Part 64: 2

We've seen the first bit of this scene before, but one part of it changes now that Clover isn't going to become an axe-murderer in a few moments. Our new stuff is when we double back to check on her, in fact.



As Junpei watched, she closed it, gently and quietly.

What the hell are you doing?
Nothing...
What do you mean "nothing"?



What the hell is that?
What...?
You've got something in your pocket. What is it?
Oh, this...? Uh...um... This is...



A note?
Yeah. I found it in the pocket of the guy with the captain's clothes.



Truth might be gone, but I think we just found it again.

What the hell... Lemme see it.

But Junpei wasn't going to get to see it.

From the other end of the hall, he heard Ace's voice.



Clover shrugged.

I'll show it to you later, all right? Come on! We gotta hurry!

Before Junpei could protest, she was gone. Around the corner, and off down the long stem of the L.





From here, we proceed like we did when we got axed. We end up back on B deck, reconvene with everyone else, get told by June that they found Door 9, and decide to head over to it.

Unlike before, though, Clover doesn't stop us partway there to eventually murder Santa, June, Seven and Junpei.

[Music: Foreboding]



It looked familiar.

There was a metal grate between the 2 elevators.

Seven grabbed hold of it and began to talk.



After we split off from you guys, the 4 of us got onto the elevator on the left. And that took us to the other side of the grate. After that...



With 4, they'd been able to open the door and keep going.

As usual, they'd faced a locked door, but had been forced to complete 2 different areas before they could unlock it.

Once they were through that door, there was another hallway that went in the other direction, towards the stern.

So...on your way, you found the elevator.
That's right.



You came from that side to this side.
Yeah.

With that settled, Junpei looked around.

So... Where's the number [9] door?
Over here. Follow me.

Seven began walking, down the hallway that lead toward the stern.

Junpei and the others broke into a jog to keep up with him.

They had been walking for a while, June in silent step with Junpei, when she spoke.



...Huh?
That all 7 of us are going to door [9].
...?
You don't get it? Santa, Seven, and Lotus... What's their digital root?



That's right. They could have just left me behind and kept going, if they'd wanted to.
But they didn't.



He said "We can't leave June behind"... That's why we went looking for you guys.
And then you got on the elevator and went back to the central staircase.
That's right.
Hmm...
Well, I wouldn't have called that one... That



Oh, don't get me wrong...

Perhaps June had sensed Junpei's concern.

I don't mean that Seven and Lotus said they wanted to leave me behind.



Junpei was about to respond when--

[Music: Silence]

Seven suddenly stopped.

In front of them stood a door.

So, is this...?

Junpei couldn't see Seven's face, but he could see him nod.

There's no other place for us to go?



At the end of the hallway was a thick, iron wall.

To the left and right, other hallways led to the port and starboard sides of the ship, but they were both closed off by thick metal grates.

It looked as though Seven was right.

The door in front of them was their only choice.

All right. Let's get moving.

He pulled open the door, and walked in.

Junpei took a deep breath and followed.

[Video: "2"]

[Music: Eternitybox]



-[9]-

Like all the others, it was a rough thing, made of red paint.

The door it decorated sat on the back wall of a rectangular room.

Junpei ran up to it.



Junpei grabbed the handle and shook. It didn't budge, but then, he hadn't really expected it to.

The RED was bolted to the wall next to the door. Its display read "VACANT".

Finally, they'd arrived. Junpei felt a flood of emotion wash over him.

He felt a chill down his back, and his chest tightened even as his blood began to boil.

He was about to speak, when--

Junpei. Look behind you.

He turned around.

Junpei could scarcely believe what he saw. A door...and a [9].

There was...

...Another one...



His words came slowly, and his brain struggled to understand what he'd seen.

On shaky legs, he made his way to the second [9].

It was a small door, set parallel to the door they'd come through, but in the other corner of the room.



He grabbed the handle and shook the door, not because he expected it to open, but because he had to make sure it was real.

Why the hell...are there 2 doors?

It was Ace who spoke first.



Lotus was skeptical.

I...don't know about that. That seems unlikely.
What makes you say so?
Well, think about all the rooms we've been through so far.



I'm pretty sure there aren't any rooms where we just had to go with our best guess, and leave it to instinct to solve the puzzle. Do you really think that at the very end of the game, Zero's going to suddenly throw in something that depends entirely on luck?
Then you're saying there's some sort of hint in this room?



I searched it very well when I was in here before. I didn't find anything that might have been a hint, though.
Hmm... Well, then, that means...



I mean, if you think about it Zero never actually said there was only one door with a [9] on it.
The exit is hidden, but it is there.



I dunno why it says "seek the door" here, because that very definitely implies just the one. And you can read that it says "seek a door" on the note too, so I think Junpei just misremembers it here for some reason. That or it's a translation goof. I could believe either.

