Part 69: [continued]
We continue our rounds.
VLR OST: [Sinisterness]
Listen in: [English/Japanese]
Can I get you a seat?
Are you some kind of waitress?
What do you mean, what do I want? I just came here to check up on you guys.
You better not be underage.
I turned 21 just the other day.
I see... Well, I guess we could probably have a drink or two, then.
...Unfortunately, as much fun as that sounds like, I don't think it's a very good idea.
Why not?
This isn't really a good time to be getting wasted.
Really? It seems like this sort of thing is exactly what makes people want to drink in the first place.
Hmmm... You've got a point.
I'm just kidding.
Besides, I've got a headache. Drinking is... probably not the best plan.
It hasn't gone away yet?
Well, it was fine for a while, but now I guess the bastard's back.
Are you all right?
Yeah, I'm sure if I just leave it alone it'll go away in a bit.
That's how it went before, anyway.
...
...
What? The headaches?
Uh-huh.
Now that you mention it, yeah, I did get one a bit ago.
I feel fine now, though.
What about you, Luna?
Um... You know, I think I did have a bit of a headache earlier...
Well...
Well what?
Your head feels weird?
No. My body feels weird.
Like, my whole body.
Do you feel kind of... numb?
I think I've got the same thing.
It's kinda like... Hmm...
Like when you fall asleep on top of one of your arms...
And then when you wake up, that arm kind of feels like it's not really yours anymore?
It's not just my arm, though... My whole body feels kind of... numb and foreign...
Really?
It's kind of like my body isn't really mine...
I'm sort of... floating. Like that?
Yeah! Exactly!
Maybe it's because of the anesthetic gas.
The what now?
Oh, yeah. Right...
You think this might be some kind of side effect?
Well, it could be a side effect, or it could be that it just hasn't worn off completely yet.
Hmm...
All right. I'll go have a look somewhere else, then.
You guys going to stick around here?
Yeah. I haven't really taken a good look at everything yet.
Okay. Catch you later then.
[Music fades out]
Attentive players may have noticed a slight discrepancy in this little section; Clover was stated to be 18 in 999, and VLR is stated to be a year after that, and yet here Clover is telling us she's actually 21. Much has been made of this contradiction; is she lying? Is it a Writing Goof™? Well, spoiler alert; it's probably just the localizers picking the lesser of two evils. For all the dark, gory child-inappropriate stuff that went down in 999, no one ever alluded to drinking alcohol around Clover, so no one minded her being 18. But her being 18 in VLR would lead to Aksys getting slapped for promoting underage drinking! So, best guess, rather than deal with that they just grit their teeth and introduced a little discrepancy.
Dealing with age ratings is actually kind of a running theme in this game. Uchikoshi has gone on record stating he was under pressure from publishers to keep the game's rating down - which is probably why that old woman got away with a nice dignified stab wound rather than being turned into lasagne.
Anyway...
VLR OST: [Anxiousness]
Listen in: [English/Japanese]
Perfect timing.
You were in the crew quarters before, weren't you?
Yeah, I was.
Phi, Alice and I went through all the rooms.
Did you find anything... suspicious?
Like a secret door or something?
If I had, you really think I wouldn't have told you?
Anything else out of the ordinary, perhaps?
Out of the ordinary... Hmm...
Huh? Oh, that's a book ameowt cats.
..."Ameowt"?
Oh, sorry... It's just this thing that's happened to me ever since I was a kid.
Whenever I start talking about cats, I start talking like one.
It doesn't really mean anything, though.
O-Okay...
Ha ha ha ha... That's weird!
...
So what's the cat book about?
Oh...
Well, there's this quantum physics thought expurrrrrriment called "Schrödinger's Cat".
This book talks ameowt it.
Oh, yes. I've heard about that.
A cat is put in a box with a device that has a random chance to release a poison which will kill the cat.
That means the cat is both alive and dead until someone opens the box.
Something like that, right?
Meowby?
...What?
I don't really know anything ameowt it.
I'm just telling you what Phi told me.
So it purrrrobably isn't going to give us any hints, then.
Quark... You're doing it too.
Oops...
He he.
What do you mean?
You checked out the lounge with Clover and Tenmyouji, and Quark was in the infirmary with Dio and Luna.
Anything suspicious there?
Well, this whole facility is pretty suspicious, but...
I suppose that's not what you meant.
Well, the puzzles in the lounge were lunar eclipse-themed.
Lunar eclipse?
Yes.
Apparently, there's supposed to be a lunar eclipse on December 31st, 2028.
All the puzzles were related to that somehow.
Isn't that this New Year's Eve?
I suppose it is.
Well, I can't say I know what year, or even what day it is, but...
Clover was saying something to that effect.
Listen in: [English/Japanese]
Did you find anything there?
Yeah. We did find something.
Just one thing, though.
What was it?
Dio and Luna didn't tell you?
No...
Okay. I've got it right here.
Just a second...
[Music fades out]
I'll spare you the reiteration.
999 OST: [Riddle and Puzzle]
It seems a little hard to believe.
If it really is some kind of pandemic, though... That sounds like a pretty big deal.
Yes, it does.
There hasn't been anything on the news, though.
This is the first time I've even heard the term "Radical-6".
Is there a pandemic raging on the other side of these walls?
...
...
...
[Music fades out]
Listen in: [English/Japanese]
Has something happened?
Yes! ...I mean, sort of! I mean we found something!
What did you find?
It's horrible! It's really scary!
...Horrible?
VLR OST: [Strain]
Argh! Never mind!
Just shut up and follow me! You'll understand when you see it!
Where is it?
It's right over here in the next room! Just follow me!
