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It's gonna turn out the guy who got fragged at the beginning of 999 is the main villain all along. Calling it now.
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Feb 26, 2017 03:01
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Stabbey_the_Clown posted:So maybe Dio didn't fully close the clasp on his (or broke it in some way)? Mystery stories, well-written ones at any rate, will always follow their established rules. In this case, the rule in question is that the bracelets work exactly as described, for all participants. Cheap tricks like the above ruin the mystery, because the conclusion can't be deduced logically. Working from what we know, there are two broad possibilities regarding this theory: 1. Dio did take Quark's bracelet, and has, or plans to acquire, a previously-established resource to deal with his own bracelet (or a resource that will have been established in an alternate timeline, given the distinctly non-linear nature of this particular story, but given how much of the various timelines we've traversed so far, it's much more likely we've already encountered the resource in question). 2. Dio has (or knows of) no way to counter his bracelet, making Quark's bracelet useless to him as a result, and implying that someone else took the bracelet.
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Feb 26, 2017 03:22
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i don't think dio would go through all that extra trouble to take quark's bracelet. anyone else, maybe. but dio would just murder the kid and be done with it.
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Feb 26, 2017 03:37
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I dunno, he likes maintaining his deniability (probably because he seems well aware he's surrounded by at least three people who could kick his rear end)
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Feb 26, 2017 04:35
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C. Everett Koop posted:It's gonna turn out the guy who got fragged at the beginning of 999 is the main villain all along. Calling it now. Kubota?
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Feb 26, 2017 05:17
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Hobgoblin2099 posted:Kubota? Now I'm just sort of imagining him as a severed head ala Brocken from Mazinger Z. It's way funnier than it has any right to be.
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Feb 26, 2017 07:09
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PlasticAutomaton posted:Yeah, the game seems to have already confirmed that Ten = Junpei. Whether or not the old lady is actually Akane though is still a mystery. No mystery, Tenmyouji directly stated her name. The mystery is technically the other way (he didn't give his name), but it seems really likely that he's Junpei. He does say that he's been looking for her 'for a long time' but not for romantic reasons (although Quark says differently). Kangra fucked around with this message at 08:35 on Feb 26, 2017 |
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Feb 26, 2017 08:01
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Kangra posted:No mystery, Tenmyouji directly stated her name. The mystery is technically the other way (he didn't give his name), but it seems really likely that he's Junpei. He does say that he's been looking for her 'for a long time' but not for romantic reasons (although Quark says differently). Yeah, there's zero ambiguity at this point who Tenmyouji is. He has a photo of Akane as a kid, which puts him on a list of literally two people who that photo would mean something to, and his talk about her during the scene we saw it solidly narrows it down to Junpei.
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Feb 26, 2017 11:37
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EclecticTastes posted:Mystery stories, well-written ones at any rate, will always follow their established rules. In this case, the rule in question is that the bracelets work exactly as described, for all participants. Cheap tricks like the above ruin the mystery, because the conclusion can't be deduced logically. Working from what we know, there are two broad possibilities regarding this theory: Maybe Dio took Quark's bracelet to prevent him from escaping? After all, once someone with 9 points opens the door and gets out everyone else is poo poo outta luck, so Dio might just be stalling for time until he can get to 9 points.
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Feb 26, 2017 11:44
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Aumanor posted:Maybe Dio took Quark's bracelet to prevent him from escaping? After all, once someone with 9 points opens the door and gets out everyone else is poo poo outta luck, so Dio might just be stalling for time until he can get to 9 points. This is possible, but consider, when did Dio stuff Quark into one of the treatment beds? Keep in mind, it had to have happened after the puzzle rooms were solved. Was Dio unaccounted for at any point? Also, on the topic of mitigating his bracelet, recall what he took from the Treatment Center. If you need to refresh your memory on its significance, reread Clover's ending.
