those fake shadows...Fine, I'm switching to easy so someone will tell me what the fuck that means. No one will. Okay, what are all the combinations adding up to 91?

60+24+7

60+22+9

60+20+11

60+18+13

60+17+14 (already tried)

51+34+6

51+33+7

51+27+13

51+26+14

51+24+16

51+22+18 (already tried)

51+20+20

39+39+13 (already tried)

39+34+18

39+26+26

34+33+24..oh, right, that got me the first password.

...that's all. I try doing the 20-40-60 shown in the demo poster, to no avail. I try three bullseyes, likewise without success. The Easy mode clues only tell me things I already know. ...The red one is the smallest, and the green one is the largest. But then the marks invert that, like I surmised...Well, let's try using the actual sizes.

Red: 18 or 21

Blue: 14, 16, or 18

Green: 7, 8, or 11

Can't get more than 50 that way... The easy mode hints just keep pointing me towards what I already figured out in hard mode hint-free. Well, one more thing to try; I'm not even sure they'll allow me to do it...nope. "51+40+0" is not an option.

...Crap. I missed 40 when writing down all of my options! Even though I obviously knew it was there, since I tried to do 51+40+0. 40 being green as well means my theory of turning it around so that green > blue > red, which I'd hoped to get with the 51 and couldn't, is still on the table.

40+39+12...nope, 12 is green

40+34+17...nope, 34 is red, 17 blue.

40+33+18...bingo, there's a red 18 out there.

So I had it right all along; I just screwed myself over when trying to recap what I knew. I'm so ashamed that I had to consult a walkthrough to remind me of the 40. No bonus prizes here. Now, ''what was the point of the spotlights being fake?!?!?!?! ''As expected, Dio opens the Ambidex Gate prematurely. Huh, they went to the treatment center this time...so, there's little rhyme or reason to which path forks which way when, only that Sigma goes through a different room on each of the nine routes.

Dio took the neostigmine injection gun from the treatment center. Quark disappears again. What the...Alice and Luna have both already been killed as per Luna's route. The usual round of accusations. Clover wants to stay, but Phi points out that if she stays there and automatically allies, Dio could get to 9 points. K tries to convince me to pick ally and says that escaping on his own is not his primary goal; he only picked betray in round 1 because the prospect of getting betrayed and falling to 1 BP was too unappealing, but with 6 there's more room for error. Working towards leaving as a group is most palatable. Hmm...betraying in round 2 always seems to lead straight to a bad ending, but with only 5 BP for myself and 6 for my opponent, Allying seems more like the one that would lead to a bad ending. Well, bad endings are nice and quick, so Ally it is. Yep, as expected; K betrayed me and reached 9, and Quark's also at 9 because Luna couldn't vote against him and Tenmyouji. Phi/Dio and Clover betrayed each other, of course. This game's so predictable...Time to see whose route this was. K's, as I thought. Ironic that you'd have to betray him to get his good ending... Well, he still picked betray this way. He even admits that he's not exactly trustworthy...if he is the villain, he's more the "Affably Evil" type. I'm the blue solo; Phi and K are the magenta pair (so, my partners/opponents); Dio's a green solo; Tenmyouji and Clover the cyan pair (also going through a door together). That means...Quark, who's missing at the moment and already has 9 BP, would have to go through his Chromatic Door alone, using the bracelets of the two dead participants. I sense a bad ending--Quark's dead if we don't find him, and I think Tenmyouji would sooner send him out the #9 door alone than into a Chromatic Door alone. Yep, Alice and Luna are the yellow pair, so Quark's the red solo.

Oh, wait, I messed that up. Green goes with magenta; red with cyan; yellow with blue. So I'm with dead and deader; Phi and K are with Dio; Tenmyouji and Clover are with Quark. I suggest that there is the possibility of a tenth man, because if Zero Sr. wanted us dead, he could've just killed us when we were unconscious. We pair up to look for Quark. No one wants Dio, so Phi says she'll do it just to stop the arguments. K goes with me, so Tenmyouji and Clover are together. We head to the infirmary...wait, the old lady had a bracelet on! There's a clear gap in the bloodstain!

...The tenth man is already among us. The old lady was meant to be one of the nine participants, but she was killed and her bracelet was taken and used to masquerade as a participant in the Nonary Game. Now, if only we knew why someone would do something so mad.

Dio seems the most suspicious. He's quite desperate to "win" this game, which to him means locking everyone else in here. Oh! That's why Tenmyouji was checking everyone's bracelets with luminol! And we already learned that Dio's bracelet had blood on it...and when Dio asked the other way to get a bracelet off besides escaping, Zero III said "I think you already know, B.O." Dio is the impostor; I'm sure of it. Sigma realizes that the luminol could identify the killer and he and K make a plan to have everyone gather in the rec room. I'm thinking Phi's theory of Dio and K killing each other in Luna's route makes sense, although there are still some mysteries out there. Huh...when we go through the Green Door, both the door to the treatment center and the door to the GAULEM bay are open. G-OLM isn't on his bed, though. The safe's open...K wonders who opened it. Quark's in a pod, no bracelet...I bet Phi's plan from Clover's route actually worked here, since I heard that Quark's the one player who we never explicitly see die.

K thinks Quark's probably ill, so he thinks we should leave him where he is and bring the others here. We meet with Dio and Phi, and tell them what we found. Dio says he's happy that Quark's alive, though he doesn't sound very sincere. Neither of them know why the GAULEM bay is open. We take them into the rec room to test their bracelets. Dio jerks his arm back when I spray it and refuses to show me his arm, even when I say that I'm trying to prove his innocence...he breaks for the door, but K stops him. He's the killer, alright. He says he was under orders; sent here to do...something. He's quite vague...and he swears that the old lady was the only person he killed. Phi asks if there's somewhere we can lock him. K suggests one of the other treatment pods. We lock him away and look for Clover and Tenmyouji. Still 50 minues left... K wonders if, like the door to the GAULEM bay, someone made one of the White doors open and Clover and Tenmyouji are already inside with Quark's bracelet. K and I go searching while Phi stays in case they get back on their own. In the lounge, K mentions that he's remembered something...his father. Sigma asks, "When dad you remember that? Did it just pop up out of nowhere?" K says not to joke. He says he was raised in the facility where his father worked. We're shown a graphic of a child in K's armor and cloak, which is kind of cute but also kind of disturbing. He didn't allow K to go near him while he was working, but the only time he wasn't working was when he was sleeping. As K read his books, he realized that not having a mother was odd, and so he asked his father for one. His father said "Okay", but a few months later, he called K into his laboratory and introduced him to...a female robot (a GAULEM?). That wasn't what K wanted, but when he told his father that he didn't want a mother who was just a machine that did what a human told her to, he called K "a whiner". The robot seemed sad that K ignored it, but K says that that's just what it was programmed to do. After that, he'd stopped expecting anything from his father. When he was 18, he left his room to find an actual human woman. At first K thought it was a robot, but she just laughed and explained she'd come to help him. She was quite mysterious; far older than K, but almost girlish in her behavior. He eventually discovered that she'd known his father when they were young. She told him stories of how he'd fallen in love when he was younger, and K began to imagine that the person he'd fallen in love with was her and she was secretly his mother. At her suggestion, K joined his father in research and found he had a passion for it. Four years later, he overheard the two of them speaking in the lab, and the woman said she planned to give her life for her ideals, and it was obvious that she meant this literally. K begged his father to stop, but both he and the woman refused to listen. She'd been prepared to die from the moment she'd arrived. K tried to research a way to save her, but he discovered far more than he bargained for, including that his own existence was part of his father's project; he was intended as his father's "spare", to continue the project if his father died. So he decided to destroy everything. But the woman saw through him, and his father locked him in his room until the project was complete. He wondered if her pushing him to join his father's research wasn't just part of the plan to mold him into his father's spare. K begged her to leave, but she said there was someone very special to her who had saved her life once, and she felt her death would help repay that favor. Gee, I wonder who that could be...she said she'd like nothing more but to marry that person and live a happy, normal life together, but for his sake, she couldn't. She said beyond what we could see was a future where no one would have to die.

He said he wasn't interested in that future, and shut himself away from the world, and maybe that's why he lost his memory. Then K asks if he can lay down, as he's not feeling well. Phi decided to stop waiting and was right outside the lounge. Phi asks how I'm feeling, and I say I'm surprised I haven't lost my sanity already, given what we're going through. We hear a knocking in the hallway. The elevator doesn't open right away, so it's obviously downstairs. Phi wants to check the treatment center. Quark's still where we left him, and Dio's pod is still locked...but when we open it, Dio's dead! His hands were around his neck, like the universal sign for choking. Someone must've tampered with the pod's oxygen levels...we head back to see K, to tell him. We wake him up. K points out that Phi has no alibi, either. 7 minutes left. K gives me Alice and Luna's bracelets and heads to grab Dio's. K returns...Dio's bracelet has been smashed! I suspect Tenmyouji, though I'm not sure how he knows Dio was the killer in this timeline. While I can't confirm it yet, Tenmyouji's reactions combined with K's story about his past make me suspect that the old woman who Dio murdered was none other than Akane Kurashiki. If so, K's father might actually be Zero Sr. But if Zero III was telling the truth about one of the nine being Zero Sr....well, it's not Tenmyouji, so the only one old enough is...Sigma. What a tomato in the mirror that'd be. But enough idle speculation. Smashing the bracelet likely cripples Phi and K's ability to get past the secondary door. Phi tells me to go on ahead, even knowing that her life is likely about to end.

...Hah! It looks like this time, I already had accessed the proper route to be allowed to continue. Because I've already done Clover's route, Sigma knows what neostigmine does, and is therefore allowed to save Phi and K. Only problem is, Clover confiscated the injection gun...no, wait, Dio snatched it back! He still had it! Sigma doesn't get back in time, though...now all three will be penalized. Sigma injects Phi with the neostigmine. Wait...K's mask's lock is set to open. He was the one who took the key from the GAULEM Bay...he escaped his armor. But...how...he's Dio's killer, but why? He left his armor behind when he laid down. He made the noise to distract us so he could return to his armor. Oh, right...he cared about the old woman, too. This was a revenge killing. He confirms it, and also that this was where he was raised. He said he made a promise to tell me something; something I must not forget. Sigma's confused, as he's about to die...clearly K means I have to remember it in the next timeline.

"If you see a lion with two heads devouring the sun, remember... Remember these letters. MIL KEV OLI. This will open the second gate". The password for Luna's path. But what's the user ID? I remove the mask and come face to face with...myself. That confirms it, then. Sigma is K's father.

Damnit, gotta wait out these credits again. I still can't finish Luna's path, so next is to betray Luna at the first fork. That should team me with Clover for the second Chromatic Door...whose path would that be? I figure Alice's will be down the fork where I go through the first Chromatic Door with her, so that leaves Dio's, Phi's, and...my own? I'm not really sure...doesn't seem right for Dio's or Phi's, so...perhaps it's the mystery ninth path.

Alice isn't as understanding about Clover betraying her as she was when I'd allied with Luna. I fast-forward to the Chromatic Doors. Yep, I'm with Clover. Hmm...actually, having Clover and Alice at the same time; it could be Alice's path. Well, I'm sure we'll find out soon enough.

Finally, Sigma gets to enter the pantry. Clover misread the sign on the door as "Panty" and was wondering who'd ever need so much underwear. Thank you, Clover, for being a remnant of 999. All of the VLR-originals either have no humor or resort to puns. Okay, 999 had plenty of puns, too, but few quite so tortured. Alice won't let this "panty" thing go. Clover asks how long she's going to tease her about this. Sigma says it's time to search this room...I'll admit, I had some perverted thoughts just then. Four empty containers; two labeled basic water, one neutral water, and one acidic water. Dates from a day calender. Empty beaker; button parts; file...I unlock the wheels on a cabinet, but still can't move it. I get a metal piece from a drawer, then I get the drawer itself, labeled Waaaaarm Drawer. The metal piece combines with the button parts to make a button, which I put in the ice machine and oh god it's going to be a sliding puzzle isn't it? Oh good I can use the D-Pad too. ID card in the ice cube...oh, there are more wheel locks. Another binder and a pH tester chemical. I fill up the beaker with water and test it. 0 yields pH 6. The drawer warms up the ice cube. Oh, so now I have to fill up the containers properly! ...And get the rations for those five days. And...bingo. Figured out how this machine works. It's slightly more intuitive than the Heart of Gold's Nutri-Matic drink dispenser, though considerably less so than the Enterprise's replicators. Green password get...wait, we don't even get the blue password from the same device as the green one this time? ...Oh, right. "The day the man was kidnapped." And 2028 is a leap year, just like the year alleged here...the dates match up. The calendar is of 2028. I input 12/25 in and get the secret password. No bonus prizes... though my secret files are quite interesting. I learn of a "Brother" who founded "Free the Soul", who decided to take revenge on the human race after his younger brother was murdered. Free the Soul is like some religious cult, like the type Alice and Clover might be investigating. The Myrmidons are the elite frontline soldiers of Free the Soul, and rumors say they all have the same face, suggesting that they're all clones of a single person. Is Dio a Myrmidon, which would make "Brother" the person who ordered him to kill the old woman? Or is the amnesiac K, who may very well be a clone (of Sigma), the Myrmidon? Also, more variations on Zero III's parting words, including...Have a nice trumpet? Speaking of which, time to quickly pop over to the GAULEM Bay and grab those last few pieces of secret file. But...it still only says Archives 13/14. It's not the only one seemingly incomplete, but...oh. Probably just means I missed a "hint" piece that goes in the Archive folder. Quark's missing again. Tenmyouji and I check the PEC. ...I don't like this grumpy old man Junpei. I can still see some of the young hero I know, but he's gone bitter. Phi's bringing us to the crew quarters in a panic...I think I know what that means by now. Yep, it's both of them. Dio seems shocked. Dio suggests that Clover had motive for Alice's murder, and Tenmyouji points out that Dio has motive as well, for Luna's, and then Dio suggests that Quark could be the murderer, or another victim. He's just trying to get a rise out of Tenmyouji, I think. Let's see, with Luna dead and Phi and Dio both at 6 BP, there's nothing keeping them here. Looks like I need to betray Clover to get to 9 points. Clover seems really out of it...it reminds me of when we thought Light was dead. Phi goes up to me and tells me to betray Clover so I can come with them, because she and Dio are going to escape. She knows Dio won't stick around, so if I want to get out, I need those points now. Yep, Dio route confirmed.

"Talk to Clover? I'd have about as much luck talking to a potato right now". Okay, so Phi is at least bearable. Phi says she wants me to come with her, because she "knows I'm important. Somehow." Okay then, maybe there's a chance of Phi route. Okay, Ally for the quick game over, then Betray Clover for the continued route. (So hard not to make panty jokes right now.) Dio doesn't even wait for the results to head to the number 9 door. We didn't even get to see the results...Tenmyouji runs off to look for Quark, as Clover, K and I stare at the #9 door. Yep, it's a Dio route. Betrayal is the answer, then. Phi only stopped Dio because she wanted to see the results first. Huh...Quark/Tenmyouji actually allied with K? I'm surprised Tenmyouji didn't pick Betray to get Quark's BP up to 9. But then again, Quark's missing right now, and Tenmyouji knows Dio wouldn't wait...Clover's furious. But this is how it has to be. Unfortunately, Dio undermines my point by making a huge evil speech. Through the door...I'm on the other side of the #9 door.

...What the...we're back in the PEC? Oh, no, it's a different one. This is to prep us for exiting, due to the pressure difference. Ah...and now Dio does what all villains do: He reveals his motives. He thinks he's a hero, though, sent from far away to save mankind. The moon's red and we're in a desert. Oh, no, she's seeing timelines. Dio's disappeared. Phi says we need to find him because he needs to tell her something, and seems confused by Sigma's questions...I must not have made this jump. Phi confronts him--the distance makes it hard to get everything, but it seems my guess was right. Dio's a member of Free the Soul. He's a Myrmidon. She wants the deactivation code for the #0 bomb. I get there just in time to save Phi from Dio. 78153 61098 83809 42419 90551. She wonders where the key is, and Dio starts laughing, because that is the key, and it's the message it decodes that's elsewhere. Exposition time. He refers to it as a sacred religious order, though he admits that from a certain point of view, they could be called terrorists. Brother's younger brother was known as "Left". Left's death was ruled a suicide, but in fact, the killer bribed the police to cover up the truth. Brother was 16 at the time, and came to the realization that mankind was corrupted by greed; 10 years later, Free the Soul of Y (later shortened to Free the Soul) was born. His "new species" was born of human cloning. The first ten clones, born a year later, were the first generation of Myrmidons; Dio comes from the fourth. They're clones of Left. There's still some variation, and Dio was considered quite skilled. The only time he'd ever been punished for breaking their laws was when he came in contact with...women. "Unclean Ones", as it were. Dio was out to prove his loyalty to Brother; hence the importance of his mission. And then he starts praying. "Oh holy father, holy Brother, holy master. My sacred mission is at last complete. I am your will made flesh. In your name, I give thanks." Phi demands the password. It's LXA QNS GDQ. Dio gives it up since it won't do her any good. Yeah, in this timeline it won't... We follow Dio to a shelter, and Sigma wonders if the moon had always been so large. I think...maybe I have what I need for Quark's path? Nope. All that's left is to pick up the last few paths.

Chapter 17: The Darkness of the Sinister Hand (Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward--to True Ending)
Clover's disappointed about being with Tenmyouji, because he's so old, and he says he's as spry as he was when he was 20. Something Clover would know about, right? Sigma says they don't have time for this, and Tenmyouji says that Clover will be getting an earful for this later and calls her "young lady". Clover brushes it off with a "yeah, yeah, whatever." It's so funny seeing them interact like this given the last game. We head into the crew quarters and split up, Phi going to Room 04 and Alice to Room 02. In Room 01, Sigma finds the book on Schröedinger’s Cat, which he finds purrrrrecious. Triangle, leaf, triangle, fox. He moves the book to on top of the safe. Also a phone-like thing that needs a password, so we’re done here. Room 03 is handcuffed shut, so it’s time to see how Phi’s doing. There’s another phone in here, and a scratch-off naughty poster. Another box like the locked one in 01, needing a 4-digit PIN. Three, center, bottom, three, and half a key. Chalk outline of a body with a tear at the right ankle. Time to visit Alice now. Middle, three, three, three, and the other half of the key. This one’s outline has the tear at the left wrist. I unlock Room 03. Boxcutter, and…I’m not even sure how to describe the clue here. Top, top and bottom, top and bottom, check-mark, three, middle and bottom. Right shoulder this time…was there one in Room 01, too? Yeah. Left knee. Oh, right, boxcutter might be able to scratch the poster! Nope; it’d tear it apart. I suspect the lines are clues to the cabinets or whatever they are, but I don’t know what they mean. Wait, the one in Room 03 wasn’t locked! Combining the large roll of aluminum foil with the box cutter made “aluminum foil (shapes)”, and didn’t expend either of the two materials to create it. I use it in the glass drawer in Room 01 to reveal circle, star, diamond, triangle. I then combine the roll of aluminum foil with the boxcutter three more times to create three more carved sheets, finally exhausting it. The clue from Room 03 is LOCKER. Room 02 is 4985, and the locker has a small cassette tape. Room 04’s is 3472, and it has a wallet with a toy coin. That’ll scratch the poster. 1 in a circle under the left wrist; 6 in a star on the right forearm; 8 in a diamond on the left leg; 9 in a triangle on the right ankle. Phi yells at Sigma for continuing to scratch at the naughty bits. There’s still no key for the locker in Room 01, though, and no amount of fiddling with the phones gets anything. There’s something in the tape deck of it, but I can’t get the lid open. I end up putting the tape in Room 03’s machine, but now how do I call that room? Oh, right, there are internal line buttons. Room 03’s doesn’t work, but when I call the other two, I get their displays to reveal something. 25** on Room 02’s; and **92 for Room 04’s, though Phi, weirdo that she is, initially says Agricola instead of asterisk. I dial 2592 and am connected to Zero III. Or rather, I’m listening to the tape, as 2592 is in fact the number for Room 3. He tells me to look at the left screen above the phone, and because of reflections, it reads 2652. That opens the tape deck on this phone, and I get the metal pin. “1689” doesn’t unlock the locker, though. Wait…the star and triangle both had a vertex at 12 o’clock in the foil, but on the poster, there’s one at 6 o’clock. It’s 1986! That opens the safe for the escape. Alice asks about the book, setting off Sigma’s tic again. Ah, but by opening the safe…I’ve locked myself out of the rooms. So no getting the secret passcode. I escape and immediately jump back. …Bingo. Dialing 1986 into the phone in Room 01 gives me another mirror display on the left: 9861. Files get. Now, I decided to do Alice’s route before Phi’s or Sigma’s (?), so that probably means allying here. This is the most BP Alice has had all game. Wow, it even changes it if I don’t move the book.

I’m guessing “EU” in Tenmyouji’s dirty old man slang means “erotic units”. Wait…what the…Sigma’s time hax activated again. We don’t find the old woman’s corpse on this route! That means we all lock our AB Room doors with plenty of time left. Zero III leaves with 30 minutes on the clock and specifically tells us not to do something harebrained and wait till the last minute. Hmm…Phi explains the Prisoner’s Dilemma in full. She also points out that due to the way the points are structured, if everyone chooses ally, it’s better for the group as a whole than if anyone chooses betray. All choosing ally means +2 to all nine players--+18 as a whole. If everyone betrays, it’s 0 points…although actually, a solo betraying a pair is a net of -1 points. Phi and Sigma start arguing, and Sigma gets a flood of memories that probably wouldn’t have been there if this was my first route…although, some of them I’m a tad fuzzy on the familiarity of. Huh…yeah, that’s a timeline I haven’t been to yet. The bombs going off… Ally time.

…Something very weird is happening. Alice betrayed us, and is leading with 6 points along with K and Clover…yes, just K and Clover. Dio, Quark, and Luna are at 5 points each. Dio actually chose ally of his own free will! Quark says that Dio wanted to pick betray, though…and then he said that he was lying, and Dio never said that. Dio seems different…perhaps that womanizing side we learned about got the better of him? Tenmyouji is calm about being betrayed, and Clover’s surprised he was so nice about it. Luna and I are the yellow pair; Alice is the yellow solo. Phi’s the magenta solo, and Dio and Tenmyouji are the magenta pair. K and Quark are the cyan pair, and Clover’s the cyan solo. Hmm…looks like this is the non-branching side. It’s all ladies in the lounge, and Sigma jokes about being in the VIP room. Clover offers him a drink, and Sigma says she better not be underage. She claims to have just turned 21 the other day. I don’t think that’s correct, but neither is this game because oddly enough, you can usually serve alcohol at age 18…among other things, and Clover was 18 last game so she’s about 19 here. (Well, except for having been in cold sleep for a few decades.) Sigma says that it’d probably be okay to have a drink…but now’s not the time to be getting wasted. Clover says this seems like the type of thing that makes people want to drink in the first place. Sigma says that he still has a headache, and Phi and Luna mention having had headaches too, and then Clover says that while she hasn’t had any headaches, her whole body feels “weird”. I’d be happy to give her a second opinion…but that’s probably another hint at the whole cold sleep thing. Sigma says he feels numb, too. His whole body feels numb and foreign. (That’s because it may not be yours, or perhaps it is yours but from a much later part of the timestream than your brain is from.) Phi says she knows what he’s talking about. Luna suggests it’s because of the anesthetic gas. In the crew quarters, Sigma tells K and Quark about Schröedinger’s Cat, and Quark tries to mimic Sigma’s tic. Quark then tells them about the article on Radical-6. In the infirmary, Alice is being shallow, and Dio and Tenmyouji call her out on it. So much for wanting to do her route. Then she mentions needing to avenge her father’s murder. Okay then…Alice denies Clover being her coworker, and mentions meeting her in the desert, but doesn’t elaborate and then decides that she shouldn’t be the only one answering questions.

Tenmyouji sidesteps the Quark question and says he’s a garbage collector, and Dio claims to be a circus ringleader, 50 people traveling around the world, founded by his grandfather’s grandfather. He became the ringleader at a young age after his father, a trapeze artist, missed on a quadruple flip, at about age 40. This story is, of course, lies, but still interesting, and his outfit does look like a ringleader’s—I honestly don’t know why I initially said he was wearing a cowboy hat; it’s clearly a top hat. We talk about the others, and I learn that Clover’s cover story is that she’s still working as a bartender or waitress or whatever, like she did when she and Light first left home. Quark then breaks in, panicked. There’s a bomb in the crew quarters! 03. I saw this bomb in the flash-sideways in the AB room…but I don’t know how to defuse a #03 bomb, only a #00 or #01 bomb. Alice seems pretty sure that it’s a remote detonator, and not a dead-man switch, either. Also, it’s an anti-matter bomb, using annihilation energy. Quark asks what Annie Hill Nation is, and Alice says she’d have thought he’d know, since his name is Quark. Phi explains what antimatter is. Quark doesn’t get it, and Phi tries to use an analogy with men and women. It…doesn’t really work for me, but Quark gets it—in this analogy, the annihilation energy is a baby. Only 350 mg each of matter and antimatter would produce enough energy to equal the Hiroshima bomb. Luckily, this is probably using anti-hydrogen, so there’s only 25 µg of material in there. That’s a relative term, though, because even that’s about as much explosive power as a ton of TNT. Alice points out that if this place is big enough, we might be able to escape the blast, but K points out that since the bomb is numbered 03, there are probably at least two other bombs out there. Dio wants to move it, but Alice says that would be dangerous, and points to a port where we could connect an input device for a deactivation password. Anyway, it’s time to go to the chromatic doors. Alice puts things to a vote, and Luna and I end up with Alice. Two plaques showing? The rec room and… B. Garden? I knew a B. Garden back in middle school. He was a bully and I was his favorite victim, except that arrangement was only slightly more valid in the absence of cohorts than the one with the cheerleader. (Look it up on the wiki if you don’t remember. Chapter 7.) Luna pulls the lever. Yeah, it’s a garden alright… lots of greenery, and a waterfall. A Zelkova tree; the safe, and a circular indentation with a butterfly-shaped hole. Shovel, bronze key, socket wrench…bell pepper with a yellow coin in it. Silver key under a flowerpot. Tomatoes and cucumbers, too. Bronze chest on the hill; silver near the mushrooms; gold by the…flowers? A tombstone that says Tu fui, ego eris. Keyhole inside. Metal detector, and there’s the skunk cabbage hiding the gold box. Bench wth just enough room for two, and Sigma looks at Luna. Gold key and a knife on a scale; torn scrap of paper in the gold box. Also a piece of metal in the drawer in the scale, and it combines with what I thought was a socket wrench to make a lever handle. Oh, for the circular indentation at the start! And that turns off the daytime. It is now nighttime in our indoor garden.

Huh. What do you know. It’s Star River. Red’s the biggest and furthest downriver; green’s the smallest and is next; yellow’s in the middle in both size and location; blue’s the second largest and purple, the second-smallest, is furthest upstream. Collecting stars is all there is to do in the dark, so I bring out the sun and start digging for more boxes. Huh…there was a pole near the red star, but in the day, the pole is gone and a, um…well, I guess it could charitably be called the seventh lion. 1331223. That stops the waterfall. Four indentations, and only one coin so far. The metal detector reacts with a cucumber, so I cut it up and get a green coin. It does the same for an onion and a tomato, yielding similar coins…right; the yellow pepper already being broken was a clue for the other three. I start putting coins in slots, and…whoa, I actually got a decent hint on hard mode! Alice suggests weighing the coins, since they have less-than signs and must be arranged by weight. Green is heavier than white, which is heavier than red, which is the lightest. Green is the heaviest, and yellow is also heavier than white. Nine stars…I’ll touch the five we saw in the various orders.

Largest to smallest: RBYPG

Running downstream: PBYGR

Both were the correct orders, rather than the reverse thereof. Size was the secret password; location was the exit password.

I decide to check my files, and confirm my suspicions about EU. It ranges from 0 to 20, with 20 being Marilyn Monroe and 0 being Gilbert Gottfried—though it says that for those who are curious, Danny Trejo rates a 16. Just being “sexy”does not guarantee a high EU rating. The EU system weighs a number of factors like practicality, sustainability, emotional investment, and the bias of the observer. Women with a high EU rating are usually masters of the tease. *coughClovercough* There’s also a weird story about Sigma’s tic being the result of a magical black cat’s curse, mitigated by a white magical cat, as a result of him revealing his ability to understand the cats at the Cat Mansion, bestowed upon him by the black cat for giving his food to them. There’s some interesting suggestions for the phone in the crew quarters, too, like 5309 and 6969. Tu fui, ego eris means “What you are, I was; what I am, you will be.” It’s common on gravestones because it implies that the person was once alive and the reader will one day be dead. The IG replicator was actually for immunoglobulin, and Gentarou Hongou is a follower of Free the Soul. There’s something on integer factorization, too. In with the exit key… “Nevada test site; Rhizome 9; A, B, C, D, E”. E is red. Also a note explaining what the secret file just taught me; IG is immunoglobulin. I think it’s jump time, but not just to try out the phone. We run into Phi, Tenmyouji, and Dio right away; they’d been in the treatment center. What the…knowing what IG is doesn’t unlock Quark’s good ending? As expected, 6969 is a phone sex line at $24.95 a minute, and 5309 connects to “Jenny”. We visit the treatment center, and Alice snipes at Dio even though he’s been surprisingly civil this run. Tenmyouji threatens to put one or both of them in a pod if they don’t cool it.

