Part 7: Blackwell Legacy - Update 5 (Part 2)

Rosa's Theme



What an... odd dream.

Rosa wakes up groggy the next morning, assuming that Joey's appearance was just a horrible nightmare fueled by stress and her chat with Doc Quentin.



Unfortunately for her, Joey is waiting right outside her door for her.

... Oh. You're still here.
Wouldn't be anywhere else. Has anybody told you that you snore?

Hahahaha, Joey is such a jerk These two are a match made in heaven.

I do NOT snore!
Like a chainsaw, darling. I'd be a little hacked off, if I actually slept.
If it bothers you so much, you can always leave.
I wish I could, dear. I told you, I couldn't leave even if I wanted to.
Have you been here all night?
Where else am I gonna go? I can't leave your side. Doesn't matter if you're asleep or not.

At this point, Rosa is starting to get pissed.

So this is going to be my life from now on.
Pretty much, yeah.
You're going to follow me around for the rest of my life.
That's how it works, as far as I can tell.
Great. Just... great.

Joey isn't about to let her do all the complaining, though.



You think I chose to be shackled to your family for the last forty years? Your grandmother refused to accept it, and look what happened to her.
And Auntie?
She... made a mistake.

That's pretty damn ominous. Presumably that "mistake" is what left her insane and hospital-bound for the remainder of her life.

What kind of mistake?
Hey, what is this? Twenty questions? What's with the third-degree?
Are you hiding something, Joey?
Who me? I'm an open book. It's not my fault you can't read.
What does that mean?
It means zip it.

Rosa doesn't want to drop it.

I have a right to know.
No, you WANT to know. There's a difference. I don't have to tell you squat.
She's the only family I had. I want to know about her.
We all want lots of things. Doesn't mean we get 'em.
Look, this isn't easy, you know.



My whole life has turned upside down. FINE.

Rosa yells the last word through gritted teeth. I have to say, I am liking that these two are both giving as good as they're getting. This scene could be a hell of a lot more uncomfortable if Joey just browbeat a tearful Rosa into submission.

But you could at least meet me halfway.
You've accepted it, you say?
So far, yes.
You've only seen a taste of it. Are you ready to go all the way?

I'm not sure I like where this is heading...

What do you mean?
Ready to see what's out there. Ready to see what this is all about.

Rosa can either respond positively:

Yes.
Good. Maybe there's hope, after all.

Incredulously:

There's MORE?
Oh yes.

Or just continue being bitter about things:

It's not like I have a choice, right?
No. You don't.
So what is it?
I don't have to tell you. It's best if I show you.



At this point, Joey undoes his tie. What exactly is he intending to show Rosa...? Now I'm really concerned about his "all the way" line

Here. Take a hold of this.
I can touch it?
Yeah. The only part of me you CAN touch. Unfortunately.
It... kinda tingles. What is it?
The stuff of life. Or death. I've never quite worked it out.

Joey is speaking about his tie here, but seriously, he could just as easily have pulled out his dick and this dialogue would work just as well.



Now you pull.
Pull the tie?
Yeah, pull!
Okay...

Hahahaha, I say again......

Inside Nodespace



Rosa yanks Joey's tie, and his spirit collides with her brain, knocking her flying through a portal into some kind of alternative dimension.

Oh... my... God! Where have you taken me?
Relax. Take your time. It's a lot to take in at once.
What is this place?
It's the doorway to infinity, darling. Out there, in the distance.



This area is never given a proper name throughout the series, but apparently Gilbert always thought of it as being called "Nodespace".

The gossamer threads that separate this world from the next. Whatever you want to call it, it's all out there.
How did we get here?
We're inside your head.
You mean, I'm dreaming?



Wait, you mean literally "literally"?

Remember those headaches you had yesterday?
Yeah...
That was your power awakening. Or, to be more specific, it was this place. Forcing its way into your mind.

Jesus Christ, no wonder Rosa was hurting so fucking much. She's got a fucking Universe stuck inside her goddamn head.

So what does that mean?
It means that you've got a spiritual waystation in your head.
I'm not sure I like this.

Hahaha, this is so beautifully understated.

Well, like it or not, we're here.
So what does this place actually DO?



This is the closest the game comes to calling this area Nodespace.

You bring spirits into this place, and then send them on their merry way.
That's it?
Well there's a bit more than that.
I thought as much.
You see, many ghosts aren't as lucid as myself. Most can barely tell you their own names, let alone tell you what's wrong. Near as I can figure, they have to come to terms with their... departure... before they can actually depart. You dig me so far?



