Part 16: Autumn 1992-Summer 1993

    



Welcome back! Last time, Ken finally managed to find Linda (and her new arm) over in Paraside after which they went and spoke to this bounty hunter "Smilly Clunker" who promised to provide them the information about the "Puppet Master" including in case something happens to him. Well, turns out something did and someone got rid of him and his crew! Ken and Linda also visited again Dr. Emory in his house at Laguna Lodge, but seemingly nothing useful was learned, other than the fact that Emory is somehow aware of the whole Puppet Master situation.

Since the plot is clearly starting to set itself up for the grand finale, I figured we might focus a bit more on capturing in this episode, including some slightly more unusual captures. But don't worry, we'll progress the plot too, and even watch more than one cutscene.

And finally, I have a bit of a rarity to show you today in the Extras section at the end so make sure not to miss that!



Ken and Linda are leaving Emory's Laguna Lodge residence...



As just as we've started looking for some new species to capture, Ken again gets a message notification! This one is definitely going to have to wait a bit!



But then I figure... since we're here, why not craft the eagle sword for Linda, too? It should help a little bit at least if we capture any harder enemies, right? (Sorry about the horrible weather in this screenshot, by the way!)



After capturing the required number of male eagles, I make camp and set Ken to weapon crafting activity.



As before, we need 10 eagles to make the sword...



...and here is the result, a bit of an increase in attack power for Linda plus the ability to hit all enemies at once. I think this will serve us for the rest of our capture tasks just fine.

Also, waking up from the camp...



...we find out that it's now Winter 1992. But we still have 6.5 years left and only 14 species to capture, so we should be able to achieve that with ease.

For today's capturing session, we'll visit some of the caves/dungeons where we haven't necessarily been before. As usual, for now we're mostly just capturing the animals that can be found more or less easily in the world. The more elaborate captures are for now on our "later" list, i.e. we mostly won't be doing them in this scenario, other than a couple of slightly unusual ones today. As we go about our capturing, we'll also come across a couple of other things which might pique our interest, but we won't explore them fully yet.



The darn eagles will chase you everywhere... it's a bit annoying now that we don't actually need them any more!



Anyway, first we'll take the Bird Line back to our home base in East Area, because there are a few caves there that we could go to in order to find some new animals. For this, we'll be using three things: the "shot" service from Bird Linde, which allows you to be dropped off anywhere on the map; and also two items: Escape Unit, which allows you to instantly exit any dungeon back to the planet's surface, and also the Rescue Beacon, which allows you to be picked up by Bird Line from anywhere on the map. This last one is important, as there are some areas on the map which are in between two mountain ranges and only accessible by going through a dungeon. Here, this service and items help to minimise backtracking!



The first place we'll be visiting is called Daicave ("dai" means "big" in Japanese) and its entrance is located in the general area of the square marked on the map. As you can see, this little area is surrounded by mountains and sea on all sides and it cannot be reached simply by walking on the overworld. The only real way to reach it is by going through Nebul Road, which has two entrances, one on each side of that mountain range that you see to the left of the square. So by using Bird Line services, you can save a lot of time if you need to go to Daicave.



Here it is. It's also possible to capture some unique species here outside the cave, but no animals spawn this time, so we'll come back for that.



Entering the cave, the first thing we see is again one of those weird teleporter looking things... but like almost all we've found so far, this one too seems inactive with no obvious way to activate it. So we continue on our way for now.



Yeah, this place is pretty big, and this is just one floor!



Here we run into our first species for today...



...but it's just wolves, which we've already seen before. None the less, it does add +1 to our total towards 50!



As you walk around, you might notice what looks like some kind of red flowers on the ground. It's probably best to not approach them too close, because if you do...



...you get thrown into a battle with a bunch of "red creepers" (creepers as in creeper plants, by the way). As you can see, like with roses, these flowers are not to be trifled with either! They are not as strong as roses, but still pretty strong. They are also not possible to capture, so they are basically just a distraction--there are a few enemies like this in the game--so basically just avoid them, really.



