Part 20: Sheer Heart Attack

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









(Music: Elegy For The Torn-Off Gentleman)

: I'm glad Lynne isn't dead. But what in the world is she doing? (Then again, do I really want to know?)

Horray, Lynne isn't dead!



Oh no, somebody else is dead! Let's talk to Lynne about it!



(Music: Lynne ~ A Targeted Redhead)


: What kind of greeting is that? I mean, I know I'm a ghost and everything, but...
: Well? And...? How did it go? Was Detective Jowd still alive?!
: He'd already been executed by the time I got there. I did manage to save him, but...
: You did? Oh, I'm so glad! ...wait a minute. Did you say "but"?

: (I told Lynne about my "adventure" at the prison. About that "other murder", though...I couldn't bring myself to tell her.)

: Inspector Cabanela arrested Detective Jowd...? I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!
: Yeah. I feel the same way...I can't believe that wherever I go, somebody is always dead. Either you, or someone else...
: Sorry about that.
: So who is that lying on the floor there?
: Oh, you noticed him, did you? That's the justice minister. The man who signed the order to carry out Detective Jowd's execution. He was already dead when I got here.
: Shouldn't you have called for help, in that case?
: Hmm...I guess so...but I'm wanted, remember? For murder? I was hoping we could save him without me getting caught...
: ("We", eh? Oh boy...)

At this point the conversation ends, but if we talk to Lynne again she has a little more to say.

: There are just too many mysteries surrounding Detective Jowd's execution. Why did the justice minister sign the order? And why would Inspector Cabanela betray Detective Jowd?!
: Just so you know...Detective Jowd himself said it was the "right thing to do."
: ......
: (Anyway, I guess I better see to the justice minister...)



(Music: The World of the Dead)


: Hey, can you hear me?

: ......
: (Hmm...he's dead, but he still seems to be unconcious.)
: Could you rescue him now, while he's still unconcious? Instead of talking to him, I bet it'll be faster to just see for yourself what really happened!
: Yeah, I bet you're right. Back we go, then! To four minutes before his death!



Video: Four Minutes Before The Justice Minister's Death



: Oh, you woke up?
: He's a contradiction.
: "Contradiction"...?
: The more we search for the truth, the further into a dilemma we fall. The world of men is steeped in contradictions. If we choose this, we can't have that. If a man tries to have his medicine bottle and water pitcher, too, he loses both.
: Oh, I dunno...to me, it looks like you could have had both of those things just now.
: He didn't know the truth about the world. That's why he died. Such a foolish man. Or maybe I should say, a pathetic man. That's the more fitting word.
: (Uh, I don't think this guy gets it yet. That the "foolish" and "pathetic" man is him. Is that what the call a "contradiction"?) By the way, what's your name?
: ......just call me a "seeker of truth."
: (Sidestepped that one, didn't he?)

And now it's time to save Mr. Seeker of Truth.





(Music: Fate Updated)

: All I have to do is get his medicine to him. Pretty simple. (But there's one more thing that concerns me...what was that telephone call the minister got all about? It was right after that that his health took an instant downturn.)
: Tsk. I've never seen such a pathetic, foolish, and strange man.
: Uh, I think you'd better stop there.

Well, let's see what the phone call's about, then!



(Music: Beauty and Dandy)

: Who is this? How did you get this number?
: We have your daughter.
: Wh-who is this? Amelie's tutor?
: Would a tutor call you at this hour?
: ......N-No...
: I'll say it one more time. We have your daughter.
: M-my daughter! Is she all right?! Tell me she's all right!
: Hear for yourself.



: What do you want...? What are your demands?!
: I believe we already made our demands known the other day.
: Oh...so it was you...
: And have you complied? Has the execution been carried out?
: I-I didn't do it because of your demand! I did it because...that's my job!
: Yes...yes, of course.
: They should be contacting me any minute now with the confirmation. There's no need for this kidnapping!
: We're very thorough. You'd do well to remember that.
: Aaaaagh...
: And of course it goes without saying, we're watching you. If this information leaves that room...you'll never see your daughter again. I hope you understand that.
: "Don't tell the police," is that it?
: Exactly. All you have to do is your job.
: All right...I'll do as you say. I'll make sure the execution is carried out tonight. You have my word.