When mentioning the fact that three people were frozen in cold sleep, Tenmyouji says that Alice probably wasn't one of them because you wouldn't need cold sleep to freeze her, mentioning that she's made of Ice-9. He claims Clover told him that, but we know where he really learned that...myth. Alice mentions having been mistaken for the legendary Egyptian Queen "All-Ice", but says that both the mummy and Ice-9 are just urban legends and that Clover was probably messing with him, if she even said anything at all. Tenmyouji's pretty insistent...I wonder why Alice doubted that Clover was the one who told him? After all, the alternative would be that they'd met before...which, while true, is not something Alice should realize unless she knows she'd been in cold sleep. The six of us enter Warehouse B and find the white doors, then head back to Warehouse A. Quark's collapsed again, and K was worried when we didn't return. Tenmyouji reacts as expected. When Luna reveals that it's Radical-6, Tenmyouji says that's not possible...does he know something? When Luna says that it needs Axelavir to treat, Tenmyouji asks if the infirmary has it, and when Dio says they didn't find any, he tells him to shut up because he doesn't trust a word Dio says and asks Luna again, who confirms that Dio's telling the truth. Again, as much of an asshole as Dio is on other routes, he really hasn't done anything villainous yet on this route. Sigma gets the idea to try putting Quark in a treatment pod, and then Quark wakes up and has his suicidal breakdown. Hahaha...this happened before the second set of Chromatic Doors on Tenmyouji/Clover/Quark's branch, and yet here it is happening after they're done.

"They can't lock away the soul! Once my body's gone, my soul can escape!" Quark said this on the other routes, too, but it didn't mean anything to me then. So Radical-6 is a designer virus created by Free the Soul that can make people essentially convert to their cultish religion? I told you it was scary... Tenmyouji initially objects to the use of Soporil-beta to calm him down, even though he knows full well that Soporil is harmless, if powerful. I mean, it's not like someone in this very room once killed someone else in this very room by injecting them with Soporil in a doomed timeline, right? ...Right, that actually did happen, but the cause of death wasn't the Soporil itself; it was drowning. But the timeline's not done being screwy! Normally Alice succumbs to Radical-6 just after the second AB game (although I believe that on Luna's route, it happens before the voting), she starts freaking out right now about the terrorists resorting to biological warfare and killing everyone, and she's got the scalpel Quark was holding. We split up to try to find her, with Tenmyouji staying behind with Quark. It's weird; no one seems to have found the "not voting is not a hoption" note, but that's not really an issue anyway because Dio didn't open the gate prematurely. Phi finds Alice unconscious in the garden; the scalpel is nowhere to be found. ...Alice is unconscious, so I can betray her without fear. She'd probably laugh at me if she woke up to find that I had allied. Ah...this time Luna mentions immunoglobulin. Does someone here have the antibodies needed to fight off Radical-6? And, wait, which route would that even be useful on? Tenmyouji suggests taking Alice and Quark to the treatment center to keep their conditions from worsening.

...What the...Quark had the Axelavir all along? But...there's only enough for one. Sigma's the only one who thinks we'll find a way to save them both. And he knows how, too; the IG replicator in the laboratory. But, everyone asks, how did he know about that? When he was in the laboratory...but when was that? Luckily, Dio has an explanation--Sigma must've gone in there while looking for Alice.

Luna stays behind to watch the patients while the rest of us go to the laboratory. This seems...oddly well-adjusted. Normally we'd have multiple dead bodies by this point; right now we have none. We copy the Axelavir, but Sigma gets clumsy and drops one of the vials. It doesn't break...but it's quite fortuitous that Sigma dropped it when he did, because when going to pick it up, Phi found the #02 bomb! Clover finds a purple memory card under the table. Sigma looks for a place to plug it in, but can't find one. Wait, who opened an Ambidex Gate? The announcer says only 10 more minutes. We treat our patients, and there's only 5 minutes left. K and Clover were the only other two who reached 6 points last time, and they're up against each other, so there's nothing to worry about. Tenmyouji stays behind, so his partner, Dio, will have to go it alone...against Phi. Spoke too soon, maybe, since Dio claims to be voting ally because Phi only has 1 BP and betraying her would kill her. If Phi believes him, she can't vote betray because Tenmyouji also has only 1 BP...but since Phi has to vote ally, I don't trust Dio not to betray her. Of course, there's still the K/Clover mess...they both say they'll ally, but do I really trust them? Hmm...I've heard that people vote differently based on how I vote. Perhaps that's what makes my actions here relevant? And, hey, yeah, no one actually opened their Ambidex Gates! Ah, Luna wants to ally, of course...well, time to do the obvious thing: betray!

...What the FUCK?! How is that even possible?

It's a sextuple-betray. Phi rightfully failed to trust Dio; K and Clover acted like the backstabbers I know they are, and I ended up making the right decision after all because allying would've gotten a game over, thanks both to me hitting -1 and Alice hitting 9. But...how could Alice have betrayed me when she never entered an Ambidex Room? ...Or rather, she had. Somehow, she'd gotten into the empty room. "Thought you'd get an easy couple points, huh? Not so easy when you have to look your victim in the eye, is it? Coward." Okay, it's one extra point, not two, and how am I the coward? If I'd picked Ally, I'd be dead right now! She then has the balls to earnestly thank me for saving her life. Believe me, if I'd known you'd try to kill me, I wouldn't have done it. Luna says Alice should still be under the effects of the anesthetic, and she says she is, but she's more resistant to anesthetics than most as a result of her training and they'd had to give her a far larger dose than standard when they gassed her. Wait, do we even know who knocked her out this time? Anyway, she got there just in time, and when I call her on what she did, she claims to have known I'd betray. I'm not buying it, and she tries to deflect by pointing out that Dio and Phi both could've potentially killed someone with their Betray votes, too. Luna then points out that everyone picked Betray, and Sigma says that we can't go on like this. K, Dio, and Phi head off. Alice and Clover head off together, too, leaving Sigma alone with Luna. She says she still believes in him. Sigma's a cyan pair now, and Luna's a magenta pair. Luna thinks that if we had a common enemy, we could trust each other more. Phi said the same thing during the first AB game. Luna asks if we have any clues as to who set the bombs, and I show her the memory card. She remembers seeing a card reader in the infirmary. Alice and Clover are in there with Tenmyouji and Quark. It's...a mess. But I bet I know how to decode it! Alice recognizes it as an encoded message from a terrorist organization...the Myrmidons. Quick, give me the input! ...Or just some exposition on who you really are.

She refuses to tell me who she is because I could be one of the Myrmidons. I ask her to at least tell us what she knows about them, because we need more information. Damnit, I have the code! Let me decode it! Alice asks why I keep following her, and I tell her I want to hear it from her. She asks why I can't just ask Clover. I say that we've been paired up for two separate rounds; I've spent more time with her than anyone else. Maybe I'm just curious about her. She asks me if I don't hate her for trying to kill me. Well, I do, but Sigma apparently doesn't. She's almost crying as she says that she may have sounded calm after finding the first bomb, but she was scared, and experiencing the Radical-6 brought that fear back, and she panicked and just wanted to get out, no matter what. Even if it meant killing someone, though she swears the thought hadn't even crossed her mind. She wants me to hate her; to just kill her. She says I remind her of her father. She says she'll tell me what I want to know if I keep my mouth shut about her crying, specifically to Clover.

Alice's father is Egyptian, but her mother is French. They met when the latter was in Egypt on vacation. When Alice was 3, they moved to the US. Her father was a scientist specializing in cloning. When Alice was 9, terrorists attacked her father's lab, and he was kidnapped, though Alice didn't learn this until several years later. Her mother had to raise her alone, in a country where any family was a trans-Atlantic flight away, but Alice was a good student who earned a full-ride scholarship. After graduating, she took a job at the DOD and was assigned to the SOIS. She learned that the Myrmidons were the ones who had taken her father. They wanted to use cloning to create a new race of humans. They know that the commander of the Myrmidons goes by the name "Left", but not his appearance or age, and that they are closely associated with the cult "Free the Soul". They believe Free the Soul funds the Myrmidons, but trying to pin any misdeeds on the cult's leader, "Brother", is like trying to nail Jell-O to a wall. Brother is rumored to be too old and frail to even get out of bed, but his mind's as sharp as ever. ...Is this the key to Quark's path?

One day, Alice got a tip that some of the Myrmidons were hiding in a building in the Nevada desert. On the way, her car had engine trouble and stalled out. She was trying to decide what to do when an SUV appeared, driven by Clover. When Alice asked them what they were doing, they told her they'd been locked up in the very building she'd gone to investigate, and that they were chasing after the people who'd kidnapped them in the first place. After questioning, it was determined that the people who had instigated that event were not related to the Myrmidons; however, the mysterious disappearance and reappearance of several children nine years earlier was connected to Free the Soul. There was also a sixth person in the SUV with the five she'd met...a middle-aged man, who we'll call "H", bound and placed in the trunk. He was responsible for those disappearances, and his pharmaceutical company was effectively controlled by Free the Soul, of which he was a dedicated member. He had kidnapped those children as part of an experiment designed to test the ability of certain people to access the morphogenetic field. The SOIS had already heard of this ability, which she explains, so Alice wasn't surprised. She then received another tip, this time about a large-scale biological terrorist attack. Clover was recruited for her ability to use the morphogenetic field. We then hear about the failed operation Clover told us about...but when Alice found Clover tied up, there was another body next to her. Alice's father. He'd been beaten to death. It was thought to have been a message to Alice and the SOIS to stop snooping around.

Some time later, Alice received a call from the coroner. Written on her father's arm were two rows of numbers comprised of 8s and 9s. It was his handwriting; he'd carved them into his own skin. There was another message on his chest, in letters. ..."I love you, Alice." Alice broke down crying right there in the morgue. That was when she swore that she would have her revenge, no matter what. There would be no forgiveness for the monsters who'd put her father through this. ...I feel like I've seen this plot before. Anyway, the numbers were latitudes and longitudes, pointing to a chemical factory disguised as an abandoned building. Further investigation revealed it to be the Myrmidon headquarters. Oh, right, that's what Clover mentioned in her route. This exposition is very similar to that route's exposition, but from a different perspective. You know the rest: careful planning; 12/25/2028; 3 days before it goes off, Zero shows up and gasses Alice and Clover. ...There is one thing confusing me, though. Dio, a Myrmidon, was tasked with infiltrating this Nonary Game. Therefore, it's unlikely that Free the Soul is responsible for this. And if we assume that the ones responsible for this are K's father and the old woman who is probably Akane, then it could be stated that Zero is, in fact, an enemy of Free the Soul. So why kidnap Clover and Alice when they did?

...Oh, right. Both Akane and Sigma have time hax. They probably foresaw the SOIS's mission ending in failure regardless and stepped in to get Alice and Clover to safety. Although, this Nonary Game is a bit deadlier than the last one...but that's probably necessary because esper powers are enhanced by danger, and this requires a far greater amount of esper power than last time. And in the Golden Timeline, nobody dies. We're pretty close to that timeline, I'm sure; nobody's died yet here, not even probably-Akane. But I suspect that that timeline is either Phi's or Sigma's. Hah...Sigma remembers the key he got from Dio. Huh...apparently that long string of numbers is a perfect cube, and Alice figured that out in her head. Well, she did say she was good in math, butI'm good in math, and I honestly would not have recognized 7815361098838094241990551 as 198449351 cubed--or 198449351 as a prime number, for that matter. Knowing that the Myrmidons use prime factors for their codes, she's pretty sure that's the key.

...the two rows. Let's see...COMPLETED. And because the lines repeated three times and the key was a cube, it's actually "COMPLETED COMPLETED COMPLETED". So that's what the transmitter was for...Alice asks what transmitter, but Sigma barely even hears her, because he suddenly remembers everything. Clover appears. Tenmyouji, Dio and Phi are fighting. I stop them by saying that I figured out who planted the bombs. But rather than revealing it, I say that they'll admit their guilt just a few minutes. I then identify Dio and pretend to be from Free the Soul, sent by Brother to watch him. He hesitates, and I start giving all the Free the Soul facts I can remember--facts he'd given to me in another timeline. I say that Brother doesn't trust him; if you don't believe me, call him yourself. He says that not true; Brother trusts him! Why would he make Dio the leader of the Myrmidons if he--! Sigma interrupts and asks him to repeat that, and Dio does. "Why would he make me the leader of the Myrmidons if--" Sigma grins. Just as he said, Dio admitted his own guilt. Then Alice goes psychotic on him, but Dio pulls out the detonator. Dio reveals the existence of the four bombs, and says he's prepared to die, because he has spares. Alice and Clover are planning some SOIS maneuvers, though. Alice provides the feint and Clover snatches the detonator, tossing it to Sigma...but Dio's laughing!

The detonator's blinking. It had a form of deadman switch in it, too! By tossing it to Sigma, which is to say tossing it to a point over a meter away from Dio, Clover unwittingly activated it! It's on a countdown timer now. 30 minutes to die. Except for Dio, who just took a cyanide pill. Phi asks for a deactivation code instead. LXQ LHC NMR. That's the code for bomb 03. We have the codes for 00 and 01, not that we know where they are...but 02 still eludes us. Not that it mattered, because this apparently isn't the route where we disarm them. 03 shows up before the branch, I think, so these bombs will probably appear in Phi and Sigma's routes, too. Check the flowchart, then grab Alice's bad ending. No good; still can't unlock Lock #3...but apparently the long string of numbers needed to continue this route was Lock #5, not #4 like I expected! So let's see...Clover's holds the key to K's; Quark's holds the key to Tenmyouji's, but there's a lock on Quark's; Dio's holds the key to Alice's, and while there isn't officially a lock on Luna's, K's holds part of the key to it. Unlike in Quark's route, Sigma doesn't even try to survive here. He just dies. Now, to betray Alice the first time... As expected, she chose Ally when we chose betray. This time, though, Sigma's really confused. He even asks Alice when she pressed the button, and she said five minutes before the deadline. Sigma's certain that when he picked Ally, she picked betray, and yet when he betrayed, she's allied. He talks about how cause and effect is all backwards here, and then realizes that he's just been casually talking about going back in time. Tenmyouji is having some trouble with being betrayed, too, and Clover's wondering why she'd trust "some old geezer she just met a few hours ago." And Dio's still being oddly adorkable around Luna. This time I go to the crew quarters first, then the infirmary and then the lounge. Huh...Alice specifically tries to make the choice. Is going through the red door with Phi okay? ...Nah, I think I'd rather have Clover around. Tenmyouji gets to talk to Alice like he wants, and I get to pair up with two very lovely ladies.

And then I get to witness the best scene in the game, probably this game's equivalent to the elevator scene with June.

Sigma: Clover, try pulling that lever.

Clover: Why do I have to do it?

Sigma: It might be dangerous.

Sigma: I was hoping you could just wrap your hands around it and give it a good jerk. It is kinda big, but I'm sure you can handle it. Just...be gentle.

Clover: Uh... This doesn't seem like appropriate workplace behavior.

Clover: You're kinda grossing me out.

Sigma: I know you probably still think of yourself as just a girl, but you've become a woman some-

Clover: You're not making it any better! Why don't you do it?!

Sigma: If you can't take it, then maybe Luna can. Have you done this before? You just start at the base and work your way up, then give it a good tug once you get to the top.

Luna: ...Wh-What?

Clover: What is wrong with you?! If you're so desperate to give that lever a good time why don't you do it yourself!

Clover: Just leave me and Luna out of your sick fantasies, you creep!

Sigma: ... ...

Sigma: Hmph. Fine. But I won't like it.

Clover: Oh...

Luna: One of the doors opened.

Clover: Yeah, just the one on the left.

Luna: Hmm, we might as well go through it.

Sigma: Yeah.

Sigma: Maybe we should try flipping it one more time, though... I think you could actually manage with just one hand, Clover. Just do it real fast, it'll only take one second. Just up and down once...

Clover: Ugh. You are disgusting.

We enter the archives. It's full of books. There's a terminal in the center of the room with the numbers 01-08 in rows and the letters A-D in columns. Luna notices that the bookshelves in front of the screen are indeed 8 shelves high with four bookcases. There's a locked box. On the outside, it shows...blue die plus green die times red die. I wonder if the lack of parentheses means you have to do the multiplication part first? The green die seems to be sitting right on top of the chest. On a desk, I find a bottle of blue ink, the blue die, some notebook paper, and a music box. Another scale like the one in the garden has a 50-gram weight on one side and the red die on the other. There's also a screwdriver in its drawer. Not surprisingly, combining it with the music box gets a cylinder. Wait a minute...they used this exact puzzle in 999! And in a room that Junpei entered with Clover, no less! It turns into a file once everything's been combined. It's called a "report", but...oh, wait, I recognize this. It's the sides of a die unfolded. There are a few books that stand out on the shelves. There's a blue one that says "The Stairway"; a red one that says "Go Up", an orange one that says "And Lion", and a green one that says "To the Sun". Furthermore, written on the backs of them are, in order by the fronts, "Go Up A-05-02", "The Stairway B-06-30", "To the Sun C-05-18", and "And Lion D-07-03". Yes, they each have a different one's front cover text on their back covers. Also, there's something way up on top of one of the shelves...it very well could be a stuffed lion. Ah, I think this is another weighing puzzle...the red die looked balanced with the 50g weight when we came over. Blue is heavier than green; Blue is heavier than red; green is heavier than red. Green is heavier than red by 50 grams; blue is heavier than green by 50 grams; red is 50 grams. So red = 50; green = 100; blue = 150. 50*100=5000; 5000+150=5650. But they said a five-digit number...so maybe they do want you to screw order of operations. 100+150=250; 250*50=12500. I'm trying 05650 first. There's no check button, so the fact that it doesn't open tells me it's wrong. 12500 doesn't work, either...maybe the fact that the dice all seem to be showing fives means something? 5650*5=28250; 12500*5=62500. Neither works. Unfortunately, we seem to be at a standstill until we can solve this. Maybe that "report" has some significance...or maybe there is more I can do. Doesn't "Go up the stairway to the sun and lion" make more sense as a full sentence than the way we actually found them? And the backs of the books say it in the "proper" order. Sure enough, putting the books back so that their front covers spell out the message sinks some of the bookcases into the floor at different heights, creating a stairway. Sure enough, it's a stuffed lion, and in its mouth is one of the Sun coins from the rec room. That's eight lions now. Unzipping it reveals a memory card--perfect for the terminal in the center of the room. Ah, the missing part of the puzzle! I have to roll the six dice into the proper spots in the outline, with that report as my guide. Well, that looks right...but perhaps I need to make sure that the same sides are showing for each die as when I began? Red is 1 and 5; blue is 2 and 3; green is 4 and 6. Nope; that doesn't work either. Perhaps every face has to be the same? 6-24, 4-21, 3-26, 2-31, 1-23, 5-64. Nothing. When I exit out, Luna even suggests that we're still missing information, which is sad because I was hoping that puzzle was the missing information for that damn combination lock. I might have to switch on easy for this.

I start checking everything, and find Sigma's perverted side again as Clover apparently checks under the desk that had had a lot of things under it. I bite the bullet and switch to easy and get...once again, the same suggestion I'd had on my own, to no effect. Clover made an offhanded suggestion about counting the pips...there's 21 pips on a die...but even 5650, the smallest of our "possible solutions", would turn into a six-digit number if multiplied by 21. Could my math have been wrong?

...Goddamnit. I transposed a 5 when I was adding. It's 5150. Cannot believe I screwed up something that simple. There's a book with a bookmark inside. The book is in Latin, so we can't read it, but the bookmark goes into our archive. Blue to the 1-6; red to the 2-5; green to the 3-4...damnit I didn't even have to put the correct sides up. This one's the secret file password...let's try again the right way. Yep, that worked (hint: put the 5 in place last; it's easiest.) I'm glad I "messed up" the way I did; that's a pretty damn obscure way of hiding the secret password. Map; Ambidex cards; "not voting is not an hoption", and the key. I still can't believe I screwed up a math problem that basic. I quickly double back for the gold file. There's some interesting stuff about cybernetic arms, that first jokes about weaponizing genetically engineered psychic bears, then an arm augmented for online sex chat, then that it's an arm from a libido-powered robot, before finally stating that it's a mechanical limb that can be controlled with your mind. There's another file talking about Luna's necklace, and a couple talking about Asimov's laws of robotics. We investigate Warehouse B and talk about the strange graffiti. As usual, Dio opens the door prematurely...K shows up and mentions Quark collapsing. Just like on Alice's path. K's team ended up in the garden this time, so if anyone would've found the medicine in the laboratory, it would've been Tenmyouji's team. Of course, the other two members of his team were Alice and Dio. It's quite possible that Dio pocketed the Axelavir like he did on Quark's route. Ah, but Dio says they were in the pantry. Alice freaks out again like in her own route. Sigma ends up checking in the pantry before again ending up in the garden, but she's not there this time. No pods, no lab...nothing that was so helpful on Alice's route, where in the end everyone still died but until the bombs went off we were completely devoid of deaths. Yep, there's Alice in Room 02, just like on about half the other routes. Tenmyouji's was the only other one where the scalpel was the murder...I mean, suicide weapon. But unlike in that route where we needed to come back with concrete proof that it wasn't murder, Clover saw Alice freak out, and Quark as well.

...Um...

Sigma's brain snaps, and he comes to in...nothingness, or something like that. Game over. Already? That was short. I've never had a game over before the second round of AB voting...ah, but what appears on the chart is Lock #6. "Where did Alice go?" Um...Okay, whatever...oh, hey, I found that "lock no. 4" that I was wondering about. It was also on Alice's route--when both Quark and Alice need Axelavir. So that means that the key to that lock was on...Quark's route. It's starting to look like there's no possible order where you don't run into a lock at least once, unless the last route I haven't taken holds the other half of the key to Luna's, or possibly the key to Quark's...or to this one.

You know what was really annoying? The fact that in the security room, if you had the right sentence but put the words in the wrong places (because remember, there had to be a number of blank spots as well), it wouldn't give you anything. Upon consulting a spoiler-free FAQ, my instincts for the sentence needed to get the secret password turned out to be spot-on; I just failed to realize I needed to put it across the bottom row. (In retrospect, given that the bottom row was what was left blank for the escape password and the secret password used the three words not found in the escape password and only those three words, it seems obvious.) The secret files aren't very helpful, though--one of them explains "gentlepoints", something that came up in an offhand Dio line. There's one about the principle of causality that clearly appears to extend past the end of the page, and also the list of Ronald Knox's 10 commandments for writing a mystery novel. VLR breaks most of these rules: "No hitherto undiscovered poisons may be used, nor any appliance which will need a long, scientific explanation"; "No one with extra-sensory perception or similar powers can appear"; "No accident must ever help the detective, nor must he ever have an unaccountable intuition which proves to be right" (okay, Sigma's intuitions are only unaccountable in-story, but the reason for it breaks the previous commandment. Also, one of the later ones is "the detective must not commit the crime", and Sigma is currently the prime suspect for Zero Sr.'s real identity.) Back on the current route, Phi makes Sigma pull the lever because it could be dangerous, and Sigma says something about there being nothing on either side, most likely meaning the doors (I guess he thinks we'll probably end up going through the middle?), then when Phi expresses confusion he says he was talking about her breasts, which makes her get indignant and say she's a C-cup. Sigma responds that if Phi's a C-cup, then he's packing 12 inches. While Phi and Sigma argue, Luna pulls the lever. The door on the left opens. There was no plaque on this room, and I've never seen it in any other route. A control room of some sort? There's something with pipes and electrical wiring, and some of the labels have question marks in place of some of their digits. A couple of lockers like the ones in the crew quarters, only more complex. One needs hours and minutes and has larger numbers involved than just the single-digit ones, and the other mixes things up with multiplication and division instead of just addition. No clue what numbers I need, though. Blue clock says 510 minutes. Protractor and mathematical compass. Red clock says 11400 seconds...that's 190 minutes. That's one locker I can unlock! 8 hours 30 minutes and 3 hours 10 minutes. A rainbow tree root is inside. Also, the big thing in the center of the room...Luna thinks it's an annihilation reactor. It seems that it's what's powering this facility. There are some levers we can actually move, a clipboard saying "Test", and a computer...the first "T" is on-screen. We can take the USB stick out, and the screen changes. Oh, when I examine the clipboard, Phi suggests that the T we saw was an image capture, and it didn't pick up the other three highlighters. Ah, yes, the USB device is a portable scanner. A piece of paper with "ON" and "OFF" written many times...and a small hole in it. Definitely a clue, but to what? Combining the protractor and compass made an expanded compass, but I have no idea what I'd use that for...oh, right, that little hole was probably made by a compass needle. Looking at it, it tells me which switches to turn on. I end up breaking a lever handle off for use in the electric pipe maze. Let's see...

4th one has only a single question mark, so divert all fluid away from that--it's 0. 6th one has only two question marks, so we'd have to halve the 240 at both junctures to get it down to double-digits. That leaves the other 180 from that pipe flowing to the fifth spot; halving the 320 from the top sends 160 that way for a total of 340, which can satisfy the "?4?" that's on its label. That means that 160 was hitting that junction between the third and fourth where we sent everything to the third. Now, we know the third ends in a 0...but that actually means more than you'd think, because the second tag on the top is 210 and even one split would cause the ones digit to change. The bottom left two are 3?? and ??5; obviously the leftmost one also has to end in a 5. So we'll send all 210 left, then halve it to deliver 105 to each. And to get the leftmost one over 300...we have to send all 240 from the leftmost one up top to that one, which means send it left at the first junction. This turns on the power to a nearby machine. It's still missing a part, though, and the nearby screen, though powered on, does nothing. Oh, wait! The tank that the rainbow root is in fits the machine! Luna says something's still missing. I can't find anything to scan with the portable scanner, which is unfortunate because I figure that whatever's missing is inside the other locker and I was hoping that the scanner's partial colorblindness would pick out the passcode from something. ...Huh. Combining the scanner with the TEST clipboard did something. Now we have a yellow scanner. And...there's the secret passcode?! Did not expect that that quickly. I mean, both the clipboard and the scanner were available to me without solving a single puzzle. If I'd panned right rather than left when I started searching the room, they probably would've been the first two items I'd pick up--I'd have been able to get the secret passcode before even locating the safe. The files mention Sigma's obsession with swimsuits and suggests that it's actually the game's author who has the obsession. Everything else talks about the antimatter bombs--recapping Alice's speech after the #03 bomb was found and Phi's explanation of antimatter (although the bit about exploding babies was in a file in the archives.) Oddly enough, the "test" clipboard's still there, and can be combined with the USB drive again...but it just creates the same thing. Ah, so I need to find something else to combine the USB drive with! ...If only I knew what the passcode for the second locker was. ...Ah. There's another clipboard, hidden behind some wrapped-up cardboard boxes. It uses the same color scheme as "TEST", so if I actually were to combine the scanner with it, it would probably only show the green numbers. 7213. The buttons are green, too, so that works for me. It yields a disc-shaped part. CT scanner active. Yellow 19, Red 12, Blue 15, Green 21. Phi suggests trial and error. Four empty circles there, too. Four circles on the next level up: yellow 4/16, red 3/15, green 6/20, blue ?/?. Top one's a rainbow saying 100. Assign an appropriate number to each circle...

21 and 19 and 15 and 12 is 67. So to get 100, we need 33...which can only be 10 and 9 and 8 and 6. Don't know if I had to put them in specific places and just lucked into it on the first try or what, but I got the safe password. Looks like we get a spare prize this time...Aah! It's the input device! With this, we can disarm the bombs! Sigma doesn't even ask first; he just says let's go. And we do, and immediately are besieged with an alert that an Ambidex Gate has been opened. Dio, I'll bet. Same old same old...Quark collapsed. I spend half of the search for Alice unable to skip. Once again, Phi finds her in the garden. Only this time the #01 bomb's in there, too. This time, though, we've got no pods and no Axelavir. Clover insists on staying with Alice.

