Part 10: Blackwell Legacy - Update 8

Let's keep this show running!

Update 8

Time to see if we can find out what the "Future Mrs Davenport", Susan Lee, knows about what's been happening.

Hospital Waiting Room



First thing's first, though, Rosa will need to get past the security guard.

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

Although it's not 100% clear, JoAnn's note last update seems to indicate that Susan was taken here after Alli died, so presumably Alli has been haunting the dog run for some time now.

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.

Wait, really? Out in a week? I would have thought when someone attempts to commit suicide and is subsequently hospitalised in a psychiatric institution that you can't really set a timeline on their treatment like that.



Rosa, of course, is undeterred by the security guard's refusal of her entry, and decides to blatantly lie her way in.

I told you, you're not on the guest list.
Oh. Well. That's because... I wasn't on the list at the time. I should be on it now.
...

Sadly, the security guard is not impressed with Rosa's awesome little smile.

Well let's check then. What was your name again?



Rosa can then choose names from her notepad, though she will refuse to call herself "Ouija boards" or something else stupid like that.

My name is JoAnn.
Sorry. There are no JoAnns on the guest list.
I don't think they'd let dead people on the list, sweetheart. But good try.

Bit of an odd comment from Joey, given that Susan was hospitalised nearly a week before JoAnn committed suicide. But JoAnn did mention that "they wouldn't let" her see Susan, so at least that marries up with her name missing from the guest list.



Of course, this is an Adventure Game, which means Rosa can completely insult the security guard's intelligence by repeatedly giving him different names, one after another, until she hits on one that he'll accept.

You did what?
Yeah. Gave the wrong name. Sorry! It's... a character in a play I'm in.
...
Ugh. That's the best you could come up with?

I love the way Rosa immediately follows every single mistruth with her dorky little grin She'd be the worst poker player ever.

Really? Well what IS your name?



Ahahahahaha.

Your name is Susan Lee as well?
Er, yes.
Right. Well, you're still not on the list.
What are you thinking, doll?

Rosa can attempt to pass herself off as Adrian, or rather Adrienne...

You didn't see it. Maybe you should check again.
I missed it, huh?
I'm sure of it.
...
Well let's check again. What was your name again?
My name is.. Adrienne.
Sorry. No Adriennes on the guest list.

...but that doesn't work either. Neither does Alli, which gets the same response as above and Joey's comment that dead people wouldn't be on the list, which at least actually makes sense this time since Alli was dead by the time Susan was hospitalised.

Of course, the obvious choice of name that might be on the guest list is Alexander Davenport, but Rosa immediately spots the problem with that name.



But, as we've (apparently) seen with Adrian, sometimes names don't have to be restricted to a single gender.



In one of the least obvious (or intuitive) puzzle solutions for Legacy, we need to combine the Adrian clue with the Alexander Davenport clue.

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



Hm. Your name IS on the list.

"Well that totally makes up for the five incorrect names you gave me earlier!"

Can I go in now?
Sure. I'll notify the nurse that you're coming. She'll take you in.
Thanks.

With that, Rosa heads off to Susan's room.

Hospital Clocks



Hahaha, whoops!

Um, no. I'm sorry.
Where's Alexander?

Rosa has three choices here, to either tell 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?

To tell a white lie:

He's... right outside. But I'd like to talk to you first, if that's ok.
I think you're lying.
Hm?
Alexander wouldn't want to see me. He can, but he won't. Who are you?

Or to heighten Susan's sense of mental instability by just outright pretending the name was never mentioned:

Alexander? Who's that?
Ooh. That's cold.
It doesn't matter. He wouldn't want to see me anyway. Not anymore. Who are you?

I'm surprised Rosa managed to refrain from her dorky grin after such blatant lies.

Susan sounds thoroughly depressed and tired of life here.

My name is Rosangela. I'd like to talk to you, if that's okay.
Are you a doctor?
Uh, yes I am.
...

Ahh, there it is

Where's your coat?
My coat? It's ah...



Mm hmm.

Way to stick to your story, Rosa. Susan, meanwhile, doesn't give a damn that you lied to her and very clearly are not supposed to be here.

So Susan. Could you tell me what brought you here?
I dunno. They think I'm crazy.
Are you? Crazy, I mean?
I dunno. They think so.

Susan really doesn't sound like she gives a shit about anything. Rosa keeps trying to speak with her.

So how are you feeling?
Fine.
That's all?
Yeah. I'm fine. Whatever.

Rosa also tries to relate to Susan.

So do you like Bellevue?
It's ok.
I used to come here every week. To visit my aunt, you know?
Mm hmm.
I don't think she cares.
Well anyway. I'm just saying. I've spent a lot of time here. You don't have to be scared of me.

Nothing says sensitivity like trying to compare visiting your aunt to being hospitalised after a suicide attempt!!



Rosa finally decides to just cut to the chase.

You know JoAnn?
Sort of.
What about her?
Can you tell me about her?
She's JoAnn. That's all.

This is going well.

Do you know why JoAnn killed herself?
...
Susan?
She just did. Don't know why.

Presumably Susan was told the news by someone, since JoAnn was quite alive when Susan was brought here. Next, Rosa asks about Alli.

Do you know what happened to Alli?
Yeah.
Do you know why she did it?
No.