Soon we come across another species, one which we haven't seen before. It does look familiar, but there's something a bit off... I can't quite put my finger on it through.



Of course, it's just lions. I mean they have only two legs and also chicken feet, but let's not quibble over small details.



Continuing on...



...we get to the second floor of the dungeon. It has that large open area that I feel we should explore because it looks interesting. I wonder what's there?



Curiously, we pass by an empty tent... maybe if we come here at a different time, there will be somebody?



Eventually, we get to a point where we can actually see over the wall into that big empty area... the only thing visible is a blue flower. And well, I guess I will never learn not to touch the flowers in this game, so we're definitely heading there to check that out!

The only question is how to get there, since the place has multiple stairways going up and down and this area seems to require a particular combination of staircases to reach it.

Well, that's no problem, because that game guide book has clear maps of all areas in the game:



So with a little help from the guide, we can easily get to that part of the cave.



Ah, here we are. let's check out that flower.



So, uh... just a flower then? (Flowers are restorative items in this game, e.g. restoring HP, BP or such.) Still, this seems a bit weird. What's more...



...there's actually quite a few blue flowers in this area! So I guess let's keep checking them out--in fact already by checking out this second one...



...it turns out it's not actualy a flower, but a (male) peacock just masquerading as one! Well, that's good because we do need to capture it! Checking out other flowers...



...we find also a female one for our collection. This is pretty neat, I actually like the design of these!



So that's all there is to this open area, let's head out. Before using the escape unit, there are a couple of chests here. Mostly they just have consumables, except this one...



A beastman necklace? That sounds kind of important, I wonder what it's for? Let's have a look in our inventory...



If we do that, we find that the game classifies it as "rare/mysterious" item and indicates that its purpose and possible effects are unknown. Well that's no help at all.

Anyway, let's get out of here and head to our next destination, a place called Karagoram.



It's located here, at the very south of East Area.





In this place sometimes you can find these bone remains of... something.



In this chest, we can find otter shoes. I equip them on Ken for a couple of extra defence points.



Ah, but here is what I was actually looking for.



Some pretty awesome looking lizards! We have to transform into something less powerful to be able to NOT overkill them though.



As mentioned above, their ability to call reinforcements really is quite a nuisance as they always seem to do it when there is one or two left--so here the all-hitting weapon does help a bit, but when they move around to separate on the field, there always seems to be just one left somewhere who then calls up another bunch. Aargh, this IS actually annoying.

Exploring this location...



...you might find this fellow here.

Due to budget cuts or something, I guess I'm the only guard on duty now. But don't worry I'm good enough to stand guard on my own. Really, don't worry.

Ok, whatever you say! Let's go past him and see what he's guarding.



Oh, hey, it's some researchers again! Let's talk to this lady.

About 100 years ago before this excavation, there used to be a calcareous underground lake here. It seems to have been a habitat of a now extinct animal species. But, according to some research, the animal's eggs have an arachnid structure which can withstand a long dry season. So they think that the animal can come back if water is restored to this site as like there used to be!

Hm, that's quite curious, I wonder what species it was. But she's not going to tell us, is she? Maybe we can figure out a way to restore water here at some point?



Inside the tent, there is another person.

I'm sure if we dig just a few metres deeper, we'll hit a water vein. Although I'm starting to feel a bit nervous that we won't find it... Ah, I shouldn't worry, I'm sure in a few days water will be gushing out and the animals will be swimming around. I will finally be able to see their cute form!



But other than that, there seems to be just some holes in the ground and some equipment around, neither of which we can do anything with for the time being. So let's head to our next destination...



...which happens to be right here.





Walking around this place...



...we find remains of... something. But it's hard to tell what it was when it was whole.



As we walk around, we notice these little rocks everywhere. Approach one, and...



...check this out, you get thrown into a battle with some extremely cute looking hermit crabs!