Clover's a solo, though, up against Dio and Tenmyouji, and Phi points this out, expecting Dio to betray Clover. He swears he wouldn't, but I don't believe him. Tenmyouji says he wouldn't be going in with Dio, anyway, because Quark's out here. Phi says Tenmyouji's too smart to let Dio make a scapegoat out of him...and then Luna suggests that the only fair way to do it would be for Dio to stay behind, too. No one got the "not voting isn't an hoption" card this time, did they? Ironic that Mr. Impatient could end up screwed over by it...oh. Looks like K, Quark, and Alice found it. And now Dio's pissed, because K's the only member of his group that's not unconscious right now and he already has 6 BP--he can easily get to 9. ...Hmm. And since Dio and Quark were with Luna, for once Quark only has 5--even though Quark is K's partner, K wouldn't be able to take Quark with him when he goes. So then...the only ones who could possibly accompany K are...Sigma and Phi, who are up against each other. I think...I should betray first for bad end, then ally for good end. Phi's naturally suspicious; she's more likely to betray, so K would escape alone if I betray back. K points out that Alice only has 1 BP; betraying her would be an instant kill for her, even if they do escape the building. And then when the announcer says 5 minutes left, Tenmyouji says there's no time to argue...and tells Clover to go vote for them. Tenmyouji knocked Dio down! Clover's in the same position as K--6 BP, but up against someone with 1 BP, Tenmyouji. Clover is surprised that Tenmyouji is willing to trust her with his life. That's mighty big of you considering the fact that she's killed you before, Junpei. Three minutes. ...I still believe that betraying gets the bad ending, but for a different reason. If K and Clover both choose the non-murderer option, the two who were betrayed in the first round would be the only ones with fewer than 7 BP should Phi and I ally with each other. And in one route, Phi said her goal was to get everyone out. I wasn't sure I believed her at the time, but...now I believe that this is the trust ending. By betraying Phi, I alone would reach 9...but I know that Sigma never gets to enjoy hitting 9. Or would this be another one where Sigma's decision influences his opponent's decision? Phi's an esper too, so it's quite possible that she'll modify her vote to match mine no matter what. Huh...five open doors? Oh, right, Dio opened one, yet neither he nor his partner are actually voting. I ask Luna's opinion, as she points out that Phi could betray us to reach 9 BP, but she says she's in the same position either way--if I pick betray and Phi picks Ally, I alone reach 9 BP. No matter what I pick, if Phi picks the opposite, someone in this group reaches 9 BP and Luna doesn't. Well, I still believe that the bad ending comes from betraying, so that's what I do. Sure enough, Phi still Allies. Phi says she'll make me pay for this, and then...says something in Latin? It's a proverb meaning "Not even Jupiter can find a lost opportunity." K and Clover ask what I'm going to do...I don't think I'm even going to try to open the door, and yet...the game flashes back to what Phi just said. Then she knocks me out. Game over.

...Huh. Things that I've stored in the memo sheet have gotten fuzzier. I should reclarify them...wait, the passwords for the 0 and 3 bombs look awfully similar. A lot of letters keep getting reused.

LXQLHCNMR

MYRMIDONS

...Cool. Let's try it for our other passwords.

LXAQNSGDQ

MYBROTHER

BQZRGJDXR

CRASHKEYS

MILKEVOLI

NJMLFWPMJ

...I guess that last one's not a Myrmidon password. Odd, given that "CRASHKEYS" was given to me by Zero Sr., in the very room where I'm supposed to use K's password. Anyway, time to ally for great trust. (And justice. In justice we trust.)

Ahaha, we flash back to Phi's proverb again while in the AB Room! I almost wish I'd chosen Ally first. Actually, hold on...

Damn, I thought it would be even funnier betraying her a second time. But nothing changed. Huh...all six Ambidex gates are open? But that shouldn't be...

...Nor should that. Damnit Phi! I expected your vote to be dependent on mine, but in the opposite direction! Haha...it was a test. When I call her out on what she did "last time", her response is not the confused one of the others, but "I see... So you remember it too? The...other round 2." That's what she meant by making me pay. Really wish I'd chosen ally in the first place. Then Phi uses her other superpowers and skedaddles, leaving us with some more Latin as she goes. "Applaud! The play has ended." I respond with the Latin she'd given me before...and convince her to stay. Hahaha...I suppose I...made the right choice? Did I just break a lock on Phi's route with information from Phi's route? It's just a shame that Luna and I are so far from freedom now...Yeah, it's Lock #8. Which means that Sigma's route has a second lock on it. ...But the first lock, oddly enough, is gone. I guess, counterintuitive as it seems, Phi finding Alice on her own route was what I needed to unlock Sigma's route even though Phi found Alice in the exact same place on Alice's route. It jumps me to the lounge.

"Damn! Where did she go?!"

Then suddenly the world shifted.

I'm reminded of the world "blinking". And I'm given a choice of where to go. I head directly to the garden, whereas before I'd made a stop at the archives. And, nope, still bad end. It's not the finding her alive...ahaha, that's right, that lock was already green when I first looked at it. I was right about it being impossible to not hit a lock...because Lock #6 is its own key! The first time you hit the lock and game over, you're given the key and allowed to go directly to the Crew Quarters without ever checking Floor B. I find her preparing to commit suicide and interrupt her, cutting my hand on the scalpel as I wrestle it away from her. She passes out. Ahaha...but this time Solo Clover is my opponent, and Dio's just as quick to point it out as Phi was when Dio was the beneficiary. K's the one to make the suggestion, because we have the card. Dio's in the position K was in last time--against Alice. But Tenmyouji says he'll go into the AB Room rather than staying with Quark, in order to keep Dio honest. Phi...said she'll stay as well? But...she's a solo up against K! And she isn't at 1 BP, so K has no reason to avoid betraying her. That's some display of trust...she's certain K won't betray her. Dio's furious. Luna suddenly notices something white on my hand as we're in the AB room. It's...coming from my hand? Is this...my blood? Sigma's afraid...Betray for another bad end. Sigma claims that it's just some milk he spilled in the pantry...

"Two milkmen go comedy"...

MILKEVOLI...

...Phi said it just meant "Welcome to my kingdom", but I wonder...who are the two milkmen? After all, we're pretty sure the "nineth" lion has a real meaning, not that we've deciphered that anagram anyway. Bah...this one would actually have seven people at 7 BP or higher if I'd allied.

...It's not over yet? I wake up in the infirmary, clearly having been injected with Soporil. Ahahaha...they made sure I couldn't escape on my own by amputating my bracelet hand. No bracelet means no opening the #9 door...though if anyone else were to open it, no tubocurarine needle on my arm means no penalty for going through. Game over; Ally time. Sure enough, nothing changes. Alice and Tenmyouji are the only ones with fewer than 7 BP.

Since I had some spare time, I decided to see what I'd missed for that Infirmary secret. Turns out it's one of the weirder ones out there; you have to compare the sheet to the grid on the wall and do another count based on the marked spots only to get a second password for the cabinet, at which time the other drawer opens giving you a second sheet to use on the scanner. The password, appropriately enough, is FOUND.

Dio and Tenmyouji notice that Sigma seems out of it and ask what's wrong. He's kind of evasive. Dio and K are the yellow pair; Luna's half of the magenta pair; Tenmyouji's half of the cyan pair; Sigma's the red solo. Red's opposite is...cyan, right? Or was it yellow? ...yeah, it's yellow. So Dio and K... Luna wants to talk to me about something. The white hand, obviously. The others leave, and I ask what she wants to talk about, but she said she didn't really like this room and she found somewhere else nice while searching for Alice. The garden? Yep, the garden. She invites me to sit down on the bench. She lifts up her birdcage necklace and tells me it's actually a music box. She wanted me to know more about her...she said she got it from someone very important, and also that she doesn't have many friends because she's so shy. She asks me if I know the story "The Blue Bird" by Maeterlinck. I say I know the gist. It starts on Christmas Eve, and this brother and sister named Tyltyl and Mytyl travel to a dream world after being asked by an old woman to find a blue bird. Supposedly if you catch this bird, it'll grant you a wish, so they keep searching for it, but when they finally give up, it's in a birdcage in their hut. The moral is that happiness is closer than you think. But the end of the story is that when they try to feed the bird, it flies away--just when you think you've found happiness, you lose it again. ...Luna calls me on having said I'd ended up in the garden when looking for Alice. In this timeline, where I find her before she dies, I never leave Floor A. She thinks I'm a robot who has always been here. She says it would make so much sense if I was--including why I was bleeding white. She says that robots these days have artificial biological tissue, or ABT, on top of a metal skeleton. Like the GAULEMs. And ABT uses this white liquid instead of blood. Hmm...perhaps, as per the secret files, Sigma has a cybernetic arm? Sigma says doubting himself so much is giving him heart palpitations. I ask her if she's scared, and she asks why I'd be scared. I say that if I'm a robot, there's a good chance Zero is the one pulling my strings. Hey, I just realized something...most of my theories that Sigma can't be too old yet center on the fact that he still seems physically fit and his arm in the bracelet closeups looks young, even younger than Dio's. But that's not necessarily a real arm, and besides clones tend to degenerate quicker than real humans so Dio's hands looking older than his face may be justified. Luna says that even if I was, she wouldn't be scared, thanks to the three laws of robotics. True...the law about not injuring humans supersedes the one about following orders from humans. Luna wants to run tests to see if I really am a robot. Phi shows up, and again finds the #1 bomb. When pressed, she admits that she initially came to eavesdrop on our private conversation. Clover flashes back to Alice's explanation regarding the password input device...I wonder, would we be able to covertly deactivate them without alerting our mad bomber? Phi wants to search everyone for the deactivation device. Okay, fine then...oh, right, that was Phi's route where we found the input device, not Sigma's. I'm getting the two blurred. Ah, there's the lock...Sigma manages to identify the bomber as Dio. Dio proceeds to put his foot in his mouth by giving too much information in his denial of knowledge of the Myrmidons and Brother.

After Clover mentions the name "Left", Dio comes clean. He's Left, leader of the Myrmidons, and he was sent here to stop Zero Sr.'s AB plan. If it looked like the plan might succeed, he was to blow the place sky-high. We then proceed to tell him that we know nothing of any AB plan. He takes out the detonator. Tenmyouji's the only one who's not scared--and he's wily enough to bluff Dio into thinking that he's already taken the real detonator. And of course, Sigma knows what a mistake it was knocking it away from Dio. Dio's surprised when I give his explanation for him. Ah, and I'll bet we get the #02 password from this route! Yep, there it is: EQDDYRNTK. FREE Z SOUL. Cute. I would've used a D instead of a Z, but I guess that could've made it look like FREED SOUL. Sigma stops Dio from taking the cyanide pill, but time spent fighting him is time spent not defusing bombs, so we have no choice but to Soporil him. Phi orders me to join her in checking to make sure the bombs' timers really are running. They are. Phi tries to motivate me by appealing to my lecherous side. I head to the infirmary and find Luna there. She still wants to use the ADAM on me. I reluctantly agree. It confirms that I have cybernetic arms and the rest of me is human. I still can't believe it; I broke my arm as a kid and the doctor said I must've done something really insane to break them because the bones were very thick. I start to wonder if that means I don't have to worry about the penalties, but Luna says that the arms are made to interface with the rest of the body, so anything injected into them would still spread throughout the body. I ask how she knows that, and she says she just does. Time's just about up. Luna says that there's one last thing. She was given very specific instructions. "Please pay attention. This is very important. You must be sure to remember it." That sounds oddly like K's dying words in his route...and Zero Sr.'s hologram in Tenmyouji's. "Should you encounter a two-headed lion devouring the sun, remember: GTF-DM-L-016. With this key, the first gate shall be open to you." She says she hopes we can meet again someday, and she'll be waiting.

...the first three letters of G-OLM's name stood for "GAULEM Type Male". So a GTF would likely be a GAULEM Type Female. The final four letters were the individual product code, so hers is L-016...the secret file on the Zeroth Law of Robotics mentions a 016. ...G-OLM got his body shut down because he was about to reveal information he shouldn't have, about how we wouldn't even realize if there was a GAULEM right there in our midst...

...could it be? I was with Alice and Luna at the time. Could it be that, of all people, the one who was just wondering if I was a robot is, in fact, herself a robot? Hmm...it's possible. The three laws would certainly explain her reluctance to ever betray anyone.

So let's see, Clover is 1 because it has no locks. K is 2 because its only lock is from Clover's. ...it kind of breaks down from there, because we still haven't unlocked Quark's route, yet Sigma's route is unlocked by Alice's, which is unlocked by Quark's, whose lock is probably in Luna's, which is partially unlocked by Sigma's.

...I stand corrected. Quark's was unlocked by Sigma's. Still looping, though--but then again, Sigma's unlocks itself so anything else is pretty much superfluous. To Quark's route!

...Wait. No way...When struck with the Soporil needle, he says he doesn't feel anything flow into his veins, but he knows it's there. I think I know exactly how Sigma will escape this route "safely". Seeing everything...extended arms...the hand, "bleeding" white. He remembers that his arms are cybernetic. He dares Dio to leave through the #9 door, and Dio asks K if he wants to come along. K says he'll stay here.

I tell him to get going for everyone's sake, because Dio certainly won't go for help. Phi tries to stop Dio from leaving, but unsuccessfully. Then I stop Dio from leaving and tell K to go. Dio asks why I'm doing this, because he kept his promise. I tell him so did I. Letting him leave wasn't part of the promise. He says he won't let his sacred mission get fucked up by some self-righteous idiot. He crawls towards the door, dragging me along, and gets past the threshold as it's closing. Clover and Luna tell me to let go of him and Phi warns me that the door will shut on me if I don't let go...but based on the fact that Sigma wanted the door opened, I think that's the plan. He does let go, though. Dio laughs maniacally and says "Hurry up and die, you senile old fuck!" I say that no...I'm going to live. The door closes, and the Nonary Game ends. The girls are waiting for me when I wake up in the infirmary--minus Alice, whom I'm pretty sure isn't dead yet in this timeline, or at least wasn't when I dropped to -1 BP. Yep, she's here too, so she's definitely still alive. Ah...she had been knocked out by K in the AB room. That's how he got to 9 BP. Sure enough, I'm missing my left hand--I swear I had no idea this would happen when I named Chapter 17 after the cryptic message in Musashidou's possession. Quark's awake and thanks me for getting the medicine from Dio and saving his life. Luna reveals that the diary suggests that this is a shelter, not a quarantine facility. The only problems with this is that the virus still got in; our "rescue" from the pandemic seemed to have occurred before the pandemic itself happened; and if we're in here for our own protection, the Nonary Game seems counterintuitive. Clover suggests that Zero predicted the pandemic before it happened and rescued us then, but then got bored and made us play this game to kill time. I ask who would make people he rescued play a deadly game just because he was bored, and Clover points out that (in this timeline) we don't actually know that there is tubocurarine in our bracelets because I'm the only one who's been injected and I cut off my own hand before I could be injected with anything other than Soporil. Luna says that the ADAM confirmed the presence of tubocurarine, and Phi says that she doesn't think Zero's "doing this just to take the piss out of a lime." When Clover questions this, she says she was just trying to stress that Zero wouldn't do this just to pass the time. She's done that kind of thing before, hasn't she? However, the idea of the pandemic being anticipated seems reasonable. It's espers! Clover makes a comparison to Noah's Ark, and Luna wonders if we were meant to repopulate the planet. Sigma does a look around the room and tallies four women, an old man, a kid, and himself, whom he still believes to be a young, fertile male. He thinks repopulation doesn't sound so bad, and if there's a pandemic out there, maybe it's best not to escape. Tenmyouji says that it doesn't matter why we're stuck here; the eight of us are stuck here forever. Luna asks if he's including the old woman. Quark asks what if the old lady is Zero Sr. Sigma says we never even considered that. He goes on to suggest that she killed herself due to Radical-6 exposure...and when it's pointed out that she had no weapon, he decides that maybe the AB room wasn't the crime scene. Phi searches her and finds an ID card confirming her identity as Akane Kurashiki. Her password is JUMPYDOLL. Haha; we saw that "word" in a secret file...but what's her user ID? ...oh, right, her last name was written out in all-caps and introduced to us one letter at a time. So "KURASHIKI". That's...two sets of passwords we can use on that computer, I think. And here's Alice's Radical-6 breakdown. She doesn't run off this time; just stabs the scalpel in right there in the infirmary. End of Quark's route.

It's weird; that route didn't feel particularly "Quark". I guess the fact that we gave the Axelavir to Quark and Quark alone, and Alice died because of it, made it kind of Quark's route, but we probably learned more about Quark on Tenmyouji's route than on his own. I think it would've been much better to move the big ending scene from Tenmyouji's route to Quark's (which would've had to have been one where it's possible for Quark to reach 9 BP) and have Tenmyouji's ending focus more on his past and, you know, him being Junpei. Anyway, let's try Akane's password first. No good, but then again, they didn't specifically tell us to use that password here, even though it fits the length. The GAULEM's works, so I call Phi over to tell her I got in. She asks how I figured out the login, and I say I just knew it. When she gets indignant and says that's not an answer, I point out she gave me the same line when asked how she knew my name. She asks why I'm bringing that up and says it has nothing to do with this, and I say it might. After several minutes of arguing, she gets on the computer and asks for the ID I used to log in. We find that it's a GAULEM's specs. It confirms that, as I expected, L-016 is Luna. Sigma remembers G-OLM's explanation of how realistically human ABT makes a GAULEM look. The computer says that L-016 is "currently operational" and "Executing special mission". I wonder why a robot was in the game, and Phi thinks maybe it was a Voight-Kampff test. She explains it was from an old book, and tested if eight humans would be able to tell that she was a robot. Phi thinks that making us see her true nature could explain most of the Nonary Game. I compare it to the Chinese room, with Luna being the girl in the room. Looking back at the graphic, there's a resemblance. There's a 10-minute window to get back to the AB rooms...Sigma thinks Luna's the one who opened the door. Right, we were wondering how it was possible. But that may not have been all Luna's done, Phi says. ...! For once Dio actually was a red herring. I thought the bloody writing on Clover's thigh pointed at Dio, though you'd have to look in a mirror to properly read the "dio". But it actually was exactly what it looked like--016, Luna's product number! But...Luna can't break the three laws, can she? As expected, Luna's missing from the site of her death. We head to the AB room and are told that we have an invalid pair. That's right; Luna's bracelet's still in there with us. We see Luna as we're closing the door...she'll probably vote. And she's voting against us...can she really betray us? Phi's certain that that's the only reason she could be here, wanting to vote...to keep us below 9. ...No. I trust her. Besides, at 7 BP, even if we lose 2, it wouldn't matter much. We're the only ones besides Luna who are even still alive; we'll get out eventually. I'm going to ally. ...Her bracelet's still where we left it. She never voted. She defaulted to Ally. The other two groups' results screens changed from their old point totals to magenta skulls. Phi asks if I want to leave, and I say that she was the one who said Quark was still alive; we should find him. Phi agrees, and I say we should look for Luna, too. Phi became a red solo, but what does it matter? Oh, right, for future Ambidex Games that won't exist. The door to the treatment center is open. Quark's in Pod 1, unconscious and anesthetized. I ask if it's really okay to leave, and Phi asks if I want Luna to kill me too. I'm surprised, and she says there's a good chance Luna killed everyone else. She could've moved the crane at any time because she's in the mainframe; she would've needed Dio and K's star keys to open the Ambidex game. Sigma flashes back to his conversation with Luna in the garden about the three laws of robotics...and decides to leave. Or rather...to send Quark and Phi through.

Phi's crying and telling me to get back there. Personally, I think Sigma's being foolish here; if Phi stopped and thought about it, who but Luna could've put Quark in the pod? Luna's a good person, and I trust her. The door shuts, ending the Nonary Game. Sigma is relieved that Phi and Quark escaped, and has no regrets. "Luna's waiting", he says. She's waiting in the garden, and Sigma says he knew she'd be here. Had the garden even appeared in this route before? Oh, right, it wouldn't have had to, because the Nonary Game's over and therefore all doors not directly attached to the outside are unlocked. ...Pulling up the map, there don't actually appear to be any blockades or doors that can only be opened from one side between the left white door and the area behind the blue and green doors. Anyway, Luna's surprised I knew, and I say "Oh, right... We haven't talked here in this one." Sigma's getting his timelines confused! Surprisingly, Luna figures out that I'm talking about something that happened in another history. She had been told that I have the ability to transport my consciousness through time. Then I tell her I know she didn't kill any of those people. She asks why I think that.

Starting with the old woman--Akane--we know that Dio killed her because she had the missing bracelet and Dio's was the one that reacted to the luminol. And he confessed--albeit in a different timeline. Luna asks if that's not against the rules. Those would be Knox's rules you're referring to, Luna? Yep, they are. Sigma says that because the timelines hadn't branched at the point of the event, it's still fair. ...Right, that was K's route, which doesn't branch off from Luna's until after the first Ambidex Game--after Akane's body was found. Sigma believes, wrongly, that Dio's plan was simply to replace one of us, and it didn't matter which one. He explains what probably happened--Akane exited the AB room alone, with Quark still sleeping, and Dio stabbed her, took the bracelet and wiped it, disposed of the blade between the AB Rooms, and took Akane's place as Quark's partner. Next is Alice, who committed suicide due to Radical-6. Then there's Clover and Tenmyouji...Ahaha my theory was right! Clover's left hand was in the handcuffs, so she would've been writing with her right...so it would be a lot easier to use the left thigh. Yet the "016" was found on her right...because when she died, her legs slumped together and the message was transferred to the other thigh. Meaning  it originally was..."dio". Sigma and Phi never even checked her other thigh, so they didn't see the original. How would Clover have even known that Luna was L-016, anyway? Then there's K and Dio. Finding the luminol bottle in K's robe suggests that K sprayed Dio with the luminol, thereby revealing him as the killer. Dio took preemptive action and, when K turned to turn off the lights, struck him with the axe--but K didn't die immediately, so he turned and stabbed Dio with the spear. They killed each other.

Luna says she's glad I don't think she did it, but all of my theories are just that. How can I be sure that Alice committed suicide, for example? Same goes for everyone else. Why do I trust her so much, when she's only a machine, and part of this place? I tell her that the fact that she's a robot is why I trust her. Then I ask her to tell me everything she knows. She says most of my theories were correct. The #9 door was open before the game started, so Dio came through. But Zero--both Zeroes--knew he would come. His presence was an important part of Zero's project. I ask what project, but Luna says she can't go into that right now; it'd take too long. Zero Jr. was the one who moved the AB room to reveal Dio's crime, but Luna was the one who put Akane's body in the AB room.

She'd been ordered to. We're treated to a flashback...the old woman was the one who gave her her orders. She was to enter the Nonary Game as one of the participants and observe the actions of the other players, and ensure that they do what they're supposed to and guide them down the correct paths. There would be 7 others, plus the old woman herself. Dio was entering at this moment, led to believe he was doing so undetected. Luna had already been briefed on him. She says that Dio will murder the first person to leave one of the AB rooms and take their place. If a pair is the first out, he'll probably kill both of them. Luna then expresses her doubts, both about allowing someone to be killed and about the use of Radical-6. Akane says that that's not Luna's concern. She is to follow orders.

...This had better be a damn good project. The Second Law states that a robot must follow orders given to it by a human unless doing so would conflict with the First Law, which states that a robot must not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. Luna being deactivated until after Akane's death would've been a necessary measure to allow things to go off as planned...unless the nature of this project is such that saving her life would conflict with the Zeroth Law. Was Akane's death necessary for the sake of humanity?

Akane goes on to say that she would like Luna to move the body of the person Dio killed. Any other information is classified. She already knows things that, ideally, she should not, so she must never divulge her knowledge of Dio, or the body, or that she carried it to the sixth AB room. She's breaking that order now. She said that her body was deactivated as soon as she entered the sixth AB room, but she was still "awake", and she used the security cameras to see what was going on in the rest of the facility. She saw Akane being murdered. I ask if that makes the old woman Zero Sr., and Luna said that she wasn't; that the old woman was not the only one she took orders from. That person was Zero Sr., who worked with the old woman to develop the project she'd mentioned. The orders came from both of them, and they were both controlling Zero Jr. Zero Jr. was also just following orders when he moved the sixth AB room. I ask why, and we decide that it's so only certain people would suspect Luna.

Luna goes on to say that Alice realized the room had been moved, and so did Clover, but that Clover didn't realize that Alice had, in fact, taken her own life. Clover confronted Luna, having decided that Luna had killed Alice to keep her quiet. Clover also asked about the killing of the old woman and the moved AB room, but Luna couldn't break her orders so she couldn't tell Clover any of the truth. She took out the injection gun, and the trigger was pulled, injecting the tubocurarine into Luna. Another of Luna's orders was to always act like one of the players--a human--so she had to fake her own death. Although what really happened was that having been "killed", Zero Jr. cut the power to her body again. Maintaining Luna's facade was probably in his orders, too. Clover then left to try to get the defibrillator--clearly she hadn't meant to kill Luna. Dio and Clover bumped into each other, but Dio just let her pass. He'd gone to get Alice's bracelet, which his team needed for the next round of Chromatic Doors, but also to retrieve his knife. That's when he found K's headkey and took it. He left when K arrived and headed after Clover. For some reason, Dio tried to stop Clover from trying to resuscitate Luna, and had just started to threaten her with his knife when Tenmyouji showed up. They struggled, and Dio won. Then he knocked Clover down and handcuffed the two of them to the sink. After the Soporil injection came, Clover wrote "dio" on her left thigh with blood.

The battle in the rec room went exactly as Sigma theorized, too. K got the luminol from Tenmyouji's body, as they'd gone to the infirmary and found Clover and Tenmyouji's bodies before Phi and I did, Dio pretending to be shocked. Luna asks if I have any questions. Does a bear shit in the woods?

Why was Quark's bracelet in the infirmary? Answer: Tenmyouji had it; it fell out of his pocket when Dio attacked him. But why did Tenmyouji have it? Luna says she told him where it was. When? Luna asks if I remember when I was in the rec room with Phi and Tenmyouji. Right after that, he went toward the green door to look for Quark. Luna ran into him at the end of the hallway, where the three doors and the switch are. All she said was that the center door was unlocked. ...Right. The pods can lower the heart rate to zero, freeing the competitors of their bracelets. It happened to Quark in another route, too.

...Or maybe not. Luna says she took it off, and when I asked how, she said, "Aluminum foil". ...What? The aluminum foil from the crew quarters? It apparently has electromagnetic shielding properties... ...Flashback: "Here's an exciting fact: Your heart creates a bunch of faint electrical impulses. Anyway, the point is that you can detect the electricity that your heart makes by pumping blood. Your fancy little bracelets pick up on that. They're allllllways watching." (The lack of rabbit puns might've thrown you off, but that was Zero III speaking.) And the bracelets can be tricked into thinking your heart has stopped by being wrapped in aluminum foil?!?!?!?!? That's...the cheapest harbinger of doom I've ever seen. Wait...that means...you only need one person to reach 9 BP to open the door, and everyone can escape! Luna was the one who put Quark in the pod, having found him near the entrance to the GAULEM Bay, but unlocking the door to the treatment center was Zero III's doing, as was reactivating Luna's body. And now I ask about the project. We were brought here to play the Nonary Game; Zero Sr. and Akane infected Alice with Radical-6, because it had to happen for the project to succeed. If Alice hadn't committed suicide, Clover wouldn't have suspected Luna; Dio wouldn't have found her body and confronted Clover and Tenmyouji in the infirmary. Dio and K killed each other because Dio was trying to cover up his murder of the old woman, which was a necessary evil. I ask again who the old woman and Zero Sr. are, and Luna...asks me to hug her. Her ABT is falling apart because of the tubocurarine. Zero Jr. didn't reactivate her body; she hacked into the core to reactivate herself. She blames herself for allowing everyone to die. She could've disobeyed her orders. She broke the first law. ...But according to the files, she upheld the Zeroth Law. Just what is the AB Project?! ...She disobeyed orders by reactivating herself, and GAULEMs who don't follow orders are terminated completely--memories and consciousness included, As she dies, she thanks a "Doctor". We don't find out who it is.

There's still a bad ending to get on Luna's route before returning to Phi's. I'm assuming that, as the route where we actually obtain the input device, Phi's is the one where the Golden Ending lies--funny given that the bombs aren't even a factor on six of the nine routes. Again, Luna defaulted. We remained a pair. We go looking for Quark again...WTF? The number nine door has been opened? It closes, and Phi wants to go back to the warehouse to find out if it actually opened. It says Luna and Quark escaped. That's right--Quark's bracelet could open the #9 door as well. Zero III returns to taunt us. I tell him "I have questions for you" and he bleats like a ewe, then when Phi corrects him he says it's a good thing we don't have questions for V; that guy's a jerk. Then he taunts us for betraying Luna and making her sad.

He then makes to leave, and we tell him to wait. "No, I won't wait. I don't like waiting. I waited once, and some half-witted reptile got the better of me because of it. After that I learned to make sure to value my time." Phi recognizes it as a reference to the Tortoise and the Hare, and then when I ask what we do now, she says that the tortoise won by continuing on even when it seemed hopeless, so no matter how long it takes, even if we never get out of here, she'll find out why we were put here. On to Phi's route!

