Part 4: Now It Gets Good

Well, we've basically dealt with all the set-up, we've established our characters and the premise of the series, so, at last,

Now It Gets Good



We'll start by returning to Brittany hall to see if we can find out anything about the girls in the photo. This time Kelly doesn't bother coming to the door.

It's open.

After you.



The window has safety bars on it. I guess that's kind of ironic, in a morbid kinda way. Only one bed in the room. I guess Kelly got rid of the other bed after JoAnn... left.

There's also a telephone and a notebook on JoAnn's desk, and the corkboard has three photographs pinned to it.



The future Mrs. Davenport? I wonder what that means. I recognise the girl in the center photograph. That's JoAnn. And on the right, that's her. The ghost in the park. She looks so happy here. I wonder what happened to make her... like that.

Could I ask you some follow up questions, Kelly?

*sigh* Fine. Make it quick.

We have several options here:
Give thanks for her generosity
Inquire about her state of mind
Ask permission to search the place
Question her
Say good bye

Thanks again for lending me that photograph.

No big deal. It was just sitting there on her desk.

How are you holding up?

I'm fine. Midterms are a bitch, but I'm handling it. Or I WOULD be handling it if you didn't keep bugging me.

Can I take a look around?

What for?

Just to see if I can find anything else about JoAnn.

What, you're a detective now?

Well...

Forget it.

Well, time to pull out the notebook.



Could you tell me about the other two girls in the photo?

Oh. THEM.

You know them?

Only through JoAnn.

Do you know their names?

The blond girl is... Alli. I think. And the Asian girl is Susan. I tried to avoid them when they were here.

Really? Why?

Look, I need my space. JoAnn needed her friends around her. So whenever JoAnn turned this place into Social Central, I split. They didn't care for me, and I didn't care much for them.

Do you know anyone named "Davenport"?

No, but it's a stupid name.

It's written right over here on JoAnn's bulletin board.

You think I care what she does? I mean, what she did. I mean, I don't know anyone with that name. Sorry.

Do you know anything about JoAnn's friend, Alli?

You mean Miss Blondie?

Yeah.

I know enough, which isn't much. She was over here all the time, visiting JoAnn. She was kinda... sweet, I guess. Laughed all the time. Ugh that was annoying. That was usually my cue to get outta here. Why do you want to know about her?

I'm having... difficultty finding her. Would you know where she is?

I dunno. She could be anywhere. Studying. Partying.

Pushing up daisies?

Shh!

Huh?

Nothing.

Right.

I don't suppose you know anything about Susan?

Not much. Quiet, I guess. Maybe she just didn't talk around me. I never stuck around long enough to get to know her.

Thanks for helping out.

Yeah, sure. Whatever.

Maybe JoAnn's notebook will have some useful information?

Can I...?

No. JoAnn and I might not have been buddies. But I'll be damned if I'm gonna let some stranger paw through her stuff.

Here we come to a pretty clever little puzzle. We're going to need a distraction so we can swipe the notebook. If you watched the video in the last update you'll have seen Joey making the curtains in Rosa's apartment move. He could probably blow some of Kelly's papers about, but we need a way to speak to him without making Kelly suspicious...

Can I use your phone?

You what?

It'll only take a second.

Fine fine. Just hurry up.

Who do you think you're calling?

Hello, could I speak to Joey please?

...

Hi, Joey?

Um...

Yes, I had some questions for you.

... Ahh! Heh. Not bad, kid. Not bad! If you got something to say, say it quick. Lady pincushion here is starting to look a little hot under the collar.

Joey, can you do something about that little bird who is watching me?

Huh? You mean metal-nose?

Yes. She's making me nervous.

Me? What can I do?

You performed a little trick for me earlier. I'd like you to repeat it for me.

Trick?

Joey, do you see the pile of papers on the desk?

Yeah...

I need you to work your magic on them.

Ahhh. Sure sure. I can handle that.

Thanks again, Kelly.

Yeeah. Sure.

At this point Joey knocks Kelly's papers onto the floor and as she bends down to pick them up you have a few seconds to grab the notebook from the desk. If you miss your chance you can just get him to repeat it as many times as needed.

Like I said, this puzzle is quite clever, and I do like it, but it does have a couple of glaring flaws. Firstly, you have to go through the right dialogue options with Joey in Rosa's apartment to get him to demonstrate the trick before you'll be able to request it here, but you can do the trick with the phone either way, it just won't do you any good. This can make it really difficult to figure out what to do. The other problem is that it doesn't really look like Kelly's watching you anyway, so it can be hard to figure out what the brief distraction was supposed to accomplish. Still, it's not too bad.

With that done we can leave Kelly's room.

So congratulations, kid. You commited ^_[sic] your first burglary.

Is that what I just did?

For the greater good, kid. For the greater good.

That makes me feel SO much better.

Now we'll have a look at the notebook and see if it was worth stealing.

Looks like standard poli-sci lecture notes. It looks like JoAnn liked to doodle in class. The last set of notes in this notebook is pretty... strange. I'd better take a closer look.



At this point we have the names Alexander and Davenport in our notebook, but they pretty clearly refer to the same person, so we can combine them.