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Feb 26, 2017 12:15
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"luminol people's bracelets" would be one of those things you'd figure we'd remember, timeline to timeline, but that would mess a lot of things up. ...of course, it's somehow going to turn out to be us what did it, I just know it.
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Feb 26, 2017 19:44
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Glazius posted:"luminol people's bracelets" would be one of those things you'd figure we'd remember, timeline to timeline, but that would mess a lot of things up. I mean, once the luminol-ing is done you can just remember who the murderer was instead. It's unlikely to change timeline-to-timeline, since the only other one with timeline jumping powers is Phi and I wouldn't think it was her.
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Feb 27, 2017 13:29
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MarquiseMindfang posted:I mean, once the luminol-ing is done you can just remember who the murderer was instead. It's unlikely to change timeline-to-timeline, since the only other one with timeline jumping powers is Phi and I wouldn't think it was her. Well, keep in mind that in a fair number of timelines, the PEC or Botanical Garden is open instead of the Rec Room, meaning there's no luminol available, regardless. This is the main reason it's important to keep track of which rooms the other teams went through. I mean, yes, the game itself handles memory flashes on its own and all that, so you don't have to keep track, but if you want to figure things out ahead of time, it's useful to know which resources have been unlocked in a given timeline ("resource" being defined in this case as a useful item whose function, learned in one timeline, may potentially be useful in others). For example, this timeline has the cold sleep beds and neostigmine gun from the Treatment Center and the luminol from the Rec Room (no special resources have yet been discovered in the Pantry, and the GAULEM Bay's one useful item is missing, not that the GAULEM Bay was opened by legitimate means). It's not explicitly stated, but one can conclude based on who gets what items that the contents of each safe remain the same in every timeline (they have been so far, and assuming my assertion that the writers are good is correct, they'll continue to be so), providing another consistent thread one can rely on as evidence when puzzling out the game's mysteries. Additionally, keep in mind that memory flashes usually only happen when Sigma's hit some sort of mental roadblock that would otherwise prevent him from progressing down a given timeline, so it's unlikely he'd just casually remember that someone's a murderer unless it becomes important (that's why he doesn't remember Dio being the bomber outside of the routes in which he actually plants the bombs). Frankly, at this point, I think we're going to be getting mostly answers rather than new questions, just based on how many paths we've gone down so far (there's only one round 2 puzzle room left, which probably* means it's the last timeline we haven't at least partially explored). *By which I mean definitely, it's the last major branch of the Jump chart, as you can see from our recent Game Over.
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Feb 27, 2017 19:23
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Listen in: [English/Japanese] Quark! VLR OST: [Divulgation] His...his bracelet! It's... Oh God! Hold on, Sigma! Calm down. Look at his chest... Can you see it moving? Wh-What?! I quickly pressed a finger to Quark's wrist. It was faint, but his heartbeat was there. He's...he's alive... He's alive! *Sigh* What a relief. I'm so glad to know he's safe. I laughed out loud and grabbed K in a bear hug, or at least as much of one as I could manage. He patted me on the back and shared what I thought might have been a relieved chuckle. Zero Jr. said it would only come off when you died... Perhaps Zero Sr. took it off? ...What? Why? I have no idea. Then...maybe Zero Sr. brought Quark here, and put him in this pod thing too... ... ... Well, even if he did, we don't have any way to know why... This pod is for medical treatment. Perhaps Quark has contracted some sort of illness. He's sick!? What has he got?! How would I know that? I imagine Tenmyouji in particular will be pleased. Yeah, I bet. Do you think you can carry him, or... No, I believe it would be best to leave Quark here. As I mentioned, there is a chance he has fallen ill. If so, then removing him from the pod would be dangerous. The treatment he is currently undergoing could be compromised. Oh... I'll close the pod's cover, then. Is that all right? Y-Yeah... Sure. ...Wait, um, I just thought of something... Are you sure he's going to be all right? What do you mean? Well, what happens if he wakes up? Can he open that thing on his own? He'll be fine. I noticed a lever inside that can be used to open the cover. So long as no one locks the