We check our bracelets. I'm a red solo; Luna and Clover are a magenta pair. Phi's a cyan pair; K's a yellow pair. K tells us about the white doors and suggests that I'll be with Phi and her partner. Then Phi and I tell the others about the bomb we found in the garden. K suggests we should search for the #02 bomb. We agree to meet back when there's one hour left until the chromatic doors open. We note the graffiti in the warehouse, and I ask Phi about her knowledge of Latin. She says that the phrase she said before--"Elapsam semel occasionem non ipse potest Iuppiter reprehendere"--came from the brooch she wears, a sort of memento of her late mother who died right after she was born. She was raised by a foster family--doesn't even know who her father is. Huh...this music sounds very much like one that plays late in 999. We're talking about our ability to jump through time. She's talking about the theory that every decision we make creates another parallel universe. Then she uses the box with the dice on it and the stuffed lion (we're in the archives right now) to illustrate Schröedinger's Cat. Sigma's tic starts up again--the lion is meow a cat; he cat help making these puns, but fur what it's worth, he's sorry. We close the box with the radioactive material (the weight) and the jar of poisonous gas (blue ink bottle), and the question is posed. Did the alpha particles break the jar, causing death to whisker away? Or did she live to tell the tail? There's a 50 purrcent chance of either one. But since the cat doesn't die when you open the lid...it's like events in the future determine the past. ...That's actually exactly what it is, and Sigma's experienced it before. Against Phi on her route...and against both Alice and Tenmyouji in Round 1. Phi figures that our ability has something to do with Zero Sr.'s plan. She's not kitten--this is a huge Schröedinger's cat expurrriment, and all nine of us are locked up inside the box right meow. She thinks that we're outside the box, and the rest of the world is inside. Oh g-d...the #2 bomb is in the control room. Clover also tells us who the other bracelets are. Alice is the green solo; Quark's the blue solo; Dio is K's partner and Tenmyouji is Phi's partner. But things are serious, because with this bomb so close to the reactor, an explosion would be 10,000 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Clover lets it slip that she works for the government. Phi tested the device we found in the control room safe, and it was indeed the password input device. Phi wants to search everyone for the remote--refusing implicates you. If you're innocent, you'll be fine. Again, I tell her she only needs to search one person. Again, it qualifies as a lock--coming from Alice's route. Again, Tenmyouji knocks the detonator away and starts the timer. Again, Phi orders the others to take Alice and Quark to Warehouse B. Looks like it's deactivation time...but we don't know where the 00 bomb is! So so far we have locks from Phi's bad end, Alice, Dio, Sigma, and Tenmyouji...I guess that's it. Tenmyouji's had a lock from Quark's, but the unlocking point came from before the lock on Quark's own route. If there are later locks that need Quark's (probably Akane's ID card) and Luna's, that'll take care of everyone because Luna had a lock that needed K's and K had a lock that needed Clover's.

We head off. Phi tells me to jump, and I say I can't do that on command. Neither can she. So unless one of us already knows it...well, I'd stepped away from the computer for a bit, but luckily I wrote down the passwords to the #0, #1, and #3 bombs in the Memo...''AAAAAAAHHHHH! What the fuck happened to my memory!'' The #3 password's completely gone and the others are barely legible...okay, I can still do this. #0 and #3 looked similar, which was how I figured out the secret in the first place...#0 was the "MYBROTHER" one, so #3 was MYRMIDONS. B...Q...what was that one? Oh, right, "CRASHKEYS". Doesn't make much sense...which makes #2 "FREEZSOUL". Okay, write those down on the other memory page... L, X, Q, L, H, C, N, M, R. Success! So glad I figured out the secret. To the control room...Sigma tries to type in the same password as the #3 bomb. Phi's frustrated upon learning that each bomb uses a different password. From Sigma's route...EQD DYR NTK. To the garden! ...Phi's cranky. 9 minutes left. Tenmyouji's route, was it? BQZ RGJ DXR. Sigma's swimming in endorphins, he says he "wishes there was another bomb so he could feel this again." And then Phi remembers that there is. Bomb number zero. 4 minutes. I go to follow her, only to see her still standing there. She's incredulous that I don't know where it is. If I were Dio, where would I hide something important? ...SHIT! And there it is. That's it. That's Lock #10, and it needed Luna's good ending to unlock. I tell her not to follow me as I run off, but rather to go find the others. She says there's no way she'd do that. All the way back in Warehouse A...between the AB Rooms. Sigma remembers Dio's path. LXA QNS GDQ. Phi and I crumple to the ground, and she asks how I knew the bomb was here, if I'd seen it in another timeline. I said that it was complicated, but the short version was that he'd hid something else here in another timeline and I thought maybe he'd put he bomb here too. Just in time, too...which means the white doors are open. Time to hurry! Tenmyouji asks if we disabled the bombs, and I say I could've done it in my sheep. Phi corrects me...aren't those type of mistakes supposed to be her thing? Sigma's still going on about swimsuits...seriously, Siggy, it's not like a swimsuit would reveal that much more of Clover than she's already showing. We head through our doors, Clover and Luna carrying Alice while K carries Quark and drags Dio behind him. Through the door Tenmyouji, Phi and I go through, we find...nothing. Just white, and the entrance and exit doors. The plaque on the door says...Q. Sigma wonders what it means. Tenmyouji says someone's just being a smartass. Phi asks him to explain, and he says nothing, then posits that the Q is for "question", and Sigma agrees that it's a very questionable room. What the...there's a noise, like the opening door, and suddenly the room becomes slightly more defined, albeit in wireframe graphics and still plenty of white. A cube, floating. 7x7 grid. First column is 0012332; second is 0001111; the oher five are all zeroes. Phi tells me to look at it again, and I'm instructed that there are "winning" and "losing" panels on the wall, and the cube can help me find the winning panels. When the winning panels and only the winning panels are highlighted in cyan, the system will activate. How to find the winning panels: Play Minesweeper, essentially, except the "mines" are good--they're the winning panels. Being a winning panel also counts as bordering one. A panel slides out that reminds me of the shelves in the Security Hall. (I'm just an endless bundle of references tonight, aren't I?)

More puzzles...the device from the floor of the Director's Office; the dice and a book from the archives; darts from the rec room...I complete the hexagon puzzle for the red memory card and a binder on the Q Chamber Special AB Game. Aha... "Three people will definitely choose ally. Three people will definitely choose betray. One is a mysterious mirror man; he will always do whatever his opponent does. First Answer: Strive for 9 with 6 cooperators. Second answer: We must be the only ones to surpass 9." Four purple books spell out DICE. In the fourth is a picture of where the dice need to be, but...it doesn't seem to be working. ...Crap. Yeah, I don't feel the slightest bit ashamed of consulting an FAQ on this one. Unlike last time, this time the pips do need to be aligned just so for 2, 3, and 6 (the only ones that have two lines of symmetry rather than four or infinite). Oh, found the dartboard! Green, then blue, then red, adding up to 100 perfectly...Well, 42 and 39 are the only ones that are above the 1/3 mark, and they're both green. Let's assume 42...so our other 2 need to equal 58. ...Maybe it is 39, which combined with 33...needs 28. Bingo. 39, 28, 33. Now to follow the AB patterns...

I go against E, with A against D and B against C. I ally and get betrayed by E, with A betraying D and the B/C group both allying. Us vs. C, E vs. A, B vs. D...Betray, and C betrayed us while A and E betrayed each other and B/D ally. So C's the mirror man, while A and E always betray and B and D always ally. Okay, to make sure nobody but us gets to 9...Us vs. D, B vs. C, A vs. E, betray. We take the lead with 6, while A/E are stuck at 3 and B/C reach 5. Now set A and E to pull their betrayal acts while allying with C...no, that won't work. First as planned; second with A vs. C and E betraying B; third same as first. Secret password get. We learn that Zero III's real name is "Lagomorph", what Tenmyouji told Clover and Alice about his knowledge of their identities; Minkowski space, which adds time as the fourth dimension; a hint towards the thing I figured out about the deactivation passwords...the other two were pretty vague, about Phi and the AB Project. The other answer's pretty easy: just send A against E every time and always pick Ally. Two bottles of Axelavir await in the safe. Score. And then the holograph device turns on, revealing...the ninth lion. Sigma remembers the previous 8 lions. Username is KURASHIKI; password is JUMPYDOLL. The Q, apparently, is for Quark.

I think my thumb is starting to blister...

As expected, a hologram of Akane appears. Tenmyoujumpy recognizes her right away. She explains that we were all brought here and made to play the Nonary Game for the sake of the AB Project, which was designed to send the consciousnesses of two people into the past: Sigma and Phi. Before I even realize it, I've asked, "What do you mean, 'the past?'" She asks if we've figured out what this room is and says the Q stands for Quantum. The computer where we played the AB Game, Q room edition, is a quantum computer. It's been so long since we received that file that I have to look up what a quantum computer is. The quantum computer controls the entire facility, including the construct we call Zero Jr. and the GAULEMs. Wait...something's not right. ...Oh, right, precog. The "construct" identified itself as Zero the Third, so a prerecorded message should only know that we called it Zero Jr. if it had been recorded after the Nonary Game began...except the recorder can see the future. Philosophical stuff about the nature of humans, segueing into an explanation of the morphogenetic field. "We may all be connected after all. Like the branches of a tree... Or a rhizome..." Um, I'm sorry, but none of these Secret Files said anything about a "rhizome". She asks us to imagine a horizontal cross-section of the root system of a large tree. Haha, we've done that already. She says that all you can see are the spots where the roots intersect your cross-section. In the two dimensions you see, the roots all appear to be individual things, with no connection to one another, but this isn't the case. You need to look at the roots from a third, higher dimension to see that they're all connected. The same could apply to things that seem separate in 3 dimensions. Junpei identifies this as morphogenetic field theory, but before Sigma can ask for an explanation, Akane starts up again, referencing Minkowski spacetime. If our minds are connected on that fourth axis, time, then what would prevent anyone from sending their consciousness backward or forward in time? That's the foundation of the AB project. The A represents "after", and the B represents "before". According to the secret file, they can also stand for "Anima" and "Body". She admits that it sounds ridiculous, but asks us if we haven't already seen the truth of it, and says Tenmyouji should know what she's talking about as well, as he experienced something very similar nearly half a century ago. Sending his consciousness to the past to help save a little girl's life... Yeah, of course he remembers. How could he forget? That little girl was her. Sigma suddenly feels like an outsider, trespassing on something he had no right to see. Tenmyouji's face was taunt [sic] with emotion as he looked at her. She says her time is up, as she must prepare for the next phase of the AB Project. She'll finish the story the next time we meet. ...In the past, or is she still alive in this timeline? After all, we never found her body on any of the routes where we went through the cyan door. Right before leaving, she asks again if the cat in the box is alive or dead. She says Sigma and Phi will decide its fate. Tenmyouji calls out for her to wait, and Akane laughs, saying she can almost see Tenmyouji and that he doesn't need to worry; everything is going to be okay. She promises that she will see him again one day, but he'll have to wait just a little longer.

We meet back on Floor A and treat Quark and Alice for Radical-6 in the infirmary. Dio's been handcuffed to the same sink he'd left Clover and Tenmyouji handcuffed to in Luna's route; K explains that they found the handcuffs in the crew quarters. Now that they have the star keys, they don't really need his bracelet anymore, do they? K thanks us again for disarming the bombs.

Clover and Tenmyouji stay behind in the infirmary to watch over the two patients and the prisoner as Luna, Phi, K and I go to Warehouse A for another round of the Nonary Game. That's one person from each group, including one opponent for me. By now it should be obvious that I'd get a bad end if I betrayed...Phi tells me to vote, and I say I feel she should vote, and she figures I don't trust her because she betrayed me last round, and K thinks that Phi should be the one to vote because she has 9 BP and therefore no reason to betray, and Luna thinks it doesn't matter because we only need to play the AB Game three more times and we'll all have 9 BP, assuming each rep chooses Ally all three times. Yeah, Tenmyouji, Alice, and Luna all have only 3 each, so they'd only be able to get out in two rounds by betraying twice--which, given their opponents, isn't feasible. Hopefully Dio ends up as a solo at some point so he can get betrayed below 9, since he'll wind up there at the end of this round due to already having 7. Phi concedes to voting... We open the gates, only to be reminded of the 45-minute deadline. Especially with people abstaining (though I'm pretty sure even if all six voted, they'd wait the full 45 minutes to open the doors), it's not feasible to go in right away, so we head back to the infirmary. K and Luna set off, but as Sigma's about to follow, Phi stops him and remembers the other histories where we found Akane's body in the AB Room. I wonder why we didn't find her in this timeline, and Phi suggests that she wasn't murdered. I ask when history changed, and she reminds me what Akane said about the cat in the box and suggests that she was saying that her own fate hasn't been decided yet--both the history where she's alive and the one where she was murdered are "real" right now. I say that we've already opened the box, meaning the AB Room, but Phi points out that we haven't actually observed Akane; don't know whether she's alive or merely dead somewhere else. Sigma remembers that she said she'd be waiting and wonders where it might be--if it's even in this timeline, or if it's in another timeline, or in the past. More flash-arounds...to be continued? "A new destination has been added to the flowchart." Yeah, there's nothing extending past the last one...which is why the Q Computer was needed for progress even though it wouldn't seem to affect the continued success of our Nonary Game. One lit destination and two question marks appear...before the very first point previously in the flowchart, and unconnected to them. Before we can continue in the present, we must jump further into the past than ever before.

This game starts off in an elevator. The player character's name is Sigma, and he meets a strange girl...

...Sigma has apparently forgotten the past, or rather the future. All it takes is for the strange girl to say so, though, and the memories come streaming back. He remembers that she's Phi. She grins, and I ask when this is. She tells me to check my bracelet...red pair, 3 BP. Sigma asks if we've gone back to when we first woke up in the AB Room, and Phi says she thinks we woke up a little earlier this time. Yeah, over 2 hours until the first set of Chromatic Doors opens...about an hour earlier than last time. Which means...Akane might still be alive. Wait, so then Akane didn't die in those routes because we went back further to stop it? ...Eh, no weirder than Akane engineering events to prevent her own death nine years in the past. Now for the big question...does the password from the "present" AB Room work in the past? ...Apparently it does; I try to click the safe right away, but accidentally click a little to the right and Phi yells at me that we don't need to check there because we already know the password to the safe. I open it, and Phi says to hurry up and grab the cracker. ...You already made that joke, Phi. She impatiently finishes the puzzle off. Dio and Akane are both out there. Phi knocks Dio down. Akane's surprisingly calm for someone who narrowly escaped being killed. Phi realizes that Akane's an esper, and Sigma wonders why she was going to let Dio stab her if she knew it was going to happen. She said it had to happen. If she hadn't been killed by Dio, no one else would've been murdered...that's right, nobody does get murdered in Alice's or Sigma's routes, not directly. They both end with the bombs blowing up, and at that point, everyone's still alive in Sigma's route and Dio's the only one dead, by way of taking a cyanide pill, in Alice's. And if no one else was murdered, our abilities would never have manifested. She explains the bit about how when a human brain is faced with danger, its processing speed increases. We learned that in 999...but the mention of "processing speed" is interesting, because the same phrase was used in describing the effects of Radical-6, except there the brain's processing speed decreases. A few seconds can feel a lot longer...but that alone is not enough to send the consciousness through time. The amplitude of the consciousness is just too small. To increase it, we must slow down the brain before the increase happens. She compares it to a slingshot...That's why the slingshot had its own secret file when it wasn't even a necessary piece of the puzzle it was involved in! But the slingshot of your brain fires the bullet of your consciousness into the four-dimensional world. In order for that to happen, she had to infect us with Radical-6. It was necessary in order to slow the minds enough to store up potential energy. Right...but, wait, there are non-espers in this group! Alice, Quark...okay, pretty much just Alice, Quark, and the "tenth man", Dio. Luna's a GAULEM, and Tenmyouji, Sigma, Phi, Clover, and probably K are all espers. (Is being an esper hereditary? I just assumed it was.) Then they provided a dire situation that would accelerate our processing speed...firing the "slingshot"! I think I get it now!

Even that wasn't enough, though, because our memories could easily be lost during the trip. For the project to succeed, we had to be able to retain everything we learned in each reality. It seems like the brain decay is happening quicker...there's notable fading in stuff I wrote down just one jump ago, though it's still easily legible. We were forced to jump so many times because with each jump, our ability to remember improved. Eventually, we could retain everything. That's why we had to play the AB Game and select different Chromatic Doors.

By forcing specific choices, they could force us to make more jumps. Sigma understands, too, sort of. But why? People have died for this, including all of us. She says that death was unavoidable, and we were all destined to die. Sacrifices needed to be made for the sake of the project. Sigma says he already knows all of that; he wants to know why. What was so important that it was worth all of this? She says she's sure we'll figure it out eventually. Phi wants to know when "eventually" is, and Akane says it's in a future not far from now. Sigma says that's bullshit and wants to know why she can't tell us now, but instead of responding, she picks up Dio's knife and says she'll keep it with her. She says it's almost time, and I say we have plenty of time, but she says that in a few moments, we'll return to the original timeline. She calls for Lagomorph. Phi questions the name, and Akane explains. She orders him to unlock her bracelet. He does, and she puts it on Dio. All that's left is to put him in the fifth AB room, and us in the third one with the puzzle in an unsolved state, to recreate the history we remember. And she gives us an old key, which she ties around Sigma's ankle. On it, it says, "Tu fui, ego eris." That's right; we never unlocked the gravestone. She says it will help me meet someone who's very important. Then she tells us to return to the future and says that she'll be at our side, watching us. To be continued...another new destination has been added to the flowchart. It's right below the place we left off, but not connected to it...and it's labeled "AB Game, Round 3, Ally". So we don't even get the option to betray for a bad ending here. I wake up in the infirmary, greeted by Tenmyouji, and am quite confused. Apparently when Luna and K returned to the infirmary, Phi and I passed out in front of the AB rooms. Right, because our consciousnesses had left our bodies. Quark's awake, and Alice too. Sigma still wants more swimsuits...Clover says that now that we're awake, all that's left is to open the #9 door. I guess we were out for awhile; Tenmyouji had to ally for us and the next two rounds have already passed as well. They allied every time...I guess Dio was a pair every time? Or are they just too nice to betray him? Or are they planning on bringing him out of there, unconscious and handcuffed? Sigma's stunned that everyone cooperated long enough to do that. Was it because Akane wasn't killed; without a death to start things off, we were less suspicious of one another? Or was it because we'd all united against Dio and the bombs? Sigma would find it ironic if Dio had been the one to band us all together. I ask what we're doing with Dio, and we decide to leave him behind. Alice was the only one who wanted to take him so she could bring him to her superiors, but I told her they'd come back to investigate after we escaped and would deal with him then. The number 9 door creaks open, and we all head through. Like in Dio's ending, the elevator takes us up to another PEC. Clover and Alice are stunned to learn that the air outside is apparently full of Radical-6. K says we've come this far; we should go outside to find out. We had to go through three PECs before arriving outside. Clover says she thinks she knows what day it is based on the red moon. Sigma remarks on how clean the air is...and how big the moon is. A black spot moves across it...I ask what it is. Tenmyouji says it's the moon--well, the moon's shadow, actually. That doesn't make sense...Tenmyouji says Zero told him to stay quiet, possibly worried he'd spill the beans on Zero's operation, and that he'd kill both Tenmyouji and Quark if he didn't comply. And, like an idiot, he agreed and brought Quark along, just so he could see Akane. Phi figures it out: the "moon" is Earth. This is a solar eclipse. Anyone in that black spot is looking up at the moon covering the sun.

If that's Earth, then where the hell are we, I ask, and Quark responds, "The Moon, of course. We were just inside a moonbase." Clover says that's ridiculous, and he has to be lying. Alice then tries to justify it, that if this were really the moon, gravity would be different; the Moon has only 1/6 of Earth's gravity. ...I can justify that. How exactly would one observe gravity? Gravity is a force, so it's mass times acceleration...which is to say, mass times distance divided by time squared. The acceleration due to gravity on Earth is about 9.8 m/s^2, but for this purpose, we'll just refer to it as 1 G. If an object is dropped from a height of 4.9 meters on Earth, it would take 1 second for it to reach the ground. Now, drop the same object from the same height on the moon, where gravity is G/6, and the number of seconds it would take for it to reach the ground would be equal to the square root of 6. Now, how many seconds actually pass in the amount of time it takes for someone infected with Radical-6 to perceive one second passing? ...Exactly. The perceived acceleration due to gravity on the moon to someone infected with Radical-6 would be exactly 1 G. Luna explains this exact fact. She was one of the people who knew that this wasn't Earth...though to be perfectly honest, she's not really "people". Alice is even more confused. Luna explains that the Radical-6 isn't completely gone, and some of its symptoms still stick around. All of us have been infected and are processing information at a much lower speed. Ah...Luna reminds Clover that she, Phi and I had noticed that our bodies felt weird, back in the lounge. Ah, that explains Phi's ability to make those weird leaps, too! Tenmyouji finally reveals today's date. January 27, 2074. A little over 45 years after the time that most of us were allegedly abducted...although actually, Dio was lying, Luna is a GAULEM and I don't think she ever actually identified a year anyway...only Sigma, Phi, Clover, and Alice distinctly remember it being 2028. Sigma's body is apparently a lot older than his mind, and we already know that three of the participants had been in cold sleep...obviously, those must have been Clover, Alice, and Phi. But why is the Earth red? On April 13, 2029, all eighteen annihilation reactors on Earth went up at the same time. Hah...Friday the 13th, in the fourth month of the year. An appropriate date for an apocalypse. Why? It goes back to the test site for the Mars mission, out in Nevada. The accident on December 31, 2028...That's when Radical-6 escaped, and started spreading all around the world. Eventually, the suicides started. Some went with the "classics"--diving off a building or putting a bullet in their brain. But others used poison, or fire, or asphyxiation, or the noose...plenty jumped in front of trains and cars. A pilot on a passenger airline drove his plane into the ground. Most forms of transportation ground to a halt pretty quickly, so food couldn't get distributed and people who weren't even infected starved to death. After awhile, those who'd avoided getting infected started getting in touch with each other. They discussed how to eradicate Radical-6...and their plan was purification--roast the surface of the Earth and kill off Radical-6 for good. That...sounds disturbingly like Free the Soul's goals. On April 13th, the plan went into effect...but the truth is, that's mostly just rumor. No one knows what really happened. Tenmyouji believes the bombers had already been infected, and decided to take billions with them on their suicides. A nuclear winter occurred. It was seven years before anyone saw the sun again. But there's still plenty of dust and ash in the air, which is why the Earth's red. That's the only color of light that can make it through the atmosphere. Phi says she thinks she figured something out.

And that's...why there's an extra "e". She says she thinks it's an anagram, just like the one on Floor A. I ask what Anna says this time, and she curses me out. And the anagram is... "The man on the moon rules the infinite time." She thinks it's a message for us from Zero Sr. and Akane. She thinks that the man in question is me. We rule infinite time. We're not going to jump only a couple of hours...we're going to jump all the way back to 2028 to stop the catastrophe Tenmyouji just told us about! I point out that we came from that time period, so why bring us here to send us back? Phi says Akane should be able to tell us the rest, so we should pay her a visit--Phi has an idea of where she might be. The grave! We head back in, the others following behind. K asks what we're doing. We say we're going to have a talk with someone, and he asks who. We say the person behind all this, and he asks if we mean Akane. I...guess he got more of his memories back in this timeline? K offers to accompany us. Phi asks why he knows about Akane, and he says he'll tell us when we get there. Tenmyouji says he'll come, too, if Akane will be there, and Quark says that if Tenmyouji's going, he's going. Alice says she will, too, and Clover asks if this Akane we're talking about is...Tenmyouji says yeah, Clover knows her real well. Clover's extremely confused as to what the hell is going on. Hmm...now that the Nonary Game isn't going on, I suppose all doors should be open...oh. We took the lift all the way to Floor B, and reentered through that door. Tenmyouji tenses when told that we're heading to the grave, but I assure him that she's not buried there; she's alive. A treatment pod emerges from the ground when I unlock the keyhole in the grave. We can't unlock it. The announcer cuts in. "Treatment Pod TP-00, stage one defrosting complete." Ah...a fourth treatment pod, numbered 0...lock will automatically disengage once stage 2 is completed in 10 minutes. He remembers everything...he was born and raised in this facility, called "Rhizome-9". A rhizome is an underground plant stem that spreads by sending out roots. There are 54 Rhizomes on the moon in all, and this is the ninth one. He watched Akane and Zero Sr. create the AB Project, and explains what the AB Project is for the rest of the cast. We correctly guess how far we're going, but K says that even if we make it back, we won't be able to do much. It's already too late. K says that Zero Sr. and Akane weren't the ones who created all this; they only followed the histories they'd already seen. They need us to jump through timelines while retaining our memories. The puzzles were also there to strengthen our connection with the fourth dimension. Tenmyouji asks why the rest of them were there, if Sigma and Phi are the only ones who matter. K says that in earlier histories, they were there, so they had to replicate those histories. Junpei, you of all people should know that! K explains, starting with the abduction of Alice and Clover on 12/22/2028 in Los Angeles, where their bodies were sent to a facility under Akane's direction. They were placed in treatment pods and put into cold sleep, arriving one day after the reactors blew. Why were they kept there for 45 years? Well, Clover being an esper was part of it; espers resonate with one another. That's why Clover was here. Alice was here to help deactivate Dio's bombs. She says she didn't do anything, but K says that she did in another history--when she performed the prime decomposition on the 25-digit number. Tenmyouji was there because he's another esper. Dio was sent here by Brother because the AB Project jeopardizes Free the Soul's goals. So he was tasked with eliminating Akane and joining and winning the AB Game (should probably be Nonary Game). Dio's win would prevent the completion of the AB Project in that timeline.

He was also given a contingency plan. If he could not murder Akane and win the game, he was to destroy Rhizome 9. Hence, the bombs only appearing in the timeline where Akane's murder was thwarted. Brother was also an esper, which is how he knew about the AB Project. That explains everyone but Luna and K himself. He mentions that Phi and I already know the truth about Luna, but that he shouldn't reveal any more. That's Luna's story to tell, at another time. Luna says she's fine with that. As for K...he was born and raised here, making him someone close to Zero Sr. and Akane. Quark wonders who Zero Sr. is, and K says that I have already met him, in another timeline. I say I only saw a hologram and I still don't know who he is. TP-00 unlocks. Inside is...the younger Sigma! This Sigma remembers seeing something similar at the end of K's path. But if the person in TP-00 was the same one he saw in K's armor, then who is wearing K's armor? K says, "You've finally noticed. Didn't I tell you? You won't be alone. I will be at your side, watching over you." So all of what "he" just said about "himself" was a lie..."K" is, in this timeline, Akane! Clover is surprised and calls her June before correcting herself, but is surprised to see her so old. She tells Clover that she hasn't spoken to her in a very long time..."Or to you, Junpei". This is the first time that the name "Junpei" is explicitly stated in connection with Tenmyouji, even though anyone who played 999 would've long since made the connection. I say that's impossible; Dio had killed her and Luna had taken her body into the sixth AB Room before K ever emerged. She says that it was her, at least in this timeline. It's just like Schröedinger's Cat. Our actions in the future, saving her from Dio, decided who would be in the armor in the past. Phi asks who's wearing the armor in the timelines where she died. She says it's the man in TP-00. And the memory loss? The truth when it was the other man; a necessary bit of obfuscation when Akane was wearing the armor. Large doses of Soporil can cause memory loss, and he received a very large dose. Quark asks who he is, and Akane asks if none of us have seen him before. No one recognizes him, and I ask what they're talking about; we have the same face! Everyone's quite confused. Quark asks me if I bumped my head. Akane explains to me that my consciousness can jump through time. I can inhabit my body in the past...or in the future. I ask what she means, and she spells it out: I've jumped to the future from forty-five years ago. I find the pond and wait for it to calm down to the point of reflectiveness...and stare at the face of Zero Sr. I'm in shock, and she says that it's my face...Doctor Sigma Klim. (pronounced like "climb"). "Although to the you that's behind it now, it's your face 45 years from now."

Two Milkmen = Two Klim men (me and my cloned son, "K").

MILKEVOLI = ILOVEKLIM. When she said she was falling in love with me all over again, Luna was referring to the fact that she'd loved me in the past, despite being a mere robot. In fact, my cloned son mentioned that I'd created a robotic mother for him, which he'd rejected...could he have been referring to Luna?

I say that this is bullshit, and she tells me not to fight it and calls me "Doctor" again. I say I'm not a doctor, and she says I will be, a pioneer in the field of genetic engineering. I created the man in the pod, Kyle Klim. A clone of myself. He was created 23 years ago. Ah...being born and raised here, if nothing was done, the reduced gravity would cause his bones to be weaker than normal human ones. That's why he received the armor; he's worn it all his life. If something happened to me, he'd take my place. She then mentions the alternate meaning of the A and the B, explaining that Anima means the consciousness.

The past and future consciousness go into each other's bodies, switching places. That means that, back in 2028, my 22-year-old body is inhabited by the consciousness of Zero Sr., 67-year-old Dr. Sigma Klim. Akane asks if I remember the note I found in the garden. Since I didn't explore it in this timeline, Clover pulls it out and asks if that's what Akane means. Right...the word "rhizome" did appear, just that once. Okay, I think I get it...I jumped ahead from "A" (December 25, 2028) to "B" (January 27, 2074), went ahead to "C" naturally, then jumped back to "D", moved to "B" again, then headed back to A and used my new knowledge to create a branch in the timeline at point "E" (April 13, 2029). Or something like that. Actually, it makes more sense if I assume that going back from C to D was where I initially put myself into the Nonary Game, with the point between B and C being...planning? I don't know. Akane explains it.

"A" is where everything began. 12/25/2028. From there I jumped to B: 1/25/2074. There, I woke up in an AB Room in Rhizome 9 alongside Phi. The lower gravity balanced out the fact that my older body had much weaker muscles, so I didn't notice the lower gravity. I move on to reach C, 1/27/2074. It's been 36 hours since we woke up. Huh...is that why we kept losing track of time? To us, it seemed like 14 hours and 40 minutes. My consciousness will return to the past...April 13, 2029. The events we'll want to prevent will have already happened. But the line doesn't end there...I then age normally to January 25, 2074, at which point I switch places with my younger self, returning to December 25, 2028. He'll inhabit my body until April 13, 2029, at which point my younger consciousness will return, ejecting my older consciousness back to 1/27/2074. But there's one branch...Point E. December 31, 2028, the date of the total eclipse. The point of the AB project was to get the consciousness of the 67-year-old Sigma from Point B to Point A, so that he can change what happened at Point E...the release of Radical-6 at the test site in Nevada. To get the 67-year-old version of me to point B, we had to go through Point D...to get to point D, we had to jump from Point C...and for Point C to happen, we had to recreate everything that happened in Rhizome 9. ...But why?! Why couldn't we have just had the older me forced into the younger body the first time I jumped from point A to point B? I ask when that jump will occur. She says it'll happen soon. We need potential energy to send my consciousness into the fourth dimension. Fortunately, thanks to, ironically, Radical-6, we now have plenty of that. All that's needed is a crisis to jump-start my brain; a moment between life and death...She wonders if I've figured it out. I haven't.