They have very low HP, so the usual strategy applies to reduce your attack power and use a weak ability. In any case, that's all we came here for, so we can go to our next destination for today, and the final cave we'll be stopping at on this particular tour.

(Don't worry, there's even more cuteness coming up shortly!)



After exiting from here, Spring 1993 begins!

For our next destination, we'll head down to the South Area first...



...and then literally down to this corner here!





This place is called Samakia and there are several species which can be found here.



Shortly after entering, we run into a couple of dudes!



They made a little camp here for some reason! Let's talk to this guy first...

When Mr. Orman from the dog fighting arena was still alive, he used to come here for hunting every once in a while. He would bring with him a couple of hounds, Taro and Jiro. Those two were the best in the world!

Just a quick note: "Taro" and "Jiro" are not-uncommon Japanese male names which mean respectively "first son" and "second son". So he must have really loved those dogs!

The other guy gives us a bit of a hint about what we can find in this dungeon!

There is an ant's nest further in. The females are not numerous, so if you dog accidentally kills one you will have to wait until the next season until the next female is born. You will also have to weave your way through swarms of male ants in their tunnels in order to find the queen's nest!

So this is a pretty explicit hint about the situation. We can capture ants in this cavern, but there is only one female around and if you kill it by accident, then you have to wait until the next season until another one appears. This at least is more or less the same as how it is with "our" ants, so not too surprising.

Equipped with this knowledge, let's head in. Ants only appear in the deepest part of the cave, but there are other species to be found here before we get to that part! By the way the tents are empty (well, they belong to these two guys) and one of them just contains a chest with a random consumable item which clears status effects. So nothing special.



As we are going deeper into the cave, we run into two new species at once! First off...



...some very cute looking anteaters! Well, it's only logical for them to be here since there are tons of ants in this same place too.



As you can see, they do have some slightly problematic abilities, among them a reminder that this game does feature a kind of equipment durability, although this is usually not a factor except in cases like this.

They didn't look quite as cute in the original PC Engine version, though:



After this, let's check out the other animals here, namely the blue thingy.



Turs out it's a bunch of some very cute looking sea urchins!



Let's continue deeper!



All right, here we are at the deepest level of the cave where the ant nest is. Let's check out the map...



Oh, I see now what that guy meant about weaving our way through the tunnels here!



Male ants are easy enough to find here for sure as the tunnels really do swarm with them (and anyway they will chase you and attack you if you come near since they are defending their nest).



If you look carefully, you will spot the problem here immediately! Their HP is absolutely tiny and this is definitely a problem. First of all, we're probably a bit overleveled as we're coming here a bit late in the game, but to be honest I'm not sure that even at level 1 one hit from Ken or Linda wouldn't overkill them.

Even trying some of the weaker abilities with no weapon equipped still results in too much damage. So then I really started looking at what I could possibly use to capture them safely... and ultimately come up with the idea to use Linda's "cobra twist" ability. Its main purpose is to hold an enemy restrained and to prevent them from acting... but it also does a super tiny bit of damage to the same enemy on every turn! This continuous damage is small enough that it finally allows for the safe capture of ants (and you only really need one anyway).

With that done, we can proceed to explore the tunnels in hopes of finding the (one) queen.



Some passages here are definitely a bit tight! Ultimately, however...



...we find what we were looking for!



Same problem (low HP) and same solution (cobra twist) are definitely effective here, too.



One interesting thing to check out is this screenshot of an ant battle from the original PC Engine version:



First of all, just looking at their eyes makes me dizzy. But, second, and more interesting is that the PC Engine version did not feature this situation with only one female per season. As you can see on the screenshot, it features both male and female ants appearing together in a group, as normal. The remake version did in fact change the location of some animals and the conditions of their capture. So a guide for one version will not necessarily work 100% for the other!

But with this, we'll exit the dungeon now and it's probably time to check out that message finally!



The message is from Emory this time.