More games need a "You dig" or "You don't dig" option. If you choose the latter, Joey gives a condensed version:

No. Can you explain it again?
I'll put it more simply for you. The ghosts don't know they're dead. So we have to help them accept it. Once they accept their death, they are much more willing to move on. That's my job, see. I talk to the spooks. They trust me more because I'm one of them. You do the legwork. See?

And so now, half way through the game, we finally come to the point of it. Rosa and Joey's purpose, it seems, is to help ghosts accept their death, and then send them on their way to the next plane of existence. Via Rosa's head. And Joey's magical tie.



Actually, she doesn't have that many.

What about that ghost in the park. The one from last night. Why didn't we bring her here?
First of all, I didn't think you were ready. And secondly, that ghost was too lost and confused. When a ghost is like that, I can't just force the tie into their hands. It won't work. Don't ask me why. They have to KNOW they are dead first. Your aunt called it being "spiritually ready."

Next, Rosa asks a very pertinent question.

What about you? Can you go through that hole and move on?
I wish, darling. But I can't. I've tried before, but it just spits me back out. I'm stuck here, whether I like it or not.

Joey sounds a bit drained in that last response, prompting Rosa to ask how he is.

Are you okay, Joey?
Me, I'm dandy.
You don't look all right.
Eh, it's just this place. I don't like it. Probably because I don't belong. Maybe someday, but not now.

Rosa has only one more question for Joey.



How did that happen?
Not sure. Near as your aunt and me figured, the tie is just an extension of whatever power brought us here. It's not a real physical tie. No more than I am a real physical person.
But that makes no sense.
Look, just accept it, dollface. Forget logic. For you, logic went out the window the day I appeared in your bedroom. There ain't no instruction manual for this. Your aunt and me just figured it out as we went along.

So apparently Joey and Lauren were doing this all those years ago. At least until she went insane, I guess.

I think I've learned enough.
You sure?
Yeah.
All right. Let's get out of here.

Rosa's Theme



Joey and Rosa step back out of Nodespace, and return to her apartment.

Welcome back.
Ugh.
Take it easy. It's a little disorientating.
I'm fine. So what now? Go back to the park and bring her to... that place?
You got it.

Rosa seems to be starting to accept this, which is probably a good thing since Joey does seem all that amenable to being held up.

And how do we do that?
There are three steps. First, we have to find out more about her. Second, we use that information to her through to her. Convince her that she's dead. And three, help her move on.
How do we find out more about her? She could be anybody?
Not necessarily. That picture you got? The one of the three girls? That blond girl is either the ghost in her park, or her twin sister.



Apparently the ghost in the park looks like the middle girl in the photo. Note that the blonde girl is not JoAnn, so apparently two of the girls are dead. This all seems like a pretty damn big coincidence.

You're sure?
She's a dead ringer. No pun intended.
That's... convenient.
Don't look so surprised, darling. This type of things will happen more often than you think.

Something else dawns on Rosa.

Were you looking through my stuff?



What else am I gonna do while you're sleeping?

Hahaha, Joey is an asshole

The blond girl is dead.
Looks like it.
And this other girl, JoAnn. She's dead, too.
Yep.
What's going on?
That, my dear, is out bread and butter.

Alright, so we need to figure out what happened. Next order of business:

How do we convince ghosts that they are actually dead?
That's the tricky part. Near as I can figure, we need to remind the ghosts who they are.



Joey delivers this line with all the snark you can imagine.

So we need to do whatever we can to bring them back to themselves.
And how do we do that?
Usually by finding something that has personal significance to them. It could be an object, a piece of information, or even another person.

Obviously, this kind of thing will form the primary source of puzzles throughout the series.

So we need to know more about that ghost in the park.
You're a writer, yeah? Think of this as the ultimate character study.

Finally, Rosa asks about sending the spirits on their way.

How do we help a ghost move on?



I give one end to the spook, the other end to you. You pull the ghost in, and you send them on their way.
You don't come in with me?
No, sorry. That's your job.

No wonder he felt out of place in Nodespace, he doesn't usually go there.

I think I've heard enough.
Yeah, let's get going.

And with that massive sequence out of the way (at no point during this entire update was there an opportunity to save, move around, or do anything other than be railroaded through dialogue sequences), the setting is set, the leads are revealed, and the game "proper" begins. Of course, Legacy is fairly short, so we're already half way through this one. But the beauty of the episodic format is that subsequent games don't require such a large lead-in, and the leads have enough personality (not to mention as-of-yet unrevealed backstory) to keep things very interesting.

Tomorrow we'll get started on saving some spooks!!