Part 5: Blackwell Legacy - Update 4

Plenty of personality disorders, perhaps But seriously, I fully agree with you, this series is very much carried by the lead characters.


Let's do this!

Update 4

Time for Rosa to continue her quest of being the world's foremost rookie suicide reporter.

Spoiler Alert: By the end of this update, a Big Thing is going to happen!!!


Now, where were we?



Oh yes. On to Brittany hall. This sequence is primarily designed to introduce us to the notepad puzzle mechanic, and so using the notepad in various ways will be essential to getting past it.



I feel like hell and I have to interview college kids. Hopefully this won't take too long.

Upon arriving, Rosa immediately has another one of her now-commonplace headaches. Of course, on any other day she would probably just write it off as stress, but after being told she is GENETICALLY PREDISPOSED TO EARLY-ONSET DEMENTIA, she is obviously concerned.

Hospital Waiting Room



Sure thing. You're cleared. Go right in.

Rosa decides to quickly duck out and speak with Doc Quentin instead.



This prick is still grinning like an idiot.

Doctor Quentin?
Oh, hello. Come in. Come in.
Do you know anything about... headaches?
It's hardly my specialty, but I know enough. Why?
I've been getting them. Lots of them.



Gee, I wonder what might have caused her some stress?

Are they usually this bad?
It varies. Over the counter pain medication and rest. That's all I'd suggest.
Thanks. I guess I'll head out.
Very well. Good bye, Miss Blackwell.

Considering last time he told us we were likely to end up in a searingly painful medically-induced coma for decades on end, I guess Rosa is happy to get a null diagnosis this time around.

NYU Theme



Okay, back to work. Rosa's boss told her to get a word in with the R.A., and here he is.

Also, I have to say, this place's music is pretty damn cool. Probably the highlight of Legacy, though still only a poor cousin of tracks to come in the later games.



Rosa knocks on the R.A.'s door.

Hi. I'm Rosangela Blackwell.
Can I help you?
Perhaps. Could I ask you a few questions?
Oh. This is about JoAnn, isn't it?
You know her?
Well I am the R.A. for this floor. I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't know everybody. The campus police found her around 5am this morning.

Rosa decides to cut straight to the chase.



Hm. Well, all right. But could you leave my name out of it?

At this point, Rosa has the option to either agree, refuse, or to try to weasel out of committing either way.

If she refuses, Adrian clams up:

I don't think I can do that.
Oh. Freedom of the Press and all?
Something like that.
Then I'm afraid I can't say anything. Sorry.

If she agrees:

That shouldn't be a problem.
Good. JoAnn's parents have already asked the Dean to fire me. I don't know anyone else knowing who I am.

And if she is evasive:

I can't promise anything. That's up to the editor.
Look, I'll level with you. My job is already on the line, thanks to this mess. I won't say a word unless I have your promise.
I suppose I can give my editor a false name.
That should be fine.

Hilariously, it is revealed in the third game that the article is eventually published with Adrian's full name, so I guess Rosa was crossing her fingers behind her back or something here. Gilbert claims this was accidental and he forgot about Rosa promising to leave Adrian's name out, but I like to pretend it wasn't

What do you want to know?



Rosa gets to choose what to ask the R.A. from her notepad clues. Note that Adrian himself is now a clue too. The list of clues can get fairly long at times, though the game is pretty good about removing them when they are no longer relevant.

Asking about JoAnn and her suicide:

What can you tell me about JoAnn? What was she like?
I never hung out with her socially, but she seemed nice enough. Nobody ever complained about her. She always had friends around her. She never had any trouble, as far as I know. Her... suicide... came as a total surprise.
Can you tell me about JoAnn's suicide?
She jumped off the roof. She died instantly. It was the middle of the night. There was... there was no way anyone could have stopped her. Make sure you print that.

Adrian comes across as a bit of a creep here, but in fairness, I guess it would be a tough thing to be responsible for a young lady who goes on to kills herself.



Next, Rosa asks for a photo.

A picture? No. Why would I?
Just asking.

Yeah, that would be just a bit too creepy. Rosa quickly changes the conversation.

So how did you get to be the R.A. of this floor?
What do you mean?
Well, it's a girl's floor, and you, well...
Aren't?
Yes.
Well, it's like this.



Wait, what? In what Universe is Adrian a girl's name? Have I missed something here? Adrienne maybe?

None of the girls have complained?
Not yet. They seem to prefer it. This sort of thing happens quite frequently. You'd be surprised.

I'm... not sure it does. Even Rosa can't help but tease him a bit further about it.

They really thought you were a girl?
Yes.
Well, that's all for now. Thanks for helping out.
Just remember to leave my name out of it.

NO PROMISES, SUCKER!!!



Seriously, Rosa has the guiltiest damn conscience. I just wanted you to read them



You're such a delicate little flower, Rosa.



After walking past a handful of doors, Rosa finally comes across JoAnn's dorm. Obviously JoAnn won't be home, but perhaps her roommate Kelly can give her some goss?



