The Let's Play Archive

Zero Time Dilemma

by DKII

Part 17: Suppression (2 of 2)

Part 17: Suppression (2 of 2)

Oh! All the keys fell out after it played a tune!

A letter lit up while each sound played, too.

Let's pick up those keys first before we start worrying about the sounds.



Aannnnnndd they're all back in our inventory. Putting them back in the console doesn't work, so there's only one place left for them to go.





All the keys snap back into place at once, instead of making me select each key and put them in one at a time. Thanks goodness.

We can play it whenever we want now. ...If we wanted to.

There's probably a way to re-play the tune or get a hint about what it was. But luckily I have it all on video. G-E-F-C(high)-C(low)-D-A-B. Or, if you're not musically inclined, 5-3-4-8-1-2-6-7, with the keys numbered with one starting on the left.



Oh good, it played okay.



And a giant button appears from the column that used to hold a tank of colored water and a pixel plate.



We found it! Wait, I thought we were looking for a way out? What did we find? A button?

Music: CQD Ward BGM 3



The hell is this...

It looks like a button.

Whatever, push the button and let's get out of here.



Dumbass! Can't you read?!



[Warning! Do not press this button!]

Pretty intense for just one button...



Then...what exactly are we supposed to do?



We've checked out this entire room.

I just noticed that the room is in its "powered-off" state now. It's been that way since the scene started.



There's nothing here that looks remotely like it'd unlock the door...





This button here...







Serious contemplation faces all around.



Okay, I'm gonna push it.

Wait! Hold on!





So what?! If there was a warning sign saying "Don't leave this room" does that mean you'd stay?

This whole room has been a series of buttons and levers and dials that had to be blindly pushed/pulled/turned in order to proceed. Of course, this one does have a warning on it. Do we believe it?



It's just an empty threat! If we really weren't meant to push it, then it'd never be put here in the first place!



A trap...?



That's very true. I want to push it right now.

This setup is just bait!



By giving us this warning, Zero's plan is to manipulate us into pushing it!

I don't know if I buy that argument. If a button appeared without any warning at all we probably would have just blindly pushed it like we did with everything else in the room. The warning is the only thing that even made us hesitate.



Something bad will happen.

And that would be what...?



What do we know about our interactions with Zero so far? He was telling the truth about the coin toss, and he "rewarded" all of the teams for complying with his instructions for the execution vote by allowing them to retain their memories. So maybe the warning is real?

That's ridiculous...





If this really is a button meant to kill us somehow, why would Zero put something like that in the open?



There are several other ways Zero could make us die...

Well, we don't really know Zero's motives yet. But he doesn't seem particularly concerned with keeping anyone alive, or with going out of his way to kill anyone in particular. At least so far. Although we don't really know what happened with Junpei in the Pantry...

Exactly.



Gee Sigma, why would anyone think of doing that? (Sigma did that to all of the participants in VLR, including himself.)



There's no need for him to use this button to go about doing the deed.

It's a game.

What?





Our fates will change depending if we decide to press it, or if we don't.

Phi is sounding pretty smart here, I'm starting to change my mind. Maybe we shouldn't press it.







That's another good argument. What, we just wait for the 90 minutes to be up and go back to sleep?

Even if that's true, it's better than our lives not advancing any further than this!



Oh, I don't know anymore.



Shall we take a vote?

Great idea, let someone else decide.





Well, those two votes were obvious.



What about you, Diana...?



I... I...

The heartbeat returns.



I'm glad the decision is out of my hands.

Music: Extreme Urgency (What Will You Decide?)



Press the button? Or leave it alone? That's a lot of time to think about it in the upper-right, there. Do we listen to Sigma? or Phi? Is the warning real? Or a trick? I don't know! You decide!



Here's the status screen if you need time to think. I'm starting to suspect that the character's portrait is revealed when they're confirmed to be dead, and then, if you see the portrait, it stays revealed on that save file ever after. Which means I forgot to check the status screen back when Q was killed in either "Don't Shoot" or "Shoot Mira". Whoops.