Jesus, Rosa wasted a good lie coming in to see this girl and she's got absolutely nothing for us.

Susan, can you tell me why you're here? What happened.
Nothing! Just... nothing.
Can you tell me anything about Alex?
I don't know. He's nobody. Just some guy.

Finally, Rosa can ask about Ouija boards and the Deacon.

Do you know anything about Ouija boards, Susan?
...
Susan?
They...
Susan?
Nothing.
Who is the Deacon?
What do you mean?
The Deacon, Susan.
He's nobody. Nobody!

What a waste of damn time this was.

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

Figuring we might actually get a more meaningful response from a panicky, disoriented ghost than we did from Susan, Joey decides to speak with Alli again instead.

Washington Square Park



Ouija boards? I hate them. Why did you have to bring THAT up? I had a Ouija board once. The next thing I knew, everybody went away.
What happened with the Ouija board?
No no no. They are horrible things and I won't discuss them.
Kid, we can't help you unless we know what happened.
Hmm. Everybody went away.

Some serious shit seems to have occurred with that Ouija board, and Alli doesn't want to talk about it.



At this point I kind of stumbled around for a while trying to figure out what I should do next, before finally realising that I was supposed to combine some clues together again.

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



Having combined the clues, it is now finally possible for Joey to ask the obvious question.

Did I?
That's what I'm asking you.
I hate those things. I'll never use one again!
And why's that?
Because...

No point beating around the bush, Joey.

The Deacon, kid. Did you get in contact with someone called the Deacon?
The Deacon! I hate him so much!
I knew it.

Tired of waiting for a direct answer, Joey apparently just interprets Alli's anger as tacit agreeance.



Don't worry. We'll clean up this mess.



It's the same as ever, babe. Just instead of a living person in there, there's a dead one. The sooner you think of us ghosts as "normal", the better.

Rosa is still kind of creeped out about talking with Alli.

Okay, so now we've reached the stage where we have some idea what went wrong. The three friends were playing with a Ouija board, and apparently summoned some kind of supernatural being called the Deacon. Shortly afterwards, two of them committed suicide, and the third attempted to commit suicide as well. Time to speak with Susan about this.

Hospital Clocks



You're not crazy. I know what happened. You summoned the Deacon with the Ouija board.
No. That didn't really happen...

At this point Rosa sounds like she's playing Cluedo or something.

Susan. You don't have to pretend. I believe you.
You... do?
Whatever happened, I believe you.

There is a pause while Susan decides whether she trusts you or not, before she speaks up again.



The drugs keep him away during the day, but when I sleep... He enters my head and he 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.

Joey is now starting to prompt Rosa.

No, it's not.
The Deacon is real?
I believe so, yes.

Either that or the Ouija board was laced with some seriously good shit.

Are you here to help me?
I'm going to try.
Thank God. I was ready to die here, but...
I know. Can I ask you some questions about what happened?
Sure. Ask whatever you want.

Susan perks up a little bit at this point, though only a little. She is also more forthcoming about what happened.



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.

That does sound pretty nightmarish, yeah.

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.

That answers that question. The girls all tried to kill themselves to silence the Deacon's voice in their heads. Alli took a lethal cocktail of pills, JoAnn jumped off the roof of her dorm, and Susan attempted to jump in front of a car.

Rosa has some more follow-up questions.

Was Kelly involved in any of this?
Kelly? JoAnn's room-mate?
Yeah.
No. She always left when we came over. She didn't like us much. But that's okay. We didn't like her either.

So Kelly has nothing to do with this.

Can you tell me anything about Alex?
Alex... was my boyfriend, I guess. But since I came here, he won't see me anymore. Just as well. The jerk.

He probably has nothing to do with this either. Finally, let's ask about Alli herself.

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?



This whole scene is pretty heartbreaking, really. Susan's voice throughout is mostly a depressed monotone, with the occasional flicker of emotion, but when speaking about Alli she gets relatively upset.

Susan's comments about Alli being obsessed with dogs is important, though. As Joey explained earlier, the secret to helping ghosts move on is usually to bring them something of emotional significance to them. A dog might just work for Alli. But where will Rosa find a dog...?

I have to go now, Susan.
Mmm.

Storm



Yeah, I can see that. Was it the darkness that gave it away?
I'm just saying.

By this stage, the sun has set. In an unusual twist, the hospital music at this point becomes an actual song, complete with singing and all. I'm pretty sure the song is actually built on a midi, like the rest of the game, but with a voice dubbed in over the top. It's a pretty simplistic song, but it's still pretty catchy.

This same "technique" is adopted by the composer in the later games, but with a saxophone rather than vocals. The base music will be written as a midi file, and a live saxophone is recorded playing the melody lines over the top. It's surprisingly effective.



Presumably, the song is supposed to be coming in over the radio, because as Joey floats near the radio, the signal cuts out, and the security guard fiddles with the antennae.



On the note, I'll finish the update here. Feel free to listen to the rest of Storm in anticipation for the rest of the game - the "storm's coming" lyrics are fitting, because shit is about to get pretty damn weird. Coming up next update, we'll attempt to help Alli move on, and see if we can figure out what the hell is going on with The Deacon. We're not far from the pointy end of Legacy now!