Part 30: The Pigeon Man & The Lovely Lanky Man

Last time, we saved Cabanela and the pigeon man from Evil Sissel. And now it's time to see the new present.

(Music: Cabanela ~ A White Lovely Lanky Man)





: Hey there, Prof! We're both aliiive, I see. Yeah, nothing like it, baby! But I don't know if I'm gettin' old, or what...I've got a few aches and pains here and there. Used to be, a liiittle thing like an explosion wouldn't bother me!
: Yeah, right. Like I'm going to believe that. So, what? The guy in red is gone, eh?
: Just in case, I posted Special Investigation units all around the building. Let's just pray the boooys came through for us...



: Dammit! You picked a bad time not to listen to me, body of miiine...

: Well, it looks like both of their deaths were erased. Unfortunately, in the case of the inspector in white...I can't call it a complete success. (But, in any case, these two have the information I need to start tracking the manipulator. I'd better talk to them.)



Yes, we should...but Missile's here too!



(Music: Missile ~ A Courageous Little Animal)

: Out into the big, wide world, to rescue Miss Kamila!
: Hold on a minute, Missile. I have to talk to these two first.
: Oh...okay, I understand. But just know one thing...I go where the wind takes me!
: (Is this little doggie trying to put pressure on me?)

Well, better talk to the others fast, then! Let's start with the pigeon man.



: Do you mind if I talk to you for a minute?
: I haven't always been a junkyard superintendent, you know. I used to be part of the police.
: The police, huh?
: Not as a detective...but as a medical examiner. I investigated victims' cause of death.



: "Hit by a meteorite fragment and died instantly." That's what the police report said.



(Music: Towards Nothingness...)

: But I never filed an autopsy report.



: ...leaving behind only one clue.



: (I bet that's what I've been chasing all night...) Could you tell me more?
: Yeah, sure. I have an interest in you recovering your memory and finding your true identity, too.



Taking it from the top...

: That's the only way I can describe it, too. It was an "unusual corpse." He was dead all right. No question about that. But there wasn't a scratch on him.
: Not a scratch...? But I thought he was hit by a meteorite fragment?
: I don't understand it any more than you do.



: I couldn't perform the autopsy.

(Music: PROVIDENCE)

: You "couldn't"...? What do you mean?
: The scalpel went in, but I couldn't cut. As soon as I tried to make an incision, it would heal up in the very next instant. And that's how it went. And no scarring or blood, either. And I never had the chance to solve the mystery.
: That's because the corpse up and vanished on us.
: The morgue is well-guarded. Nobody could've stolen that body. But there is one way the corpse could've disappeared...
: What's that?



(Music: Towards Nothingness...)

: It got up, opened the door, and walked out on its own.
: What?!
: He was dead, but...he wasn't dead.
: We saw it with our own eyes tonight. Not even that explosion could kill him.
: (And he didn't even feel it when he slammed his fist on that stove...)

That's more than slightly creepy. But what about the "clue left behind" mentioned in the second conversation option?



: I got some readings for some kind of radiation coming off that body.
: Radiation...?
: I used all kinds of instruments, but I couldn't determine exactly what kind of radiation it was. Some undiscovered type, from a world unknown...
: ...! Wait a minute...could it be...?
: That's right. It was coming from that meteorite fragment.



: And, just as I expected, I detected radiation coming from that crater. It was the exact same pattern of radiation as that of the corpse. At the time, I thought he was some kind of immortal being. He would die, only to come back to life. I wanted to research it all in depth, so I quit my job as a police medical examiner. Several years later...I came to learn the connection between my research and the "manipulator" case. Thanks to the arrival of this crazy character here.
: Oh, stooop, now, Professor! Do you want to see me blush?



: it was...about a year ago, I'd say. This man in white came dancing into my "research lab" here.



(Music: Cabanela ~ A White Lovely Lanky Man)





: I was investigating the manipulator case then. And then I heard there was a man who'd quit the police force to study the meteorite. When I heard that, it was like a meteorite had struck me on the head.