It's Emory...
Right now, Sachiko and I are trapped in Linda's house... don't worry about the details but just listen.
It seems that the corpses of the dead people in Minago have come out of their graves and are swarming the town as zombies! I'm not quite sure what's the cause yet, but I probably caused it somehow. So I'm prepared to face it... but I have to protect Sachiko at all costs! Please save us, I'm begging you!

And now, zombies, too? Well, why not, it's not like we haven't already had pretty much everything else in this scenario. In fact, the game's creator, Shoji Masuda wrote about this and indicated that when writing Scenario B, his intention was to just keep throwing new plot twists at the player constantly to keep it entertaining! I will be posting parts of that article later on, when it stops being spoilery. In a related bit of news, it turns out that Masuda and a couple of other people from the development team were a bit active on BBSes/net in the 1990s and early 2000s, and well, I have somehow found a website which archives some of their old posts from that time where they literally answer people's questions about the game and why some things are the way they are in it. So I'm planning to go through it and post some of the more interesting ones here too. So please look forward to that!

Anyway, moving on with the game, let's try and go to Hardia to see what Ben has to say about this new zombie infestation!



Coming to his office, we find he's not actually here for once!

However, since it is now the year 1993 (which we haven't experienced before)...



...we can check out the calendar here to see whose picture is on it in this year.



Looks like it's Linda's mum this time (which is actually a bit weird since she was just killed... but I guess this calendar is meant to be just a bit of silly fan service with no connection to the actual plot).



On our way out, we can check with Ben's secretary briefly...

If you're looking for the commander... he's in Minago. But he's told me not to tell you about it...

Hm... can't imagine why? But we already know about the Minago situation from Emory, so of course we're heading there next!



Entering Minago, we run into Ben here...



I didn't tell you about it on purpose... because I though it might end up being a bit too hard...
For some reason, the bodies just came out of their graves and started swarming the town. There are two civilians still inside.
Now, I know that you are both more than capable of dealing with the zombies, it's just that... it seems Linda's mum and dad are among them!

Well, it's not like we have a choice... so let's see what's going on here.



Hmm, yeah, that does look like a zombie infestation for sure! Our goal is of course to make it to Linda's house, but as we walk towards it...



...we get attacked repeatedly by random zombies like this. They are not really super strong, so one way or another this can be handled. After a bit of this...



...we reach the door of Linda's house. And, uh, I guess the commander really wasn't kidding, because...



...we get attacked by the zombie versions of Hume and Ann! They are a fair bit stronger than the regular ones, but still nothing we can't handle without much difficulty.

And with this, we are able to enter the house...



...where we find Emory and Sachiko.



Yes, father.
I think those two at the door were Linda's mother and father. They came back to this house even as zombies... they must have loved it here very much. And to think that now Linda's had to take her loving parents down herself... Oh, god...
Linda! Please forgive me! I've always tried to do my best and to do everything I can...
But it always seems to turn out like this...
Probably the cause of this mess is a nosocomial infection with a particular parasite that has originated from within the hospital... It's all because of my carelessness... I am prepared to receive any kind of judgment on that.
But before that... I need to rush to produce a cure for this parasite, for the sake of potentially infected!
I'm sorry, Linda... for what I'm sure is now inside you, too.
Father... Miss Linda is already...
Sachiko! You must never say how it's too late! I will definitely sort this all out!
But, father! This time, too, Miss Linda...
Quiet! I am a doctor and this is the only way I can repay her! I will help her!





Linda! Until the medication is ready, please refrain from kissing, as it would be dangerous!

Well, Linda does seem to like kissing Ken at every possible opportunity, so this kind of warning is appropriate... if this were some kind of normal siuation. But, seriously, what the heck is going on? Did he manage to let a parasitic infections somehow spread out of the hospital, or what?

Well, however it is, we have dealt with the zombies and can now leave.

As we exit the town, Linda...



Also, Ben is waiting for us at the exit...



I'll go back to the HQ. If you need anything, just let me know, ok.