pod, he should be able to leave whenever he wants. But if someone locks him in, he's screwed? Yes, that is what I said. But you needn't worry. ... ... Now, we should return to the floor B warehouse. I imagine the others are already there. Right, yeah. Okay, let's go. [Music fades out] VLR OST: [Placidity] Listen in: [English/Japanese] You're one to talk. How much earlier did you get back again? I'd be surprised if you searched at all. This is it? Yeah, Clover and Tenmyouji still aren't back. So...find anything? Yeah, we sure did. Yeah? Well, go on. Spill it. I explained to them how we'd found Quark in the treatment center. I see... Well, that's good to hear. Little jerk, making us all worried... And that is? There is still some cause for concern. Just spit it out. Quark may have contracted an illness of some sort. As such he has been left in the treatment pod... Will he be all right? Yeah, he'll probably— "Probably?" Do you even— Whatever, at least we found him. Pretty lucky he's alive, too. What do you mean by that? I mean what I said, genius. I'm glad he's not dead. Aren't you? As equivocal as ever, I see. How kind of you to say so. The way you were talking made it sound like there was something else. Yeah, I'll explain that after Tenmyouji and Clover get back. There's something I wanted to ask you about first, though. When you went through the green door, did you search two different rooms? Two? No, just the treatment center. I see... Then what was the other one...? What do you mean, the other one? You know where there's that intersection with three doors? Well, when K and I went there, two of the doors were unlocked. You guys unlocked the one that went to the treatment center when you went through the green door. But the other one... Who could have opened it? Don't look at me. I told you, we only opened the one that went to the treatment center. Could it have been Zero Sr.? I don't know... Hm... ... ... So did you and K go through the other door? Yeah. What was in there? Nothing, really. It appeared to be some sort of room for servicing...something. That doesn't make any sense! So what the hell was whoever opened that door looking for? Who knows... ... ... ... ... Should we go and look for them? No, there's something I want to check first. It's never easy with you, is it. Well, let's get it over with. ... ... [Music fades out] VLR OST: [Sinisterness] This is the rec room. Dio and I came here earlier when we were looking for Quark. Was there something here you needed to see? I said nothing, and instead made my way over toward the cabinet. Inside was the luminol. I reached in and pulled it out, then headed to the light switch and flipped it. The room went dark, and I headed back to where the others were still standing. You gonna start telling ghost stories or something? Why, you scared of ghosts? Ha! You're kidding me, right? Then show me how brave you are. Stick out your bracelet. You too, Phi. Please. Our bracelets? Yeah. I wanna see the underside of them. What do you mean by that? I mean the side on the bottom. The side that doesn't have the display on it. Come on, you really gonna make me explain this? I know what you mean. What I'm asking is what the hell you think you're— Just do it! It's not hard! Should I also participate? No, you're fine K. Your bracelet is a little different from ours. But I'll join in just to make it fair. There was a brief moment of hesitation before Dio and Phi stuck out their arms. I held mine out as well, wrist pointed upward. This okay? Yeah. Just hold it like that for a moment. As fast as I could, I pulled the luminol from my pocket and sprayed it across all three of our wrists. What the hell, man?! Dio jerked his arm back with a shout. Phi's bracelet is clean... So's mine, of course. That leaves only Dio. Wait... What are you talking about...? I'll explain in a minute. Just show me your bracelet. Is something wrong? Just show it to me. C'mon Dio, we don't have time for this! Why do I have to do what you tell me to?! Because I'm trying to prove your innocence! L-Like hell you are! I don't know what you're looking for, but you're not going to find it on me! Then just show me your arm! No! You don't get to order me around! I have rights! As he spoke, Dio made a break for the exit. He didn't get far. [Music fades out] Guh! He spun around, toward the other exit— 999 OST: [Trepidation] Stop him! Right! Donno what you're talking about, but okay! All three of us leapt at Dio— I knew it! His bracelet's glowing. Then that means... Let me go! Get off of me, you fuckers! Dio... You killed the old lady. No! You don't understand! This is all some kind of...a mistake! poo poo! What's going on here? I think it's about time you gave us the full story. As quickly as I could, I explained to Phi what K and I had noticed on the old woman's wrist. So the person with a bloody bracelet would have to be the person who killed her... Yeah, exactly. Even if they'd wiped it off, I figured the luminol would still react to the blood. Looks like I was right... ... ... We've got you, Dio. You