She takes out Dio's knife, the one engraved with "Myrmidons". Glad to see the years haven't dulled your ability to be an Alternia-class troll. Actually, given all the weird time shit that happens in this series, someone should make a Homestuck/Zero Escape crossover fic. Wait...wait wait wait wait wait wait wait. It's been awhile since I've read Homestuck--I lost it shortly after the kids switched places with their ancestors--but wasn't the recurring date when all of this happened 4/13? As in, the day the annihilation reactors blew up?

Clearly the events of the Zero Escape series take place in Sburb. Anyway, Akane lunges at Phi; Sigma lunges forward to try to stop her; Sigma ends up waking up with Akane's body on top of his; and the credits roll. Goddamnit this series just won't stop trolling. Ending music's different this time, I think...but still familiar.

Welp, that's considered Phi's end...but a new destination has been added to the flowchart. Sure enough, it's further back than even our last jump back to further in the past. It's labeled "Headquarters; April 13th, 2029".

Screams. A newscaster, giving the evening news for April 13th, 2029. Unfortunately, she has no news to read, as all of the station's reporters have contracted Radical-6 and died. So have her...she apologizes and says it's time for her to sign off, and then she shoots herself in the head. I hear footsteps behind me and turn around to find a man...a figure in a dark robe and gas mask. Zero. She reveals herself. It's Akane--the Akane in her early twenties that we remember from 999, far less changed over the course of a year than Clover was. "It looks like the first step was successful", she says, and it's tempting to mute the game right now because holy crap that voice is awful. I'm still mad at her for killing me 45 years in the future. She insists she didn't kill me. She hit me with the butt of the knife; I'm fine. Phi and I merely needed to experience a state of crisis...yes, that's right; Phi needed to jump, too. She asks me if I know what happens next. Yeah. We go to the moon. I'll be departing tomorrow along with three pods, containing Alice, Clover, and Phi. Phi appeared two days ago and volunteered to be frozen, knowing what needed to be done. Lucky girl...the version of herself that she's switching with is physically only a few months older than she is. I ask Akane why we can't do the same with me, and she tells me I need to spend the next 45 years working on the AB project. Genetic engineering, AI programming...those are just some of the disciplines in which I must become a master, so I can create Kyle, Luna, and Lagomorph. Lagomorph...I have to admit, now that he's not an enemy--hasn't really been identifiable as such for quite some time--the little guy's starting to grow on me. I'm also the one who summons Tenmyouji and Quark. On January 25th, 2074, I'll thaw out Phi and carry her to the third AB room, at which point my 22-year-old self will force me out of my body...and into his, at a point where I can do something. She says only Phi and I can save them. I ask why she can't do anything, since she's an esper too. Her response basically boils down to "I just can't." She doesn't know what happens after we arrive back in our younger bodies...just that we go to the Mars mission test site, and that we have to do something. She knows it'll be dangerous, because my 67-year-old self told her as much after he'd failed. The test facility is full of traps. At one point, a woman was in danger, and I risked myself for her sake...that's when I lost my arms and my right eye. OH HOLY SHIT THERE'S NO ABT ON THESE LIMBS!!! I have crude metal arms and a simple eyepatch, rather than the human-looking arms and Moody-looking eye that I had in 2074. A rumble shakes the building...it's the explosion of the reactors.. "END or BEGINNING". Something feels...off, though.

I jump to the lounge, where the flowchart says I'm still missing a piece of the archives. I move a cushion on the couch and find the astronomy magazine that was found in the other timelines, where Sigma didn't explore the lounge. It also provided that clue I was missing, saying that the correct time for the clock was 4:50. With that out of the way, I head to the safe to escape the room. Was there another room where I missed a clue? Looks like...the GAULEM Bay, which is further down this route. Might as well go by way of fast-forward, then, and save a jump. Except, I look at the unchosen option and pick it, thinking it's the one that'll be vetoed, only to find that I'd done that the last time and had used that to get to that actual choice. So I had to jump backwards anyway. Probably the clue to the radio...yep. Found a binder hiding in the corner of the third locker. IDs matched with frequencies...still doesn't make sense to me, but...that's the last piece needed to complete the archive. Now, the quickest way to a game over is to betray Luna...eh? Maybe I need to unlock it with a good ending? I zip back to Phi's ending, long though it may be. There's more names in the credits this time. The two Akanes...the newscaster...and a detective? I don't remember any detectives... I don't get it. What am I missing?

...Crap! I figured that since I had all the secret files, I must have completed all escapes on hard...but I didn't! I screwed up and spent most of post #304 stumbling around looking for a missing 40, remember? I never went back and cleared the rec room on hard.

...I also never got an adequate explanation for why the fuck it mattered that the shadows were fake. Anyway, putting in the safe password is all it takes to open up the missing ending. I grab all the weapons before opening the safe, just because.

Infirmary--Another Time

"Where...?" I ask, though I'm not labeled as Sigma. Luna says, "I see you've finally woken up, Kyle. I'm confused, and she says I've only just woken up in this timeline; it's only natural for some of my memories to be missing. I wipe the dirt from the infirmary mirror and see my face, and recognize myself as Kyle Klim, son/clone of Doctor Klim, aka Zero Sr. Luna wonders why I'm not suffering from amnesia. I don't know, but I do know who Kyle Klim is. In another history, he had been called "K" and wore a suit of armor. But, while I knew everything about him, I didn't really feel it. Was I really Kyle Klim? Dio was still handcuffed to the sink, and I ask Luna what day it is. She tells me it's January 27, 2074. The last day of the AB Project. I ask how long I've been out, and she says it's been five hours real time, but would've seemed like a little over two hours to the others. The consciousness of the younger Sigma has already gone into the past. Why am I here? Luna says that I was in the pod, and the doctor carried me back here. I ask her if, when she says "the doctor", she is referring to Sigma Klim as inhabited by his age-appropriate consciousness. She says that's correct and wonders how I know that. I remark that Dio's remained unconscious, and Luna says she's been administering Soporil whenever he gets restless. The others have all gone off to different areas. I meet up with Tenmyouji and Quark in the PEC. It takes a moment for Quark to remember that I'm "Mr. Klim". I ask what they're doing here, and they ask if I know where they are. The upper floor of the real PEC. So then...they plan to return to Earth. Quark says Sigma told them where they could find the shuttle that brought them here, then says that he's not really the Sigma he knew anymore; he's Doctor Klim now...or Zero Sr., depending on how you look at it.

I ask why they'd return to a devastated planet when they could stay here. Tenmyouji asks how staying here could help. It's not like we can wait here until Sigma changes the past--you can't "wait" for something that's already happened; grammar doesn't work that way. Yeah, that wioll haven make sense. But because of this, Tenmyouji believes that Sigma must have failed. Were you not paying attention to the whole "multiple timelines" thing? You're absolutely right--in this timeline, Sigma couldn't have possibly succeeded. Otherwise, the conditions to allow Sigma to go back in time in the first place never could've occurred. But that doesn't mean he failed, because his success would create a new timeline that isn't this one. Ah, Tenmyouji realizes this, and his ensuing metaphor, though strange, expresses it. So, it seems that in spite of all of the disaster that's occurred in this timeline, Tenmyouji's satisfied with how his life went, and asks if there's any point to a world were [sic] everything is happy. He nearly curses, and Kyle realizes that if Sigma changes the past, Tenmyouji and Quark would likely never meet in that timeline. Kyle asks if they've already said their goodbyes. Quark says that Alice, Luna, Phi, and Clover all saw them off, and Kyle asks if that's everyone they wanted to say goodbye to. Tenmyouji says there's no point in saying anything to Dio, and Quark adds that even if there was, he's asleep. I was asleep too, and besides, they didn't really know me--I wasn't even in the armor in this timeline. Kyle asks about Sigma, and Quark says that he's not really the Sigma they knew anymore. He's Doctor Klim. Wait, isn't there someone else? Tenmyouji just adds that as the one who brought everyone here, there aren't really a lot of warm feelings for Doctor Klim. Kyle asks the question I'd been wondering: What about Akane? Tenmyouji says that she's not the Akane he knew; she's just like Dr. Klim. Why search for all those years, then? Ah, well, I guess it might not have been fully evident that she'd changed by the Second Nonary Game. All of the exposition happened at the end, and up until the reveal, she'd been acting just as she had when you were kids. But this Akane doesn't seem that different from Zero I. "She must have seen some pretty awful things over the years." Well, yeah, this world kind of went to shit, but I'm pretty sure that her mind breaking like that happened as a result of the First Nonary Game. Scene transition. Alice laments how in the end, she and Clover were just pawns. Clover says that Sigma and Phi have it easy; they get to go back to 12/25/2028. They'll stop Radical-6 and save the world and then have a nice, normal future to look forward to. But Clover and Alice are stuck in the future. Kyle apparently told them Tenmyouji's story about the motorcycles, and Clover says that in that story, it'd be like she and Alice were kidnapped right before the intersection and taken to the destination in the northwest, the one where most of the bikers died right away. Akane told them that there is a way they could get back to the past. Kyle asks if their minds wouldn't just be thrown back here, but Alice says that Akane made it sound like there's a way to send their bodies back too. Kyle says that's ridiculous and would create a paradox. Alice said that Akane says there's a way around it, and it all goes back to Schröedinger's Cat. Ah, well, I guess that's true. Once Alice and Clover were taken and put into cold sleep, they were shipped off to the moon. It's not really like anyone could observe the two Clovers and two Alices. Scene switch again; Kyle asks Phi where Dr. Klim is. She says he said he was tired and is resting in a bedroom at the end of the hallway. Also, he told her to turn on the hologram projector when I showed up.

Dr. Klim says he hasn't got anything in particular to tell me, and that circumstances make it impossible for him to answer all of my questions, but that Phi should know everything he knows and has been instructed to answer any questions anyone might have. ...Anyone other than me, that is. Kyle asks who Phi is, and she gives the exact same answer she gave Sigma at the beginning of the game. Kyle mentions that, mentally, she essentially skipped a jump point, as by point D, she was already in cold sleep, and had not yet regained consciousness by point B, when her original mind from point A forced her out. He determines, of course, that she came from the failure timeline, then went to Akane to be put into cold sleep and got forced into this current body, the one that woke up on the garden floor. So what was her purpose? She says she's somewhat of an x-factor and starts talking about physics. Apparently the actual equation for combining velocities isn't a simple v1 + v2, but rather (v1+v2)/(1+v1v2/c^2). The only thing is, because the velocities that we encounter in everyday life come nowhere close to c^2, that being the square of the speed of light, (1+v1v2/c^2) usually turns out to be pretty close to 1, so it's usually okay to skip the step of dividing by it. Even though it's not right, it usually works. And...that's the point. Stick to what you know, and Kyle's explanation is correct. But that's not what Kyle wanted to know. He wants to know what happened between Christmas and New Year's in 2028. What happened in the Mars mission test site? How did Sigma lose both arms and an eye, and why was Radical-6 in there in the first place? Phi says she can't tell him that, because it would change history. There is a history where the virus didn't escape--the line that goes to the right of point E. In that timeline, humanity isn't headed for annihilation and Earth isn't red. But that reality will disappear if she tells us this information. She asks if I understand, and I say I don't, and she asks if I'm about to go back to the past. I say I can't do that, and she asks where I learned all of this stuff. She just listened to me tell her a bunch of things I shouldn't know about. I was asleep in the pod; how could I have learned so much about Phi's and Sigma's pasts?! Scene switch; Old Akane is going to give me my answer. I'm not Kyle Klim--or rather, my consciousness is not his. She asks me if I really believe I am Kyle. I ask where the real Kyle's consciousness is, and she says it was thrown out when I entered, and has arrived, in a manner of speaking, at December 25th, 2028, and his consciousness has gone into a body from that time. Kyle is precious to the doctor, so there's no way he'd go back to the past and leave Kyle here. Like how Tenmyouji didn't want to lose the life he had with Quark! Apparently Kyle's consciousness is also vital to this mission, and not just as Sigma's spare. So then he's in my body, since he had no body of his own in 2028, and I'm in...a borrowed body. But, Akane tells me, I can travel freely through time and space. I'm not trapped here. I'm...an uncontrolled variable that entered their closed system, and the rules of this world do not apply to me. I start to protest that I don't know what she means, and she just tells me not to play dumb. She knows what I am, and surely I must know by now too. I'm about to go into the past, and even with all of Sigma's future knowledge, he and Phi will need my help. It's up to me to save the world and change history. I'm the only one who can do it.

Next post will address closing thoughts from this game's interview with Uchikoshi.

One of the questions asks what Snake did during the time that his sister was in cold sleep. Was he searching for her? Uchikoshi says that will be revealed in the third installation. Someone asked what type of love it was that Luna felt for Sigma, and again the answer was kind of vague. Akane apparently made Zero III rabbit-themed because of the incident with the rabbit cage. He says he'll leave the nature of Dio's "sin" with women to our imagination, and that a lot of the apparent contradictions in Dio's personality (seeming prideful despite finding individuality "weird") to be, well, exactly that. He doesn't necessarily practice what he preaches. Aoi's location during VLR is also going to be revealed in the third installation; ditto for what happened to Hongou. Someone asked why the countdowns on the bombs stayed synced to the watches despite the watches being slowed down so as not to reveal that everyone was experiencing time at a slowed rate, and he says that Akane messed with them while Dio was unconscious. Someone pointed out that the Free the Soul symbol appeared on the robes Snake was wearing after being temporarily removed from the Second Nonary Game, which were supposedly from the time when Gordain ran the Nonary Game, and...again, this will be revealed in the third game. Someone asks about what Tenmyouji said about changes made to the past not affecting the current present, and he decides to explain that that's basically what happens at the end of the Safe Ending in 999. That's essentially the "present" in the timeline where Junpei failed and Akane was never saved, and she gets erased from existence because she shouldn't be there.

In K's route, K suggests that Dio's killer broke his bracelet in order to kill Phi and K with the penalty, when in fact K killed Dio. Why? Because, being Kyle in that route, he wanted to test his father's love--even though he knew that it was young Sigma's consciousness, who didn't even know about their relationship, inhabiting his father's body.

About the ending where Sigma wakes up without his hand (Sigma's bad ending): Just like in the True End, everyone else played the AB Game enough to get everyone else to 9 BP. That's...really something. They were mad enough at Sigma for betraying Clover that they all united? As for when Dio handcuffs Clover and Tenmyouji, that was his gambling nature that made him leave them alive--although he originally had something far worse planned for Clover which the higher-ups nixed.

Apparently the Myrmidons were known as the Clay Dolls in the original Japanese, but the term "doll" being used to mean puppet in the metaphorical sense as well as potentially the literal one isn't really used in America, so they thought it would sound weird and changed it even though it meant losing the phonetic connection with Cradle Pharmaceuticals.

The idea of "CRASHKEYS" being one of the Myrmidon passwords makes even less sense now because it's revealed that CRASH KEYS is in fact Akane's organization...oh, wait, a few questions later it says that Akane changed one of the passwords while she was messing with the timers. That explains why we received that password from the Klim hologram rather than from Dio. Uchikoshi believes that Hongou was just using FTS for funds, rather than being a true believer. Luna was based on the woman from the Mars mission test site whose voice is heard on the recording in Tenmyouji's path. It's confirmed that Free the Soul was the organization Seven was fighting when he got his scars...the director also unofficially gives Light and Clover the last name "Field". Ha ha. Brother, despite already being old in 2028, is apparently still alive in the mid-2070s, having used esper powers...maybe.

More to come.

In the Tenmyouji route, the facial recognition device wouldn't activate until we used a picture of Akane. How was it activated in the other two routes in which people went into the white doors? In Phi's route, Clover and Luna head in with an unconscious Alice, so that's no problem as it was triggered to activate for any female, but on Luna's route, K and Dio head in, with the third bracelet coming from dead Alice, still in the crew quarters. Uchikoshi suggests that either Zero III changed the settings or Dio's face is girly enough that the facial recognition device accepted him.

In K's route, Dio insists on taking the neostigmine gun, which made someone wonder if he knew its value, yet in K's game over, he didn't attempt to escape through the #9 door when K opened it. Apparently, he didn't know what it did, only that it could be very important and therefore should be kept away from the others.

Alice and Clover's odd choices in clothing are to make their roles as secret agents seem that much less plausible. Alice kind of suggested as much in game--no one would believe someone dressed like that was a secret agent.

Apparently 999 had too much of a horror vibe to sell well in Japan, so his higher-ups made him lighten this game up a bit more. He wasn't happy with it. Odd...I actually found this game to be a lot darker; just about everyone dies at least once, and most of them multiple times. Oh, and Tenmyouji says in his ending that he knows who Zero Sr. is now, which makes perfect sense because he would've recognized the man in the hologram as Sigma. But he also realized that he met Sigma 45 years ago at the test site.

Sigma's run of bad luck in December 2028 that led to him getting captured was engineered by Akane and the Crash Keys. The "DM" in Luna's product model number stands for "Diana Model", and he says to stay tuned for the next installment to find out what that means but it seems to already make sense to me--Diana is the Roman Goddess equivalent to the Greek Artemis, goddess of the hunt but often conflated to also be goddess of the moon. The goddess who actually held that role was called Selene in Greek mythology, and in Roman mythology, Luna. Seems pretty clear to me. In Dio's ending, he was going to take Phi and Sigma to another Rhizome. The theory about Luna being the robot mentioned in K's ending is confirmed. Someone asked if Akane teased Tenmyouji at all while she was using Kyle's armor, and he gives a non-response about how it would be cute if she had. Luna falling in love wih Dr. Klim was unintended. As for the cloning methods used in VLR, they use an artificial uterus...like the water tank in the laboratory at Rhizome-9. Okay...

That's about it for interesting ones. It's odd; there was a lot more "stay tuned for the next game" in the answers to this game's Q&A than there was last time, and yet now it's looking like the third game may never get finished. It's a downright tragedy.

I guess before long it'll be time to finish off CLANNAD. Damn, these last couple of chapters were long.

Chapter 18: Rising Tide (CLANNAD--After Story Part 2)
When last we'd left our hero, he'd learned first-hand what a bitch the law of equivalent exchange can be, trading a wife for a daughter, and then we'd had a five-year timeskip. Tomoya's been trying to avoid having any contact with his daughter, who is being raised by his inlaws. Sanae is pushing him to change this. Eventually her persistence pays off, and Tomoya agrees to join them.

...Ahaha they tricked him. It was supposed to be a vacation with the four of them, but then suddenly Akio and Sanae have "urgent business", so it's just going to be him and Ushio. This is painfully awkward.

After a day of waiting, he realizes that Akio and Sanae aren't coming back, and decides to take Ushio on the trip anyway. Ushio starts crying at one point, though she refuses to admit it. She says Sanae-san told her it's not good to cry. That's...not really in character with the Furukawa women. Ah, but it's okay to cry in the bathroom. So she doesn't want anyone to see her cry...Tomoya tells her it's okay to cry if she needs to. He buys her a toy, then regrets it when it turns out to make noises. She's ready to cry, but insists on enduring, even though there's a bathroom available if need be. Because we went a day late, though, we need to go right to the hotel, rather than going to the zoo. Ushio's sad because this zoo is a petting zoo and she was looking forward to it. ...I used a first-person pronoun. I was going to go back to them earlier, despite having been away from the game for so long that I'd lost any connection to Tomoya, but the awkwardness was just too great; I couldn't get into character. But I guess I've reconnected a little.

The hotel's already booked. We find a place and set off the next morning. Ushio's so quiet...and then when Tomoya finally convinces her to talk to him, she asks about what her mother was like. (Yeah, it just didn't feel right using a first-person singular there. Maybe I'm being closer to where I was during AA5 or the Zero Escape games? Even though it makes less sense here...well, less sense than in AA5, anyway; the Zero Escape games I was essentially taking on the role of a Guardian Spirit, which I guess could translate here as well.) Tomoya tells her to ask Sanae-san, and Ushio says Sanae won't tell her. He insists he doesn't want to be the one to explain it to Ushio, and to tell Sanae-san that. Tomoya says that the fragrance of the flower field is somehow familiar.

She's tired out by the heat, but she lost her toy in the field. A robot. Tomoya tells her to rest in the shade and drink the juice he got her, and he'll look for it. "No valid string, make a ticket about it" reappears. He tries to get her to move on and that it would be easy to replace it, but she runs off to look for it. Even once the sun sets, she refuses to give up. I--Tomoya says he'll wait another thirty minutes, and starts walking towards the cape, having smelled the ocean breeze. An old woman is waiting for him; she knows his name. Sanae-san set this up. Her name is...Okazaki Shino. Tomoya's paternal grandmother. She asks if her son is still trying to atone for his mistakes and says it must have been hard living with him. I say not really; we kept our distance. She understands. (Yeah, I guess I'm sticking with first-person after all.) She says that Naoyuki wasn't always like that. It was a young marriage; everyone opposed it because they were still students. Naoyuki went as far as dropping out of school to work so he could support Atsuko-san. They managed a small apartment and scraped by on a low income...but they were happy, and then Tomoya was born. But shortly afterwards, there was an accident, and Atsuko died at the scene. Naoyuki could never recover from that tragedy. ...This sounds oddly familiar. Not exactly the same, but it's an awful lot like Tomoya and Nagisa.

But the difference is, Naoyuki didn't completely give up, because he still had Tomoya. He swore he'd raise Tomoya all by himself. Tomoya couldn't even do that for Ushio.

She asks if Tomoya feels that Naoyuki was a horrible father, and he says that he doesn't, and that he (Tomoya) is far more of a human failure. He says that their situations are mirrored, and that while Naoyuki was strong as he stood in that spot, Tomoya is weak and pitiful. Shino says that Naoyuki was weak and pitiful as well, but as terrible a man as he is, he's a wonderful father. She wants me to tell him to take a break and come back to this spot.

Ushio still hasn't found her robot. Tomoya says he'll buy her a new one, but she says it won't be the same, that that one was special because it was the first gift chosen for her by her father. Sanae was right--she really does want to have a relationship with her father. Tomoya vows to be with her, and she asks permission to cry. So there was more to it...Sanae said that it was okay to cry in the bathroom...or into Papa's chest. And then, on the ride back, he volunteers to tell Ushio about Nagisa. Wow...such quick plot development. It's mostly a recap of Nagisa's Route...wait, this song has English lyrics! Fairly well enunciated, too, given that this game never actually got an official English release. The story of course continues on into the first part of After Story, with Nagisa redoing the third year yet again. Ah, I think maybe I'd prefer this song if it weren't recognizably English; it's very pretty but it's kind of "Jesus music". Although, the only real direct mention of a higher power uses the word "Lord", which is usually used as the direct English translation for יהוה, so I guess that's okay. (Actually, it is a direct translation of "Adonai" (אדני), which is what is actually spoken when we read יהוה, because יהוה is actually intentionally unpronounceable as it's roughly meant to be the Lord's true name or the closest thing to it that humans are allowed to know. Shin Megami Tensei fans might know which English letters those map to even if they can't actually read Hebrew.) Tomoya's overcome with sadness as he remembers how much he loved Nagisa. Another typo, talking about her "spitired side". Tomoya starts crying. Sanae's the same as ever as she greets Tomoya. The dango are still in Nagisa's old room. We take them back to my apartment. (Yes, I realize that I've still mostly been referring to Tomoya in the third person, but not always. Bear with me, okay?)

Sanae's been holding it in ever since Nagisa died, too. I ask her to watch Ushio for one more day...it's to confront Naoyuki. Finally back to a more familiar song (although I think the other one has appeared before, too.) The tag changes from "Ushio" to "Naoyuki".

He looks a bit older. It's been seven years since Tomoya left, after all. I tell him it's okay to rest now; that he's worked hard enough. To go back to the country to live with his mother. He seems happy when he realizes that he's fulfilled his promise to raise me. That it's done. Ushio is there to meet us the next morning. I thank him, call him "Father", and tell him it's okay to go. It's my turn to be a father now. As I expected, the Orb of Light arrives quickly. Back to "Ushio". I make breakfast for her the next morning and bring her to kindergarten, and the other parents are whispering about me. That night, I sing the Dango song to her, a song she associates with her mother.

The next day, I hear a strange noise as I'm dropping Ushio off at kindergarten. She calls it "Nabe" and heads towards it. ...A boar? That's the kindergarten pet? I ask if its name is Nabe, and she says that it isn't, but that's what Akki calls it. She forgot the real name. Tomoya can't help but think there's something familiar about it...

...There is. Small world. Kyou is Ushio's kindergarten teacher. It's nostalgic, bantering back and forth with her just like we did in high school. She hasn't changed a bit.

Whoa, a choice right away! We go to visit the bakery, but Sanae's not where she told Akio she'd be. Do I look for her? Well, I already passed the point where I allowed myself to use walkthroughs long ago, and my spoiler-free walkthrough says to go look for her--and also that this is the last choice of this playthrough and from here it's a straight shot to two more Orbs of Light. Granted, sometimes there can be a long time between choices, so that doesn't mean this will be short, but still... Sanae's in the park, talking with Ibuki-sensei. She's been away for awhile. We learn that Yoshino is Ibuki's fiance. Wait, is that...Fuuko-chan, finally up and moving in the flesh? It is! Without me even noticing, the tag on the screen has become "Kouko, Fuuko". Ah...that's right, Fuuko's route didn't have an Orb of Light on it! Anyway, Fuuko's just as weird as she was as an astral projection. Apparently it's only been a month since she regained the ability to walk. ...Right, and Kouko was going to wait until Fuuko recovered to marry Yoshino; it's only in Fuuko's route where she decides to go through with it while Fuuko's still in a coma. Which, ironically, the route that the walkthrough took me for Nagisa's route apparently took me just one choice away from ending up on. At Sanae's urging, we shout congratulations to them in the middle of the crowded park, and others start applauding as well...and there's one of the Orbs of Light. Back to "Ushio"...and almost immediately right back to "Kouko". I think we're already on the home stretch. Oh, it's Kouko and Yoshino's wedding. At the school, just as it was on Fuuko's route. Yep, there's the other Orb. Back to "Ushio". We're discussing what to do on Health and Sports Day when Sanae calls and informs me that Fuuko wants to come over to play. What a strange girl... Apparently she's taken a liking to Ushio, and since she's normally shy around strangers, Sanae thinks I should honor this request.

...Yeah, she really likes Ushio-chan. She asks her to become her little sister. Apparently that's all she really wants, to keep trying until she gets Ushio to come home with her. This is bizarre... Ah, Fuuko wants to try to be a replacement mother to Ushio, even though she isn't actually interested in Tomoya. She leaves. There's some more bantering with Kyou. There's an athletic meet coming up with events for the parents as well. We head to the bakery to ask Sanae to come cheer, and apparently they already knew, and for some reason Akio's subbing for one of the teachers. Ushio still thinks Akio will win, but she wants me to win.

...Ah. I'm surprised to learn that Ushio's had a bathroom accident, and then I figure that something's wrong...she has a high fever. I take a day off, but when she's not better, I have to call Sanae. This is...it was only a matter of time, wasn't it? Always during the happiest of times...A doctor confirms that it's the same illness Nagisa had. The athletics meet comes, and I'm still with Ushio, who's still sick. I have a bad feeling about this...I end up deciding to quit my job, to be with Ushio. Yoshino gives me his driver and says he'll borrow mine, until I come back. She wants to go on another trip... I tell her to wait until she's better. She wants to go now.

I meet Akio as I'm out food shopping. He offers some money, but I refuse. We go to the secret place, which has become a hospital. Winter comes; snow everywhere. I decide maybe we should take a trip. I offer to carry her, but she wants to walk. It starts snowing again, with dark skies. Ugh...something feels familiar about this, and foreboding. Tomoya remarks that the snow seems sad. The station's so far away... Her grip weakens, and I catch her. Ah...the Illusionary World. This is just like that.

...We're back in the Illusionary World, with a XII. But it starts just like the first trip did: "A world, surface of white". Yes, it is exactly the same. Ushio is the girl, and I am the Junk Doll.

The girl can hear the doll's thoughts now, because she's dying. She says that she, too, used to be from a faraway world. The same world the Junk Doll was from. She says she can't go back, though, because she is this world. Wait, maybe the girl isn't Ushio, but Nagisa? This was her decision, that she'd lose her human form if she left this world, because she was the first to be born here. So definitely Ushio then. If she disappears, many of light will be unhappy. The Junk Doll was also one of those lights...did Tomoya have an Orb of his own? I don't think he did. The lights are the thoughts of the others from that world...and this world is not the human world...the Junk Doll exists in two worlds, but the girl and the lights live in different worlds, so they never knew about each other's existence. She wants me to save someone else. Close my consciousness away from this world, and leave. Wake up on that important day in that world where lots of things began. I won't remember this place, so things might turn out the same, but if there's someone I want to save, I should search for the light of the other world. Save that person. She'll watch over me, now and forevermore, for all eternity. And then I hear it. A memory of spring...I can hear Nagisa singing the Dango song. Well, it's been confirmed that the Junk Doll is Tomoya in the other world. Menu.