And so, we're now free again until the next plot moment. So let's use it to visit a couple of people who have something interesting to say. First, we'll head over to Hospico.



There, we find Sachiko in front of Emory's door, blocking our way...

Right now, father is busy working on the new drug which prevents the parasitic infection. He's been working on it day in day out and I know he'll do his best to finish it. So please have faith in him and please wait a bit longer.

So we can't do anything here. Let's head to Ozport, though.





First, this person in the corner here.

Smilly Clunker... that guy's got some serious balls. Takes an advance payment from the Federation, pretends to do some work and then just disappears like that! A true top class bounty hunter!

Next, we'll head inside the airport building...



Another message notification... we'll check that out a bit later, as usual.



But I really wanted to come here where the airport checkin is, becasue this person has an interesting comment to make!

We found a naked body of a young woman in the dumpster behind the building. It seems she was the flight attendant who was supposed to be on the shuttle that exploded. But if that's the case, then who was the flight attendant who WAS on the shuttle?

Indeed. She did look familiar, though. The person on the other desk also has a bit of a comment...

The shuttle crash was apparently caused by an explosive device on board!

Also to the surprise of no one. The shuttle explosion clearly happened because someone wanted to assassinate Kammer, I don't think there's too much doubt over that.



Also, I completely forgot to withdraw Ken's salary from the bank all this time! So I finally stop by a branch to do that!



As you can see, there was a whole 13,085 G waiting there for us! Ken's salary is normally 100x his level at the beginning of the season for which it is paid.

Before we leave...



...let's stop by the wedding shop.



Ah, good. Even in this scenario they still have that promotional ring for 2 G! Let's buy it for Linda!



[ Don't worry about unimportant things. ] / I still think it looks pretty good on you. / But this is what your fingers are now, you know.
I will definitely get my left arm back! Then I can fit this ring properly on my finger!

All righty then, who's for a bit more hunting? (Just a little bit!)



If we make camp with Linda, we get another bit of dialogue...

Hey Ken... When we are reincarnated, would you still choose to marry me?
[ Yes of course. ] / I would pass.
Thank you. It makes me happy to hear that, even if it's a lie. You are always so nice to me, aren't you? I was a bit scared before, now I'm not any more. Thank you for everything. *kiss*

All righty then, let's pick up a couple more species. First we'll head down south again.



There is a hidden animal on this screenshot, can you see it? It's the slightly different looking patch of sand directly to the left of Ken. In the actual game it does move, so it's a bit easier to spot. In any case...



It's basically centipedes!



They do have those annoying abilities which can damage your equipment, but don't pose much of a threat at all.

While we're down here, we can also run into...



...some Koalas which we're already familiar with.



While we're busy with all this, it becomes Summer 1993. Ok, now let's head back north, to that little inaccessible patch of land between the mountains.



This time, there are some animals here.



Here, you can find impalas!



Nothing really special about them, so we'll head over to our next capture (and also the final one for today, whew!). For this we need to go to Ozport, because the last species for today is in fact found INSIDE THE TOWN!



You might recall at the beginning of this scenario, I mentioned you can go through this little passage here.



It gets you into this little secret area, as we've seen previously. But there's a secret within a secret! If you push the top barrel...



...it reveals a ladder! When we go down...



...there's a whole other thing here! We can talk to that guy.

They just throw it away as trash in town, but here the catfish use it to produce most of the electricity the town needs. The town's power usage is almost proportional to the amount of rubbish produced, so it's clean energy without waste!

So he's talking about catfish...



...and in fact they're swimming in this muck around us. They also happen to be another species which can be captured, so you know what that means:



Mostly, you will find just males, like so. But one of them will typically turn out to be female:



Aaaaa! But yes, it is indeed one of the strongest enemies in the game. Therefore I employ the strategy of Ken transforming into an eagle and then using his "desperate attack" skill to pretty much double his attack power in summary, because I really don't want to risk anything here!

Incidentally, some species of catfish can indeed produce electricity in real life too. Although nobody has yet harnessed that power to power the cities!