might as well confess. Well? ... ... ... ... Urgh... I killed the old bitch and took her bracelet! Why?! Are you Zero?! No! I was under orders! I was sent here to—to do...something. To do what?! Who gave you this order? I'll die before I tell you. So your orders were more important than Alice and Luna's lives? Whoa whoa, let's not get ahead of ourselves! I killed the old lady, but that's it. I don't know anything about what happened to Alice and Luna. That wasn't you? Tread carefully, Sigma. This man is not to be trusted. He has already shown he is willing to lie and kill. C'mon, I'm telling the truth! You gotta believe me! Even if we do believe you, you're still a killer. You just haven't killed as many people. Exactly. He should be restrained somehow. If we leave him be, he may well kill again. But where would we put him? Is there a room we can lock or anything? Ah... Perhaps we could put him in one of the treatment pods. Once we've locked it, he should be unable to escape. Oh yeah... H-Hey, wait! I'll be good, I promise! Yeah, I think you're onto something, K. Let's go with that. Come on, please! Hey, listen to me! We'll let you out when the white doors open. Someone's going to need your bracelet to open the secondary door. Don't gently caress with me you guys! There is no way in hell I'm going in that thing! Let go! Let me go! Goddamnit! I told you assholes to let me go! You can't do this! Stop! Stop! Please, stop! Please, no! You can't—! EYAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHH!
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Feb 27, 2017 23:18
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Mystery solved.
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Feb 27, 2017 23:23
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Hmm. Quark can just open the thing up and vanish again. Yay. It is so satisfying listening to Dio beg. They should probably search him and remove all his stuff.
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Feb 27, 2017 23:37
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So now we know the whole deal with Dio, more or less.
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Feb 28, 2017 00:16
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Well, we know the whole deal with certain variations of Dio. We've just been kind of assuming that every loop had the same starting conditions. I mean, it's held up so far, but who knows if the old woman dying by Dio's hand is a fixed element of the past?
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Feb 28, 2017 01:18
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Glazius posted:Well, we know the whole deal with certain variations of Dio. We've just been kind of assuming that every loop had the same starting conditions. I mean, it's held up so far, but who knows if the old woman dying by Dio's hand is a fixed element of the past? Dio isn't supposed to be here, but the old woman's body wasn't always found. So why does he have a bracelet in that timeline? Did he hide the body better?
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Feb 28, 2017 01:24
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Stabbey_the_Clown posted:Hmm. Quark can just open the thing up and vanish again. Yay. the crazy disease is his only reason to do so
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Feb 28, 2017 01:36
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Wonder how the AB games would have gone if the old lady was actually playing. She'd be paired with Quark at the start, at the very least.
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Feb 28, 2017 01:40
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Glazius posted:Well, we know the whole deal with certain variations of Dio. We've just been kind of assuming that every loop had the same starting conditions. I mean, it's held up so far, but who knows if the old woman dying by Dio's hand is a fixed element of the past? What evidence do you have of the participants being different people between timelines? So far, everyone else has displayed consistent characterization and mannerisms, one can assume that the same is true of Dio. While some elements, such as the murdered old lady, may change between timelines, to suppose that certain characters are completely different people seems like a bridge too far. Part of this issue, I think, is that these aren't loops, they're branches. The Zero Escape trilogy works under the many-worlds interpretation (as revealed in 999 and explained by Phi way back in the "disarm the bombs" timeline we've got on pause right now), so all of these timelines are occurring simultaneously from an objective standpoint (rather than Sigma's subjective viewpoint, jumping around as he's been doing), and all of them come from a common starting point. As for what the deal is with the old lady, given the previous, the only answer one can draw from the available evidence is "I dunno, maybe she is just better hidden". Which, to me, implies that it's something that'll be explained later.