Junpei began to mutter to himself.

So if there are 2 number [9] doors... If we split it up right...



Junpei blinked, and looked up at Clover.

She held out her hand.

You've got a notebook and a pen, right? Can I borrow them?

Slightly confused, he pulled them out and handed them to her.

Look at this.

Clover opened the notebook to a blank page, and set it down on the desk.

Everyone else gathered around her and watched as she wrote down a series of numbers.



You get it? The numbers on the top are all the combinations with digital roots of (9). The numbers on the bottom are the people who don't fit. There's only 8 possibilities, if we split up into 2 groups of 3 or 4 people. So...



If 4 go through...then 3 are left behind. Right?

Clover nodded, almost as if she were pleased with herself for solving a difficult math problem.

The room went very quiet. Silence lay across everyone like a thick, heavy blanket. No one spoke.

Their faces were blank.

Desperate for something else to look at, Junpei turned his eyes to the room around him.

As he did, he began to wonder... What was it?



The wavering flame made the shadows of Junpei and his companions look as though they were dancing.

2 rows of wooden pews filled most of the room. Between them was a strip of rich, red carpet.

The carpet ran straight through the room, ending at the door that pointed to the stern of the boat.

At the other end of the carpet...



It was a recessed space set into the wall between the 2 other doors.

Sitting on a raised section of the altar was...a coffin.



But if it wasn't... Then whose body occupied it?

That was as far as Junpei wanted to pursue that line of thought.

He decided not to think about the coffin, for the time being.

[Music: Silence]

At that moment, Seven spoke.

There was an edge of humor to his voice, but it was forced.



I figured if we sat around here long enough, someone would volunteer, but... I guess nobody's got the guts to do it.

Junpei didn't understand, and he wasn't the only one.

What? You guys didn't figure it out yet?
?



Clover was mostly right with her little explanation earlier, but she missed something. She wasn't really wrong, she just... Argh! Screw it! Lemme just write it out.

Seven snatched up the notebook and began to write in it.

Everyone else clustered around him, desperate for a look.



If you're trying to leave with a group of 3 and a group of 4, and get everybody out, Clover's right. But there's another way... Only one combination, though. If you split us up into groups of 3, 3, and 1... You can make this combination.
Wait... This means...



Even if he hadn't been the hero back in the big hospital room, I'd still be saying the same thing.
The same thing...? Are you saying...
Yeah, I am. I'll stay behind.
!
!
!
!
!



Lotus was the first to speak.

That in itself was a little strange. She'd reacted much differently when Ace had volunteered.


I'm completely against this! I'll be goddamned if I'm going to have to owe you for getting out of here!

The rest of them began to speak, all at once.







Finally, they quieted down. Junpei looked at Seven.



Clover's right. There's gotta be a better way than this.

Seven made some noise that was somewhere between a derisive snort and a cough.

Hmph... Doesn't make any sense...

He was doing his best to pretend they were making a foolish decision, but Junpei could see the twinkling of water at the corners of Seven's eyes.

That was when Santa spoke.



Something in his voice made Junpei uncomfortable.

Are you...agreeing? You want to leave him here?

Santa shook his head.



Then I don't see how it matters--
I said "alone".
...Eh?



Wh-What the hell are you...
What, you don't get it? I can't leave just 1 person. I need 2 more.



That's my proposal. ...No...



What do you mean, "orders"?
What the hell makes you think you can order us around?! Who the hell's gonna listen to you?!



Wh-What?!



Santa was so fast, Junpei could barely see him.

When he moved, it was almost like watching a dance.

His feet moving like lightning.

He spun, and--

Aaaah!

[Music: Tinderbox]



See? I told you.

His lips curled into a cruel, mocking smile.



Santa had grabbed June from behind, and pressed what Junpei's shaken brain identified as a revolver roughly against her temple.



Seven spoke, almost as though he had sensed Junpei's confusion.



What room?
One of the rooms behind door [6]. I shoulda known he was gonna do this... I shoulda taken the gun...
Heh. Well, it's too late now, fatass.
Damnit...

A mixture of fury and frustration twisted Seven's face, and he glared at Santa.

Santa, for his part, didn't so much as flinch. The corner of his lip twitched into a slightly wider smile.

Then the smile faded, and he began to move.

He walked backward, dragging June with him.





Ace, Lotus, congratulations. I've chosen you to come with me. Put your hands on the RED.

3 + 6 + 1 + 8 = 18

That was what Santa had meant when he said he needed 2 more...



...Right. Fine. I didn't want to waste any bullets, but you guys just don't get it.

No sooner were the words out of Santa's mouth than his hand twitched--

[Sound Bite: Gunshot]

And the gun roared.