Yes. We are now absolutely done with hunting for today. Let's go and hand stuff in and then we'll check out that message!



After handing stuff in...



...checking in with the robot tells us that we are at 48 out of 50 that we need. We only need two more and we'll do that next time because it's definitely enough for today!



Checking the message, we find out it's from Ben.

It's me! The sudden explosion of a shuttle... the mysterious disappearance of the bounty hunters... the zombies rising from the graves... Why are there so many incidents at the same time?
But anyway, there is a letter that arrived for you here. I don't know what it is, but it was sent to you by someone named Ms. Lily. It's probably just some junk mail, but it is password protected, so maybe it's a love letter after all. Anyway, come and check it out when you can. That is all!

“Ms. Lily" you say? I don't think it could be more obvious who it's actually from. And he did promise to send us the data in case of his demise, so... let's go immediately to the Ranger HQ!



[ Yes. ] / No.

If you say "no", he reiterates the story about "Ms. Lily" since you can come here without listening to the message.

So do you have any idea who this Lily person is?
[ Yeah, maybe. ] / Not at all.
Well, first of all, we need to figure out what the password is! It seems it consists of six letters...



Let me just tell you, our bounty hunter friend would probably get his account easily hacked, because...



...it's basically one step removed from it being simply "password". Anyway, let's see what it contains.

Ken! Bingo! Looks like there are three files here.

Well, let's see.

1. List of members of the selection committee (top secret)
2. Photograph (date and place unknown)
3. List of the applicants for the female ark crew member (top secret)

Ok, well, let's go in order, shall we.

1. List of members of the selection committee

Name: George Kammer
Notes: Administrative aide, Federation HQ.

Name: Liberty Orman
Notes: Former BW-2 commander at Federation HQ. Owner of Dogy Figh arena.

Name: Bizar Bibio
Notes: Commander, Neo-Kenya Airport. BW-1 Major at Federation HQ.

Interesting...

The two men who committed suicide by jumping from the church in Minago, and aide Kammer who was blown up in the shuttle...

Then the next one, which is a photograph.



The doctor who operated on Linda's arm... Emory. The woman is definitely older than his daughter, but looks very similar to her.

Maybe his wife, back when she was pregnant with their daughter?

And then the third one, which is another text file.

List of the applicants for the female ark crew member

Name of applicant: Linda Banning
Place of birth: Neo-Kenya, Hospico
Father: Hume Banning
Mother: Ann Banning
Height: 170cm / Weight 52kg
Measurements: 86/55/84 cm
Blood type: B / General health: good

Name of applicant: Sachiko Emory
Place of birth: Camp No. 372, β-Goba system
Father: Yatarou Emory
Mother: Tsuruko Emory (deceased)
Height: 158cm / Weight 43.5kg
Measurements: 82/53/83 cm
Blood type: B / General health: good
Additional note: Central pulmonary artery, semilunar valve; pulmonary artery trunk, traces of surgery on the left side of the chest that may have been performed in infancy, but was successful and there was a full recovery.

So does that mean that Emory is our Puppet Master?

Sachiko Emory? Huh, I didn't even know there were other applicants besides Linda.



Dr. Emory committed the crimes because he hated that the committee members didn't choose his daughter Sachiko as the ark crew member. That's about it, right? What do you think?
But is that really enough reason to just go and kill somebody? And even if we're correct, there's no evidence at all.
By the way, don't you be so foolish to break into Emory's office looking for evidence, or anything like that, ok? Do you understand!

Sure, chief. So let's leave and go home, then.

When we get downstairs...



[ Let's go! ] / Go where?
We'll make a frontal attack on Emory's lab in Hospico!

Guess we're not going straight home after all, huh?

"The medication for the parasite, have you finished it yet? I'm sooo scared and only you can save me, doctor!" We'll just make him feel at ease and then try to find the evidence while we're there! Perfect plan, right?

