Part 9: Casino

[Music: Ternary Game]

Out of all the three room tracks we've heard so far, Ternary Game's my favourite by far. Just puttin' that out there.
_{(this is an unsubtle way of saying its very good and you should probably click that link)}



The casino isn't that big; there's a fair bit more to it than you'd think at a first glance, but it's not as complex as the 1st class cabin. We could be out of here in about 1-2 minutes if we really wanted, but that's not interesting.

So let's look at a chandelier. That seems much more productive.

Those are some strange-looking chandeliers...



What the hell kind of movie is that...

Based on the name compared to the premise, it sounds like a perfectly bad, cheesy B-movie.



There's not much else over there, so let's pan around to where there's a door (it's locked because it's where we came in). There's a little bit more over here, so let's start with the non-existant fire.



Maybe that's why it feels a little chilly in here.



Hey, there's some chairs here. I wonder if there's anything on 'em.

(This chair goes to the poker table. Hmm... It feels really soft...)

(It's a chair. The seat is nice and soft.)



...I'm sure you know what comes for the next 2 checks, so we'll skip ahead a little.

Squeeze... Squeeze... Squeeze... Squeeze...
Are you quite finished with the chair, Junpei? If you don't stop this behavior at once, I



(His face is as calm as ever, but his voice...)



Eh, let's give it another prod. Maybe Junpei found his balls since we last saw this exact same joke.



Or not. Whatever.



Keepin' moving, since there's little to see or do so far, we find... 3 slot machines. Let's look at the lights instead. Might be more interesting.

Huh...a light...
!
(Wait... Did Snake just tense up?)
Uh...hey... What's up?



Well, that's twice now Snake has had an odd response to sources of light. Maybe it's related to his blindness or something.



For now, though, we have another chandelier to poke.

Hey, can you touch that thing?



Here I go!

Shame we don't actually see Junpei try to reach the chandelier. For now, though, let's examine a slot machine.



We can look at any of the three and they all zoom in and they have all have the same very little of interest. At least we know they probably work. Might not, but we don't have anything to test it with.



Moving on, we can pan around to a rather conspicious table in the corner and some very noticable glass.



How beautiful...
...What?
...Huh?
Stained glass is colored pieces of glass, placed together in a frame.



I can at least discern the... Basic structure.

Apparently Snake's sense of touch allows him to identify a lot of things; we knew he could tell wood apart from the previous room, which was a lot more impressive really. Stained glass is going to feel noticably different to regular glass, out of necessity if nothing else, so this isn't quite as cool.

Still, some stained glass can look really, really nice so Snake does miss out on the full picture. Which is pretty depressing actually.



So, instead, let's look at this completely unassuming game table.



Do you play mahjong, Seven?
Uh...maybe? I don't remember exactly, but I do remember a couple hands, and some of the rules, so I figure I must've played it at some point.
Excellent. Once we've vacated this vessel, I should like to play a game with you.
Can you...uh, play?



Yes, I believe I have at least enough skill to defeat an amateur. However, I must ask you to remove the red tiles when we play.
...

Now, whether Snake can really play mahjong or not I'll leave to you decide. Either way, this seems like it's intended to be a reference to Akagi. It's pretty good, and I recommend you read it if you haven't already. Though it's been going since 1992 and still hasn't finished yet.



We're now back where we started, so we can finally make some degree, or at least a reasonable facsimile of, real progress.

So, we'll start by examining this table in the centre.



There's no way of knowing this card is here unless you examine the table/chairs. There's one other that's sort of similar, and if you know where it is already you've played the game before. You big cheater!



Every card we find is a spade. Why? Presumably to do with Zero's sense of humour. As I'm sure you know, each suit represents something and in the case of the spade that's ill-fortune - usually in the form of death or sickness. Does this actually mean anything here? Not... not really. It just makes more sense, thematically, for this kinda game to use that rather than clubs (good luck), diamonds (wealth) or hearts (happiness/love).

Man, the French were kinda dicks with this one now that I think about it.



Oh, and the bar here isn't just for decoration. We can go see what's in it.



There's not a whole lot, but you've probably noticed at least 2 things that stand out already.



Hm? A playing card...?



We could pick up the card ourself here, but that just cuts out Seven's line and doesn't give the illusion of these two being helpful sometimes.



The stuff over here isn't quite as easy to spot but it's pretty obvious still.



It feels like a playing card...



I'm sure we'll eventually find what we need these for, but there's not much point worrying about that right now.



We have another chandelier to examine!

(The chandeliers hang, chandelier-like, from the ceiling.)



No, take that back! You're a chandle-liar!

...I think the alcohol in the air back here increases the chance of Junpei making shitty puns because this is the only one he does this for.



Speaking of alcohol though, you probably noticed these two bottles:



Whilst we don't get to take them with us, they are worth looking at.



Don't mind if I do...



Ahh! Oh, that hits the spot! Feel's like my throat's burning!



Might as well examine it again.

(There's a bottle with some booze in it sitting on the counter.)
One more sip...





We could examine it again, but nothing quite as nice as this happens at that point so let's just move on.



