Part 17: Ungrateful Beardy Man

(Music: Fate Updated)

Alright, it's time to save Jowd.



Though there aren't many places we can reach from here. As we'll quickly find out, the main puzzle in here is figuring out how to get from Point A to Point B. Luckily, we've been to the jail enough to be familar with its basic layout.

: All right, then. Four minutes from now...



: Very sad.
: If I stop the explosion, you'll still be executed, and you'll still die.
: Sorry I was ever born.
: I have to protect you from the explosion and stop the execution...(the key to the whole thing must be this chair.)
: I apologize for all your trouble.
: Uh, could you stop with the insincere comments?
: Ha ha ha!

The other theme of this puzzle is "Jowd is kind of a dick." At any rate, the phone's ringing, so let's get over there.





: I-I see!
: It's time. Please bring in the prisoner.
: B-b-but that chair! It hasn't been used in a long time! Wh-what if...?
: Bailey...there's nothing we can do now. It's time.
: ......All right. I'll send the guards to his cell. I'll have them call when they get into position.

Well, we're not getting anywhere over here, so let's hop over to the guard room!



: How about you? How do you feel?
: ......
: I feel jumpy and jittery...I just can't sit still. I feel like I might start...dancing at any minute!
: If you're gonna dance, let me know. I'll get the video camera ready.
: Nobody will listen to my concerns...
: "Concerns," huh? So he's worried?
: That man is always worried about something. And whatever he's worried about, it always comes true, without fail.
: Listen to me! That chair is dangerous!
: I know, Bailey. That's why I don't advise you to sit on it.
: No, no, no! That's not what I mean! Machines like that are very sensitive to dust. If the guy throws the switch and the chair shorts out, there might be a huge explosion down there in that death chamber!
: Oh, c'mon. Nothing's going to happen. Besides, even on the off chance it does blow up, we're way up here. We'll be fine.
: I know! Why don't we go and test it out first!
: No way. I don't wanna get blown up. You go by yourself.



: What is it? You have a new look in your eye.
: If the switch in the death chamber is thrown, the chair will blow up.
: That's right.
: And if the chair blows up, the execution can't be carried out.
: It only stands to reason.
: And...if there's nobody in the death chamber when the chair explodes...nobody will die.
: Precisely! Very nice, Sissel. You've hit upon some excellent points, there.
: Getting the chair to short out when nobody's around it...it sounds like it could be a plan. (But in this past world, I can't just use the phone lines whenever I want to.)
: And these guards seem to be in a fog...I doubt they'll be using the phone much.
: (Hmm. Maybe I need to start over...?)



As a matter of fact, we do. And the game has helpfully spelled out the solution for us, although it was semi-obvious already. The real question is: How do we get Sissel over to that switch?



First of all, after going back in time, stay back here when Bailey calls. A while later, there will be a second phone call...



: The other two are coming to bring the prisoner to you now.
: Got it!

And now is the right time to travel with the phone.



: Good for you! It was stuffy in there, wasn't it?
: (That's not exactly what I was worried about.)
: All right. What now?
: Hmm. Stop the execution and save your life...I think I'm getting an idea.
: You are, are you? I'd be very interested to hear it.

...yeah, some of this dialog is kind of strange since the game can't assume you saw all the stuff where Sissel spelled out his "blow up the chair when nobody is there" plan. Anyway, how to get to the death chamber from here? Trying the emergency button is, once again, a big disappointment.



: Maybe they like things quiet during an execution?
: (This guy is a bit too detached.)
: When I was alive, people thought I was a bit too passionate about things.

I'd take Jowd being too passionate over Jowd being a dick, but maybe that's just me. At any rate, the only thing to try now is going into the rocker's cell.



: If the big guy gets caught, there goes all my plans down the drain, too. C'mon! Flush, dammit!
: (Hmm. Apparently he's trying to flush a wadded-up piece of paper...)
: Oh, by the way. As I'm sure you've already realized, the youth in this cell is in cahoots with the big man downstairs.



: Yes, trying to escape, they are. But they're both very naive...he can keep digging, but he's just going to hit a steel wall eventually.
: (That's pretty tragic...)
: The two of them have a communication system set up using the toilets. The guitar youth is warning his partner of the guards' movements. A paper with "O" means "all clear." "X" means "danger."
: (Okay, yeah...when the curry guy sees an "O", he goes down to dig the tunnel. Hmm, maybe I can use that somehow.)

But for now, we'll have to settle for getting down to the curry guy's cell. Luckily, that's as simple as possessing the wad of paper & unfolding it.





: Now get down there to Sausage Head!





And since Sausage Head sees the X, he goes back in his bed.



: "Sausage Head" was lying passed out in the tunnel.
: Not knowing about the execution, he must've kept digging and digging.
: (And the guards didn't notice he was gone...?)
: So I guess this means curry man's future has now changed a bit.



