Part 10: Jailhouse Rock

(Music: Intermission ~The Deepening of the "Night")











(Music: DARKNESS)

: I wonder how that detective that keeps dying is doing? Hope she's still alive. I bet she's pretty pleased with herself, keeping so much of the Reaper's attention focused on her. That "little lady" is waiting for her at the Chicken Kitchen. After I take care of this assignment, I'd better head there too.

So let's head back upstairs to the phone. But first, the cop & the Pigeon Man have something to say...



: Lynne -- sweet, cute Lynne, who shines as bright as the sun -- ran away on me. And then those detectives -- matching bookends, blue and green -- yelled at me...
: Hmph. Forget about all that. Now listen to me, kid.
: Yes, sir...?
: Your "bright as the sun" Lynne probably doesn't even know you exist. And those detectives will probably yell at you your whole life. Never mind fretting about every little setback. Enjoy your life! Get what you can out of it.
: Mister...would you mind just leaving me alone?

Enough of that. You know the drill by now - let's get distracted!





: Have you solved all of your mysteries?
: Can't you tell by my face?
: I did see your face, but I asked anyway.
: (Smart-alecky light fixture...) The lady detective and I decided to join forces. She and I are connected somehow...I just know it.
: Oh! That's fine news!



: (Look at him wriggle happily...)
: Tonight, you and she both suffered misfortune. But if you combine your bad luck and hers, it makes great good fortune. Remember that.
: I dunno. By my math, bad luck plus bad luck equals a whole lotta bad luck.
: You should check your figures.



: She wears her fingers away as she spins her tale of love.
: Good luck, Mama.
: She's a sharp-tongued little girl, but she still supports her mother's dreams...
: ...and please get out of that business as quickly as possible.
: Hmm, I guess not.



: I wonder what he's feeling right now? I bet he hates me! Aaaaargh! Oh, if only I could blow up and scatter into a million pieces...!
: (Maybe he oughta think of more peaceful iamges)



: The sad voice of a young man drifts over to me on the breeze...
: I have to use the restroom...but if I leave my post, I just know I'll miss something. Come to think of it...that annoying leaflet guy disappeared when I used the restroom earlier. Darn it. It's almost time...which will show up first, my mark, or the end of my ability to hold out?



: (I hear singing coming from the kitchen.)
: La la la! I love you! Right down to the marrow of your bones! But your marrow is nothing compared to your glorious meat! La la la!
: He's not a bad singer. (I guess Lynne isn't here yet. I have a job to do. I'd better get to that first.)

Okay, fine.



(Music: The Imprisoned)



: I think they're taking care of them right now.
: Yeah? Man...I'm not looking forward to this...
: That kind of surprises me, coming from you. I didn't know you thought about such things. ......by the way, that was me being sarcastic. Just in case you didn't catch that...
: Two more hours...and then it's time...
: I guess we should just get back to work.
: Yeah, I guess you're right.

: (The atmosphere sure seems tense...I guess I'll just get back to my work as well. All righty, then...how do I get to these "cells"? I'd better try to get some information here first.)





Bailey has upgraded to TWO memos we can knock off the bulletin board? Oh boy. But first, let's see what the monitors are all about(or at least the one we can reach).



: The rooms are really, really small. And you can see right into them from the outside. I suppose the open bars keep the rooms airy, but I wouldn't wanna live in one, myself...I wonder where these little rooms are?

Okay, NOW it's time to knock memos around! Let's start with the crumpled one.



All of the upcoming dialog about the prisoners is completely optional, but you'd be insane to skip over it.

: Whatsa matter, you can't even pin up a memo properly? Lemme see this thing..."take Prisoner C38 to the telephone room."
: Yes, he just made a request to use the phone a little while ago.
: You already told me that earlier. C38, eh? What did that punk do, anyway?
: You never heard the story? About the "Secret Rendezvous" case?
: Secret who-what?

(Music: COMPLICATION)

: C38 was a singer in a band. His group was playing a concert that was being broadcast all over the country live. And right in the middle of their encore, there was a "huge incident".
: A "huge incident"? What was it, a murder or something?
: In a way, it was worse than a murder, since it had to do with national secrets.
: Huuuh? National secrets? A rock band...? I'm lost.
: The song they were singing was called "Secret Rendezvous." But the lyrics C38 was singing were completely different from usual.
: So how is that a "huge incident"?
: Because the new lyrics exposed all of the nation's dark, steamy secrets...budget misappropriations, foreign economic strategies, illict dealings - everything.