This doesn't really help us yet though. You can ask Adrian, the RA, if he knows any of JoAnn's friends, but he doesn't, so it's time to go back to the dog park to see if these names trigger any useful memories in Alli's ghost.



I don't want to, but I guess we should talk to the ghost again.

Don't worry. I'll do the talking.



Hey there. Remember me?

No. Maybe.

You're a little... out of sorts. How do you feel?

Lonely, sometimes. The Deacon made me lonely. Got into my head and made everyone go away.

The deacon? Oddly, we can't ask about this deacon yet, so we'll ask about her and her friends for now.

Are you friends with a girl named JoAnn?

JoAnn... JoAnn... Beware JoAnn when her plan's unfurled. For she intends to take over the world. She had to go away. He drove her away. She didn't understand.

Do you know why JoAnn killed herself?

JoAnn? She can't be dead. She's going to change the world. She's not dead Even though she had to go away They all had to go away. Because of the Deacon.

How about Adrian? Do you know him?

Adrian the man. The man with the plan.

Do you know Kelly?

Kelly... Kelly... Crazy Kelly. Made of ice jelly. We all drove her away. But that was okay. It wasn't the Deacon's fault. It was hers.

Is your name Alli?

Yes! That's me. Alli Montego of story and song She kisses the boys, but not for long

Cute. Well, Alli Montego. At least we've confirmed who you are. Can you tell me about your friend Susan?

Quiet Sue. Little Lady Lee, always neat and always fair Won't say much, but you'll know she is there.

Lady... Lee?

She had to go away. Stupid Deacon. Sending away all my friends. Even the little, little ones.

Do you know anyone named "Alexander Davenport"?

On a date, with Alexander the great! Was it an accident, or was it just fate?

Can you tell me who the Deacon is?

The Deacon is the Deacon. We called him and he came. He got into my head. He's scared. He's diseased. He's made me diseased, too. Now everyone goes away.

Look, just... sit tight. We'll figure this out. And we'll be back.

That place is creepy.

What, you don't like dogs?

You know what I mean.



Now that we have some names, it's time to return to Rosa's apartment and hit the internet. Using Rosa's computer is pretty simple, you just pick things out of her notebook and she'll say if she gets any useful hits.



Hm. An Alexander Davenport was listed as being on the Hockey Team at NYU. It doesn't say anything else about him, though. Alli Montego? Let's see if I can find her. Hm. She apparently spent some time on a spiritual internet forum. She was looking for information about... Ouija boards? "Are Ouija boards dangerous?" she asked. "Can they call anything evil? And if so, how do you get rid of it?"

Oh jeez. Another bunch of hacks messing with those stupid boards.

This has happened before?

A few times. Those things are NOTHING but trouble.

"Lee" is a pretty common name, but it should narrow things down. I think I got her. Susan Lee, 18 years old, was admited ^_[sic] to Bellevue Hospital last week after an apparent suicide attempt.

I think that's our girl.

That's all we can look up for now, so we may as well have a chat with Joey before we go visit the hospital again.

Psst! Joey!

Yes, darling?

Can you tell me more about Auntie Lauren?

Eh, I guess. She was a tough lady. Stubborn. Smoked like a chimney.

Anything else?

Later, kid. Later. Let's get through this first.

What was my grandmother like?

Ole Pattycake was a real bundle of laughs.

Pattycake?

Yeah. Your grandmother. Her name was Patricia, right? So you get Pat. Patty. Pattycake.

You really called her Pattycake?

Yeah. That really hacked her off. Come to think of it, just about everything I did hacked her off.

Like what?

Like... eh, forget it. Ask me later.





I was stuck here for twenty five years. Why'd you have to drag me back here, huh?

And we'll talk to the security guy again.



Is Susan Lee a patient here?

Susan? Yeah, we've got here. She came in about a week ago.

May I visit Susan Lee?

Sure, if you are on the approved guest list. What was your name again?

Rosangela Blackwell.

Hm. Sorry, you're not on the list. She'll be out in a week, you can visit her then.

Thanks.

Uh huh.

I hate this puzzle. Not as much as getting Moti's lead tangled in the park, that one was the worst, but this one is pretty bad. The first time I played this game I figured out immediately that all Rosa needed to do was say that her name was Alex Davenport but I just couldn't figure out how to get her to do it. Susan's boyfriend would be on the list, and if you drop the "ander" then Alex could be a girl. Even if the name was written in full it would be easy enough to say "they must have misheard when they wrote it down, it's Alexandra". But if you try this Rosa just objects that Alexander is a boy's name.

What you actually have to do is open up your notebook and combine "Alexander Davenport" with "Adrian".

Hm. The school thought that Adrian was a girl because of his name. "Alex" could also be a girl's name. I wonder...

And now to convince the guard that we gave the wrong name a few seconds ago...

I'd like to see Susan Lee, please.

I told you, you're not on the guest list.

Oh. Well. That's because...

Blame the system
Blame your memory
Blame the guard
Blame Susan
Accept your losses

Actually any of these will work, you just get a slightly different conversation. I decided to blame Susan since she's not here to contradict me.