Ahh, not sure about that, Linda... Incidentally, she puts on her "helpless" voice here and it's hilarious. The vocal performances are so good that this game does lose just a tiny bit when you can't hear them. All characters with portraits are fully voiced, by the way.

But I guess the decision is made, however foolish it may be, so...



...to Emory's lab we go! There we are met by Emory and Sachiko by his side.



But you have to believe me, that I always only want to do the best I can... somehow it always backfires. I know it's not enough, but I've prepard some medicine for you!
It's a bit smelly and it might itch a little, but please endure it! Here!



He literally picks up that bucket and throws it at her!



It's just the anti-parasite remedy. Don't worry, you'll be fine now.



That's how you found me out, right? Right?
I wonder what the commander said when he figured it out... Did he say that there wasn't enough evidence, I wonder? And yet, here you two are, barging in like some kind of amateur detectives, huh? I suppose you were expecting me to just give myself up, right? Ahahahaha!
That's cute. That's reeeeal cute. But I really don't have the patience to play around with you two any more, so I'll just tell you the truth.



So, uh, what now? What's your next move? Detectives?
That will be...

But she suddenly collapses in pain...

Aaaagh... It hurts... Ken! My stomach hurts...
Oh no! Linda, can you forgive me! I did it again! Instead of the medication to cure the parasites...
...it seems that somehow I have mistakenly given you a different one which accelerates their growth!
Yes! It's almost time! That's it! Three, two, one, go! LET'S DANCE!

Cutscene time!





A-ha-ha-ha! It hurts, right? You're suffering, right? Well, so did my Sachiko and a lot more than this!



He goes over to his pods.

Now is the time to introduce your dance partners. You know how they say, yesterday's enemy is today's friend! Presenting: Smilly the Clunker!





So it seems he's turned Smilly and his two buddies into zombies, too!

Sachiko! I'm getting a bit tired, so I'll head home! Please stay and report to me later how it all went down here!
Yes, father.



And with that, he leaves through the side door.



Zombies start closing in on Ken and Linda... but just at that moment...



...another Sachiko suddenly enters the house!



Three, two, one, attack!



Three, two, one, attack!



And she gets rid of all three zombies!



Yes, please do. I'm prepared.
No. 1, what is going on? I don't understand what you're thinking!
Father told me that Linda is a bad person.



She gets ready to leave through that side door, too.

I don't... understand!
It's not how it was supposed to...
I DON'T UNDERSTAND!

She leaves, too. The other Sachiko reverts to her human form.



A bunch of doctors run into the house and put an end to this whole gruesome spectacle!

Some time later, Linda is (again) incapacitated in her hospital room!



Hospital director is also there, so we can talk to him quickly...

I know you're worried about her, but there's nothing you can do for her right now. Don't worry, I will not let her die in the same room in which she was born!

We've heard that story in the previous scenario.



As Ken leaves, the other Sachiko is in the room with the newborns. She intercepts Ken.

Ken was born from a mother, like all these babies here, right?
But us, we're different. We're not real. The real Sachiko killed herself in a fit when she was not chosen as crew.
That's right. The actual Sachiko was the first one to jump from the church in Minago. We're just clones synthesized from the nuclei of Sachiko's cells.
I guess you could say that our birthday is the day our father swore revenge on Linda and the members of the selection committee.



A good spot to end this part, I think!

Well, that was pretty crazy, I'm not going to lie, so let's all take a moment to catch our breath, yeah?




Today first we have an illustration/storyboard depicting the scene we just saw, with Robo-Sachiko and Linda on the floor in pain.



And then just another weird one of Linda!






So, I did promise you a bit of a rare extra today, and here it is.

This is a brief Japanese TV advert for Linda³ Again from back in 1997 when it was released on PlayStation 1! Of course, due to the age of the video, it's presented in glorious 240p! Just kidding, that's the only kind of copy I was able to track down, so... enjoy!



Yes, it is ridiculously spoilery, which is why I couldn't post it until now!

Well, see you next time!