But...why...? Santa, why are you...

Clover's voice spoke of betrayal and disbelief.

Santa... I thought... I thought you were one of us... I thought we were friends...
What!?



What the hell is that shit? I've got no idea--
You're lying!



You want me to put a bullet in your fucking head?!

Flecks of spit flew from Santa's mouth, his face twisted with rage.

Clover recoiled, her eyes wide. When she spoke, her voice was very small.

Santa...

He snorted, then shook his head vigorously and turned to face Ace and Lotus.

All right, assholes. What're you still standing there for?



Oh, what's the matter? Your hearing starting to go? Goin' senile, maybe?

Ace and Lotus still didn't move. It almost seemed as if they couldn't move.

June's face was pale behind Santa's arm.

Her eyes were wild and her chest heaved with every quick breath, like an animal cornered by a predator.

Junpei's mind worked furiously. What were they going to do? Then he realized something...

There was nothing they needed to do. There was nothing to debate.



There was only one thing for Junpei to do.

He turned to Ace and Lotus.

Please. Go.
Huh?
But...
Jumpy! What are you saying!?
If you stay here, you're gonna be stuck, Jumpy!



I know. But you don't need to worry about us. We'll figure something out. Right, Seven?



It's gonna piss me off to do what Santa says, but...
Don't worry about me either...





Ace! Lotus! Don't do it! Don't worry about me! Please!

June was almost crying.

Junpei walked around behind Ace and Lotus.

Without a word, he laid a hand on each of their backs, and gently pushed them forward.



After what seemed like an eternity, they stopped, in front of the door marked [9].

Santa smiled.

All right, now let's get those hands on the scanner panel.
...
...
What's the hold-up?



The RED doesn't need a person, you know. All I need is the bracelet. You get it? Good. Now put your fucking hands on the scanner. I'm not gonna say it again.

He shoved the revolver harder against June's head, and she winced.

Fine...

Ace sighed, defeated, and placed his hand on the scanner panel.



Lotus went next.

Lotus glared at Santa and slammed her hand onto the scanner panel.



The 4th asterisk blinked on.

Good job.





Try anything stupid, and you know what happens, right?

Junpei could almost hear Lotus's teeth grind.





All right! Go!

Lotus and Ace walked through the door, their eyes furious but defeated.

Santa waited until they were all the way inside, then hauled himself and June across the threshold as well.

6... 7... 8...

Later.

[Music: Silence]





The room fell silent.

Junpei, Clover, and Seven had been left behind.



Desperate for something, anything, to occupy his mind, Junpei walked to the larger of the 2 [9] doors.

He stood in front of it, and looked at the RED. It read "ENGAGED".

He moved to the smaller door...



The RED read "VACANT".

The digital root of the remaining people was (7). There was no possible way for them to open a door with [9] on it.



That was what Junpei prayed for.

Seven came up next to him.

He pulled off his hat, scratched his head, and sighed.



What do you mean, "What do I want to do"? What can we do?

Seven opened his mouth to respond, when--

[Sound Bite: The Coffin]



Junpei and Seven looked at one another.

Wh-What the hell is that?



Clover motioned to Seven to be quiet.

She put one finger to her lips, and closed her eyes in concentration.

[Sound Bite: The Coffin]



The 3 of them listened, trying to determine where the sound was coming from...

Where... Where was it coming from...

Could it be...

[Music: Chill and Rigor]



You're right!
Let's open it!
But how!?
What are those muscles for!? For show!?
You're telling me to force it open!?
Just shut up and try!

Junpei and Seven grabbed hold of the coffin.

They tried to get a good grip with what little purchase they could find, and pulled with all their strength.



Damnit!
Man, it won't even budge!



Not another one...
Yeah... Looks like it...
Do you think we have to put in the right password or it won't open?
I think so.

[Sound Bite: The Coffin]

The noise wasn't stopping.

In fact, it was getting louder.

They had no idea who was in the coffin, but they wanted out, and they wanted out now.

They had no idea what they were supposed to do.

Without a passcode, it didn't seem like there was a lot they could do.

They couldn't even tell how many numbers the passcode needed to be.



Well, let's look for one!

Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be anything near the coffin.

Clover ran to examine the pews, and Seven investigated the desk, but they turned up nothing.

[Sound Bite: The Coffin]

The sound still wouldn't stop.

It wasn't a noise that belonged in that room.



[Sound Bite: The Coffin]



[Sound Bite: The Coffin]

[Music: Silence]






























A lot of people really hate this ending. I think you can easily tell why!

Personally, I like that they had the balls to do it. But I dislike the execution of it. We'll get to that very soon, though.

As for how to avoid it? Well, if you do get it it gives you a very big clue:

[Video: Preview B]
very definitely watch this