Going over there is obviously not going to help us save the minister...but at the same time, how can we not go see what's happening at the other end of the phone?





: Apparently the police in this country aren't so easily fooled. I had no idea word of tonight's deal had leaked.



: But what's taking the goods so long to arrive? I'm starting to get concerned...



Good news: They don't seem to actually have Amelie(yet). Bad news: We're stuck here. The closest core is just out of reach, and if you recall the 4 minutes before death video, Beauty doesn't call the minister back before he dies. Sissel spells that out for us, which normally wouldn't be transcription-worthy, but...

: Uh-oh. This woman doesn't show any signs of moving from that spot. And I can't use the telephone line either... (Hmm. It looks like I fell into a trap.)
: All women are like traps. Some are sweet traps, other are bitter...don't you understand that?!
: (Okaaay...anyway, I think I'd better rethink things here.)

The minister's...interesting...opinion of women(or possibly just projecting about his crazy-ass wife) aside, it's time for a do-over. After the phone call, we'll stick around the minister's office this time.

(Music: Four Minutes Before Death)



: (Once again, I'm not sure I know what the word means, but it's apparently the cause of the minister's attack.
: Such a useless man.
: Huh?
: A useless man, caught up in a useless case...why doesn't he understand that?

And now...there's actually not anything we can do but wait. Might as well see what the four-minutes-before-death minister has to say for himself.

: I have to call my wife! I have to see if it's true! Maybe they called the wrong person!

And what does the peanut gallery have to say about that?

: (This minister doesn't accept the truth easily...)
: He's morally bankrupt.
: Okay, now you're taking it too far. (His wife won't answer, for some reason...hmm, a wife who doesn't answer the phone. I think I know who THAT is.)
: A morally bankrupt man deserves a morally bankrupt wife. Why doesn't that man understand that?!
: (And now I'm sorry I ever brought this guy along...)



: (Too bad he knocks this pitcher to the floor at the end of his four minutes.)
: Such a stupid man.
: Huh?
: Once water is spilled, there's no getting it back. And knowing this full well, why do people still spill water pitchers?!
: (I dunno. "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it"?)



: If I could, I'd spill them onto his desk right now...but, unfortunately, I can't even open the cap.
: What a shabby excuse for a man.
: Huh?
: He wears his important-looking uniform, and sits working at his stately desk. But what does he have inside? Nothing! A miserable, shabby excuse for a man.
: I think you've already said quite enough.

And with that, we just have to twiddle our thumbs until...



(Music: COUNT DOWN)

: (His worry and anxiety have reached their peak.)
: Such a disgraceful man.
: Huh?
: If one lives his life in fits, he's bound to be plagued by fits. It's so simple! Why doesn't he understand?!

The minister's self-loathing aside...what can we do to save him? Let's see, if we're still in the medicine bottle when it's flung across the room mere seconds before he dies...



We end up over here.

: But, hmm...(there are only a few seconds left. It isn't enough time!)
: Such a shortsighted man.
: Huh?
: Happiness escapes us just as we are about to pull it in. We have to grab it while we can. Not only happiness, but dreams, love, and hope, too!
: Clearly, someone here is overly naive. (Anyway, there isn't enough time to do anything in this state!)
: If he could just get some of that water, he might feel a little better.
: (Did he just say something constructive?)



: But as things are, there just isn't enough time!
: Such unparalleled cowardice this man has!

Okay, we clearly have to buy some time if we want to get the medicine back to the minister. But how do we do that? Well, when the minister starts fumbling for his water, we jump to the flag and flap it like so:



: There! That should help. At least now he's had some water. He's still breathing, apparently. (But he looks far from recovered, unfortunately...)
: Such a wishy-washy man.
: Huh?
: He can't make up his mind whether to live or die. That's how he lives his life.
: Okaaay...at least now I bought some time to get his medicine to him.