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Feb 28, 2017 02:33
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Glazius posted:Well, we know the whole deal with certain variations of Dio. We've just been kind of assuming that every loop had the same starting conditions. I mean, it's held up so far, but who knows if the old woman dying by Dio's hand is a fixed element of the past? I'm going to be a bit more pointed here and give the supposition that this scenario could be like a certain other game some of us are familiar with and we've actually been observing two (or more) different discrete instances of this Nonary game that take place in different times but we're being led to believe that it's all the same incident for some reason. That would explain a lot about what's been going on but also introduce a bunch of inconsistencies that don't really make sense unless you assume robots are running around everywhere. Then again, we've been told of the possibility that there can be robots running around everywhere so I'm still not really sure what to think. More importantly though, this would be a really blatant reuse of plot points on Uchikoshi's part, even moreso than 999 was.
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Feb 28, 2017 02:52
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Fedule posted:
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Feb 28, 2017 05:14
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Oh, wow. This is being updated again.
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Feb 28, 2017 17:07
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So something I thought of: Quark is missing his bracelet, and an extra door is opened. Whose bracelet along with Quarks and maybe Luna and/or Alice's would get into the Gaulem Bay? I can't figure out how to read the table of contents to look it up myself, and it also jumps around all over the pace, so I don't even remember how the bracelet interactions work anymore. It was so simple in 999... I was able to tell we were a Cyan pair with Alice and teamed up with Yellow Solo Luna to get into the Gaulem Bay the first time, but that's as far as I got...
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Feb 28, 2017 19:05
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Once everyone has gone through the coloured doors on this floor they've encountered three doors and a level, when they pull the lever one of those three doors opens. Which three doors are based on which part is there and apparently can't be changed later on, so quarks bracelet shouldn't allow access to the extra room
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Feb 28, 2017 19:14
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no particular combination would open that door. after the colored door there was a second set of doors, and only one of them opens. which one depends on the route, but the combination of people who went in shouldn't matter because they would have added up to the same color anyway. that a previously locked door was opened implies it is someone who isn't stuck in the game rules. as for why only one door opens, that is probably because the alternative paths that would create would probably double the length of the game.
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Feb 28, 2017 19:18
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There always seems to be a short little scene where Sigma and whoever else is with him quibble about who should pull the lever. I generally don't pay much attention to those scenes, but maybe the person who pulls the lever determines which room opens up? Who pulled the lever on the route that led to the GAULEM Bay? (And/or what was the color/number on their bracelet? Maybe that's the relevant bit.) e: Looked it up myself. It was Sigma who pulled the lever, he had a cyan pair bracelet with 5 total points. Sigma probably didn't open the door in this timeline, so I guess this is a dead end. WingsOfSteel fucked around with this message at 20:19 on Feb 28, 2017 |
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Feb 28, 2017 20:12
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That's a K in the title, not an H. Industria Solid is not a great typeface, folks. VLR OST: [Placidity] Listen in: [English/Japanese] I don't think so. Rraaagh! You're gonna pay for this! When I get out of here I am going to loving end you! ... ... I guess we've figured out who the murderer was. And we found Quark... Yeah... Why don't we head back to the warehouse and start from there? They may have already returned. Good point. Let's go. [Music fades out] VLR OST: [Sinisterness] Listen in: [English/Japanese] Perhaps they went to look for us... Aw man... Now we've gotta go look for them. How much time until the white doors open? Then I don't think we really need to hurry yet. Why don't we wait a little longer? For all we know they're on their way back right now. K and I nodded. By the way... There was something I wanted to ask you guys about. Oh yeah? Yeah. ...Quark's bracelet. When we found him in the pod, he wasn't wearing it. Why? How should I know? Presumably it had been taken off before we found