: We didn't know who he was yet...but we knew he was communicating with a certain foreign country. In one of those communications, we heard the manipulator say this:



: And that's when I put two and two together, baby. The manipulator case and Temsik were somehow connected.
: Which also explains how five years ago, he used his powers to manipulate a birthday surprise a little girl made for her mother!
: He added that gun to the contraption, most likely by controlling Kamila.

Mostly reiterating things most of you have probably figured out by now, but still good to know. And now it's time to talk to Cabanela himself.



: ...I would've tried to die in that explosion, baby! That way, I could've been dancin' after "big red" by now!
: (Hmm...I might be able to erase deaths, but it's true I can't do much about injuries.) But, really, you shouldn't talk that way.
: Yes, sorry, I suppose you're right. I just hate feelin' so...helpless. He was right there within my grasp...! All our plans were resting on tonight! And then...this...had to happen!
: (I guess he's thinking about his "spotless record"...) It's not too late, Inspector. We still have a chance. Maybe I can catch him.
: Say...you're right. That's not a bad idea...I'll cooperate with you fully. Go ahead and fire away with any questions you like, Mr. Ghost.



Once again, taking it from the top.

: That guy mentioned "revenge"...revenge against the people who stole his life away ten years ago...
: Hmph. He's a fool! He's the one who made the decision to take that little girl hostage, and he wound up dead. He only has himself to blame.
: But what about when he said this?



: Detective Jowd, who forced me into a corner...Lynne, the girl who was playing in the park...and, finally, you, Inspector Cabanela! If you hadn't done what you did, I never would've pointed a gun at that kid.

: ......yes...ten years ago, on that day...the Special Investigation Unit was working on a certain big case...we hauled in a young man, an important witness to our investigation. And then I did it...I made two, very stupid mistakes.



(Music: PROVIDENCE)

: Fine, fiiine. You're under no obligation to talk, of course. But if you don't, the Special Investigation Unit can make the reeest of your life a living hell...



: I'd just been assigned to the Special Investigation Unit, you see. They didn't share much info on big cases with a newbie like me yet, and I wanted to impress them. It was only supposed to be a simple matter of taking his statement...!
: But I was too green...I pushed him too hard. I drove him into a corner and made him lose all hope...that was my first mistake. And then I made another mistake on top of that.



???: The chief wants to see you about your report.
: Got it. I'll be right there. ...you stay right here and be a good boooy, now.



: I left it behind in the interrogation room...my gun...

(Music: Chained Past)

: How could you...?!
: He used my gun to escape. What he said is true. If I hadn't made that mistake, he never would've had a gun to point at Lynne in the first place.

This is why you don't spend the police academy lecture on "Guns: Why you don't leave yours with a suspect" practicing your smooth dance moves. But enough about Cabanela's incompetence; let's talk about that manipulator some more!



: Overseas communication?
: For national security purposes, this country keeps tabs on the communications networks. This particular communication was about makin' a deal with a certain foreign country. He said he wanted them to "buy" him -- him and his powers...

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



: And in order to prove these powers of his...he gave them two predictions. He foresaw two completely preposterous, impossible cases. The case of a man who would sing national secrets during a live rock concert broadcast. And the case of a man who would take the chief commissioner hostage in his own office.
: (Hmm...those two inmates at the Special Prison, eh?)
: We kept tabs on their communications, and launched an investigation. And then, finally, we pinpointed where they were going to meet tonight, and staked it out.



: The manipulator plans on leaving this country tonight. On a submarine that belongs to the other country in this deal.
: S-submarine?
: But we haven't been able to find out where it's going to surface...it's terrifying to think what would happen if his powers were to fall into their hands...
: Right. Highly unlikely they'd use 'em for peaceful purposes.
: And now they have that little girl as a hostage...
: (Kamila...)
: We have to stop him, before he leaves the country!

After talking about all of that...it seems kind of trivial to ask about Cabanela's spotless record. But ask we must.



