Part 11: Blackwell Legacy - Update 9

Update 9

Last update, Rosa had just finished speaking with Susan, and had walked out of her room to see that sun had set.

It's not exactly obvious, but the next step for Rosa to take is to immediately spin on her heels and go straight back into Susan's room.

Storm



I know that Storm isn't the proper song for Susan's room, but we've heard Hospital Clocks enough and, frankly, it's a pretty boring track. So we're going to listen to this weird (and oddly catchy!) country midi mishmash instead.

Besides, "storm's coming" is a fairly prescient lyric, because oh boy is some crazy shit about to go down over the next few updates.

Hi! It's good to see you again.

"Hey, you too, Susan! It must have been at least 90 seconds since we last spoke!"

How are you now Susan?
Better. It's nice to know I'm not crazy.
Yeah, that's a good feeling.

This dialogue is interesting, because Rosa understands exactly what it feels like to think you're crazy before discovering you're simply a victim of supernatural forces... but she can't actually explain that to Susan, who is probably wondering why Rosa thinks she can empathise with her situation.

It's just... these drugs. The meds help keep the Deacon's voice low... and that's good. But they also cause water retention, and I have to take a diuretic pill to fix that...



Now that I know I'm just haunted and not really crazy, I don't see why I have to take it. I don't care if I retain water and get fat. I just want to stop peeing!
Is she for real?

Joey can't tell whether he finds this amusing or disturbing. Thing is, if Susan really is "just" haunted, but the drugs are keeping the Deacon away anyway, surely she'd want to stay on them?

I've been palming the pills. Is that bad?
I can't answer that.
Well, I was hoping you could do me a favor.
What?

Oh man, here comes another criminal act...

Can you take the pills out of here? I'm scared the orderly will find them. Pleease?
Fine. Give them to me.



Thanks so much.

Hey, no problem at all. Medical fraud is one of Rosa's hobbies! Between trespassing on the dog run, stealing JoAnn's diary, committing journalistic fraud by publishing Adrian's name against his stated wishes, and now stealing medication from the hospital (while stealing Alexander's identity no less), Rosa has probably used up her quota of criminal acts for one game. She won't do anything else illegal from now on, I'm sure.



Just kidding!! Rosa is about to do something much worse than any of the above. I'm not even exaggerating here.

Nishanthi's Theme



Come in. Come in. I...
It's all right. Don't worry about it.

Nishanthi is busy washing up in the kitchen, while Moti sits out in the living room. Before we proceed here, let me try to paint the picture of what's about to happen here, and why.

So, we know from that Susan that Alli is a dog lover. And we know from Joey that bringing objects or people of emotional significance to a lost spirit often helps jolt them into recognising their own death, a necessary step in allowing them to move on. So the next step is to bring a dog to Alli's ghost.

Thing is, Rosa only knows one dog, and that's Moti. I guess Joey just can't wait until the pet shops open up the following day or something. But she can't simply take the dog without Nishanthi knowing, and it's too late at night to offer to take Moti for a walk. Unless...



What if Moti were to, say, suddenly need to go for a walk to relieve himself? What if the dog really needed to answer nature's call badly, but Nishanthi was too busy washing the dishes to take him herself, and for some Godforsaken reason didn't have a place for Moti to relieve himself in her upper-floor apartment? Then Rosa could generously offer to take Moti for a walk, like a kindly neighbour.

Only one problem - Moti doesn't need to go at the moment. So Rosa's feverish brain concocts a horrifying, exceptionally dangerous solution!

OK. I put the pills in the dog biscuit.

Come on Rosa, you're not really going to do this, surely?



Jesus Christ, Rosa!!



So Rosa drugs Nishanthi's dog with a human dose of diuretic pills, and it apparently has an almost immediate effect, with Moti pelting over to scratch and whine at the door.

Rosa is so getting taken off Nishanthi's Christmas card list for this.

Oh, Moti. Now? I just took you out an hour ago. Well, you're going to have to wait. I have my hands totally full. Unless... Rosa, would YOU mind taking Moti for a walk? If you're going to be friends, this is a good opportunity for you to bond.
Oh, SURE! I don't mind at all.
Thank you so much. Moti gets cranky when he doesn't get his way. Just take him to the park until he goes. It shouldn't take long.
Right. Here you go, boy.

I took the liberty of researching this, by heading to that font of wisdom, Yahoo! Answers, and it seems the general consensus is not to feed a 10 pound dog a diuretic designed for a person more than ten times its size. Who knew, hey?

This whole puzzle is actually quite frustrating, because the diuretic pill is the only object in the entire game that Rosa can combine with other objects. You can't even try to combine the biscuit with the pill, it has to be combining the pill with the biscuit. If you are a season Adventure Gamer, you are likely to notice that the combining objects mechanic is not included early on and simply stop trying. And it's not as though the "drug Moti for fun and profit" solution is hinted at anywhere in-game. Overall this is up there with the worst couple of puzzles in the series.



Even Joey is a bit taken aback by Rosa's approach this situation.

It's only a mild diuretic. It won't hurt him. And you're the one in such a damn hurry.
All right. Point taken.

Hahaha, I love how they just quickly dismiss it. This was one of those puzzles that Gilbert revisited later when he did the remake and thought, "holy shit, what did I write?" He was apparently tempted to leave it out in the remake but figured, what the hell, it's already been done and he didn't get shut down before.

Washington Square Night



Alright, let's just get this over with. Presumably Moti either squirts his insides out on the way over, or just decides he doesn't need to go after all, because we never see it happen. Instead, Joey heads back up to Alli with all his usual charm.