him. So we have no idea where it is. Pretty much... I see. That's not good. Without that bracelet, we won't be able to continue the game. ...What? If we lose one... Oh no! We wouldn't be able to go through the secondary door! Yeah... Who would be pairing up with Quark?! Quark's bracelet should be a red solo. That would mean he'd be with the cyan pair. Who's the cyan pair? Clover and Tenmyouji. The two people who are missing. Quark's bracelet is gone, and his two teammates have disappeared. Wh-What's going on? Does that mean Clover and Tenmyouji took the bracelet? Well, if they found Quark before you did, yeah, there's a good chance they did. Then...why aren't they back yet? What? No, that's not possible! The primary doors haven't even opened yet! Perhaps someone opened one of them. How? I don't know. But it's happened before. Someone made one of them open. Perhaps this is the same thing. But... But that's against the rules! Yes, I know. But if the person opening the doors is Zero Sr., do you really think the rules matter? Zero Sr. controls the entire game. So are you saying Clover or Tenmyouji is Zero Sr.? It is a possibility. It would explain why they still haven't shown up... Could they really have taken Quark's bracelet and gone through one of the white doors? If they did, we won't know where they went until the doors open for the rest of us. So I would assume. Maybe we should go look for them again. One of us can stay behind, so that we don't miss them if they come back. Okay. I'll stay. Sigma and I will go see if we can find them, then. Make sure you get back 5 minutes before the door opens, all right? Oh, and don't forget to bring Dio with you. Of course. [Music fades out] 999 OST: [Riddle and Puzzle] Listen in: [English/Japanese] So it would appear. Well, looks like they're not here. When we started looking for Quark, they were sent off to search everything beyond the red door... ...Which would have meant this room. Not gonna do us any good to hang around here, though. Let's head upstairs. Very well. [Music fades out] VLR OST: [Anxiousness] Tenmyouji loves scotch so much, I thought we might find him here drinking some... ... ... It was around that time that I noticed K was acting strangely. He was staring at the shelf of alcohol in a way that I probably would have described as "blankly" if I could have actually seen his eyes. Hey, what's up? You want a drink? Listen in: [English/Japanese] Well, I would enjoy a drink, but this mask... Right... Sorry, that sucks. Honestly I'd gotten so used to the suit I'd kinda forgotten you were wearing it... Why the heck did they make you wear that thing anyway? You still don't remember anything? ... ... ... ... [Music fades out] Well...actually... I...I did remember a little... Really?! Yes... What did you remember? When dad you remember that? Did it just pop up out of nowhere? Please, don't joke. This is serious. S-Sorry... So, you remembered who your father was? Yes... What about your mom? I...don't seem to have one... I... O-Oh... So your dad raised you? Well... K stopped for a moment, then calmly folded his hands in front of him. VLR OST: [Confession] I was raised in the facility where my father worked. He was the only person who worked there, which meant he was the only person I saw until I was older. That had been the situation for as long as I could remember though, so I never thought it odd. He wouldn't allow me to go near him while he was working, but the only times he wasn't working were the times when he was sleeping. As such, the only communication I had was with the education software he'd given me. I suppose I was a fairly expressionless child then. We develop body language to communicate with others, and with no one else to communicate with I suppose it makes sense. Once I learned to read and write, I began to realize that my situation was not...normal. Many of my books mentioned a "mother" as part of a family, and in several the mother, father, and children would eat meals together and talk to one another. Soon I found myself longing for a mother of my own. Someone who would always be with me, who would scold me if I did something wrong. At night they would read to me before bedtime. If only I had a mother like that, I thought, I would be so happy. So, for the first time in my life, I asked my father for something. He had finished working and, as usual, was making his way toward his bedroom when I stopped him and asked for a mother. He looked at me silently for a long moment before finally responding: "Okay." I remember to this day how happy I was at that moment. A few months later, he called me into his laboratory. It was the first time he'd ever done anything like that. My heart was beating quickly as I stepped inside. Standing next to him was a young woman, and my hopes soared. But when he said her name—or rather, her ID number—they were dashed. He had given me a robot to play the part of a mother. I didn't want a mother that was just a machine who did what a human told her to. When I told my father that, he looked surprised for the first time in my life. Then he frowned, coughed, and admonished me for being "a whiner." He'd never scolded me for anything