I wanted to see how certain choices affected the After Story, so I'm starting from that day. In particular, I want to see how ignoring Yoshino affects Tomoya's job status. This time Tomoya laughs before he can even say anything when dubbing over Sunohara's tape. Even after so long, I remember what choices to pick. Huh, so I guess showing too much interest in Kyou's flags blocks off Kotomi's fairly early. Wow, had I really never picked "Collaboration"? I've also intentionally skipped the Tomoyo flags, but am trying to get the early flags for Yukine as she's the only other second-year besides Tomoyo. ...Aah, I was trying to get the flags to see Kappei as well, since his route is also job-related, but I guess going down Nagisa's path properly precludes it.

Ah, was this in here last time? I think it was, but with all of the skipping, it still caught me off-guard midway through. It's more "opening credits" than anything else, but it's fairly late--yet not ending credits; I eventually did go back to the walkthrough and there's still a few more choices before I get back to the end. There's some untranslated text. Back in After Story. The first break comes earlier than I thought...ah, right, because I don't know Tomoyo in this route. ...Ah, we meet Yoshino in the After Story regardless, the difference being that we don't already know him in advance. Ah, wait, I was using the wrong part of the walkthrough...because this is Akio's route, so we have to indulge in slightly more juvenile broish humor. Nagisa interrupts, and says it'll be his fault if I flip over skirts, and he says that it's fine; at that time there won't be any skirts to flip over. It's still hilarious how Nagisa refuses to fall for it when Akio tries to change the subject the same way he does with Sanae, but then I do the same thing and it works perfectly.

...It seems Nagisa is really quite innocent. I slow it down before the next new choice. We'll be helping out at the bakery so Akio can chase his dream. The tag changes. A little more of Tomoya's odd crush on Sanae. A kid comes up and is looking for Akio. He said he'd practice with the kid until he could become a regular on the Little League team. Sanae volunteers me to do it instead. Other kids come, seeing the apron and mistaking me for Akio, and they confirm what Sanae and Nagisa always said about me being like him. I bring the spare bread to the neighbors like Akio normally does and learn some more about how generous he really is. The neighbor has a gift for Akio. Sanae sends us both to the guest room, even though Nagisa's room is still there, and Tomoya thinks it's kind of perverted.

I can't sleep, and Nagisa notices. She asks what's on my mind, and i tell her I was thinking about pops, about how it seems like he just likes to play but really, it's not just for his sake. Even though they're things he did because he wanted to, he became needed. Could I be like that? I go to sleep. When Nagisa says good morning to me the next morning, I spontaneously hug her, and she gets a little embarrassed, and then we both get embarrassed because Sanae walks in. The kids come again, and I decide to do what pops would do. When I get back, Nagisa's glued to the news. There was a bus hijacking in Kyuushuu, and she's worried that her dad might've been on it. She didn't tell Sanae, though, because she didn't want her to worry. It turns out everyone on the bus was senior citizens. ...Sanae gets a call from someone from Akio's old theater company, and then she asks that we turn the TV back on and turn to the news. There is a possibility he was on it. Ah...they give details. A young man tried to hijack the bus, and another man tried to stop him. The second man was stabbed. Tomoya's certain it was Akio. The hostages were all freed thanks to the persuasion of the injured man. He gets off, then yells something, and gets back on, and the driver is allowed to leave instead. Now it's only the criminal and the injured man...Akio. ...That idiot actually befriended the criminal, and is granting him his wish to go see the grandmother who raised him as a child, who is now bedridden and may not even be alive anymore. We're all tearing up...all four of us. The three characters in the visual novel, and me. Thanks to blood loss, Akio eventually lost control and crashed the bus. He's alive, but in bad shape. After a couple of days...he disappears. As in, he recovered enough to stand up and walked off, even though he should still be resting. It says "Akio Epilogue". I see, then; this is a separate route, which makes it impossible to continue back onwards towards the true ending for...reasons. You know, kind of like how losing the basketball game blocks you out of Nagisa's route, yet at the same time nets you a Light Orb from Koumura without a single further choice. It's...that hospital, isn't it? The same one we saw in Ushio's route...shouldn't it still be incomplete? Or is this just another example of them reusing backgrounds? (Even though the people in the background change, Ushio's kindergarten looks an awful lot like Tomoya's high school.) Akio's sad because he just learned that the criminal's grandmother was already dead. Ah...the criminal was the one who pushed the brakes as Akio was losing consciousness. He said "That's enough". Sanae finds us, and Akio promises that he won't disappear and he'll always be at her side. And he used CGs to do it, so he's obviously serious. Credits; sounds different from the last time I hit credits, but it might be my imagination. Not too long to sit through. Orb of Light. That should be all of them. Yeah, the title screen seems different; there's an audible glow. That's gotta be a sign that I have them all. I load from the save state that I labeled "path to true end". Hit "Run for it", then skip until there's new text. ...Or maybe not. We're already to "Birth Chapter". Ah, no, I forgot how long that was...more skipping. We're at the secret place. Oh, right...the one new option, the one that doesn't appear until you have every Orb, doesn't actually appear on the first run, according to the walkthrough. It happens automatically, and you have to make that choice to see the true ending again. It's time. Ushio. I call out to Nagisa. She wants to rest, like before. Why is the skip option still here? ...And now it's gone.

"There she was in the blinding light. Because of the darkness clouding my vision before, my eyes had not adjusted to that light. Suddenly, the light began to fade, and shadows appeared. It was...that place."

...I think now's a good time to take a break.

It was...that place. The foot of the slope before the school gate. She was standing there again. Transfixed, that person looked up at the gate. I hesitated to call out. For what reason, I do not know... I try to think of why. She looks up from time to time, then down, and sighs. Quite some time passed. She turned around... back facing the gate. She looked my way. The figure starts walking. Passes by the stranger that is me. ...I ought to call out. But... Would it [be] better not to do so... It would be better not to get acquainted with a person like me... It would probably be better to part our ways here. But... I... "...NAGISA!" I called out the name. "I am... I am here!"

"......" Nagisa turned around once more. Looked at my face. "...Thank you. For calling out to me."

"Are you sure..."

"Could it be, Tomoya-kun... It'd be better for us not to meet?... Maybe that's what you're thinking about, or something... I was really worried."

"......"

"But, I am happy to have met Tomoya-kun. I feel very blessed."

"Are you sure..."

"Therefore, please... Please don't hesitate any longer. From now onwards, no matter what lies ahead... Please don't regret meeting me."

"......"

"Is that too much to ask for?..."

"...... Well... Understood... I will no longer regret... To have been able to have met you, I will stand tall and live on..."

"Is that so... Thank you very much." She smiled sweetly.

"Well, shall we go?"

"Yes." We headed up the slope together. "I hope Tomoya-kun will also grow to love The Big Dango Family."

"Probably so, I'll think about it."

"Ok!"

As I looked up, the slope upwards was engulfed by light. Nagisa giggled. Her smile...the smile I love so much... disappeared. The light was blinding, so blinding... Please wait... Don't disappear... ...NAGISA! The remarkable light...Was in my own hands. I wrapped my fist around it. It was warm. I let out a sound as my hand seems to have been withdrawn. The light had already...

...Yeah, I don't even know how to describe what happened next. It was blurry, and filled with bright light, and looked like we were moving through most of the backgrounds, and took about six minutes without any text on-screen. Actually, it looked a tad more photorealistic than CLANNAD's backgrounds, more like Katawa Shoujo's, or possibly the Sinjoh Ruins event from Pokémon HeartGold/SoulSilver. Combined with the apparent conversation with Nagisa at the time they'd first met, and you'd think Tomoya was the one having a near-death experience. Finally, after over six minutes of this, Japanese text started appearing on the screen. Another minute and we fade back into the apartment. The taq at the top of the window says "Nagisa Epilogue".

I think the Mind Screw warning from the VLR chapter probably still applies.

...I was holding it. Nagisa's hand. The hand that which (sic) I thought had disappeared. And just ahead, staring at me, was Nagisa.

"Tomoya-kun..."

"Nagisa..." I choked on my response.

"What's wrong, Tomoya-kun?"

"Nope, nothing at all." I grab her hand tightly. Nagisa holds on tightly in return.

"Thank you, Tomoya-kun."

"What for...?"

"For holding onto me all this time..."

"Well...I can't do anything besides this anyway..."

"Thank you very much..." She repeated those words.

"I see you've done well". I hear Yagi's voice behind me, and Pops tells me, "You too, have done well, thanks." Sanae asks if I could help wash up Ushio.

After I'm finished, Nagisa calls out, seeming to notice something outside the window. She tells me to look, saying it's so beautiful. It's snowing. In spring? No...they are lights. Plenty of... lights.

Nagisa says, "If they have their own will and heart just like the people in this town and [are] wishing for the people here to be happy... If they have that kind of feeling, then... Even this kind of miracle might have been the work of such a town." I think to myself, no...probably miracles will only start happening from now on. That's what I'm beginning to feel. "But, that wouldn't be a miracle, right? The people who love this town live in this town... The town which loves the people, embraces the people... That is an emotion that anyone would experience. Not just this town alone. It's the same in any town. We love this town, and were brought up by this town. That is how I feel."

"Hey... This town is like a big family I guess."

"Yes. The town, the people, everyone's part of a family."

"I see..."

"It's the Big Dango Family." Ah, I see...so that was how it was. Could it be that ever since the day we met, Nagisa had already... Nah, she had probably realized it far earlier than that. That is why Nagisa is unable to hate anyone. That's why she'd give her all to help anyone. Because to her, everyone is family. "Tomoya, it's about time you start liking the Big Dango Family."

"I already like it a lot."

"Is that true?"

"Yeah."

"Then, why don't you sing a song for Ushio-chan right now?"

"For real...?"

"Yes. Dango... Dango..." Nagisa started singing on her own. I suddenly end up smiling. And then I joined in halfway. We kept on singing. The memories starting from now, together with this child, for the sake of this town.

And now we get a different credits theme because this is the true ending. It's a sad song, of course, or at least it sounds sad--the lyrics are in Japanese so I don't know if it's really sad. Actually, it starts sounding a little more cheerful further in. Also, parts of it I think were part of another song that played during VN segments. Nagisa's, actually. ...KAWAII!!! Just got one last CG--well, two, actually. Ushio, probably about 5 like she was in the false ending, playing in a field of flowers...and her parents looking on. Wait, here's another...Tomoya and Nagisa seeing Ushio off to her first day of kindergarten, just like they said they would. Oh, and one more...this time it's a young boy, about Ushio's age, holding hands with a man with glasses...That must be Tomoya and Naoyuki, just after Atsuko died.

This whole thing is fairly weird, and I hate that the ending was so banal and didn't really clear up the mysteries surrounding the Illusionary World. So many unanswered questions...

...which is why it's a good thing that there's still more post-credits.

"Hey, it's not really that twisted." The screen's still white, but the dialogue box identifies the speaker as Kouko Ibuki. "It's all twisted," Fuuko replies. We fade back in, in front of the school. Fuuko's in the outfit she had from the Ushio segment, so this is obviously happening during that time frame. "The people just now were really rude. Fuuko isn't a gradeschooler."

"Fuu-chan is small, so it couldn't be helped that she'd be mistaken as one."

"Even though Fuuko is small, Fuuko wants them to notice her adult personalities."

"Fuu-chan, I don't think it's something [an] adult would think about."

"Those words just now were harsh. Fuuko was hurt. Ohh, you hurter." Okay yeah that's enough of that. Call me if there's any real exposition.

Fuuko's apparently getting inspected to see if she's really fully recovered. She says she's fine. Kouko eventually talks her into it, and she runs off towards the hospital, but stops short when she smells something. She can't quite describe it, other than that it's a lovely scent. And that it's someone who came to visit her. She's sleeping over there, and is waiting for someone who can wake her up. Fuuko runs off, and Kouko asks where she's going. "Once she wanted to see onee-chan too, please come quickly. She's growing under that tree." Kouko asks if someone's there, and Fuuko says she doesn't know, but she's a really lovely child. Fade to black, and some untranslated Japanese, as well as Fuuko talking--I think the two are related. And back to the title screen, where the Orbs of Light on the ground have been replaced by a sleeping girl. I think it might be Nagisa, though her hair's longer than it is at any point during the game, even the CGs from five years later.

...Yeah. Our last bit of exposition, or at least I'm assuming it was exposition, came from the character who can't string together a coherent train of thought. Lovely. Time for rankings, I guess.

1. Kotomi Ichinose: Brilliant but painfully socially awkward; it's just like looking at myself (except female)! Also, did you know that the most common fetish in the world is feet? Supposedly there's something about the part of the brain that perceives the shape of feet being right next to the part that interprets what arouses you, but that sounds scientifically dubious to me. 2. Kyou Fujibayashi: In Japan in particular, though, the "zettai ryouiki" phenomenon is the top fetish. Probably even more so now that the "Grade S" idea has indelibly linked it with the tsundere archetype. Kyou lacks the third piece of that particular puzzle, but it works just fine for me. 3. Mei Sunohara: Wait, what? Yeah, something feels way wrong about Mei being that high up but despite being physically younger, she's actually less immature than Nagisa, but otherwise fulfills a very similar niche. Leading to... 4. Nagisa Furukawa: At times she takes the "moeblob" thing a little too far, but otherwise she's perfect at what she's meant to do, which is make you actually care about these fictional characters' plights. 5. Yukine Miyazawa: Yukine's route was initially intended to be a "main" route like Nagisa's, Kyou's, Tomoyo's, Kotomi's, and Fuuko's, which is why she appears on the game's cover with them, but it got cut down. This is kind of a shame, as her character seemed promising and she'd probably be even higher up if she had a full route; I liked what I saw of her character. 6. Ryou Fujibayashi: Poor Ryou doesn't really have much of a route of her own; it's more or less an alternate ending to Kyou's. She has a lot of "moe" characteristics as well, being painfully shy and bad at cooking, but her crowning moment actually came on Kappei's route. No, seriously, that was truly awesome. 7. Tomoyo Sakagami: I personally think it was a really weird decision to give that background to that character archetype. I mean, I guess the original Yamato Nadeshiko was also trained to be tough, but the whole story just felt weird, and once you strip away all of the angst that comes from the difference between her past and the future she wants, there's not much to her character. 8. Misae Sagara: Aside from the good route only being available after making a choice that makes no sense and is frankly kind of creepy, there's no real development to the romance. It's all just a flashback to a romance Misae had in high school with a boy who was actually a cat. 9. Fuuko Ibuki: I don't like Fuuko at all. It's kind of painful trying to sort through her dialogue; she's so out there.

Final note: TV Tropes has a picture of the girl from the Illusionary World, and I think that's who's sleeping under the tree on the menu screen. She never appeared in-game, though, and if she went to see Fuuko, that only raises more questions.

Chapter 19: Forbidden Love Is So HOT (don't take it personally, babe, it just ain't your story)
It starts with some discussion about mistakes, and whether or not you can see them coming. ...There's no scroll-back on this VN. I don't like a lack of scroll-back, especially not when doing a playthrough topic; it means I have to try to figure out in advance what's noteworthy enough to talk about, and it ends up dragging out because I'm stuck typing everything the whole way through instead of just for climactic scenes. Also, I specifically checked to make sure sound was on, but I hear no sound.

Well, on that "high note", our protagonist is starting his first day of school. Ah, there's the sound. A title card: Chapter 1, The Trouble with Trials. April something 2027 to October something 2027; I couldn't get everything in such a short period of time. Heh, that's roughly the same timeframe as...well, a couple of the games I've already played in this topic. 999 is set in 2027, and I think with the way they keep putting the AA games a certain distance ahead of the present, AA5 is somewhere around there too. ...yes, AA5 is also set in 2027. This is the third game in this playthrough topic that is explicitly set in the year 2027, though if I read that title card correctly, it's likely this one will continue on into 2028...aka the year that VLR was thought to be taking place for most of the game before all of the time travel shenanigans were revealed.

The protagonist says he's nervous, but he doesn't think there's much shame in that. The classroom is full by the time he arrives. He stares at the sea of unfamiliar faces, and they stare back. He's intimidated by all of those uniforms. He takes a deep breath and introduces himself to his new class. Our protagonist's name is John Rook, and he's the new homeroom teacher.

...Okay, time out. If I read the title card right, this starts in April, which does not suggest an American setting. But he did refer to the students as "11th graders", which contradicts the idea of it being in Japan. The name's distinctively English, too...are there any English-speaking countries that use a similar schedule to Japan? I know that this is an English-language original, although Mr. Rook actually looks more anime than Western...

...Or perhaps I misread the card, and it's October 2027 to April 2028. He says that it's a month into the year, and their proper teacher became seriously sick and is on an extended leave. So if it's starting in October and the year's already been going for a month, that puts America back on the table.

Yeah. I notice something that looks like a "messages" thing for a Facebook analog. It has a 2, so I click on it. There's a post dated October 18, 2027. "...wow. I didn't know teachers could look like that. He'll do." The student's name is Taylor Gibson, and there's a picture next to it confirming that the gender-blender name does indeed belong to a girl. The Facebook analogue is called "AmieConnect". "Amie" is a French word for "friend". I look, and I guess that was a response to another post: "Oh my god, is that our new homeroom teacher? SO HOT.". Arianna Bell-Essai. Okay, so I'm a teacher, and already two of my female students think I'm hot. I guess it's that kind of game. ...Huh. Going back out, the Amie XTablet seems to also serve as our menu screen...and there are also profiles for a number of students, mostly female. Furthermore..."Hometown" is listed, confirming that my idle wondering after noticing the French word was indeed correct: this game is set in Canada. Specifically, Lake City, Ontario.

No sooner do I finish checking this out does the game tell me about the Amie XTablet and the messages. LOL figuring things out on my own that the game was about to tell me. I take roll call. One of the students, Nolan, doesn't respond at first when I call his name. Okay, so we have seven "relevant" students, five female and two male. One of the males is an exchange student from Japan.

And now I'm trying to figure out how to do my introduction. "I'm the world's biggest fuck-up. I managed to screw up a whole two marriages, and became a teacher because of a bizarre mid-life crisis. I'm looking forward to working with you all!" Okay, I'm never going to need to go back to third-person again for this guy. I may not have any ex-wives, or even ex-girlfriends, but I am quite the fuck-up...and one of the things I fucked up the most was trying to become a teacher, which means I'm probably not going to be able to fulfill that dream until somewhere around my mid-life crisis. Anyway, back to Rook, since actually talking about myself forced me to use third-person references on Rook. He studied English Literature in university, but then went into computers for 15 years; he says it's bleak, boring work. ...Well, damnit. He goes on. "I'm not a hard-ass, and I never liked teachers who were when I was your age. If for any, any reason whatsoever, you're having trouble, whether it's academically, with your fellow students, or really, anything... talk to me. I'm flexible, and that's what I'm here for." Two new messages. The exchange student, Akira, thinks I seem nice, and Arianna responded to Nolan teasing Taylor about me being her kind of man by saying that she think's I'm everyone's kind of man. "Listen to that. He's totally teh smex." Oh, so it's not just looks?

After the introduction is done, we skip to the next day. We'll be beginning our unit on pulp fiction with the novel Chain Mail. It's a novel that's fundamentally about an early era of internet culture. ...So it's a novelization of their last game? Around this time, a new post goes up...Taylor posted on her wall, "So can someone explain to me exactly what is up with the lesbians this week? All I see is a bunch of status updates and a whole lot of drama. What's different NOW?" Oh, right, I should've mentioned that these profiles include which gender they're interested in. Arianna, Taylor, and the two boys are straight, but Kendall is a lesbian, Charlotte's says "people" which could be interpreted as meaning she's bi, and Isabella just has an ellipsis, which seems in character as she didn't actually verbally respond to her name during roll call. No one responds to my question about how relatable the book was. I ask again if anyone has any opinions, and after some hesitation, Charlotte raises her hand. Like the previous game, this one autosaves, though here it's only at choices which wasn't as much of an option in Digital because of how open the progression was. Do I call on Charlotte, or do I call on Taylor? ...I'm not going to be that kind of teacher. Yet. I call on the girl who's actually raising her hand. Charlotte pretty much confirms that it's a novelization of Digital, which makes me wonder how they made a full novel out of it because the segment on that game in my Word copy of this playthrough topic is literally not even 3 pages long, so even a full transcript probably couldn't make 10, let alone the 40 that I assigned my class for last night's homework. ...Okay, maybe it's not exactly a novelization of Digital. It's all about emails and one private website, but she says it felt disconnected because the girl couldn't reach out to anyone because she didn't know anyone's email addresses. And of course, it wouldn't make much sense now because she could've just posted on her classmates' walls. I ask if this means she'd say it's inherently more lonely because of the technology...which is basically exactly how I felt about Digital. Another post; Akira's chewing Taylor out for being a bitch. I still have to wonder what kind of school allows this to go on during class (as if I'm one to talk; I was allowed a laptop in class long before it became standard; I didn't have internet access on it but it still sapped much of my attention.) I'm concerned that it's really going to be this hard to engage my students.

Another cut, to Lunch Hour. Interestingly, these cards require you to click past them, which would've been convenient at the start of Chapter 1. Speaking of chapters, with how short the end of CLANNAD was I was considering keeping that chapter going, but it's looking like this game is going to be a bit fuller in length. There's a new message as everyone files out; Arianna wants to ask Isabella something. It's listed as "private conversations", a direct message. Why am I able to read those? Charlotte, Akira, and Isabella are all still here. Charlotte asks if I mind if they eat their lunches in here; it's what they used to do with their old homeroom teacher. Akira says the cafeteria is a "miserable hole", hideous and noisy. I say it's fine, and Charlotte thanks me. Two new messages show up. Isabella says it's fine if Arianna asks her the "weird question", and Kendall says that Akira doesn't have to white knight for her and tells Taylor that it's simple; they broke up, end of story. It would be a challenge to avoid listening in on the conversation of the students who are eating in the classroom. Akira says, "So level with me, Charlotte..." and Isabella cuts in. "Don't..." Akira's eyes go wide. "No, for reals! I'm serious." Isabella doesn't want him to bring it up...

...oh. He responds, "Kendall is my bro, I would like to know what's going on with her." Isabella tries to dissuade him, but Charlotte says, "It's fine, Bella. Why has everyone assumed that just because we fought, it means I don't ever want to speak of her ever again? She's still my friend." Akira asks why she's avoiding her. She says they just need some time apart. There's no drama, it's over with. Meanwhile, Arianna's question comes in. She wants to know if Isabella's ever been in love. Akira mentions that Taylor's been trying to rattle the hornet's nest on Amie. Another new message. Isabella says she has, but it's never worked out for her. Charlotte says that it's not going to work, which is good, because Kendall when she's upset is... It's not a fate she'd wish even on Taylor. Fair enough, Akira says, just as Taylor posts on Amie that she'd assumed something was wrong based on what she'd been hearing and asks if the two of them are alright. Arianna asks Isabella what happened, if he turned her down, just as Kendall replies "lol yes", and I'm thinking that I'll have to keep an eye on Taylor as I remember how bad high school drama can be and think how reasonable it seemed when I was their age. Taylor asks what that means, having heard that they were seriously fighting. Kendall says they aren't, end of story, that's all she has to say. Back in the non-internet world, Charlotte's asking me how I'm finding their school so far. I say it's going to take some getting used to and ask if she's been here since grade 9. She says yes, but she understands...just as three new messages come in. Akira's complimenting Kendall on her response to Taylor, saying she's pretty untrollable and wondering why Taylor thought she'd be a good target; Taylor posts "I don't understand what's wrong with those two lesbos. I just express some concern and Kendall flips the hell out on me. She doesn't have to be such a bitch!", and Isabella responds to Arianna's question, "No, not exactly. It's a long story." I immediately hit "preview message" after quoting Taylor's message because I wasn't sure how much of it I'd have to censor--sure enough, both words I found suspect are outright disallowed rather than just "you can post this but it'll be autoflagged". Stay classy, Taylor. Oh, wait, that was a direct message to Arianna, not a wall post. Well, that's marginally better. Arianna replies to Isabella, asking if she wants to talk about it...I get the feeling that Arianna's the school gossip; her profile pic has a camera in her hand so she probably works for the school paper.

One more advancement of the text, and three more messages stream in. Kendall replies to Akira that she wasn't the target; Charlotte was, and it's probably going to work; Arianna replies to Taylor that it's Kendall; Taylor shouldn't have expected her to do anything but flip out on her because that's what she does, and Isabella says she'd be happy to talk about it but it's a long story. Seems like my own story has barely been able to advance at all because of all the students'...I don't suppose that's the meaning of the game's name? Oh, right, speaking of names, I forgot to mention this yesterday, but after seeing it play throughout the true end, the subtitle "Parting at the Foot of the Hill" for the alternate version of Nagisa's theme makes a lot more sense--as does the fact that it's actually more upbeat than her regular theme despite its first appearance being in a very sad scene.

Another transitional card: That Night. 3 more messages, but when I go in, only one conversation.

Oh. There was more to Isabella's reply. "Not a very interesting one, but a long one. If you really care, we can talk about it some other time, if you want, but now's not the best time. What's up with you, though -- I'm sure you have a reason for asking? Come on, I know you. Who do you want advice about?" Huh, I had Isabella pegged for the quiet type without many friends, but she seems friendly enough with Arianna, who is apparently close with Taylor as well.

Arianna replies: "You know me too well! Um, well, it's kind of embarrassing, actually... it's just that I have the BIGGEST crush on this guy, like, for serious. I really feel like I need to just follow my heart and make a move, even though I barely know him. Does that sound crazy to you?"

Isabella replies: "OMG! You don't mean who I think you mean, do you...?"

Arianna replies, "Don't laugh! But... yes, I'm pretty sure I do."

...Right. I turn to reviewing my lecture notes for tomorrow, feeling I haven't been engaging enough. Cut immediately to the next morning; Isabella has replied that it is kind of funny, but don't worry about it. She thinks Arianna's absolutely right, and agrees that the dude is> hot, and seems smart...if she's into him, she should go for it. What's the worst that could happen, she gets shot down? Come on, she's a cute girl, he's an older man... what do you think he's going to say?

...I know that in the U.S., regardless of whether a student is of the age of consent, it's still illegal for a teacher to have a relationship with them. I don't know if the same is true in Canada. Anyway, I'm first into the classroom. Wait, there was another auto-save? Charlotte's the first student to enter, which is unsurprising. She does seem like the type who's eager to learn, though that could just be appearance--she's the classic "cute nerdy girl", with glasses and pigtails and half of her hands covered by the sleeves of her sweater. I look at the profiles again...wait a minute, these birthdates are all in the same calendar year, even though they range from March to December! Except Akira who, despite being an exchange student, is younger than all of his classmates, being born in 2012 while the others were all born in 2010. I make small talk and learn that it's supposed to rain later, which is bad because I walked to school. Kendall's the next one in. Cut to later, where I'm talking about a story about stories. Two new messages; Arianna says she's going to do it, and Charlotte says that I may be cute but I'm not very smart, not checking the weather report before leaving for school, and that I'm going to get soaked. Charlotte's post is on Arianna's wall. Gee, I wonder which student's going to end up offering to walk me home in the rain? >_> I ask the class if the details of the story being told by the four girls matters, or if it's just filler detail? ...kind of like my lectures are just filler detail.

Ah. Apparently I didn't take a closer look at the welcome message from Principal Grisham to Mr. Rook at the start of the game. I briefly went over to the game's TVTropes page only to immediately run into what I thought was an unmarked spoiler, but it turns out that if I'd been paying more attention, I'd have known this already. As part of their ongoing trial with giving students their own computers--something that is currently only done starting at the college level, although like I said, I was given special permission to have one as early as middle school--the teachers have been given access to their students' social networking messages, both public and private, as well as their own. Most teachers have found this to be an extremely effective way to monitor online bullying; it's impossible to stop students from chatting in class but at least the teachers can be on top of it. There would be extreme repercussions if the students found out, though, so be discreet. Well, that explains how I'm seeing private messages. (And don't worry; I got off the page as soon as I saw that, so I haven't spoiled myself on anything else.)