: I've never seen anybody drink water the way this man just did...(The water pitcher is completely empty.)
: He's an empty vessel of a man.
: Huh?
: An empty, withered man. Where is his oasis?!
: (This guy is really starting to get on my nerves...)

But more important than the minister's ramblings is this:

: The minister's fate has changed, but the situation still seems the same. I can't move anywhere now! (Did I miss something?)

Yes, you can get stuck immediately after a fate change point. Let's start over from the beginning(again).



You actually have to jump into the pitcher while it's still within your reach, and when the minister lifts it up, you have to jump into the fan. After the fate change, make the fan spin faster...





...and you can take a ride across the room in a piece of paper.






(Music: Fate Updated ~ Variation)

: Now, about this medicine bottle...if the minister's going to make a full recovery, I have to deliver this thing to him. (But how is a ghost with no hands or feet supposed to do that? I guess I'll just have to use my head, instead.)

Well, let's see. We can easily get to that sword, and give it a good swing...so let's try that first.



: This thing is pretty heavy. It's got a good swing to it. It's sharp enough to cut the medicine bottle in two, though. (And it's not long enough, is it?)
: Such a reckless man.
: Huh?
: Only cowards like to keep weapons around. What a truly dangerous thing to have around!

Hmm. Well, let's see what else we can play around with here. If we go up to the hanging basket, turn it around, and then rock it...



: That was really loud. That urn is a lot heavier than it looks. (It's made out of some pretty thick iron...) I wouldn't want to drop that on my foot. (But I don't have feet, so I guess I don't have to worry.)

The only other thing we can do here is undo one of the frame hangers, but that just makes the frame droop a bit. Looks like it's time to head to the other side of the window. To the curtain!





From there, we can hop up to this globe and spin it, but it doesn't do that much.



Well then, let's try undoing the other frame hanger.



: It's a pretty light frame for its size. (There sure are a lot of things that can fall down in this room...)
: He's a fallen man.
: Huh?
: He deserves to have everything come tumbling down on his head!
: I don't know about "fallen man," but you talk about him like he's your "fall guy."

And the only thing left here is the sword the globe dropped onto. It has a nice swing, but that doesn't help us since the medicine bottle is nowhere near it. Looks like it's time for a do-over. Let's start by turning the globe around this time, so that it knocks the other urn to the floor when it's spun...



And knocking the frame down again gets us a pretty nice looking contraption.



Knocking down the heavy urn doesn't seem like it'll get us anywhere. So let's keep the hanging basket where it is, and roll the green ball onto the sword instead.



Alas, it's not quite long enough to reach the bottle. It's clear we need to pull off some sort of trickery with the see-saw we made.



And after rewinding time again, I discovered that you can speed through text using the B button. That makes things go so much faster for me that I'm kicking myself for not realizing it before.

Anyway, what we have to do is set up the frame on top of the light urn, then drop the globe onto it like so:



Then we drop the heavy urn onto the frame...



And now we can swing the sword in bullet-time...



: M-my medicine! Aaagh!



I...uh...don't think it's good for anyone to take that many pills at once.

: There! The minister finally took his medicine! (I think maybe he even took TOO MUCH medicine...)
: Such a greedy man.
: Huh?
: He's supposed to take two capsules with water. Why doesn't he know that?
: Aw, cut the guy some slack. There. see?

And then the four-minutes-before-death minister...sings in celebration. Using the Chicken Kitchen chef's voice. Ah, the joys of reused sound assets.



(Music: GHOST TRICK)



: Well, hopefully, this taught him a lesson.
: Huh?
: He greatly underestimated his dependence on his medicine. I hope he learned something from this experience. First, know yourself. That is the key to everything.
: I think you need to listen to your own advice. Anyway, let's go back to the world of the present.







And this update's getting pretty long already, so we'll have to deal with Lynne next time.


Video
Saving the Justice Minister