It's me again.
Are... are you him?
No, I'm not. But I've brought some friends. Say hi to the kid, sweetheart.
Um, hi.
I don't think she wants to see me.



Hahaha, Rosa's awkwardness is at it's absolute peak in this sequence

Go on, kid. Tell Alli how much you want to see her.
Um, yeah sure. Great to meet you.
See?
I don't believe you.

Rosa is still kinda creeped out by Alli, I think.

It doesn't matter if you believe me or not. She needs your help.
Help?
See the dog over there?
The Boston Terrier?
Good, good! You know your breeds. This Boston Terrier is not feeling too well.

I WONDER IF THAT'S BECAUSE YOU TWO FUCKING DRUGGED IT, PERHAPS?



I... yes! Yes I can! I know a lot about dogs.
So we heard. That's why we came to you.
But... they won't let me help them. They always run away.
This one won't. Go on. The dog needs you.

Come to think of it, why isn't the dog running away or barking like mad? I thought that's what happened in the past when they got near the dog run? I guess he's calmed by Rosa, who he has apparently taken an ill-advised liking to. Or maybe the diuretics are acting as a sedative?



Um, yeah. Sort of.

"I certainly didn't drug or kidnap him or anything. Really."

Hi, little guy. What's your name?



Moti responds with a friendly little yap to Alli's question.

Heh. Right. Aren't you the cutest thing? Hm. Your ears look okay. No sign of inflammation. Now I'm just going to open your mouth...
... That's odd. I don't feel any breath.

Here it comes...



I...



Alli's ghostly form starts to flicker and waver as the sound of a ghostly wind rustles through Washington Square Park. This visual/aural effect is used for the rest of the series, whenever a ghost has become aware of its nature.

When Alli mutters "oh" afterwards, her voice has lost it's echo, and she sounds more or less like a normal person. This is also maintained throughout the series.

I'm sorry.
I remember. I'm dead.
Yep.
I killed myself. I had no choice.

Only two things left to do now - find out as much as possible about what happened in case it helps other ghosts, and then send Alli on her way.

Can you tell us what happened?



A Ouija board. We thought it would be fun.
And you called something.
Yes! He called himself the Deacon. It's... kinda hazy now, but I remember his voice in my head. Screaming.

That matches up with Susan's description, and JoAnn's notebook.

What did he say?
I don't know. It didn't make any sense.



I tried ignoring him, but he just got louder and louder until I took the pills and...
Shhh. It's over now.

Alli is starting to get worked up here, so Joey decides to let her rest.

I know. So what now?
Now? Now we're going to send you where you need to go.



Time for Joey's magical tie to do it's work. He hands one end to Alli, and the other end to Rosa.

You ready?
I guess so.
Good. Now pull.



Rosa pulls the tie, and Alli hurtles straight into Rosa's skull and into Nodespace. Moti is suitably concerned about Rosa collapsing, eliciting an amusing response from Joey.

Ow.
...

Rosa tumbling face-first through the portal to Nodespace is another constant that will be maintained through the series.

Alli is Saved



Pulling herself up, Rosa goes to speak with Alli, who is staring in wonder at the Universe.

Yeah, hi!

Alli sounds much brighter in here, almost happy.

I'm not sure if we've met. I'm Rosangela.
I know! You brought the dog to me. You brought me back to my senses. And then you brought me here! Thanks so much!

"No problem. And, hey, there's at least a 50/50 chance the dog will be joining you soon enough!"

So, are you ready to... well... you know.
Am I ready to die?
Well, yeah. Sorry, I'm kinda new at this.

Hahaha, I love how Rosa manages to come across as the awkward one here Alli is a champ about it, though.

That's okay. I'm going to make it easy for you. Just tell me what to do.
Just head towards that light.
The light. Right. Like every cliche in the book.

Alli starts to take off, then stops and turns back.



Rosa, of course, has no idea, so she can choose from three responses. She can either be positive:

Sure you will.
Fantastic.

Uncertain:

I'm not sure it works like that, but anything is possible.
Well, either way I'm glad this is over.

Or just kind of ambiguous:

I'm sure you'll find... whatever it is you want to find.
Yeah, I suppose you're right.

Alli has one last concern before she heads off into the great unknown.

And hey, you'll make sure Susan's okay, right?
Sure.
Well, here goes. See ya!



With that, Alli swirls off to the next plane of existence, leaving Rosa to ponder what she has just witnessed.

...
See ya.

With that, Rosa turns and heads out of the portal.



You're awake. That didn't take too long.
She just... went. She seemed happy about it.

Rosa seems unsure how to feel about what she's just witnessed here.

Yeah. Sometimes you'll get easy ones. The ones who are all too happy to move on. Others, well, you'll see. Anyway, let's get this dog back before your neighbor calls the police. Our work is not over yet.

Actually, the length of time here hasn't been that unreasonable. Of course, they'd better hope Moti doesn't show any kind of symptoms throughout the night...



Just a minute!



Oh, there you are. I was just about to go to bed.
I'm sorry we took so long...
Not to worry. Did you have fun, Moti? Did you have fun?

Moti yaps back, presumably trying to warn Nishanthi that her neighbour is a canine drug dealer, but Nishanthi misinterprets it as happiness.

Of course! Well, good night, Rosa. Thanks again for helping me out.

Yeah, "helping" is one word for it.



You're a ghost who has been haunting a family for five decades, and Rosa just drugged her neighbour's dog. Nishanthi is the least strange one here by a country mile.


In the next update, we'll head back to Bellevue to see Susan one last time, and try to figure out what to do about this Deacon situation. Today's update may have been pretty out there, but believe me when I promise you that Legacy hasn't peaked in that regard yet!