Part 20: Skipping Steps

So I bet you saw that update and thought to yourself, “oh boy it’s time for a boss battle against Twisted Cray,” right? I mean that’s been how chapters have been ending. A named character suddenly transmogrifies into a rejected Kingdom Hearts design or some fluttering mess of polygons to do battle with Aya Brea.

Yeah… Plot twist incoming: Naw. That’s not happening here. The Cray boss battle never got implemented. I’m assuming it is cut content. Not that I have any proof of the matter. There is a Japanese only The 3rd Birthday artbook out there. But hell if I can find scans of it beyond a few grainy bits of concept art found on the Parasite Eve wiki.

ANYWAY! We’re just going to skip right ahead to the closing chat in the anime blood sea portion of these encounters. Pay no mind that Cray has changed clothes from his Russo Squad uniform back to his 2013 civilian duds in the five seconds between scenes. It’s clearly his personal mental projection in this realm outside of reality! Certainly, it’s not a continuity error as scenes are hastily stitched together to ship the game. Why would you think such a thing?! Also ignore that according to the timeline, Cray and Aya should have literally just met. Like, the original reason Cray wasn’t killed with the rest of Russo’s Squad, before it was revealed he was out busy murdering them all for… some reason… was that he just started his new gig at CTI that week. But, details… I can keep track of them, but I can see how people making the game could let most of them Jesus Christ a few slip…



Alright, listen up, rookie. If you show fear, you're as good as dead. You've gotta be strong.



*standard gasp response*
Are you going to… Are we going to fight?
What…? No. Why would we do that?
It’s just that Gabrielle turned into a Twisted and we fought and…
Who? Monsigny? That moody CTI Sniper? She’s was a Twisted?!
No, not now. A few days ago. I mean… A few days ago for me, but in the future for you… Look, I will just let you talk.



There's still time… Go get her.
…Huh?
After all, she's family, isn't she? That makes her all that matters. You have to find her, Aya, and never… let go of her.
…
*nods* My… sister?



So… you saw her just before? A young girl who looked like me. Not… your daughter, Isabella? Like you were saying?
Oh… Yeah, I guess I was mistaken, huh?
…Okay?



Welp. Good talk. Thelonious is just going to go ahead and get time-fragged for no particular reason now.



I'd knew I'd see you again.






Music: Crossing Time, Crossing Mind



Meanwhile, back in the future, Cray has made his way to the roof of the CTI building to have a wistful talk with himself as he’s slowly deleted from the timeline. I am not even going to try to figure out how he knew coming in contact with Aya in the past would lead to his… what would you even call this sequence of events? Time Suicide?



If you’re wondering if you just glanced over a Datalog entry saying that Cray’s daughter was killed, I’ll give you the answer: Nope! There is zero mention of the death of Cray’s daughter (or her turning into a Twisted) prior to the end of Episode 3. Indeed, there is zero mention of it at all until a post-game Datalog entry everyone gets summarizing their entire role in the game’s plot. Turns out his wife ate it too! Not that he seems to broken up about that. No specific date or mention why he had a psychotic break and murdered all his own men, though!

On the subject of as of yet seen Datalog entries: The updated entry for Cray following this chapter acts as though Aya fought a Twisted mutant Cray here. Whoops. Didn’t quite cut that boss battle thoroughly. I mean the Datalog writer would have to communicate with the scenario writer and that seems like an awful lot of coordination. Meh!





Merry Christmas! We’re now three characters deep on resurrecting people on Christmas Eve only to kill ‘em off by Christmas Day. Time-fragging and socks. That’s all Aya Brea ever gifts for the holidays.



You did it, Aya. You saved Manhattan.
Not the people… The infrastructure… The landmarks… But the… spirit? I had a point, but…



What I wouldn't give to eat ice cream together with you once again.



DID SOMEBODY SAY ICE CREAM?!



Oh good. Blank and Lowel Pollygawn the CTI security guard are here to…? Look, the script said to go to the roof and just kind of trailed off. They’re working with what they got.







Blank runs across the roof towards the vanishing Cray, but sadly he’s too late to shoulder-check Thelonious off the roof to give him a proper soldier’s death. A pity.



Music ends…



Blank reflects on the loss of the co-worker he’d only spoken maybe six or seven lines to briefly, before he is startled by a revelation.





And so history catches up to the new timeline and Cray is quickly forgotten by Blank, as he’s now been dead for nearly two years.



…Say, wasn’t the entire point of this last mission to destroy the central Babel? Cuz the new timeline has shifted and umm… Manhattan’s skyline is still looking kiiiiiinda rough.









I suppose this means Aya has regained her memories of Kyle Madigan. Also eww, Aya was going to marry Kyle Madigan? …And waited a decade to do so, for some reason.





[Begin the Ascent.]
…

Aya walks towards <THE POSSIBILITY OF> Eve…




Music: Unforgettable Man



I’m coming! I’m coming! Hold up a sec. Still trying to figure this time and space shifting thing out.



There we go. Sorry I’m late! Took a wrong turn at Temporal Vortex and ended up in a Jewish deli in Queens back in August 2011. What did I miss? Wait… you know my name now?
*gasps*





Sorry. No time for ghost boyfriend fiancée chat. The timeline is updating in the past. Which… I mean, you’d think time alterations would initiate there but hey… The 3rd Birthday plays by its own rules.



What? What’s wrong with Eve? And why is everything turning blue now? I feel like I mi—



WHOA! Hello! That’s new! Err… Right… Eve.



And so Aya poofs back to the changed future. I’m sure things will work out alright this time.







…
…
…You didn’t want me to save this guy, too. Because…
*nudges with foot* Yeah… that isn’t happening…





And so concludes Episode 3: Against the World – Operation Red Fog. I did that entire episode in just over half an hour and I only got a C ranking? What the hell? I skipped the bulk of two major encounters by detonating two of the ten lost soldiers! C’mon, game! Oh well. I still got an A ranking. I’ll take it.

And so we… ultimately accomplished nothing beyond administering assisted Time Suicide to Thelonious Cray. Russo’s Squad all still died like in the original timeline and Aya didn’t actually bother destroying the Big Orb of the Babel since Eve’s theoretical ghost, or whatever the hell terminology they want to use, was just kind of floating in front of it and it would be a bother to scoot her out of the way. But hey! Hyde said it was a successful mission. Good enough, Aya!

Tune in next time for a big ol’ change of pace, as The 3rd Birthday digs out an alternate script draft and decides to just run with it! And as it does, we are introduced to a new, fucking incredibly creepy ally. It’ll be a… thing, as The 3rd Birthday continues…






Video: Episode 3 End Cutscenes





Thelonious Cray – It’s an okay jacket, I guess. But it’s no Leon S. Kennedy quality wear.



Eve Brea - Now that's a nice outfit. I could see a human wearing that. Are you feeling alright, Nomura?