: Sissel. I'm sure you know, but time is ticking.
: (Almost time for the execution...)
: If you don't "execute" a plan pretty soon, it's going to get tough.
: I think I do have a plan.
: Do you? I'm looking forward to seeing it.
: Only problem is, I don't see a path to get there yet...
: I'm really sorry about all this trouble you're going to for me.
: (Funny, you don't LOOK the least bit sorry.)

God, what a dick. Oh well, let's get over to his cell.



: A detective should eat until he reaches that critical moment...that's what I always say.
: (And you have a young pupil who follows that advice to the letter...)
: What are you going to do now, Sissel? As long as these iron bars are here, escape is impossible. Is it possible to stop the execution from here?
: Probably not...

So once again, we're stuck looking for a path. But while we're here...let's see what Jowd has to say about that newspaper article he framed on his wall.



: Yeah. I tacked it up there as a memento.
: I can't read, but it probably says something like..."Man Murders Wife"...
: ......

And what about his blackboard? He doesn't seem eager to help us read anything(though he may not even remember how to read or what the article said), but at least his blackboard doesn't require any literacy whatsoever.



: Your schedule for tomorrow is blank.
: That's because I don't need a "schedule." Or a "tomorrow"...or "memories"...
: (This man...I can never tell what he's thinking...)

...but ghosts can hear each others' thoughts...you know what, it's probably not worth it to think about that one too hard. At any rate, there's not much else here we can do anything with...except for that trash can...





: Yeah. That's my ketchup can.
: Ketchup?
: I just looove ketchup. Can't get enough of the stuff. I probably have ketchup running through my veins.
: Hmm. Just can't seem to muster a laugh over that one. (But it did make kind of a red "O" mark...)

And now the mystery becomes clear: Jowd is a fatass because he loves packing away loads of chicken with ketchup slathered all over it!



Oh, and we'll probably have to do something with timing to get the red O mark onto that napkin.





Especially since Jowd flushes the napkin, which means that it ends up being caught by Sausage Head, who pulls up every single thing that gets caught by his hook(which seems like it'd end up hooking some pretty fucking disgusting things, but who am I to judge?)...so let's get over to his cell so we can see what happens!



...apparently Sissel has the attention span of a gnat.

: No, not this time. I flushed that one.
: You?
: Remember? I flushed my paper napkin after my meal.
: Oh! (That's right...)
: Now, what will Sausage Head make of it, I wonder?



Not much, apparently. He heads back off to bed, but as he's doing that...

(Music: Fate Updated ~ Variation)

: Here come my escorts.
: Uh-oh...(I haven't found my path yet!)
: I see mine quite clearly. ...the path to the chair, that is.



: I guess Sausage Head isn't going back into his tunnel.
: Of course not. He only goes when he sees a piece of paper with an "O" on it.

It's pretty goddamned obvious what we have to do by now, so let's rewind time and do it. Hang around Jowd's cell, wait for him to wave his napkin above the trash can, and...





We now have a napkin with an O on it, which Sissel quickly jumps into. And after Jowd flushes it...



We're taken to Sausage Head's cell. Now we have to jump into his spoon, since he's going to bring it into the tunnel to dig.



: So now that he's seen the "O" paper, he'll go down to the tunnel to dig...



But the guards are coming to bring Jowd to the chair, so speed is of the essence. Though there's not much we can do while Sausage Head goes down into his tunnel...





: ...I just may have found the path I've been looking for. The one path that will let me stop the execution and save your life.
: Well, well. I'm very impressed. Because all I can see is a pitch-black, dead-end tunnel.
: (Okay, time is running out. Now for the finishing touches!)

(Music: COUNT DOWN)



Remember when we saw Sausage Head in the tunnel earlier? Remember WHERE we were when we saw him? Yeah, this is exactly where we need to be.



And with that, we can flip the switch...





???: The power's down throughout the whole facility!
???: N-No way! If the power's down, that means...all the cell bars open automatically! Dammit, the internal phones aren't working either! State of emergency!
: Now the execution can't be carried out, and your life is saved.



(Music: Jowd ~ A Captive of Fate)



: I really enjoyed myself. And I think I learned a thing or two, as well!
: (About what?) By the way, is it true what the guard said? The cell bars open automatically?
: Yup, it's true. A little drawback to the system...if the entire facility blacks out, the locks are released, for the prisoners' safety. But nobody thought it would actually ever happen...
: (So, in other words, now's the time to escape if you're gonna...) Anyway, we managed to stop the execution. Let's get back to the present. You're still not out of the woods yet.
: Oh, let me give you one piece of advice.
: What's that?
: When we get back to the present, head for the spoon.
: Spoon? Huh?
: You'll see when we get back, Sissel.



(Music: GHOST TRICK)





Video
Saving Jowd

New & Updated Records
Sissel
Lynne
Kamila
Cabanela
Detective Rindge
Bailey
Jowd