Part 89: Part Eighty-Nine: SeeDs in Space

Part Eighty-Nine: SeeDs in Space


With Zell's bit done, we jump to this.



We're also moving back in time a bit, to just after the capsules launched.



Man in Space Suit: Of course. What do you expect?

And here we get our first look at Esthar's space station.

Controller A: Are these the special personnel coming aboard?


Now that this guy has moved a bit, we can see that he's the only one wearing a space suit. Must be some kind of fashion thing.

Controller B: Shall we put troops on standby?
Man in Space Suit: I have a feeling we won't need to.
Controller A: Then we'd better station them all the more.


Well, at least they're going to pick up Squall and friends.

Man in Space Suit: Thanks for the vote of confidence. Why do you always play me like that?

Yeah, it's a real dick move.


You're what?


Hey, get back here!


Oh, goddammit.


Well, I guess he'll have to explain sometime.



For now, we'll just have to be content with these space square things.


There are a bunch of them.



As soon as they get their space squares set up, one of the bullet-pods smashes into them at high speed.


Smashes into some of them. Whatever.



I have no idea if "magical space nets" are an efficient way to catch things, but they're certainly flashy.




Now, let's get that Space Claw tour.


I'll be honest: the whole pod recovery sequence is a little slow. It's a big shift from Zell's sequence.


Oh wow, someone has to fix that.

Quick-Thaw Technician: Initiating quick-thaw. It's gonna feel a bit itchy.

If they're frozen, wouldn't they not hear this message?


Oh, well. They fixed the lighting, too.


And so, Squall's party drifts into the shot. There's no gravity in this room, apparently.

Announcement: Lock on to the rotation ring unit.



As the artificial gravity kicks in, Squall and Quistis drift nicely to the floor.


Rinoa, uh, well, I hope she didn't land on anything too hard.


We never got this one as an item. I want my 125 Gil, dammit!


Yeah, they shot a dead teen into space as a prank.

: Don't touch her.

Squall doesn't take kindly to the insinuation that his girlfriend is dead.


The game even gives you control, so you can personally walk over here and menace the guy.


Or so you can check this Info page about the Moon. Enlightening.



If Squall had let the staff pick Rinoa up, they probably could have put her on a stretcher or something. Guess the dude just loves giving piggyback rides.


And, while those guys go into the med lab...


Oh, goddammit.


Fine.



Why don't we just let her rest here?


I guess she gets the private room. The first time I played this game, I was under the impression that everyone went to space specifically so Rinoa could be in this bed, but that's not actually what happened.



The med pod here is standard equipment, but goddamn if it doesn't seem dramatic. Esthar is nothing if not stylish.


On our way to the control room, we can also stop to threaten the staff again.

Medical Staff: Alright, alright. You're her knight in shining armor. Got it.

He's not taking things very seriously.


At this point, we don't actually have to follow Piet directly.


I read once that the Lunar Base uses odd camera angles to convey that the station is rotating to produce gravity. I don't know if that's the exact reason, but the angles in the place certainly are weird.



Staff: You must contain them and keep them under control. Such is Esthar's way.

Well, I hope it works out for ya.


Over here, a guy is very eager to tell us about Esthar's revolution in Tupperware.


Wait, whose powers are sealed?

There are a couple lines like this around the place that hint that something ugly is going on. We don't have all the pieces yet, but you can probably puzzle out most of it.


Other people just want to talk about staffing.

Staff: We can't take our eyes off her for a second.

Wait, no, there it is.

Staff: If Adel were to revive, terror would reign over Esthar once again, just like 17 years ago.



Now, let's follow Piet up those stairs and check out the control room.


As soon as you do, Quistis remarks on the moon. At one point, I was going to discuss the proximity of the moon to the planet and the use of the space gun, but then I remembered that this game isn't science fiction, it's fantasy, and none of that actually mattered.


Also, there's no time to talk about the moon.


More of a gameplay pointer than anything.


But, before we look at that...

Operator: You know that huge crater on the Centra continent? It's from a Lunar Cry that occurred over a 100 years ago. It apparently wiped out the city there.

This contradicts the Info page on the Centra civilisation, which says the Lunar Cry happened 80 years ago. The Ultimania companion book to the game apparently says the Lunar Cry was over 100 years ago, so it seems like that's the proper timeframe.



Controller: I guess they're affected just like the tides are affected by the moon.

This is the "explanation" for what causes the Lunar Cry, but it doesn't mean anything or matter.



Controller: This is called the Lunar Cry.

Having spoken to everyone, it's time to





In so doing, you can see the blobs moving together and starting to glow a little.

: (...The hell is this!?)


Quistis has the answer to Squall's question.


This line is straight out of the Information blurb from earlier.

Controller: As you can see, the monsters are gathering at one point.


By the way, if you haven't been paying attention to all the incidental text, I believe this is the first explicit mention you get of what the Lunar Cry is. This has been a surprise for a lot of people, I think. It could be explained at some other point, I guess, but the Lunar Cry has really only become central to the plot very recently. I don't know exactly how to handle it, but I also personally wasn't blindsided by the concept when I got here.


After you look at the monitor, you get control back. We're actually done in the control room for now, so let's get to the next order of business.



...Right after we get some important information from an unimportant NPC. Someone key to the plot probably should have explained this, but here we are, getting more and more information on exactly what's going on in space.


Past the room with the stairs, we get to this upside-down hallway. This is probably the Lunar Base's most unusual camera angle. I kind of like it. You can also see stars and astronauts moving in the background.


And talk to the researcher to finally learn why the president hasn't been in his office since we rolled in.

(If you look closely, you can see the stars have shifted outside.)



We've heard this bit before.


But this conversation has an advantage: we actually get to look at Adel's tomb here.

Crew Member: It seals Adel's powers, and at the same time prevents any means of outside contact. Radio waves, sound waves, telepathic waves, junctions, you name it.

There are a couple of things here: first, the mention of radio waves, which is always something to note in Final Fantasy VIII; second, telepathic waves, which sure, I guess that's how it works; third, there's a casual mention of junctioning there - we usually see it in reference to GFs, but junctioning can take other forms.


And now we have an explanation for why radio waves are all fucked up.

Speaking of radio waves being fucked up, let's take a quick trip back in time to Timber:


As I mentioned at the time, that's not just random garbage on the screen. If you squint, you can make out three phrases (all run together in the text): "I am alive here," "I will never let you forget about me," and "Bring me back there." It becomes clear at this point that those are Adel's thoughts. So it's not just that all radio signals started being jammed 17 years ago, but that they were all replaced by Adel's tortured screaming.


Well, what are the odds of that happening, right?


Oh, hey, some dude. Hey, dude.


Oh, it's the president (also, the guy in the space suit from the start of the update).


Do you mean he made the whole thing, or do you mean he put Adel in it?

Crew Member: We've maintained a tight surveillance over her ever since.

That's not an answer.


We also get a shot of Adel with no text boxes. I really like the design of the tomb.


And now we're back to reality.


And it's about time to get to the actual reason we came to space.

: (I don't have the time...)

Even though Squall is all business.


I'm sure this is gonna work out great.