Kelly looks like a real reputable character.

Rosa has three options of how to introduce herself here, but they all amount to pretty much the same thing

Hi. I'm Rosangela Blackwell.
Am I supposed to know you?
No, I'm with the Village Eye.
The village what?
The Village Eye. The newspaper.
I've never heard of it.

Three more choices here. Rosa can either defend her employer, shrug it off or simply move on. I like the first option the best.

It's for sale in the stand just outside your dorm.
You must have seen it.
Well I haven't. What do you want?

If Rosa chooses to shrug it off, she mumbles that it's just a small paper, and Kelly drills her with a deadpan "Yeah, I guessed that."

I'd like to talk to you about your room-mate, if that's all right?
Jesus Christ. I'm busy with midterms. I told the campus police everything. Do you have to bother me?
Look...



Why is that my problem?

Kelly is obviously big on empathy.

At this point, Rosa is given an entire smorgasbord of three-choice-dialogue forks, about four in a row. In the interest of keeping this flowing, I'll just present them as one continuous dialogue.

So you and JoAnn weren't close?
Brilliant deducation, Sherlock. Can you go away?
I only want a few minutes.
I don't care. I'm busy. I don't care what you want, and I could care less about JoAnn. Just. Go.
I understand that this must be a difficult time for you.
Difficult? Hell no. It's been great. You know how long I've been wanting my own room?

Seriously, Kelly is a huge bitch. That last line is a pretty reprehensible thing to say on literally the day of your roommate's suicide.

That's... pretty harsh.
Yeah? So what? You have a problem with that?
You don't care? Not even a little bit?
Why the hell should I? And for that matter why should you?
It must have been hard, living with someone you don't like.
What, you're psychoanalyzing me now? What the hell do you know about it? You're really starting to piss me off.

Mind you, I guess I'd be a bit pissy if some reporter came along and kept asking questions at a time like this too. Rosa can either backpedal, apologise, or remain steadfast. We'll go with the latter...

Will you please calm down?
Calm DOWN? Who the hell do you think you are?
I just want to know a little bit about JoAnn. Look, my boss will kill me if I come back with nothing. Can't you help me out here?
...

Somehow Rosa's dorky smile actually wins Kelly over here.

Fine. You want to know about JoAnn? She's DEAD.



She's still a huge bitch, though.

Did JoAnn act... unusual before she died?
Nope. Same ole JoAnn. Studied at her desk all day and slept all night, as usual. Quiet as a little mouse.



At this point, we can speak to Kelly about our clues.

JoAnn:
Is there anything else you can tell me about JoAnn?
No.

JoAnn's Suicide:
Do you have any thoughts on why JoAnn would kill herself?
Nope. Just another kid who couldn't hack it.

Photograph:
Do you have a photograph of JoAnn that we could use for the newspaper?
You want a what?
Just a photograph. You'll get it right back.
Yeah right. You think I'm giving you anything? Think again.

Adrian:
Can you tell me anything about Adrian?
The R.A.? He's okay. He helps us when we need it, and keeps out of our way when we don't. That's the way it should be.

Kelly:
Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?
Why do you want to know?
Just background info for the paper.
I don't think so.
Suit yourself.

JoAnn studied all day:



Yeah, sure. Whatever.

JoAnn slept all night:

JoAnn never had trouble sleeping?
How should I know?
You lived with her.
Like I pay attention.

Well, that was all thoroughly useless. Rosa decides to move on.

Thanks for helping out.
Yeah, sure. Whatever.



Rosa heads back to Adrian. Now that she has a bunch more clues on her notepad, she has extra things she can speak with him about.

Hi. It's me again.
...
You have more questions, I imagine?
Is that okay?
I suppose so. What do you want to know?

Kelly:
What can you tell me about JoAnn's room-mate?
Kelly? Have you met her?
Yes.
Quite a sight, huh? But don't judge her by that. She's the sharpest kid you'll ever meet. She gets straight A's on everything.
Really?
Yep. She's pre-med.
Can you tell me anything else about Kelly?
I... don't feel it's my place to say anything else. If you want to know more, you'll have to ask her.

JoAnn studied all day:



I don't think she had any problems. But of course, the pressure can get to anybody.

JoAnn slept all night:
Do you know if JoAnn had any trouble sleeping?
I'm afraid I wouldn't. Her room-mate, Kelly, never complained, but that's not surprising.
why is that?
Well, Kelly rarely spent the night in her room. She only comes here to study, as far as I've seen.
Do you know where Kelly was sleeping?
No. It's not my place to ask.

The fact that Kelly rarely slept at home is then added to the notepad as a clue.

Well, that's all for now. Thanks for helping out.
Just remember to leave my name out of it.

You can keep saying it Adrian, but it's not going to happen!!



Rosa heads back to confront Kelly about not sleeping at home often.