: ...is it really that important to you?
: Of course, baby. In some ways, it's more important to me than my life.
: (Than your life, eh?)
: After all, it's because of my record that I'm able to get my hands on all intel -- as head of the Special Investigation Unit. And because of my position...I get to direct all aspects of the investigation into the manipulator case.
: ...!
: The manipulator case?! That's why you cared about your record so much?!
: ......

(Music: TRAUMA)

: Of cooourse. Why else, baby?



: I didn't care that he "confessed." There was definitely something more to the story, some secret...I did everything I could to climb the ladder -- everything in my power. And then I finally found the answer. It took fiiive long years, though...the manipulator...he's going to prove that Jowd is innocent!
: ......(What incredible determination...)



: There's just one thing I don't understand. If you were so determined to help Detective Jowd...



: That's an easy one, baby. Escaping from prison is a crime.
: ...!
: I wasn't about to help him commit a crime after spending five years trying to prove him innocent. And he himself asked to be executed, you know. As a man of the law, I had to make sure the execution was stopped legally.



: I needed to buy as much time as I possibly could, baby!
: (So that's it, eh...) But there's one little unfortunate result of all this...Lynne completely misunderstood your intentions.
: Ha! What's a liiittle misunderstanding? My baby will come around. Give it time. But there are more important things to do with our time tonight.



: ...you built that to try and help Detective Jowd?
: That's right. Jowd and I worked together back when I was in the force. I used the reports of his case to try and recreate the device. But there was just one part of it that I couldn't reproduce, no matter how hard I tried.
: (Kamila told Jowd it did something it shouldn't have, made an impossible move.)
: I added that part to the device I recreated. I put in a part that would allow Cupid to rotate. Otherwise, the gun wouldn't fire.
: (So that must mean somebody manipulated Kamila's contraption!)
: As a result...we proved to ourselves that the manipulator actually existed.



: Hey, baby.
: Sorry 'bout that phone call. I must've sounded like a real villain. I hated to spoil your image of me...
: ...of that cool-cat inspector you always looked up to...
: (Is that really the image she had of him?)



: Inspector Cabanela, I'm sorry. I just heard...you were chasing after that man all that time to try and help Detective Jowd.
: This "manipulator" is such a dangerous character...I was hoping you didn't have to be involved.
: So that's why you had me arrested tonight, isn't it?
: Like I aaalways say, if somebody's in the way, throw 'em in the slammer!
: (Yikes.)
: Tonight...I really thought we finally had him...but my body gave out on my right at the critical moment. It's like a cruel joke.



(Music: Jowd ~ A Captive of Fate)

: But a joke is a joke. You might as well laugh!
: Jowd!
: The minister called off the execution order! And while he was at it, he let Detective Jowd go free until tomorrow morning, too!
: That's a pretty extreme "while he was at it"...



: Sorry I took so long to get here. You can leave the rest to me.
: There you go again. You've always been like that...you make everybody else run around, and then you swoop in at the last second.



: Five years ago you left this coat with me, just before you turned yourself in. I promised to give it back to you one day...







: Waiting for this day to come!
: Thanks for not giving up on me, Lynne. Okay, I'm off, then.
: Good luuuck, my old friend.



: This "present" you gave me...it's just what I needed. Thank you!
: Glaaad you like it.



: Sissel, are you there?
: Yeah, I'm here.
: You and I have to go find that man. I need your help. Will you do this with me?
: Sure, but how...? We don't know where the submarine is, and the phone line doesn't work...
: They use communication cables to make their calls...we'll get you hooked up somehow -- you'll see! Could you wait here until we do? Please?
: Okay...fine. I'm counting on you.
: This "true self" you're looking for...I bet you'll find it soon! All right, I'm leaving, Inspector Cabanela!







New/Updated Records:
Sissel
Lynne
Kamila
Missile
Justice Minister
Odd Blue Doctor
Cabanela
Pigeon Man
Park Hippie
Chicken Kitchen Chef
Jowd
Dandy
The Other Sissel
Pigeon Man's Office
Pigeon Man's Basement
Kamila's Old House
Justice Minister's Office
Special Investigation Unit
Temsik Park