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. S***, 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.

...f***!

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 didhave 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 f***? 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

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! S***...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 youare 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 finishedbreakfast, 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. Chapter 8: Four Short Stories

This is most definitely not an H-game...and I hardly even care.

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...s***! 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 wold'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. ...S***. 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 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 s***! 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 s*** 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. Huh. Would've been just fine, actually. Anyway, 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 f***. 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 f*** 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.

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...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 outwithout 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 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 wasdefinitely 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 therewere 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 f*** 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 whichnobody 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 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. (...Insert shameless fanfiction plug here.) 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, s***, 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 cloakdoesn'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 truthresults 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 thatunder 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: Ignorance Is Bliss 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 f***, 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.