: ......seriously?
: The case sent shockwaves throughout the country.
: But it doesn't make any sense! In the first place, how would a rock star know any top-secret information?
: It's a complete mystery.
: What?! Why don't they just ask C38 himself?!
: Maybe they did, but they haven't released anything about it. Apparently, it's all a matter of national secrecy...
: Hmph.



: Would you quit throwing my important duty memos away?!

So their version of wikileaks is leaks? I'm jealous. So jealous that I'm going to let that other memo go flying free.



: Try pinning up your memos a little better next time. Lemme see this thing..."Inspection, Prisoner C74"
: Oh, it's almost time for that. I'd better prepare.
: Prisoner C74, eh? What did that big whale do, anyway?
: You don't know? About the "Metro Police Department Siege" case?
: Metro who-what?
: C74 barricaded himself into the Metro Police Department and took siege of the place. He even pointed a huge flamethrower at the chief commissioner.
:
Why the heck did he do all that?
: That's what the detectives who surrounded him asked, too. "What are your demands?!", they asked.
: And...?
: The guy looked confused, thought about it for a while, and said..."Bring me five servings of curry and rice, on the double!"
: Curry and rice?! That's it?
: Unfortunately, no. After he was done eating, he torched the commissioner's office. With the flamethrower. Torched it good. Important documents -- and the commissioner's moustache -- were destroyed by the flames.
: What the heck did he do all that for?!



: Huh?
: "It was too spicy and I just lost it," he said.
: ......seriously?
: The case sent shockwaves throughout the country.
: But it doesn't make any sense! In the first place, how did a huge, armed guy make it all the way in to the commissioner's office alone?
: It's a complete mystery.
: What?! Why don't they just ask C74 himself?!
: Maybe they did, but they haven't released anything about it. Apparently, it's all a matter of national secrecy...
: Hmph.



(Music: The Imprisoned)



More memos to set free, more prisoners to learn about!



: The chef is preparing it for him right now.
: Ooh. How fancy. D99, eh? Even I know about this one.
: Yeah...? Such a sad case...hard for us, too...

(Music: Towards Nothingness...)

: He shot his wife, didn't he? Right in front of a family member...
: ......
: It's just awful. Why in the world would he do it?! Why would HE do something like that, of all people?
: The motive, everything -- all a complete mystery.
: It's just ridiculous! It doesn't make sense that he would do anything like that!
: I don't know the details, but apparently...this case is a matter of national secrecy as well...
: I don't get it! None of it makes any sense!
: You know what kind of prison this is, don't you? It's a special prison built for just these kinds of special cases. That D99...who knows what he's thinking -- or hiding -- behind that beard of his?
: ......I don't like any of it. I knew I couldn't take my job seriously without it getting to me.



: (And he apparently has a beard.)

And shortly after that, we see that C38 finally gets to make his phone call.

(Music: The Imprisoned)



...while doing this guitar riff every step of the way.

And while that was happening, Bailey put yet another memo up, so it's once again time for us to knock it down.



: No.
: Huh?
: Not until I figure out how you always know the exact instant a memo starts falling...not until I solve that mystery!
: ......
: Next time! I WILL find the answer next time!

And that repeats ad infinitum until you remember that you can go into Ghost mode before those two start talking.



The only new path from here is through that switch. But we can't reach anything else with it as it is. So let's flip it up. It can't hurt, right?





: It wasn't me.
: Don't lie! You know you love to see me jump up and prepare for emergency!
: Oh yeah, sure, way back when I first got this job. But I've had enough of that now. Besides, you always react exactly the same way.
: Grrr...!
: The emergency switch is probably just loose. Probably because I fooled around with it too much...
: Well, it's for emergencies! Don't play with it!
: Anyway, it wasn't me. Maybe you oughta get it repaired, huh?
: Well, close it back up! It's making me feel on edge.
: Nah. Too much of a pain.
: "A pain"?! Proper emergency procedures are "a pain" to you?! What a sad, sad state of affairs...