One of the two places we have still to check out is the very obvious table by the stained glass.



Ahhh, baccarat. You ever played, Junpei?

Junpei shook his head. He'd barely even heard of the game.

I haven't either. Wouldn't mind doing it sometime; sounds like it might be fun. I'll let Seven explain though.

All right then, how about I explain the rules to you a bit. See, baccarat is kind of an unusual game. You've got the Banker and the Player, and the whole point is that you guess which one's gonna win.



The way each hand works is different from other games, too. See, you take the number from the ones place after you add up the value of all your cards.



If your number is smaller than your opponent's you lose. And that's it. That's the explanation. Got it? Well, actually, there's a lot more to it--strategy, details, that sort of stuff, but what I just told you sums the core game up pretty well. The single digit of the sum of all the cards you have; the strongest hand is a (9) and the weakest hand is a (0). You just ignore the number in the tens spot. Do you get it...?

He hadn't been asked for it, but Seven's explanation--rushed though it had been--was helpful.

Although he had only half understood most of it, Junpei now felt as though he had some grasp of how victory was won in baccarat.



No problem, he told himself. He would simply have to try everything he could think of.

Feeling more confident, if only slightly, Junpei approached the baccarat table.



Hmm, I can't really see what that card is from here. A closer look might be warranted.



We could examine the card here to see what it is (if you can't tell already), or we could just give the game itself a look at to see if we can figure out what we need to do.

Hey Seven, are we really supposed to play baccarat?
It's a baccarat table. What the hell else would we do?
Hmm...
Aah, stop worryin' about it. It's real simple. What's the opponent's hand?



All right, then that's your opponent's number. If that's the case, what 3 cards do we need to get that number?
3 cards?
There are a couple of indentations with white lines around 'em, right? Those mean we gotta put down 3 cards. So...



That's what I've gotta do, I guess.
Yeah, I think so.
(Hmm...)



(All right, let's give it a shot. Before I start, I'd better make sure I've got the rules straight. There are 3 empty indentations. I just gotta pick a card and play it. I figure if I put them in the right spots, something oughta happen.) All right, let's give this a try.



I don't think we can finish this just yet, so let's go look around a bit more.



We haven't been back here yet, and it looks like there's something on the wall over here so it's worth a look if nothing else.



I think we've found the exit as well, which is a nice bonus.

It's locked, isn't it?
Is there a key hole?
If there is, I can't find it.
Well, there must be some way to unlock it. Let's look around a little more, shall we?

Well, it was worth a shot at the very least. The only other thing here is whatever that is mounted on the wall.



Uh, okay? If you know what card we're missing you could just say. Whatever.



There's a few things here we can examine, but the card on the left here is the most important one right now.

It seems the card is attached to the panel. And attached very well, it seems. If you don't mind, what sort of card is this?
It's a playing card.



Being a card, it's probably relevant for both this puzzle and a later one. That's how these things work, right?



Speaking of, though, let's see if we can move this thing. It's kinda in the way.

It says 9.



If this is the cover, then maybe it opens up.
Probably does.



I could examine this without a card, but that just leads nowhere. Might as well have one on-hand while we give it a look.

(Here's the card slot. Looks like we need to put a playing card in here.)





None of the cards we have right now will work, unfortunately, so let's go see if we can find the solution elsewhere.

It's not working.
...So it would seem.



Snake is seriously the best.

The only place we haven't checked out yet is the fireplace again.



More specifically, this part just above it.



Clouds, maybe...?
Clouds?
Well, maybe it's a rabbit.
A rabbit?
Well, if it's not that, it might be a close-up of some teeth.
?



: Just a blank piece of a canvas in a frame...
I see. How strange...

There's a pretty good reason for that, but let's not get ahead of ourselves quite so much.



You probably noticed something sitting on here, so let's see just what it is.



We're more or less done, but there is the two obvious lights on the mantlepiece to check out first.

We'll start by turning on the one on the left.



What the hell does this mean?

What indeed. If we turn it off (by leaving this screen and coming back), and then turn on the right one instead we get something a bit... different.



Ju-Junpei! What on Earth are you talking about?
Oh, uh, well...um...
Well, when I turn on these lights, they make these shadows on the canvas. They look like...well, like what I just said.



Yeah...



N-Not really...

The only thing left to do now is turn them both on, and see what we get out of it. You might already have an inkling of an idea, though.



(When those 2 lights turned on, I heard something from the bottom of the fireplace.)
What was that? I heard something down there...

We'll worry about that shortly; right now, we have the new shapes to examine for Snake's benefit.



Hm...? What's that?
Well, when I turned on these lights, I got these shadows on the canvas.
And the shadows look like the 3 symbols, right?
Yeah.
Hmm... Clubs, diamonds, hearts.



You may have noticed a little bag appear with the firewood if you were paying attention to the background, but we'll give it a proper look at now.



Look at all these coins...
Perhaps these coins will allow us to convince the machines to move.

At this point, we should have everything we need to finish this room and move on. We've been everywhere and seen everything of value. The only question that remains is:

Can you solve the puzzles we have discovered?