Part 11: Norah's Nut
Although Toffile made a valiant attempt at the egg puzzle, Atheris was the first to post the correct solution.
Although that's it for puzzles, Shadowed Bacon has pointed out that we can now buy the batteries from the vending machine back in the hotel.
Hello old friend.
Er. Putting in the quarter doesn't seem to do anything. It just comes right back out.
...oh. We have to punch in the code first.
It's still spitting out the quarter.
Hmm. I am hoping that, "exact change only," is not as retarded as it sounds.
Believe it or not, we actually have to look at the stack of quarters and combine the single quarter with it.
Then it will accept our money and spit out batteries.
Here's what the batteries look like before we shove them into the tape recorder.
...and here's what they look like after. I'm not sure where the other two batteries went. Either they vanished into the ether or the main character wanted a 3 volt suppository.
As an apology to gschmidl (and also because it won unanimously) we're headed to the bakery! Seriously, though, sorry about missing the vote. It's been a long week.
The lettering that identifies this bakery is actually written on the world's least transparent window.
The flag up there is one of the few things in the game that actually moves, which means every time I see it I pan the camera up before remembering it's just the stupid flag, then spend 10 minutes trying to wrestle the camera back to a normal position.
As Officer Lowe noted, the bakery has a puzzle lock on it. Like Shivers' elevator puzzles, its initial position randomizes every time you approach. The goal is to replicate the shape on the two corners (in this case a circle).
When you click one of the wheels, it shifts its two rows (or columns) in opposite directions. This makes things quite a bit trickier than they look. The puzzle is actually deceptively simple looking, but about 30 seconds after you start trying to solve it, you start spontaneously swearing at your monitor.
After a good twenty minutes of making maidens blush, the puzzle is finally solved. Magically, I still have no idea how I solved it.
As soon as we walk in we're greeted by stale "hurricane buns". I'm just going to let that one sit.
"...I thought you might have seen something since you're so close. Well, call me if you know anything. Maybe I should call and see if Charles knows anything. Bye."
Since Keith seems to be one of the precious few non-assholes in the game, today we present a very special episode of People Being Dicks. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll remember the 90s and feel old. Maybe that last one's just me.
I love the way she ends that message. It just sounds so forlorn.
I refuse to believe the owner of that voice is over 16.
The memento referred to in the message is already here. It's a small wooden box sitting to the right of the phone (kind of hard to see in the picture if you're not looking for it). As soon as we pick it up...
Just in case any of you had yet to figure out who Mom actually is.
Great. Mom's song is a music box rendition of the you're-about-to-die canyon theme. How appropriate.
Let's take a look at the picture hanging on the wall there. I have a feeling it will prove quite illuminating.
From what we know, this is supposed to be Keith, his wife, Norah, and probably Max, though he looks more like he should be Norah's son in this picture.
It's now that I can reveal everything to you - the true, terrible secret behind this desert town. Is the woman in that picture 30 years old? Younger even? I think not. Her parents are at least in their 70s, and she's somewhere in her 40s. Notice also that her age doesn't seem to change in any of the pictures across town.
The obvious conclusion is that everything in this desert town is a fake. It's all been planted here by Mom as some sort of ghostly practical joke. There is no Darkcloud. There are no missing people. Our band friends are in the next town over, having a coffee and laughing their asses off while watching us through the cameras hidden in the TVs.
Spirit Mom is the milkman!
TV.
Gum. (Ew.)
Needs more gratuitous flame graphics to really amp up that 90s feel.
...okay, here's the real video.
I suddenly feel like cutting myself.
Behind us is apparently some huge, obnoxious plastic castle that we somehow missed on our way in. I think I even see a moat back there. When was the last time you went to a bakery with its own moat?
Looking at the rest of the room, this bakery appears to have an underwater motif. I'm still not sure where the castle fits in. Maybe we're supposed to be drowning in the moat? That's a lovely mental image to have while chewing on your hurricane bun.
As previously mentioned: the world's least transparent window. We might even be able to see ourselves in it if we weren't playing a vampire.
This would be better if a bunch of sea creatures started popping out of the bubble in the corner and spontaneously broke out into Under the Sea. Anyone else remember that song? ...no?
The more of these museum exhibits I see, the more certain I become that Windlenot had a place on this town's tourism board before his untimely demise.
Shivers decorating lesson #26: there's no need for ceiling lights when you can plaster the ceiling with fake coral instead.
Thankfully, the sea motif ends when you exit the main room and step back into the kitchen area. Unfortunately, absolutely nothing in this screenshot can be interacted with, saddening adventure gamers everywhere.
So instead we fishlens over to the other side of the room, which has a couple things to poke at. First, the oven on the left there.
I... I don't... what... even...
Going back one step further into the room, we find ourselves behind this... rolly thing. I'm guessing it's some kind of dough roller, but I don't work in a bakery.
Some non-interactive cooling racks.
I guess it was too soon to call the end of the sea motif, but at least this side is 300% less tacky.
There better not be a fucking snake in there.
Of course not. I forgot: everything has to be empty.
This one actually has a trick, though.
Flip the lever on the bottom right and it starts making a whirring noise, like a conveyor belt shifting around inside. Then, when you open it up...
Please tell me that is a cake.
...it is not a cake.
Every time I think Darkcloud can't possibly get more ridiculous, he one-ups himself.
So, to clarify, he means donuts, not positions. For example, if I jump the far left donut (let's call it #1) it will land on donut #4. Then, donut #2 can no longer jump because there is nowhere it can move which crosses exactly two donuts. If you then move donut #3, it will land on donut #5, creating an impenetrable barrier so that #2 is forever isolated.
Making matters more complicated, we have a limited number of moves. Every time we move, the temperature on that gauge rises one notch. That means we have five moves to solve it in. Like the egg puzzle, this is actually one of the more fun ones.
Solving the puzzle causes another bahos to roll out of the thing behind us. It's that time again.
Puzzles:
Notes:
"Check under the windowsill"
The literal key to "the truth" is under Burt's trailer.
Who is Darkcloud?
Find something to use on the candle.
We have some kind of triangle code thing.
Find something to use on the gas pump.
Find three chess pieces.
What do the directions in the church music and Spell It Out mean?
We need to find a stone symbol of a bearclaw.
We need to find a stone symbol of a ... snake ... thing. It wasn't in Phil's store?
We can't get anything from the soda machine.
Voting:
I swear to god whatever you pick better not hiss at me.
Location list:
Barber Shop
Burt's Trailer
Max's Cave
Mine Entrance
Savings & Loan
Warehouse