So you've been sleeping somewhere else lately?
Yeah, I've been at my boyfriend's. You've been following me, or something?
No. No. Just confirming the information.
Looks like Adrian's been talking.



Now this puzzle shows off one of the inherent flaws in the notepad mechanic. You may have already made the logical leap here - how could Kelly know JoAnn slept all night if she was never there herself at night? Unfortunately, Rosa will not make that logical leap until you combine the clues in the notepad.

It's a bit of a clunky system, and it does tend to lend itself to simply combining every new clue you receive with all the previous clues just in case something falls out. Still, it's effective enough for what it is.

Waaait a minute. Something isn't right. If Kelly's been spending her nights somewhere else... How can she know if her room-mate was sleeping well or not? Hm. I think Kelly was lying to me.



I've got no idea. Why don't you ask her?

Actually, I'm not sure why Rosa didn't just do that to start with. Over to Kelly we go...



Your R.A. told me that you haven't been sleeping in your dorm.
Yeah, so?
You told me that JoAnn slept in her room every night.
So?
How would you know JoAnn slept here if you've been sleeping somewhere else?
...huh? Oh!



Did you lie to me?
I didn't lie! I just... Oh screw it. You wanna talk? Fine. What do you want to know?

In a fantastic display of Adventure Game Logic, Rosa is actually rewarded for snooping around behind Kelly's back and then confronting her about a tiny slip of the tongue. I think the idea is she respects Rosa a bit more now for actually having thought outside the square, or something.

As a result, Kelly will now give somewhat more meaningful responses to the clues.

So what was JoAnn really like?
To be honest, there's nothing to say. She was studying political science, which is kind of cool I guess. But she was so... vanilla.
Vanilla?
You know, sweet but not much there? Just a typical college kid. Acted just like everybody else. She seemed proud of it.

Presumably by "vanilla", Kelly actually means "didn't wear pyjama bottoms and tank tops with skulls on them."

Did JoAnn act... unusual before she died?
well, no.



That sounds kind of important...

What did she say?
No idea. Couldn't understand her. She swore up and down that she wasn't doing it. She looked a bit scared, though.
Scared. How so?
Just scared. I didn't need the drama, so I've been sleeping at my boyfriend's place.
So you weren't here when she...
Killed herself? No. I wasn't here. Not that it would have made a difference. Are we done?

The "Not that it would have made a difference" line is fairly well delivered, with an appropriate amount of guilt mixed in with Kelly's normal defiance.

We have all the info we need, but Rosa has one more item she needs for her story.



Hm. All right. Just a sec. This was hers. It was on her desk. She won't be needing it anymore. JoAnn is the girl on the left.
Thanks.



And here it is. JoAnn is pictured with two friends and looking pretty happy. That's everything - Pulitzer prize, here we come!!



On her way out of Brittany hall, Rosa experiences yet another of her patented headaches. Presumably the stress involved in managing her notepad was too much.

This is just getting worse. At least I have enough for the story now. I'd better get home.

Not Quite Right



This is... getting bad.

Geez, Rosa is a mess. I don't think she stopped for any pain medication on the way either. Hopefully she has some in her apartment.



Oh. My. God. This really hurts. Sleep. That's all I need. I'll just type up this story and get to bed. Shouldn't take that long.

Rosa continues to suffer debilitating headaches. This day has really taken it's toll on her.



Rosa's computer now has the "Do Research" option, which she can use to look up information on her various clues. It's not very often useful, but we'll see it feature in a couple of puzzles.

For now, however, Rosa simply writes the article.

Right. No more interuptions.

A quick fade to black, and then:

Done. Article's finished. Picture is scanned. And I am DONE for the day.

Going Insane



As Rosa walks to her room, however, the worst yet of the headaches wracks her. In the game, this is accompanied by a horror-esque organ screech.

Notice the photograph starting to glow.

What... is... happening?

Wave after wave of headaches continue to pile onto Rosa as she stumbles around the room, until...



The pain. It's gone! That was strange.

After one final headache, the pain suddenly disappears entirely.



The music, despite being a pretty mediocre track, is actually handled pretty well here. It slowly dims as the pain goes away, only to slowly rise in volume again as Rosa approaches the glowing photograph.

The photo... something is different about it. I almost don't want to look, but...



Motherfucker, there's a goddamn ghost in the fucking photo!!!



Rosa is appropriately aghast at what she has just seen, given the conversation she just had earlier with Doctor Quentin. She quickly tries to reassure herself.

I did not just see that. I'm not going crazy. No. It's just the stress. That's all. Auntie's death, work, life... I just need a rest. That's all...

Suddenly, Rosa hears a swirling sound from behind her.

Hello Joey



Rosa approaches the swirling energy, and it seems to implode inside her head - and the form of a ghost is revealed to her.

And finally, perhaps blessedly, Rosa simply blacks out entirely.

Why do they always do that?



SORCERY IS AFOOT IN MANHATTAN! Join us again tomorrow when Rosa emerges from her stupor to find out just what the hell is going on here!