before. At first I was surprised, then angry. Hot tears streamed down my face. My father ordered the robot to take care of me, and shooed us out of his lab. The robot was very convincing, and she smiled and spoke as if she was a real person, but I refused to answer her and locked myself in my room. You can talk to a robot, and it will respond... But in the end you're still talking to a machine, not a person. If that was what I'd wanted, I still had the education software my father had given me. When I ignored the robot as it tried to take care of me, it looked sad. It couldn't really be sad, of course: It was only programmed to look that way. A robot's facade of sadness didn't mean anything to me. After that, I stopped expecting anything from my father. We'd never really spoken to begin with, so it was easy enough for me to make sure we never saw one another. I lived my life as if he didn't even exist. Perhaps it seems strange to you that I continued to live with him. But I never considered leaving. Perhaps in the hidden depths of my heart, I longed for a relationship with my father. Everything changed when I was eighteen. I left my room one morning to find a woman standing outside of it. She was the first human I'd ever seen, apart from my father, and I was understandably surprised. For a moment I thought my father had created a new robot, but when I told her that she laughed and explained that she had come to help him. As it turned out, she was a very mysterious person. She was much older than I was, but something about the way she behaved was almost girlish. She would tell me stories about the world outside in such a way that I was never sure if she was telling the truth or making up fantastic lies. Ultimately though, the truth didn't matter: I loved her stories. She wasn't helping my father directly with his research, so I spent most of my days with her. Before long I discovered she'd known my father when he was young. She told me stories of how he'd fallen in love as a younger man, and I began to imagine that the person he'd fallen in love with had been her, and that she was, in fact, secretly my mother. After she settled in with us, our long-established routine began to change drastically. First, we started to eat together. Before then, I had never shared a meal with anyone in eighteen years. She scolded me for my table manners—or more accurately the lack thereof. If I was going to eat with others, she said, I would need to be more polite. Having eaten alone for my entire life, manners had never been something I'd even thought about. My father got in trouble too, when he made the mistake of reading through research papers during dinner. The look of surprise and embarrassment on his face made me burst into laughter. I couldn't remember the last time I'd shared a laugh with my father. It might have been the first time. The room we considered our living room changed too. Before it had just been another room, but she made it...comfortable. After we finished our dinner, I would sit on the sofa and relax with her and my father. Those times were the ones I cherished the most. For a little while every day I got the family I'd longed for ever since I was a child. At her suggestion, I started to help with my father's research. He specialized in genetic engineering, and I discovered I had an interest in it as well. Time faded away as I lost myself in research. Now that we were working and studying together, my father and I had a great deal to talk about. For the first time in my life, we began to speak with one another like a father and son. Whenever I impressed him with something I'd learned I felt a surge of happiness, and it drove me to study even harder. My days felt full, right, and meaningful, but most importantly I was happy. Four years passed in the blink of an eye, until one day I happened to overhear my father and the woman speaking in the laboratory. Their tone was serious, so I listened closer, curious to know what they were talking about. That was when I heard her say that she planned to give her life to achieve their goals. It was clear that she wasn't being metaphorical. She would have to die. I was in shock. The research I had thrown myself into would lead to her death? I asked my father to stop his research immediately. He refused to listen. She agreed with him. She told me that she had been prepared for what she had to do since the day she came to our facility. My father had known about it from the beginning as well. Angry and disappointed, I began to investigate what exactly the research I'd been helping with was working toward. Perhaps, I thought, I could figure out a way to keep her alive. I discovered much more than I'd bargained for. To begin with, I learned that the ultimate success of my father's research would require a good deal of sacrifice. And I also learned that my own existence was just another part of his project. I had been created to function as my father's spare. If he died during his research, I was intended to continue it in his place. I was stunned. She did her best to convince me that I'd misunderstood, that everything would be fine... As much as I wanted to believe her, I remembered in