Susan doesn't know me by that name. She calls me something totally different.

...

Really? Well, what name would be on the list?

My name is Alex Davenport.

Hm. Your name IS on the list.

Can I go in now?

Sure. I'll notify the nurse that you're coming. She'll take you in.

Thanks.

I guess this is either the stupidest security guard ever or he really doesn't give a fuck about his job.



Alexander?

Um, no. I'm sorry.

Where's Alexander?

Tell the truth
Tell a white lie
Feign confusion

Again, this makes no difference, so I told the truth.

He's not here.

They told me... they told me he was coming.

Yeah. I'm sorry but I...

It's okay. He doesn't want to see me, anyway. Who are you?

My name is Rosangela. I'd like to talk to you, if that's okay.

Are you a doctor?

Yes
No
Maybe

Another pointless choice.

No, I'm not a doctor. But I'd still like to talk to you, if that's okay.

Mm hmm.

Get right to it
Inquire about her state of mind
Try to relate to her
Consult your notes

There's no reason not to go straight for the notes and Susan won't really tell you anything no matter what you ask her. She says she doesn't know why JoAnn or Alli killed themselves, and she gets defensive if you ask her about herself, the Deacon or Ouija boards. However, if you use your notebook before you go in and combine "Deacon" with "Ouija boards"...

The girls were interested in ouija boards... and they are all haunted by someone named The Deacon. Could there be a connection?

This combines the two notes into a single entry, "Deacon and Ouija". Asking Susan about this is more fruitful. As usual, if you failed to combine the notes earlier you can just leave, do it, then come back.

Susan, can you listen to me? You're not crazy. I know what happened. You summoned the Deacon with the Ouija Board.

No. That didn't really happen...

Susan. You don't have to pretend. I believe you.

You... do?

Whatever happened, I believe you.

He still comes to me. The drugs keep him away during the day, but when I sleep... He enters my head and won't stop screaming. I thought I was crazy, but JoAnn and Alli... How could it happen to all three of us? It's impossible.

No, it's not.

No, it's not.

The Deacon is real?

I believe so, yes.

Are you here to help me?

I'm going to try.

Thanks God. I was ready to die here, but...

I know. Can I ask you some questions about what happened?

Sure. Ask whatever you want.

Can you tell me anything about JoAnn?

JoAnn wanted to save the world, but she couldn't even save her friends. After Alli... went, JoAnn couldn't take it. She blames herself, but it's not her fault. I don't blame her for it. Any of it. It was only luck that I ended up here, and didn't die.

Do you know why JoAnn killed herself?

Yes. The Deacon... He got in our heads. His voice keeps pleading, babbling. Nothing shuts him up. Just keeps... going. I just wanted quiet. Peace and quiet. That's why JoAnn jumped off the roof. She was willing to give anything to just keep him quiet. Even her life.

Can you tell me about Alli?

Alli. Oh, I miss her so much. The sweetest, funniest person in the world. You couldn't help but smile with her around. She was always dragging us out on some adventure. She was so... different. Every other girl had pictures of boys on their walls. She had pictures of dogs. She loved dogs. She was studying to be a vet to take care of them. And now she can't. She... She was the first of us to go. Why is that? How come the strongest of us was the first to break down?

So what happened to you, Susan? What did the Deacon do to you?

The same thing he did to the others. Got into my head and just wouldn't keep quiet. It was just so noisy inside my head, I... had to do something. I saw the speeding taxi, and I just... Well, you know. Here I am.

Were you hurt?

No. The driver hit the brakes in time. Taxi missed me completely. Then the stupid cop on the corner dragged me here. I can't even kill myself right.

I have to go now, Susan. But I'll come back to check on you again.

Mmm.

So now we know why Alli's ghost is haunting the dog park. Hopefully we'll be able to make some use of that information.



Yeah, I can see that. Was it the darkness that gave it away?

I'm just saying.

One thing to note here is that if you stand around in the lobby, Joey will wander about and any time he gets close to the guard's radio it turns to static, distracting the guard. I wonder if that will be important later? This seems like a good point to end this update, but just quickly I'll have Rosa ask Joey about her aunt again, see if Joey's feeling chatty.

Can you tell me more about Auntie Lauren?

Your aunt was... she was tough. Always ready to pick a fight. Wouldn't take guff from nobody. We got on famously.

So you liked her?

Liked her? Hell.

...

Sure I liked her. She was the first person in ten years who was willing to talk to me. She didn't scream or run away. And she certainly didn't SWOON, like some people.

Shut up.

She just looked right at me and said "Oh." That was it. That was all I needed to hear.

So what happened after that?

What's this? An interrogation? Cut it with the questions, kid. You're bothering me. We'll talkabout this later.

And we'll ask about Rosa's grandmother as well.

Why did she hate you so much?

Because I ruined her perfect little life. She had the nice house, the supportive hubby, the two kids... And then I come along.

Yeah, you have a way of ruining peaceful lives.

Hm.

Anything else?

Nah, I'm done talking about her. Ask me again later.

And finally, here's Dave Gilbert's commentary tracks for this section.

http://youtu.be/pqSe6fC1FNs