Part 9
BGM: Metallic warbling SFX play throughout the entirety of this update over every song and silence.
: "I know! I can't believe he once paid to see this crap in theatre!"
: "No, you idiot . . . Look, we leaped!"BGM: Uncharted Realms
The sprites of this time frame make him look like a child, but Johnny’s actually in his teenage years.
: "Holy overcooked macaroni, the kid's in the theatre all by himself! What a loser!" : "You go to the theatre by yourself all the time . . ." : ". . . That's different. No one's competent enough to match my taste. But that aside, how could anyone last through this rubbish?"
Neil is completely oblivious that his paycheck just left the theatre.
: "C'mon, let's go." : "What? Oh, right." 
It’s a good thing Eva’s around or nothing would get done around here.
Poor Johnny. Let’s try to cheer him up.
: "Whoa, wait. I ain't talking to no emo teenager.": "Grammar, my dear Watson." : "Shut up, that's not even a full sentence." : ". . . Let's just go look for mementos." 
Well, we were no help to him, but at least he gave us a memory link.
In the lobby, there’s an interesting little…minigame, I guess, for lack a better term. Eva can go around to all of the fuzzy memories and touch them to delete them. It serves absolutely no purpose that I’m aware of. Neil has something to say if you actually partake in this activity.
: "What're you doing? That's the 3rd person you've removed here.": "Eh, not like it's permanent."After a few more…
: "You know that poking them out of the way like that does nothing, right?": "Then why complain?" And if you’re persistent enough to remove them all…
: "Oh look, this place is all empty and creepy now.": "I hope you're happy."So there’s that. Anyways, back to link hunting.
: "You relate well with your kin, I see."A memory link and an Eva-burn are down here.
There’s nothing else to do in the lobby, so let’s go check on Hallway-Johnny.
BGM: Uncharted Realms fades out.
: "Hate to say it, but I guess I have to nag something out of him again.": "All yours.": ". . . At least there're no olives this time."
BGM: Moongazer
: “You were in there this whole time?? I waited for you at the lobby, I thought you didn't come!" 
: ". . . Why did you leave? I thought we were watching the movie together." : “Huh? I'm the one who should ask that!" : "What do you mean? We were watching the movie together, and then you left." : “We weren't watching it together . . . I didn't even know where you were! If you saw me in there, why didn't you come and find me?" : "What difference does it make . . . ? We were watching the same movie in the same room."
: "What's wrong?" : “You're so weird. . . "River pauses for a moment, looking uncomfortable.
: ". . . Do you not want to watch the movie together anymore?" : “Of course I do! Come, let's head back in before it ends!" 
: "You feel wrong." : ". . . Well, let's hope our ride's waiting for us in there." 
Only one way to find out.
BGM: Moongazer fades out.
Walking back into the theatre gets us the last link. Take one guess at what the memento is.
You win nothing.
: ". . . Mostly just for convenience, but hey."Don’t stop me now!
BGM: The Bestest Detectives in the World
: "Erm . . . "
: “It's not that . . . Look, maybe this wasn't such a good idea." 
: “Oh sheesh, what could possibly happen? Just think about it! Worst case scenario: She says no. You strut on like nothing happened; no one'll know and everyone'll still think you're cool." : “But what if she tells someone?! Or yells at me?!" 
: “Or . . . or says yes but really means no?!" : “Psh, quit worrying. Who would do that?" : “And what if she throws an encyclopedia in my face?! I don't even have a helmet--. . . dear lord, I'm so not prepared for this!"
: “Just straighten your spine and quit being a little wuss!"
: “Everything'll be alright . . . Just turn around."Johnny does so.
"Okay . . . Okay." Nicholas proceeds to forcibly lead him down the hallway.
: “Shhh!" 
BGM: Moonwisher
In order to properly disclose how awkward this conversation is, I’m going to add spaces to indicate how long the pauses in their discussion are. Bear with me.
: “Hello." 
: “Eh . . . Hello? Can you hear me?" 
: “Yes.": “Then why didn't you--. . . nevermind. Um, that's a cool platypus you got there.": “What're you reading?" 
: “A book." : “. . . About platypus?" : “No." : “Oh . . . I, er, I think that's great."
: “Hey . . . you wanna g--": “Lighthouses." : “. . . Huh?" : “There are exactly sixteen second-order Fresnel lens lighthouses in the country left. Nine of them are coastal, and one of them was modified from a historic kerosene lamp lighthouse.": “Oh, is that what you're reading about?": “Um, say. . . you wanna go catch a movie together sometime?" : “I don't know." 
: “I can't." : “. . . Why?" : “There's no date or time." : “. . . Oh, um, how about this Saturday at eight?": “ . . . Well?" 
: “Yes." : “Oh, great!" : ". . . Nevermind." : “I guess we'll work out the details later?" : “Um, I'll just . . . " Johnny, very awkwardly, backs away down the hallway.
: ". . . What? What're you looking at me for?" : " . . . ": "You think I'm going to call out how utterly awkward that was?" : " . . . ": "Well just forget it. I'm not giving into your expectations.": "Give him a break, he was still just a kid. You of all people should relate.": "What's that supposed to mean?"