Being nice and turning the alarm back off doesn't get a reaction. But we need the switch up to get anywhere, so...



: Just the kind of excitement I need to wake me up!
: Well, I told you, it's only for emergencies! Don't play with it!
: And I told you, it wasn't me! Ya know, I thought this work would be a lot more exciting. Sometimes, I don't know which is my real job -- going on rounds, or building houses out of cards!
: Well, you'd BETTER know!
: And YOU oughta know that I'm just kidding.
: Grrr...!

Alas, it is time to leave these two for greener pastures. Let's jump over to the prisoners' telephone room!



: The one who sang the national secrets. (If he's a prisoner, he must've come from the cells...)

But there's a mini-puzzle to solve before we can reach him, of course. Pressing the big red button sounds like fun, but...



No matter how much we press it, the guard just closes it again without a word. However, there's a core on the door handle. Press the button, then immediately go into ghost mode, and...



...you can take a ride to the right, letting Sissel jump into the guitar.



: I guess it's a way for this spiky-haired youth to express himself. Sentiments like "I'm hungry" or "I'm thirsty", maybe...something primitive like that, I bet.



: I'm done.
: All right, C38! Back to your cell!
: Hey, guard man, how about givin' me a little space? That craaazy walk of yours is dangerous, man!
: A proper walk for a properly-led life! Now, let's go!
: Yo! No lectures, man. I walk my own path, my own way, to my own music!

And they leave while C38 starts up his guitar riff again. We also get a mini-tour of the cells once we arrive.





: Damn! Don't think I can take another second in this stinkin' pit! Looks like guard man is gone.



: All this waitin' is wiping me out! Hope this one'll finally do it!



: C'mon, Sausage Head!



: Hmm...this prisoner obviously isn't the one I'm looking for. Prisoner D99 has a beard. (There's one of those little blackboards Lynne said would be in the cells.) Maybe I should check out Spiky's schedule for tomorrow...

On our way there, let's check out the X & O sheets of paper. Sissel says the same thing for both, just swapping X & O where needed.



: There's a pad of note papers hanging on the wall. There's a red "X" drawn on each one. I think it's some kind of letter or symbol, but I can't recall what it means.

But wait, we can reach the phone just outside the cell! Let's check that out!

: This telephone...



We can also reach the cell to the right of C38, but...



...it's not a very exciting place. But wait, there's another big red button above that phone...



: An emergency...in a prison. That's gotta be a pretty bad situation. I'll just give it a little try...

(Music: DEADLINE)



: I caused quite an uproar, I guess. And I bet each prisoner reacts differently to the alarm...it might be fun to watch. Maybe their behavior might give me a clue about my next step.

So let's take a look around. Good thing we can do that without having to change which core we're in.



Fat painter man...with a beard. Wonder if he's D99? At any rate, he doesn't seem too alarmed about the alarm.



Meanwhile, this guy crawls out of a hole behind his toilet(!), and fishes out the paper the punk rocker flushed down the toilet. And he reacts to that by...



...pretending to be asleep.





: So if I sound the alarm, it gets people moving, eh? Maybe I can use their movements to get around, myself.

But before we do that, let's head back to C38's cell and check out his blackboard. Sissel suggested to do that, so it must lead to something important!



: Let me just give it a little read...
: ......(Tonight...I lost a lot of things -- my life, my memory...but there's a certain skill I've apparently lost, too...)



: I can see that there's some kind of "writing" on the blackboard, but I have absolutely no idea what it means! (If I can't read Prisoner D99's work schedule for tomorrow, what do I do now?)



: If I tell her, "I couldn't read it", she'll kill me! (But, actually, I guess I don't have to worry about that one too much...) Anyway...I might as well try to find Prisoner D99's cell. Hopefully, I'll at least be able to find out something while I'm there. I can't go back to Lynne empty-handed! (But of course, a ghost doesn't actually have hands...)

The only bearded prisoner seems to be directly below C38's cell, but there doesn't seem to be an easy way to get there. But there does seem to be a way to get to the lower level, at least...at any rate, looks like I get to guide Mr. Illiterate through the rest of the prison next time.