the back of my mind that she had been the one who pushed me to become involved in my father's research. Had that been an earnest desire to give me something to do with my life, or... Still, I couldn't bring myself to hate her. She had given me a reason to live. Even if she had conspired with my father to mold me into his replacement, the warmth she'd shown me had been real. She'd made me feel as if I had a real family, and that was something I wouldn't have given up for the world. I pleaded with her to leave, but she quietly shook her head. There was someone very special to her, she told me. He had saved her life once, and she felt her death would help to repay that favor. She would have liked nothing more than to marry him and live a happy, normal life together, but she couldn't. For his sake, she said, and for the sake of the future she had wanted, she was determined to see my father's research succeed. I realized then that although she was the most important person in my life, there was someone more important than me in hers. She tried to explain that beyond what we could see was a future where no one would have to die, but I refused to listen. What good was a potential future to me? It was what I had now that I wanted. I couldn't stand to think that she would give her life for a man I'd never even seen... So I shut myself off from the world. Perhaps that is why I lost my memory. [Music fades out] K let out a deep, tired sigh. Listen in: [English/Japanese] It's okay... Not having any memories is less than desirable, but it could be argued that regaining them is almost more taxing. So you remember almost everything...? No. The details are still...indistinct. Especially more recent events... Huh... Would it be all right if I laid down for a bit? What's wrong? I don't feel very well... It must be because I remembered so much so quickly... My...head feels like it's...going to explode... Are you okay? Yes... I think I just need to rest. Okay. Take as long as you need. I'll go look for Clover and Tenmyouji myself. I'm sorry... Thank you. K lowered himself heavily onto the red sofa in the corner of the room. Guess I'd better get moving, then.
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Mar 3, 2017 00:47
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I had forgotten all about this 
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Mar 3, 2017 00:55
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Is Young K holding a plush Zero III?
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Mar 3, 2017 00:56
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ApplesandOranges posted:Is Young K holding a plush Zero III? I'm assuming he didn't have the suit, so it's probably just a metaphorical bunny and not an actual Zero III.
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Mar 3, 2017 00:58
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A boy, raised in a laboratory as an experiment, rejected when he doesn't meet his father's expectations... sounds familiar.
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Mar 3, 2017 01:07
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Oh man this game  So K is a clone of somebody and I presume the lady is meant to be the same old lady that died in this route (and also Akane maybe?) but beyond that I'm not sure what to make of all this.
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Mar 3, 2017 01:26
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So K's step-mom(?) is Akane? Who... planned to come to the facility and be found as a corpse, presumably to motivate Tenmyouji, because motivation is how stuff works in this universe? And K is in a suit now so he doesn't get Radical-6 like everyone else in the bad endings (since he's slated to be his father's replacement), and the amnesia is probably because he was raised here and would otherwise a) recognize it b) know what had been altered? Presumably this means Sigma, at least, was in a pod for a while because otherwise he'd have been abducted from a hellscape like Quark rather than Next Sunday, AD? And I'm probably going to have my question mark usage throttled any day now?
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Mar 3, 2017 01:30
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This is probably one of the best routes for speculation just because of all of the revelations you're hit with. Also, Little K is adorable. Poor robot mom, though.
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Mar 3, 2017 01:43
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Wow, K's father sounds like a terrible person.
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Mar 3, 2017 01:43
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Everyone in this game is a terrible person (except Luna and look where that got her)
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Mar 3, 2017 01:54
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DeathChicken posted:Everyone in this game is a terrible person (except Luna and look where that got her) Good people die.
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Mar 3, 2017 01:56
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