Arianna raises her hand to answer the question, and my mind instantly goes to the wrong place. I'm uncomfortable with this crush of hers, but I can't mention it. She says that she thinks the details are extremely important, as they reflect on the story as a whole. ...That doesn't look like a uniform to me. She continues that they're also important because they're written by the characters, and you can learn a lot about someone from how they write. Wait have we moved on from Digital to this game? I ask her if she has any examples, and she just goes on and dominates the class discussion. I can't even shut her down because she's actually engaging in the material. The lunch bell rings, and this time Arianna stays in addition to the three from yesterday. Isabella messages Arianna complimenting her on her dress. Again, what happened to the uniform policy? ...Oh, right, it was never more than a "loose suggestion", as I noted upon beholding Akira. Arianna comes up to me and says she has to go buy lunch, but you know how I said I was always available to talk? I ask what's up, silently having somewhat of an idea. She asks if she can stop by after class to talk about the book we're doing. There are still some things she doesn't think she gets, so she'd like to go over them more. I doubt her motives, but I can't say no because I did promise and besides I'm not supposed to know about her crush. Cut to five minutes before Arianna's scheduled to arrive. It's raining now. The game tells me to check for new 12channel posts. Sure enough, there is one, a discussion about a new VN and the typical fan/anti-fan arguments. And yeah, this one's an H-game, so there are the typical "porn" trollings. The OP insists the troll try it, and he ends up liking it. I'm forced to read all the way through before I can leave. Finally I head to my office. Even if I hadn't read the messages between the students, though, Arianna's intentions are fairly obvious. Not just the way she's trying too hard to care about the book, or the length of her dress (I wouldn't have even thought "dress" if the game hadn't called it that, because she's wearing a pair of shorts that comes well past the end of it). Every time she asks a question, she leans forward and fiddles with her hair. When she's waiting for an answer, she puts her hands on her knees, smiles, and rubs her legs together. Every time I speak, she stares back a little too deeply. I have to get out of this situation. I'm just about to leave when she "notices" that I didn't take an umbrella as I was going. Choice time! Do I lie about not having an umbrella, or tell the truth? ...Well, I know she knows the truth, but she doesn't know that I know she knows, so by lying, I make it look like I don't have the access that I have.

Furthermore, since she knows I'm lying, I should hope that she comes to the conclusion that her advances were too transparent and I don't approve. Of course she calls me on the lie, and I'm given another choice--apologize, or continue to lie. Now that's a bit tougher--continuing to lie probably doesn't reflect well on me, because that's not what teachers are supposed to do. I accidentally click "continue to lie", so I load from the last save state. As expected, she offers to walk with me and share her umbrella. Now I'm a little curious as to what would happen if I continued to lie...but eh, umbrella. I go on an inner monologue about how rationally, I should know better. You can't actually get sick from walking in the rain, and it's my job to be the mature adult and shut her down. Rationally, I should say no...jump cut to her surprised that we aren't just walking to the subway, and I actually live in this neighborhood. She asks if I live alone, and I say that I have for several years, trying to remind her how old I am. She's getting the better of me. As we arrive at my home, she says how much she's enjoyed walking with me, and prepares to say something. She takes my hands...and I'm given a choice whether to pull away or squeeze her hand tightly. Time to be the responsible adult. I pull away. I stop her, and she seems shocked. Was she actually not going to confess to me? Well, she does manage to say that she likes me. I'm not very good at rejecting her, either; more like playing hard to get. Another choice, as I'm apparently incapable of doing this gently. Give in, or be a jerk? ...I hate both of these options. I give in, and squeeze her hand. She quivers; for the first time today, she's not in control.

...This was not where I expected this to go. Have I already put myself inexorably on her route? Well, I've gotten a makeout scene. As she tentatively starts to kiss back, I pull away and ask if that's what she wanted to say. She says pretty much, then giggles and says I put it more eloquently. I go inside, still trying to convince myself that her crush will pass.

...There are eleven messages waiting the next day. I'm in deep shit. Most of it is Isabella and Arianna talking about what happened, but Nolan's complaining about the reading material and Taylor asks why he's even bothering with it. Charlotte's the first one in, and says she hopes my walk home wasn't too bad. I say things have a way of working out. I'm still regretting my decision, but I have to play it out. My lecture begins, and I say that they've probably figured out that this is the part of the story where things start to get really weird. So pretty much half of this playthrough topic. Taylor's posting on her wall about a party this weekend. I ask about the use of foreshadowing, and both Charlotte and Arianna raise their hands. I'm railroaded into calling on Arianna. Damn my inability to be truly mean. I miss games where it's actually easy to miss your chance to get on a certain route. End of Chapter 1. Wait, so I was right about this chapter ending in October...where did "April" come from?

More crazy narration. What does it mean to be a gentleman? Oh, wait, it's not narration; it's my lecture. Charlotte's the first to raise her hand. Taylor's next; I'm surprised that she raised her hand. There's a touch of bitterness in her answer that suggests she may have just gone through a bad breakup. Chapter 2: "Nolan Is an Island, Entire of Itself". October 29-November 3. Oh god that pun was horrible. So, Nolan's the focus of this chapter... 5 messages. Akira's been distant and Kendall's worried; Akira wants to ask her for advice. Kendall was also raving on her wall about the finale of "Eniko", and Charlotte asks what that is. Arianna's back to wearing a proper uniform. I say I want to see her after class and smile. ...Yeah, I've definitely been railroaded. Guess I just have to play it out.

Chapter 20 - Would You Like to Play a Game? (Zero Time Dilemma part 1)
Well, we went back to December 31, 2028. Just as expected. But who are these people locked up in a confinement room? Heh...they all have bracelets. Look nothing like the bracelets from either of the first two games. Our "Zero" looks different, too; he's wearing a plague doctor's mask rather than the usual gas mask. He flips a coin. Heh...already a Schrodinger's Cat situation. Red, or blue? Win, and you get your freedom. Lose, and you must stay in the game until six of you are dead.

...Oh good, the thing that I knew is revealed early on. Though she doesn't look much like herself in the previous two games (and yes, her 999-era self does appear in VLR), one of our compatriots has been identified as "Akane". I'm in control of a "Carlos". I don't remember all of the other names; one of them was "Diana", which stands out to me because of the mythological connection to the name of a character in VLR. I have to choose which side landed up. Knowing this series, whatever I choose will be wrong...so why am I thinking it over? I select red, and...it's red?! But now Zero or whatever is passing for Zero in this game puts us to sleep, and we'll forget everything. Heavy dose of Soporil, I assume. We all wake up outside in the desert...without bracelets? Akane remembers making a bet with someone, but everyone's memory is foggy. And no one knows who the kid in the helmet is.

Cue opening credits. They look more like ending credits, though.

Wait, are they, in a sense? Would the first choice have made a difference, and this is some cop-out ending?

Ah, no. Now we have a choice of whose path to follow. C team, following our intrepid protagonist, Carlos. D team, following Diana. And Q team, because there's always a f***ing Q. That would follow the kid in the helmet. The flowchart suggests that, no, we can't go back and redo the very first choice of the game.

Well, blindly following pretty girls is always a rule of thumb in this topic series, so D team it is. I'm alerted by the game that each image I see here is a story fragment, though only one is open to me now. Agh, don't tell me this game is going to be even more frenetic and confusing than VLR!

...What the. I...am going to the one choice? Let's just see what happens if I jump to later...

...Well, I'll be damned. It really is an ending. And to think, I initially was thinking blue, and changed my mind. Was it always going to be red, or are you forced to get the automatic ending first? Now this looks more like a beginning than an ending.

Getting more names. Eric, Mira...wait, Junpei's in this game too? The man in the mask identifies himself as the Second Zero. He tells a story about a woman who goes jogging every day. One day, she takes the left path instead of the right. A person she's known for many years is surprised to see her on this path and asks why she changed paths. She says "because there was a snail." A few hours later, she's found in some bushes along that path, murdered. This happened 17 years ago. Huh, so that's what he meant when he called Carlos "that solitary snail." Zero also tells us we're in a bomb shelter 50 meters below the ground. Carlos, Akane, and Junpei are in ward C. Q, Mira, and Eric are in ward Q. And the three in ward D are Diana...Phi and Sigma?! Heh, I thought the voice sounded like Phi's, but still...ah, I guess Akane's appearance should've tipped me off not to trust my eyes.

So at most, we have 5 new characters. Quite possibly fewer, given that Q is a mystery. Hmm...given where we are in the timeline, it's quite possible that Luna was based on Diana. Zero tells us that it's less than half a day until New Year's, but that many of us won't get to celebrate 2029. Ah, here's the twist...

There's a door to the center of the bomb shelter in each ward. These are the X-Doors, marked with an X. Simply obtain X-Passes to get to the elevator therein, thereby escaping the shelter. This is the only way out. Six X-Passes are needed to get out...and one X-Pass will be announced every time someone dies. The door will remain open for thirty seconds, and then it closes, never to open again. How to kill six people? Well, you can vote. Each team has one vote as to which of the other two teams to execute. If a team fails to vote, they will be penalized two votes. A team with two votes gets executed. This is the Decision Game. Ah, so that's our new gimmick...and I get to choose the team again? Well, now that we know the teams, it's back to Team C.

Preparation Room, Decontamination Room, Control, Power Room, Infirmary, Pantry...and finally, Rec Room. We get a map of Ward C. Carlos thinks this could be part of Dcom's psychological test, but Junpei figures that because the masked guy called himself Zero, that means he's for real. Akane, of course, is against the idea of voting at all. Of course she is. She's just as soft-hearted as she was during the Second Nonary Game. Though now she comes up with the obvious solution--if we could contact someone on the other two teams, we could assure that no one would have two votes. They try to contact them directly, but it doesn't work, and then Junpei just causally asks that Akane try using the morphogenetic field. So this is where we stand, huh? Just casually throwing that out there in the first few minutes of the game? Well, okay, my play time's already nearing an hour, but that's because I keep pausing to write all this shit down. Carlos doesn't seem to know what the morphogenetic field is.

There's graffiti on the wall, similar to what happened in VLR. "Let the game end where I treat two." That actually could make sense in context, and I know that re-using gimmicks isn't in character for Uchikoshi, but screw it, I'm throwing that into an anagram machine. ...Damn, I forgot just how long that particular machine takes. Well, no sense waiting around for it. It'll probably continue working in the background. Junpei finds something called the "Force Quit Box", and they talk about the legend of Urashima Taro. Also time travel-related. Oh, choices! We get to ask...ah, that's right, we're Carlos, so we're asking questions to Junpei and Akane. Who is Zero? What is Zero's purpose? What is your relationship? Okay, yeah, anyone who knows me knows exactly what question I'm going to ask first. By the way, remember how in the post-999 Q&A, Uchikoshi said that Junpei spends the rest of his life searching for Akane and never finds her? Yeah, so much for that. 999 was originally meant to be a standalone game, though.

I can't help but snicker, however, at the fact that Carlos just addresses both of them by their full names. Even with all of the pausing, I've barely been at this for an hour and it's just casually spoiling a major surprise from VLR. Of course, given how VLR flopped and this game only was made because the fans demanded it, I guess they really don't expect many people to be coming into this game without having completed the first two, do they? Carlos at least knows some of their history..ah, Sigma told him. Akane says that the two of them joined this experiment separately, but Junpei says it was inevitable, not a coincidence. Carlos, meanwhile, just did it for the money. He's apparently a firefighter. Junpei calls him a "hero of justice", but he says he just has good instincts. Okay, I can't actually save on the choice screen, so I selected "Who is Zero" and then immediately hit save before they could start talking. That's all for tonight.

Well that anagram generator was worthless. It starts with phrases with fewer words and stopped once it reached a certain number of anagrams, so it's all stuff like "welterweight emanated thereto" and "theeing warmhearted towelette".

Junpei says Carlos should really be asking "who is the second Zero". Carlos surmises that he knows the first one. Junpei is evasive, and mentions that he's had a bracelet like this strapped to his wrist before. He and Akane were trapped somewhere last year. Akane says she doesn't think that one has anything to do with this one. Carlos insists they have to be connected, and Akane begs him to believe her. As for his purpose? To make them play a game. Sigma apparently already let them know that six billion people could die. Akane asks if Carlos has ever heard the term "Reverie Syndrome". Its causes are unknown, but it causes you to stop reacting to a variety of stimuli. Junpei is unsure how this relates to what they were talking about before; Akane says he should already know. Mankind is facing an unprecedented crisis, and those affected are sensing it coming. Carlos has heard of Reverie Syndrome.

And then a small dog called Gab comes in through a vent. They wonder if it goes to the surface, but figure that defeats the purpose of a bomb shelter. It might go to Ward Q. Carlos asks Akane if she can fit through. She doesn't think so. Junpei says someone likes cake too much, and she retorts by suggesting they cut off Junpei's arm so he can fit through. Gab has a collar like rescue dogs, holding medication. It's empty. Carlos writes a note for Gab to take through the vent. Carlos also tossed cheese in there, and Junpei says they should toss in some ketchup and pickles too; maybe when he comes back he'll be a hot dog. I love those two so much.

Five minutes to voting. Gab's not back. Junpei suggests that since they told the others they were voting for D team, they should vote for Q team instead. But...didn't they send that letter to Q team? If anyone's not looped in on the plan, it's D team, which means that C-team changing their vote would be irrelevant; if D team votes the wrong thing, C team is done anyway. Junpei's gone cold. Three minutes to deadline. Decision time. I pick Q-team without hesitation. Zero tells everyone to sleep well. No memory loss drug this time. He suggests that Q-team may actually perish. Team selection screen. Hm, maybe I have to play this out with all three to progress? In which case I should have D vote for C and Q vote for D.

D team's up next, of course. Their message is "When a curious hate oozes calamity." Phi, of course, immediately suggests it's an anagram, though she doesn't reveal what. They've got a force quit box, too. They try to input a password. No good. They try to look at the underside, but it's beyond heavy; Sigma thinks it may not be made of anything of Earth. Phi makes a crack at Sigma's age. Ah, metahumor.

Prep Room, Decontamination Room, Healing Room, Transporter Room, Manufacturing, Trash Disposal Room, and Locker Room. Transporter Room is the only one that doesn't look like something I recognize from a previous game. Heh, Sigma calls Junpei by his last name and Akane by her first. That seems like a sure sign that it is in fact his 67-year-old consciousness in this body, though there wasn't really much doubt anyway. They talk about the X-Passes, and Phi suggests Sigma "try dying once". He politely, but firmly, declines. Phi does make a decent point, though; given how many Espers are in here, it'd be easy enough to get all nine of them out eventually. Though as far as we know at the moment, there aren't any in group Q. Diana asks who Zero is. They're not sure, but they know that the person must know about the events of last year. Phi suggests that the speech being prerecorded is because Zero is among them. Next, Diana asks if they think help will come. Phi finds it unlikely. Dcom can't contact them because they're simulating an actual Mars mission. Diana thinks Sigma and Phi are like siblings with how in-sync they are. Hm, so this is indeed the Mars Mission...the one that they found transmissions of in 2074. Diana also notes that Sigma has an unusual manner of speaking, and Phi confirms that yes, this is the Sigma from 2074. He, Phi, and Akane infiltrated Dcom to try to prevent the events of the future. But they didn't know what happened inside the facility, so they couldn't prevent the Decision Game from taking place. Diana asks why this had to happen to her and says she never should've listened to Rebecca. They ask about Rebecca, and Diana says Rebecca is the head nurse at the hospital where she works, and that Rebecca suggests she join because Dcom was looking for a nurse. Heh, now I'm almost certain that Sigma based Luna on Diana. Gab arrives again. Sigma suggests that Phi go through there and Phi says it's clearly impossible, claiming to be a D-Cup. Sigma tells her she's full of shit and points out that that's a size larger than the last time she told him. Phi says that it's been 45 years and growing is natural. Aha. This is further down the line, and not only has C-Team written the note, but Q-Team has affirmed that they're on board with the plan. Phi, as usual, is suspicious. Sigma wonders if she thinks Q-Team will betray them, but Phi points out that if tha t was Q-Team's plan, they'd have no reason to send Gab. They'd only need to vote for D-Team. She thinks C-Team will betray them. That they'll actually vote Q-Team. Which, uh, they kind of did. But then she says that the fact Gab showed up means that Q-Team is voting for C-Team, so they have no choice but to vote for Q-Team. I'm already regretting turning on Q-Team as C-Team...Phi's logic is scary, and I can't help but want to follow it, but knowing that D-Team did in fact vote differently than they said they would... Ah, screw it, I'm voting for C-Team. Sigma is angry at Diana for voting for C-Team, and Diana can't explain why she voted the way she did. Zero gives the same spiel as he did last time.

Finally, it's time to take control of the mysterious Q-Team. I'm predicting based on what little I've seen of them that Mira will be in favor of screwing over D-Team and Eric will be the one pressuring Q to follow C-Team's plan.

Quantum Computer Room, Pod Room, Biolab...I missed the early ones. Eric says there should be another room...Eric's the one distrustful of Q still. Maybe I had them pegged wrong. Back to the Lounge. "Let's inhibit the virus!" Q asks what we'll do about the vote, and Eric says he doesn't know. Q says they have to vote, or else they'll die, and Mira agrees, pointing out that even if neither other team votes for them, their failure would give them two votes against. Mira doesn't believe that this game is real at all. Eric wants Q to take off the helmet, but Q says he can't. Heh, a keypad. That's the only way to get the helmet off. He doesn't know who he is. The game wouldn't be complete without an amnesiac, would it? Q asks about Zero, and Eric gets angry at him, still insisting that Q is the one who knows everything. They conclude that Zero is a psychopath, possibly the "Heart Ripper" that's been in the news. The amnesiac suddenly remembers a headline. March 15, 2026, a woman named Virginia Bailey, age 28, was found in a park in Roseville, her chest ripped open and her heart removed. Again on May 22, of that year, Jeffrey Foret, age 37, found in a trash can in Sacramento. July 29...Eric interrupts and points out that Q is supposedly amnesiac. Next is the question of where we are. Eric gets mad again, pointing out what Zero said, but Q asks where exactly that bomb shelter is. Eric's not sure, but Mira doubts it's far from Dcom, and expands the acronym to Dwelling for the Cohabitation of Mars. The eight of them lived there for five days, along with Gab, who is an old dog. They were testing primarily for psychological data. Mira says she signed up because she thought it sounded like fun, and Eric says he joined up because Mira wanted to. Leading into the final question: what is the relationship between those two. Eric is apparently very tsundere. And now we get the experimentation with the Force Quit Box...which Q is shaking as if it were a simple Christmas present! So that little kid can easily lift something that Sigma couldn't budge. Granted, Sigma has his real arms still, but that's pretty odd. Eric says Q should go through the vent, and he says he can't, but Eric forces him to try. Unsurprisingly, the helmet stops him quickly. Eric is ready to just go for it, but Q realizes the message hasn't made it to D-Team yet. He says he'll get a pen and some cheese...again with the cheese? And they send Gab through a vent in the Prep Room. Mira wonders if Diana will do what the letter says, but she doesn't want to consider the alternative--that it was a trap all along, and they need Diana to do the opposite of what the letter says. Ah, hell, I'm probably going down the best early path. Having everyone do what they said they did would be most likely the path to the good ending, and I know from 999 where I accidentally stumbled upon the Coffin Ending on my first try that going to the best ending right away is usually a bad idea. ...Even though technically, I already got my first ending, because this game is literally set up so that you have a 50% chance of getting an ending as soon as you're first given control. In the end, I was right about which one would suggest voting against the note. Though Mira then points out that regardless of how they voted, if C-Team betrayed them, they need Diana to flip or they're screwed anyway.

...Holy crap, five new fragments for C-Team? 5 for D as well, and 4 for Q. Well, I was planning to go back to C-Team...and let's go with the one on the top. It appears to depict Akane holding a chainsaw, and I'm curious about that.

Fragment flowchart shows a split after the fourth piece. Right side only goes down 1 slot; left goes down two.

Suspicion, it says. They're in the Pantry now, and Junpei's not with Akane and Carlos. The door is locked...Carlos thinks Junpei might have done it, and that now he's Zero's accomplice. Akane says that's not possible. Carlos asks Akane directly what Junpei is to her. She considers him very special, as she didn't have many friends. We get a truncated version of the rabbit story. But she concedes that the past year, he's been the exact opposite of how he used to be. She wonders if it's because of her somehow. Yeah, that's probably accurate. Carlos says that he hasn't had much luck with romance, but he can tell when someone's in love. Akane asks if that means he doesn't have anyone like that in his life, and he says that the only person that means that much to him is his sister. Fair enough. Akane teases him that he has a sister complex, though. And it seems we finally have our first escape segment.

Fwip, fwip, fwip...ah, right, my stylus went missing a couple of months ago. I assume based on when I last had it that it got eaten by a piece of furniture but I've checked the area multiple times. I go back to do my most thorough search yet, but all I get for my trouble is a face full of dust bunnies and the attention of my yandere cat. I search for something else that can serve as a stylus. I suppose this pen cap will do. Hmm, two screens seem to be showing almost the exact same thing, but not quite. Until I choose something to zoom in on and the top screen stays with the wider view. Machine, powered down, hole looks like a gingerbread man. Boxes have rations, but no interesting text. Locked door to freezer; four-digit passcode. Air duct's too small to crawl through...Ah, a cabinet. Locked of course. A blue doll and a right arm are in there, and the glass has various green lines. On the other side, a bottle and a card, and the lines are pink. Trying to examine further only gets the other contents examined, even though what I want to examine are the lines. ...Oh, wait, we're going to find a way to project more lines onto it, which will make words. Ah, thought I saw something, but I guess it's just the foot of the cabinet because clicking on it took me back to viewing the cabinet. A box of potatoes also has a "round part", and two lines of text:

L-door --> <-- R-door

A poster with a gelatin recipe. Powder, water, and the mold. Directions in a picture. I think that's going to unlock the machine. ...Oh, hey, we get a back log of past text! Another box, this time with a mannequin's right leg...we can't take it. In the golden timeline, Junpei would've been the one to go through the Number 7 door, not Akane. But we've completely circled around...oh. The locks on the glass doors are literally one input? No, they are not...I try pressing right and then left, repeatedly. After six inputs--Right, Left, Right, Left, Right, Left--it tells me I'd failed. Damn, I was hoping that would be the key! Oh, wait, we do have one item...huh. It fits in the head of the gingerbread man. We can power it on already. ...No we can't, we still need the gelatin man. I go to the left door and hit right six times. No good. I find a sliding door in a cabinet I'd already looked over, but all that's in there is a left mannequin arm handcuffed to the bar. There's also a drawer without a handle in the fridge-machine-thing. I am thoroughly stumped, and have a sneaking suspicion that this game has evolved to the point that even the puzzles themselves can't be solved without accessing the morphogenetic field. It would be in line with the First Nonary Game, after all. I save and head to the flowchart. Heh, maybe I should've picked "Team Select". Well, this does confirm that there are versions where I have to kill off a team early. I jump to another of Team C's fragments.

This time all three members of the team are together, in the Rec Room. It's already past midnight. Junpei seems jaded. Akane misses the old Junpei, and he replies that she changed first. Ah, Carlos was unable to save his parents, back when he was new at firefighting. He was 18. He managed to save his sister, but not his parents.

We find JAM 100(%) pure, but can't take it. There's also the rules of chess, and a chess board that won't open. The letters of "chess" are written in five circles on the side, but the whole thing is upside-down relative to the default view and the e is mirrored. There are also some circles and arrows...3 appears to be the king, and 1 is the rook. There are also a few stray arrows that allow me to figure out the bishop's position. There's a fireplace, unlit. A bottle of oil on the mantle. 130 (ml). Can't take that, either, though we get a fire hook from a suit of armor. There's a slot machine, but it has no power. It says "Make a Heart!" The Jukebox, JUKE803. Needs a card. Another suit of armor has a chart with the letters of the alphabet on it. While they're all uppercase, I'll be putting only letters in black in uppercase, with those in red being lowercase.

qTwzCfiLorUx PsVYbEHkNQtW oRuXAdgJmPSv

Next we get a neon light, advertising BEER. There seems to be a tube missing, though; bottom half of the straight part of the B. The fire hook lets us open a trap door in the floor. On the door itself, 55643 written like a digital clock, with a red X over the 3. In the compartment, a wooden hammer. Next to it, a thing that says "Collect 5 coins!" With 5 holes for the coins. Digital clock with no numbers...a stack of cards on the table. Around the house of cards, there are other cards. All of the kings are ripped in two...Ah, the cards underneath stick to the table. A83 - TQQ9 + 94Q58J =

Uh, let's see...wait, that's a strange order to put them in. Subtracting a 4-digit number from a 3-digit number. Ah, well, the result's still the same. 94Q58J + A83 should equal 94Q74A, - TQQ9 would be 94A745. Three square holes in the side of the table, probably to put dice into. Junpei finds a copper plate of the funyarinpa. We get to the bar, but the only one we can take is the bottle of water. There's also a thing of cigarettes, and we're able to take the matches. We're also able to zoom in on, but not take, SAD MAN 570, a legendary wine that makes wine experts lose their will to live. Hm, I should probably note that the cigarettes were a brand called SUNSET 24, too, since there seems to be a lot of numbers floating around. We successfully pick up a small wooden box...there's a four-letter input on the roulette wheel. We have many clues, but none that fit this puzzle. On the felt, 5, 21, 26, and 28 are circled. The first two are red, the latter two black. Just like the letter chart...I feel like I should be able to start putting these clues together. I've completed my loop, so I go back to the chess board, hammer in hand...and Carlos points out that the mirrored e might actually be a 6, with the s's being 5's and the h a 4. Makes sense; the c could become the 3. If it even was a 3; I noticed that the X'd-out square looked like it was missing the center, just like the upside-down c. But what can I actually do with them?

Oh, hold on. The Red/black pattern for the three columns is exactly the same as the chart's rows! And the most logical anagram for those four letters would be SPIN! We get the roulette wheel itself and also a coin. But what can we do with just one?

We can put the Roulette Wheel in the slot machine. We hit the jackpot and get puzzle pieces. I light the fire with the matches...I have no idea what this is for. The fire hook does nothing, even with the fire lit.

Ah, Junpei tosses the wooden box in, and then they put the fire out with the bottle of water and retrieve what came out with the fire hook. It's coin number two, which...is of no help on its own. Ah, the red X on the trap door matches the one on the hammer...I had to investigate those things, I guess, before I could use the hammer on the chess board? We get a round cylinder (that's redundant), and the board is open. I examine the cylinder, and it has three windows for chess pieces. I enter rook, bishop, king, and it opens. Yielding a coin, and also a note that tells us the correct order to put the letters in for that roulette puzzle. Guess I was supposed to do this before the roulette puzzle, huh? But now all I have left are the puzzle pieces, and no idea where to use them. They don't fit in the holes on the card table...examining the card table suggests using the cards to calculate. They're not sure what the ripped kings are about, nor what to do about the Queens and Jacks, and suggests there's a clue around here somewhere.

...Aha.

94Q74A SADMAN

So A = 4, S = 9, M = 7, N = ace, D = queen. Except that seems odd, because our four-digit number was TQQ9, which ends in DDS. Our only four-letter word with a double letter in the middle is BEER. And A83 most certainly cannot be "JAM".

But BEER had no attached number. Our four-letter word with a number attached was JUKE. The oil had a number attached, but wasn't all-caps.

Ah, but what does it matter?! We have no input device!

A thing I missed in the slot machine. Odds = 35(%). ...JAM also had a % sign!

I was right all along. O = 10. But that means our three-letter word is, in fact, probably not JAM. Unless I completely whiffed on doing the math blind, and just got lucky. ...Well, the 9 = S is obvious regardless of which six-letter word we use. ...Our base word was 94Q58J. That, uh...doesn't fit the pattern for SADMAN or SUNSET. No repeated letters. But if it was SADMAN, the 8 would indeed be an A. A83, the only thing we have to go on is the 8. Maybe it is JAM?

...Bugger, the pieces are for making the heart. Oh man this puzzle's annoying...and it seems you can rotate the pieces after all. ...Finally got it. Coin and card...calendar...

Mother fucker. A83 is JAM, and TQQ9 is ODDS, and and 94Q58J is, indeed, SADMAN. 100 - 35 + 570 = 635. Sticking the card calendar into the jukebox reveals the three dice, which we stick into the table at 6, 3, 5 to get the last coin. Pressing the button gets us our first "You found it!" of the match. The armor seems to be pointing guns at them, and the decision game's rules are explained. Each person must roll one of the three dice, and if all three dice display a 1, they win and can all escape, but if even one person's die shows something else, or if someone refuses to roll, everyone gets gunned down. We get "decision game", but our only decision is to roll the dice. 1, 3, 5. Carlos has us cower behind the bar. Doesn't work. Seems that whatever happened for the other two teams, Phi is the only one of the nine that survived this iteration.

Q-team's turn now. Bottom right corner. "Pop off", it says. 18:10, same as the pantry...Pod Room. Eric and Q, but no Mira. Eric has anger issues, but he's clearly in love. Still, he pisses me off. Too white knightish; from what I've seen of Mira, she's capable of taking care of herself. Q tells him to stay calm. Q feels the same as Eric, though...since he's got no memories of his own, Mira and Eric and the others are the most important people to him. He understands how he might seem suspicious, but...

Eric apologizes for yelling at Q. Escape time.

Huh. There's a clear difference...or at least, there was. Something glowing in the middle. They seem the same now, though. Seems like maybe a dart board. There's also a locked case with a hammer, and an upside-down painting. Metal gear stuck in the wall...red circles on the floor and ceiling...but nothing I can find that we can grab. ...Heh, I guess the locks on the hammer case aren't actually blocked by anything. Just go into the puzzle and start moving things. It's a damn simple puzzle. Hammer doesn't help with any of the obvious things...ah, there's a note on the floor. Strike in the middle of a red circle. So, hammer all the red circles. Ah, that reveals more locks at the end...There's a picture of a Zero doll that says "Become me". Also a serrated hole...wait, I was right about the gear, I just wasn't clicking in the right place to open it up! ...But it doesn't work. The gear is officially on the screen as "driver tip", so I try combining it with the only other item in my inventory, to no avail. Aha, another cabinet! The puzzles are getting tougher, but still easy. Finally, I get to the last puzzle...ah, I thought it was a simple matter of alternating between plus and minus, but it's based on the color...And now we can rotate the room far more easily. Easy enough to line it up now. Second-to-last block shifting puzzle is kind of tough; last one, not as much. This unlocks the shotgun, and the button makes the pods appear. One opens, and we've got our escape. Mira was in a pod. She does not appear alive. There's an electronic key in her mouth. Marks on her neck, suggesting she was strangled. Q remembers something. An abusive father, and a brother begging the father to stop. Also Q's name is Chris, if this is reliable. Or, no, I've got it wrong maybe? The wrong person had the flashback. That's Eric's flashback; Chris is Eric's brother. The voice sounded so much like Q's, though...At his father's behest, Eric put Chris's body in the lake. I'm almost certain that was Q's voice, though; my current guess was that Chris was either revived or saved somehow and kept in suspended animation, and that Q is in fact Chris. A screen lights up...Junpei seems to be frozen to death. Also, it seems I've been spoiled on the room that stopped me. Akane and her chainsaw seem dead, but Carlos and his fire axe are alive, if bloody. The six X-passes are revealed, as D-team also got wiped out. June, Jump, Virgin, Blue, Red, Milk. Well, those first two are Akane and Junpei, and the last one is Sigma. Phi is probably "Blue", since Red seems more likely to be one of the other two. Guessing that's Mira and Diana is "Virgin". Ah, Eric suspects, incorrectly, that the reason D-team is gone completely is because of the vote at 13:30. Makes sense from his perspective. Also, I'm absolutely certain now that my theory is correct, or at least, they want me to think that. The dialogue parallel was too perfect. And now Eric's shot out the input device for the X-Door. He demands to know who killed Mira. There's a decision...oh, shit, I have to actually type something in in the time? I closed the 3DS to stop it so I could type this...I type in Zero. He says that's true in an overall sort of way...but still says Q did it personally. Back to the pantry.

I manage to find the gelatin powder this time. Also iodine solution. Neither is helpful just yet. ...Wrong. The iodine solution reveals that the potatoes have letters on them. DUDLLR. So left door is exactly that, and right door is RLLDUD. A drawer requires rotating the sides of a dodecahedron...oh! The two sets of lines, put together with the doors slid, reads LEFT hand + DoLL =. I combine the mold that came from the dodecadrawer with the water, then the powder. I chill the gelatin and warm the doll. The gelatin man unlocks the drawer, revealing a key. I unlock the handcuffs on the hand in the opaque cabinet, and reveal 529. That one was the left, correct? The one in the glass cabinet looks like the right. Yeah, it is. The key works on those handcuffs, too, and the right arm enters the inventory. Ah, the pale doll has numbers, too. 1234. So the sum is 1763. Which begs the question, what is the right arm for?

...Apparently something, because 1763 is not the passcode. Did I...wait...I didn't add it up wrong, but... unlike the 1234, which are written clearly, the 529 is written with all right angles, like a digital clock. Which means that it still looks exactly like a number if viewed from the opposite angle! Let's try 1859. Yep, that did it. It was 625, not 529. That only opens the cover to the switch, though. We've got a right arm, but it's balled into a fist. Ah, trying it again gives a hint. Warming it up in the hot-cold machine opens the fist, and that authenticates the door. Successful escape! Sort of. It's into the freezer, not the proper exit. There's still a bloody axe...and a chainsaw. Casualty announcement. Ah...D-team has once again perished completely, but Junpei alone is dead from Team C (beheaded as well as frozen) and Q team is wholly alive. The four X-passes issued are Blue, Red, Milk, and Jump. I guess Mira was "virgin" and Diana was "red", then. Carlos points out that the room is locked, so the one who killed Junpei is...

He swings the axe, and Akane seems scared of Carlos...but he swung it at the wooden door, trying to break it down. Hmm, with fewer than six deaths, and with the wholly eradicated team not being the one that they voted for, Carlos isn't actually suspicious that the fully wiped out team was killed at 13:30. Unless they failed to vote. So why did they go at each other in...oh. Akane's going crazy...no, she too is attacking the door. And the chainsaw broke through. They're out of the pantry. Akane's breaking down. Gab's here, too. Ah, Carlos needed the money to save Maria... Reverie Syndrome! His sister has it. A doctor in a flashback compares it to playing a bunch of videos on a computer at once, slowing down the processing speed. Her brain and nervous system seem fine, but... Hold on, slowing down the brain's processing speed? That's Radical-6! Except not. Reverie Syndrome has a variety of thoughts flicker in and out of the mind, like a constant state of dreaming. No complete recoveries yet, but the symptoms have been relieved with the latest technology. Ah, but they have no insurance for this...Ah, here we go. Now Akane suspects Carlos. She attacks him. He dodges, suggests that maybe she's the psycho...he's got the axe. But he doesn't seem like he's ready to kill yet. Surprisingly, Akane runs away. Carlos is having doubts about himself. He's remembering the bit about the anesthetic and the memory loss drug, forgetting that they weren't going to be injected with it again after the voting. The lights go down...oh, Akane is trying to get Carlos at a disadvantage. A brief cut, suggesting a place to jump to in the flowchart. He calms down, thinks rationally, and decides that the most threatening person is the one who killed Junpei, so he should remove that person, even if it ends up being himself. But it can't be. So who killed Junpei? I have to type something in. I wonder what would happen if I typed in something other than a character name? ...Damnit, Funyarinpa doesn't fit.

I'm honestly stumped here. The people get moved whenever they've been knocked out. That much, we know. So who's moving them? Whoever it is is probably the one who killed Junpei. Given that Sigma, Phi, and Akane have to specifically infiltrate this, two of them using time travel to do so, I doubt they're the Zero here. Same goes for Junpei. So probably one of the members of Team Q...that's the most likely source for a Zero. Though I suppose it could be Carlos. I do wonder, though, if I directly input the name of a character in another Ward, how will Carlos react?

...Ha. The game says "Not likely to be Q-Team" and doesn't let me go on. Error also comes up when I try "No one". Only one thing left to try...and honestly, of the three members of C-Team, I actually find this the most plausible.

"The dead cannot kill anyone". I applaud you for your creative error messages, but how is suggesting it's a suicide not an option when Carlos said that he had to remove the killer even if it was himself? I''ll bet this is the fork, though. ...Fine, I'll go with the timeline I saw from Q team, even though Mira's not dead so this isn't actually the same timeline. I accuse Akane, as implausible as it seems.''

Wait. Blood, a bracelet on the floor, falling off freely...and then Carlos strikes Akane with the axe? Holy shit, that means...Carlos has no bracelet! Nor a left arm! Except he does. Maybe? He's holding that arm, maybe it is partially missing. I use the flowchart to try to get back to that decision. Hah...the flowchart is crazy. And yes, the bit I did of Q-Team's is directly downstream from the choice I just made. I go to the choice and accuse Carlos this time. He realizes she'd never do that to Junpei, and so it could only be Carlos. He warns her not to come any closer, saying he's dangerous, and his body moves against his will. He turns the axe blade upon his own neck and cuts in. Also, I noticed on the flowchart that the ending I got in the Rec Room is called "The 99.537% Reality." Cute, game. Now I want to jump to that all the more. I figure it's rigged to always fail the first time, but always succeed the second.

It does not succeed the second. They wouldn't really put a mandatory 1 in 216 chance in a Visual Novel, would they? Extremely rare events are for RPGs! I have half a mind to flip to a path where a team died at 13:30, but I won't. D-Team, you're up. "Outbreak". Oh god, it's Radical-6. We're in what appears to be the GAULEM Bay. It's actually "Manufacturing"...oh dear, and it's 18:10. We already know from both other paths that D-Team doesn't survive 18:10. We get a screwdriver tip and a stun gun, and three blueprints, two of which say "Cut Charley" and "Cut Betty". There's also a note that says: "From the far left -> 4 right -> 1 left -> 2 left -> 4 right -> 3 left -> Boot up!"

Cut Charley? But Charley has been our faithful companion for over a decade! We've got wire cutters, too. And now we've got a screwdriver head, which we combine with the grip to make a screwdriver. Note two says White Red Blue. Note three says Alex Betty Charley. So Charley is Blue, Alex is White, and Betty is Red. There's some sort of bomb thing, which we'll probably blow up to get out. Huh, and examining these machines now results in talking about the bomb. ...Ah, we stun gun the high volt thingy...Ah, damnit, that means "start with the one on the far left, then do the 5th from the left second". You're killing me, game.

Alex seems friendly enough, but Betty wants to set us up the bomb. And no, that's not me doing a Zero Wing shout-out, it's the game. Charley's kind of rude, but better than Betty.

I am as confused as ever. There doesn't seem to be anything we can interact with using any of our tools, including the three robots. We "don't need" the crane "yet"; the floor panel is still impassible, every other machine is "strange", and the three robots are polite, asking us to set up the bomb timer to zero seconds (and calling us stupid for not doing so), and rude; and the colored machines are all acting like they're bombs too, even though I see no red or blue balls in them. And we still can't even pan to the apparent drawer on the front of the hi-volt connector. Heh, finally got to see the bomb timer display. Can't set it, though. I try examining the inventory...no help. I'm thoroughly out of ideas. I'm quite certain I've clicked everything with every item. Ah, well, the advantage of this fragmented storyline is that I can just give up and try another fragment if I ever decide I'm stuck.

Heh. Third time's the charm, they say. I return to the rec room, and after getting 1-3-5 and 2-3-5, I get 1-1-1. Junpei's deliriously happy to be alive, while the other two seem stunned. And we get our first typo. "Let's blow this popcicle stand." Junpei's getting drunk in the lounge. But I've still got a bad feeling about this, because not only did five out of the other six...oh, wait, Akane knows that this didn't happen on the first try. She specifically says what the odds would be if they'd done it three times, though she doesn't get it exactly right...though that close to 0%, the additive version isn't that far off. She's got some weird analogies, like a 100-round rock-paper-scissors tournament. The anthropic principle...the one who lives on does so due to circumstance.

So as I was saying before Akane used her esper powers, not only did five out of six of the others die on this timeline, but the survivor came from the team that Team C didn't vote for. So they could suspect that Team D betrayed Team Q. Sure enough, there goes the announcement. But the X-Passes are all different! Eye, Kill, Fool, Moon, Fate. If I'd been paying attention before, I wouldn't have even needed to guess; there's a board that displays all of the deaths and the X-Passes. Eye is Q, Kill is Mira, Fool is Eric, Moon is Diana, Fate is Sigma. Hmmm...Mira is Kill? Not Eric? Ah, well, Eric didn't actually kill Chris, he just helped cover it up. Anyway, we're back on the team selection screen. I jump to another of D-Team's...this one has a three-way split. There's a pistol...in a lock? "Fire", it says. Trash Disposal Room. 18:06...ah. That's close enough...Phi's already missing. She survives because she's not here. Oh, wait, there she is. Locked in...something? The incinerator. Wait, THE INCINERATOR? Oh motherfucker. You know what, let's call it a night. I'd been drinking, too, before I came back up here; I'm surprised I got as far as I did although I feel like I'm sober now. And admittedly I only solved about half a puzzle room. Everything from after the solving of the dodecahedron (as in, I'd finished the puzzle, but had yet to see my reward, when I was called away.)

Night, all.

Edit: Ah, wait, I just realized I screwed up. 18:10 is the one where D-Team all dies. This game is so damn annoying, because you can't play any section without knowing how a couple of others will end. Maybe. Mira died at 18:10 when I was playing Q-Team, but not C-Team. So if I'd actually finished the Pantry on the first try, I would've been surprised by Mira's death.

30 minutes in-game time until Phi gets incinerated. Gas torch, coin at the base of a thermometer, and a slider puzzle, three letters. Phi needs more light to see anything on her side. A three-digit number input for a dust chute. A padlocked box suspended from the ceiling, containing a revolver. A locker contains a toolbox and night vision goggles. At least, that might be what they are? Looking through them, the numbered puzzle has a display next to it with two screws and a screwdriver. Goggles also show the letters "TIC". That opens the shutters, allowing Phi to see. A flathead screwdriver is found in there, and it can be used to unscrew a wall panel. 188 lbs. She also gets the screws from the panel. I find a thermometer, but it can't be taken. I try 188 in the number puzzle. No good. Oh, there's a weighing station...the two screws are 22 grams, and the screwdriver is 133. So 155 is our key. We can use the dust chute to send things to Phi now, so we send the screwed-shut toolbox. It creates a puzzle. The bottom reveals a note: Max out the needle! I send the gas torch over to Phi, and it lets the coin escape from the thermometer on Diana and Sigma's side when Phi uses it on the thermometer on her side. The coin is used to unscrew the grate over a switch on Sigma and Diana's side, which makes a chair come up. Diana sits on it, and nothing happens, so Sigma tries it next and ends up restrained. It drops the box from the ceiling, though. The chain allows Diana to hold onto it while sending it through to Phi, so Phi can unlock it and Diana can get the gun. The gun barrel fits into the lock for "stop", and this ends the escape sequence...but upon turning, the gun automatically flips up so that it's now pointed at Sigma! Zero starts talking about the preparations being complete and a story about the past. A woman died 17 years ago, an innocent man was sentenced to death, and his wife took her own life; a taxi driver and his passenger, a surgeon, were killed in an accident, and this led to a child awaiting a critical operation perishing as well. Why did these six die? Because of a snail. A single solitary snail took the lives of these six people...no, not just six, but six billion. Six billion people will lose their lives as a result of that one snail. Isn't life unfair? And now he explains the rules. A revolver is set up beside the chair. It contains six rounds. Three are live and three are blank. The sound of the revolver's discharge, be it live or blank, will open the door to the incinerator. Three minutes left until the incinerator fires...

Sigma tells Diana to pull the trigger. If she doesn't, he has a 100% chance of survival, but Phi's is 0%, whereas if she does, Phi definitely survives and he still has a 50% chance of survival. Phi asks he consider everyone else's feelings. What if it is live? Then Diana blew Sigma's head off with her own hands. Diana comes to the logical conclusion. I get a decision game and choose to pull the trigger. Or did I? I thought I did, but it plays out as though I didn't pull the trigger. Also, this music is fire, no pun intended. The doors open now that the incineration is done. Flashback to two days ago...Phi's medallion. The one that played such a big role in her ending of VLR, specifically the second AB game. She talks about her mother dying in childbirth, and no leads on who her father is. Also a little bit of ship tease. Geez, with this music, I feel like I'm back to playing CLANNAD!

Gab's with them as they hear the results. Phi and the whole of Q-Team. Future, Eye, Kill, Fool. Same ones for Q-team as in the Pantry escape. Sigma figures C-Team had voted for Q-Team...wait, isn't this a timeline where D-team voted for C-team? You're screwing up, Sigma! The mind wipe will come again. I redo the last decision and choose to shoot. As I expect, first time making this decision, it's a live round. Phi is pissed. She says she doesn't matter at all. Diana then puts the gun to her own head and fires again. Ah, this is the version we saw where only Phi lives.

Hm, the other one's not a game over, but that was. Anyway, there were three branches to that fragment, so I have to shoot again and get a blank. I think the music's different this time? Yeah, definitely is. A blank. Sigma's ears hurt from having a gun discharge right next to his head, but he's otherwise fine. Phi's still angry at them, or rather, at Diana. Sigma thinks Phi's being unreasonable and should be thanking Diana. Again, Q-Team is dead. They still think it was the result of the vote at 13:30. Diana's seeing something...glowing red collars around their necks? And now everyone's poisoned or something. Gab comes in. Akane sent an antidote. Phi is suspicious... Sigma says they can trust Akane, but Phi thinks Carlos could've forced her to write it. She correctly surmises that C-team voted for Q-team...well, okay, yeah, the very fact that both C-team and D-team are alive means that C-team did vote for Q-team, because D-team didn't. Except...by the rules of the game, Q-team might have been penalized for not voting, in which case Phi's conclusion is wrong. Sigma points out that they have nothing to lose; they're already dying.

I choose to take the antidote. Phi's confused. She figures C-Team has fractured, because she's still convinced that Carlos wanted everyone dead and Akane sending the antidote represents a betrayal of Carlos. Phi reveals that she's actually a redhead and has been dyeing her hair. It's...kind of obvious, actually, especially with Diana on her team. They have the same color eyebrows. Zero says it's good they're okay, and they should rejoice as they have a dark future ahead of them. Again, they'll be made to forget the last 90 minutes.

Q-Team's up...a 4-way split? The opening graphic has Q with some sort of bladed weapon. 18:10. Eric's searching other rooms...Mira says they've searched all of them, but Q points out that there was one they couldn't get into. Eric cries out. He found a secret door. Library. Q has a flashback when asked if he likes to read. Still embers in the fireplace...Zero was here recently, Mira thinks. So it's Zero's Study...We can go upstairs and downstairs. There's a chair with a keyboard, but no power; four small figurines. There's a note about the meaning of the dolls' poses. Confirm/deny. There's a "confirm" over a door up here--the moon safe. Four-letter key needed for a cylinder. More safes we can't open...and a poster with odd caricatures of the cast. Carlos and to a lesser extent Mira and Phi look pretty normal (though the latter has her newly revealed real hair color), but of note is that the one that can only correspond to Q looks female. Oh, no, it's just a matryoshka doll. Speaking of which, I just realized that Junpei's is a voodoo doll. Akane's is a moe catgirl. I wish Sigma were here to comment on it, nya. Another safe, with a deny doll. But that seems to be all we have. Oh, the desk drawer has the human mark key! In the human safe is part D, the star key, a handgun, and the bird man card. HFGY. I try it on the bird man cylinder and it doesn't open. I get a hint that maybe the four figures on the table are related. I suddenly remember that the confirm/deny switches NIL to EXIST, which is exactly the right set of lengths for the two safes. The EXIST safe has Part F and a lever that powers up the chair. The NIL safe has Part E, a crossbow, and the Sun Card, which has NIL below a target. I combine parts E and F to make part EF, but can't combine that with part D. Five spaces for the keyboard input; letters and numbers available. The star safe has part C, which I combine with part D to make Part CD, and the moon card, which also says NIL. Oh, Star key gave the hint to moon safe, which gave hint to sun safe. I did them out of order. Plus another note. S-02-16. That's for the chair. It gets another note on the Polovtsian dolls. 3 down for grass dance, 5 for sand, 7 for wind. So... MIND.

Part B appears, along with a note that says Bullet for C-team, Arrow for Q-team, Acid for D-Team. The last is crossed out. So fire the crossbow at the members of Q-team and the handgun at the members of C-team. This reveals a grenade launcher behind Q's portrait. This is fired from the second floor to break open the cracked safe. Three dolls are in there, along with part A. This gets combined for Part AB, then Part ABCD and finally the combined key. The note says J-05-03. The dolls say this means Q-12-10. That merely retrieves the blueprint for the combined key, though. All that's inside is a note that says kill one. We then see Junpei's frozen head and Carlos taking the axe to himself. And D-team's all gone, as expected. Fight, Jump, Blue, Red, Milk. So Carlos is Fight. And there are three weapons...everyone's pointing a weapon at someone else. Standoff. I see why there are so many branches. Who will you kill?

Eric is a jackass and I don't like him. Let's kill him first. Q turns from Mira to Eric and fires the crossbow. Then Mira finishes him off with the gun. If it's for Mira's sake, Eric's okay with dying. She's surprised that his last words were the same as "her first's". I think she's a professional killer! She doesn't understand how feelings work. She doesn't understand why facial expressions change. Okay, not a professional killer. Just a psychopath. She killed a random woman because she wanted to know what a "heart" was. And she received forgiveness, as long as she never did anything like that again. And she found the heart. And she received a warm sensation, and realized that that was when to smile, and she wanted to reach out and touch as many hearts as possible. And she did, and got better at it, but she never could find that comforting warmth until she met Eric. She could tell as soon as she met him that he was worthless, but for some reason, she still took interest in him. She's absolutely crazy. I'm thinking her first victim actually was her mother. Eric's X-pass this time is "POOR". Q seems to have figured out the meaning of the "Let's Inhibit the Virus" anagram. The truth is invisible. And...we're allowed to enter the X-Passes! ...Roll credits. I had a feeling, when I heard that much of Mira's backstory...I'll bet this is the Mira Ending. Well, it just says Q-End: 1. A picture of a crossbow appears on the endings list. Might as well finish off this branch, though I didn't plan to initially. Mira's turn, after that last display. Q fires at Mira, but Eric intercepts the crossbow bolt...and Mira says that that's bad; if you do it there, his heart will be gone. Mira's not happy. Q gets shot. He gets announced as deceased before giving his last words. Q's turn. I press "Q", and it says "Please input Q's name". I try "Chris" and get an error message. Seems I can't finish this branch until I learn something else...but there are four branches. I try "Zero", and it says "Do not know identity". Hm, makes me wonder...is this a very important fragment? It already got me one ending, and it seems that the remaining two branches are probably both blocked off at the moment. Ah, well...time to jump back to a 13:30. I go back to D-team and select Q-Team. Sure enough, Q-team has the collars on. They're in the Pod Room. They receive the news that they received two votes. Mors certa, hora incerta. And kaboom. Your head asplode. Might as well finish out the other two. I jump into C's vote to flip it to D. They're collared in the Healing Room. Phi suggests that she and Sigma jump. I finish the flips by switching Q's vote. I'll take care of C-Team's execution some other time, I guess.

Hmm...there's another option on the Pod Room segment? I input Eric's name. He still shoots Q. C'est la mort.

...Damnit, the last set of updates wasn't caught in the cached version. Ah, well, there was a minor blind spot in the 999 playthrough, too. I remember finding out that Carlos was an esper, getting angry about the manufacturing room being a pixel hunt and otherwise a fairly short escape sequence, and freaking out because an entire fragment both lacked any sort of escape sequence and had the "obvious wrong choice" in fact be major progression, to the point that I had to reload an earlier save in order to avoid getting railroaded into a new fragment when I still had so many others to check out.

(If you're just reading this here, that was the after-effect of the purge monster)

As I suggested at the end of my last post, I will now be pushing the big yellow button. It almost feels like Diana realizes that her actions are being controlled by the player instead of herself. Wait...I just got a strange idea. What if this is actually the birth of Radical-6?

Well, even though we're in a D-team fragment, we pan in on C-Team. Trapped in the decontamination room. Q-Team is, also, and Q feels he's been trapped in there before. All three members of C-Team sense the importance of the button. Q thinks they've forgotten about it via memory loss.

Then the showers come on. For a moment I actually thought Zero had lied about what the buttons did.

After midnight. 2029. Casualty announcement. SHIFT, SIX, RING, AGE, HEART, LOVE. Hmm...Six being Akane is obvious, and I guess I understand why Mira is Heart. But the other four bring up some mysteries. (Shift=Carlos; Ring=Junpei; Age=Q; Love=Eric)

Phi confirms that Diana didn't actively choose to hit the button. She said it was as if someone had taken control of her body. Phi thinks it's alien hand syndrome. She explains it, how it's caused by a faulty connection between the left and right hemispheres of the brain. Then she turns back into the smart-aleck we all know and love, claiming to have "alien mouth syndrome". Sigma wants to believe that the six names are still alive. Diana's certain they aren't. Time to input the X-Passes. Second time I've gotten to do this.

Diana refuses to leave. She runs back into the shelter!

"Wonderful acting. It's an excellent strategy! Your actions in the Decontamination Room--I'm surprised you thought of it so fast. At that moment, all you wanted was to get out quickly. To make that a reality, it just happened that the fastest way was to touch a yellow button and kill the other six participants. However, pressing the button just like that would make you a murderer. A bad person. And even if you did escape after, in a court of law, what you did would be considered bad by judge and jury. So you thought, how could I make this not as bad for me... What you came up with was oh so simple. You simply needed multiple personalities." Zero, you bastard! He then accuses Diana of refusing to believe because by doing something unbeneficial to herself, she makes the "multiple personalities" lie more believable. And Phi will bring a rescue team back, so nothing lost. And he closes by saying "Let us meet again somewhere. Stabat mater dolorosa. I will be awaiting that moment..." And then it's a game over. Well, full openness again. Might as well go back to the 13:30 votes to pick up the last execution. Oh, hey, more Latin! Desine fata deum flecti sperare precando.

Well, C-Team has the most unfinished threads, so it's up to them...wait, is that the decontamination room again?

And for some reason, it opens on them seeing their deaths from the execution. Or Carlos seeing them, anyway. Akane is chewing Junpei out about urging Carlos to vote for Q-Team, and Junpei says that Akane's one to talk. Carlos wants to know about both of them. They were friends, and they were both trapped together, so why the animosity? And Junpei says that's exactly why. He joined a detective firm after Akane disappeared, and had nothing but dirty cases. He's a mess. He'd fall asleep in the bathtub with the shower running so he could get the scent of blood off of him. You know, I think I liked it better when 999 was a standalone game and Junpei spent the rest of his life trying to find Akane again. This is disturbing, especially since even in VLR, Junpei's still pining over her. Junpei asks about Santa, then corrects himself and calls him Aoi. And then we get an update on the rest of the 999 cast. Ace is still in jail, as far as we know. Lotus is doing fine, raising her kids. He found this out from Seven, who he worked with once, destroying Free the Soul's headquarters. Akane's shocked at this. Akane brings up again that Free the Soul was behind the First Nonary Game. Er, well, I keep calling it that, but there were other Nonary Games before the one that happened in 2018 (wait, holy crap, I just realized that we're past the date that the flashback parts of 999 took place); Ace won the last of them and convinced the rich dudes to invest in him. Carlos asks if this Zero the Second has anything to do with Free the Soul. Junpei asks Akane, and she reiterates that she's not connected to this and has no idea why this person is calling themselves Zero. I love how this game keeps dancing around outright stating that Akane was the first Zero even though it seems to be the root of Junpei's sudden animosity towards Akane. Junpei asks why she joined Dcom and tries to call bullshit on Akane's claim, and Carlos stops him, saying that it looks to him like Akane's the victim. So, yeah, obviously it's still not clear to him. Akane says she's here to change the future and gives the exposition about the distant future that Free the Soul created. Carlos is confused once Junpei mentions the morphogenetic field. Then Zero interrupts with voting results and creates the decision game. Junpei's the one who goes for the button; Akane stops him. Man, his mouth is out of sync with his lines. Carlos's sister's name is Maria, because of course it is. Junpei suddenly becomes compassionate, and...Carlos has a similar reaction to Diana. That it wasn't him. Man, this part will be fun with Q-Team...but first, C-Team's denouement. Q-Team's reactions are the same as with D-Team, and D-Team has a bad feeling about this.

SELF...RIP...LAKE...BIRD...TWIN...OLD.

Okay, that's...even before they show them, OLD has to be Sigma, and BIRD Diana. So Phi's is "TWIN"? Strange... SELF is Q, RIP is Mira, and LAKE is Eric. Carlos is still freaking out about being a murder. Akane refers to Leucochloridium and Spinochordodes tellinii. Parasites that control creatures larger than themselves. The former are snail parasites; the latter control praying mantises and grasshoppers. What, no Cordyceps sinensis? Ah, but there is one, Toxoplasma gondii...ah, yes, I've heard of that. The one that not only makes rats fail to fear cats, but actually causes them to be drawn to the scent of cat urine. And it can infect humans, too, changing their personalities...and also slowing their reactions. WAIT SHIT THIS SOUNDS LIKE AN ACTUAL SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION OF RADICAL-6. Just like Diana, Carlos refuses to leave. He cites a promise he made in another history to save them. And he says to hold on; he'll go save them now.

Okay, just archived all of the posts so far on the wiki. Including the hyperlinks that I can't do when posting here. Don't worry, it's just an obscure reference to a not-obscure game.

Just search "Tsunami" if you're looking for the whole archive (which includes all of the 2013-2014 stuff); you'll find it right away. I have fun reminiscing about it sometimes, and apparently even I forgot some of the references I made.

...And boy, did my "reminiscences" help!

"Luna was based on the woman from the Mars mission test site whose voice is heard on the recording in Tenmyouji's path."

"Tenmyouji says in his ending that he knows who Zero Sr. is now, which makes perfect sense because he would've recognized the man in the hologram as Sigma. But he also realized that he met Sigma 45 years ago at the test site.

Sigma's run of bad luck in December 2028 that led to him getting captured was engineered by Akane and the Crash Keys. The "DM" in Luna's product model number stands for "Diana Model", and he says to stay tuned for the next installment to find out what that means but it seems to already make sense to me--Diana is the Roman Goddess equivalent to the Greek Artemis, goddess of the hunt but often conflated to also be goddess of the moon. The goddess who actually held that role was called Selene in Greek mythology, and in Roman mythology, Luna. Seems pretty clear to me."

So...yeah, some things outright changed, but I like seeing the connections between the post-VLR Uchikoshi interview and what we've already learned so far from ZTD. Also, Diana was specifically the one on the recording...so it seems that the timeline that leads to VLR will be one that has D-Team as the survivors. Which kind of makes sense with the bit about Sigma and Phi being the important ones for saving everyone; that Akane couldn't do it herself. Because she dies again in that timeline...wait...no, she and Junpei are clearly still alive in VLR...Goddamnit, Akane, did you set up another time loop where you save your past self's life?

And just a reminder: This is not me violating the "blind" aspect of these playthroughs. This is entirely information from before Zero Time Dilemma was even a thing.