Part 69: The Six Bodies

Part 69: The Six Bodies



Entering an incorrect code just resets it to blank. Let's see what happens if we just give up and back out of this screen. (Entering three incorrect codes in a row has the same effect as exiting the screen.)



Music: Portentousness 2nd Mix



Diana shakes her head.



Not here, but...



Diana's going to go grab something from the morphogenetic field.





That's right, Q-Team did find a similar-looking door in the Pod Room, didn't they?



"Twins' Birthday", eh? Come to think of it, we did just see Diana give birth to twins in a previous timeline. And the date was pretty prominently highlighted, too.



Huh...?





Music: Moral Dilemma (Annihilation 3rd Mix)

The scene only plays out like this one just did if we've seen the twins in question being born. The game knows we have the information we need, so keeps sending us back to the code input prompt.



The rest of the global flowchart is still dark, so we can't jump anywhere else. If you've forgotten the twins' birthday, you're screwed because you can't go replay the scene now. Better look it up on the internet and hope you don't get any other spoilers while you're at it.



Thanks to the power of screenshots, we do know the code. It's the twins' birthday in the same format as shown in the Twins End a couple updates ago (American date format). Here's a video link for the rest of this update, if that's your thing. Anyway, I'll do my best to do these scenes justice with screenshots (and a few animations). I had to re-take this video because my hard drive filled up the first time, so you'll see the little fast-forward icon in the corner either way. Oh well.





A beep and a click. Looks like we got it right?



The yellow door slides open.

Oh, it opened!





runrunrun

Music: Aftermath (Decontamination Room)



What is this...

That's the Pod Room, all right.



Diana walks over to a pod.





It's Eric!



He's asleep, right? Right?

What. Why...?





What's going on...?



We'll explain later. Can you move?







How did you get here...?



How did you guys get into Ward Q...?



No. This is...







The pod slides shut.



A new one moves into place.



Turn the handle, and...





Huh?

Who's this...?

Oh yeah, you haven't met him before.

You know, I think you guys might be onto something with this kid.



Why is such a small child here...

And wearing some kind of weird thing...?



He's awake!



It's Diana and Sigma from D-Team.





Wait, but how did you get here...?



I want to check the other pods first.









Next pod!





Hmm...









Heartbeats return, for the dramatic reveal...



The sheet is thrown off! Who's there?



Oh, it's just Mira again. Same strangulation marks, too. Guess we're sometime after the Pod Room fragment?

Music: Consternation 2nd Mix

M-Mira...?!



Uh, don't let Pyscho McCrazyPants see her like that again.







No. It's a trick...





Mira is yanked out of the pod and thrown on the floor.











What lovely surprise is in store for us next? How many pods are in here, anyway?













Heartbeats again...



The sheet is whisked away again...



No! This can't be...! Even Akane...!





Akane is also unceremoniously dumped out of the pod.







Any guess at the next exhibit in this house of horrors?





Well, it's another bloody sheet, for starters...







The heartbeats return yet again...



And the sheet is flung aside!





NOOOOO!

Diana drops.



So, who was it?



Oh. That was rather grisly, wasn't it? Anyway, we fade to black and return some time later...

Music: Glacial Solitude









Diana wakes up.



She stands up.



We investigated the other pods while you were unconscious.









You'll be lucky if you only faint if you see it.









Hey. What are you doing...?









I knew it...





Hey, um, what did you mean by that?



Have you told them about transporting, Sigma?

No, not yet.











Sigma. Do you remember all of the blood in the Healing Room? I think...that may have been our blood in there...

I guess I spoiled that last update, but I thought it was obvious. We don't actually need to witness the "D-Team Executed" scene to get to this point, though...



These are our bodies lying here, from this history...



If so, that means Q-Team betrayed the note...









We transported to find a history where Phi existed...





Poor Diana and Sigma.





Diana's just holding onto Phi's hand and sobbing.











Oh, here comes trouble...

Music: Zero (Unary Game Remix)







Come to think of it, there was someone missing, wasn't there?





How many times have we seen this scene now?













The scene is still silent. Apparently we can see but not hear.













Wh... What did we just watch...







Seems like good timing for the computer lady, as usual.













[Computer Lady:] That is all.

As expected, these X-Passes are the same as at the end of the Pod Room fragment.









Music: CQD Ward BGM 3



Everyone runs out.



Well, almost everyone...







This is...

The Lounge. For Ward D.





Diana... Sigma...







Missing Lip Animations: 55



He's--



Don't move!

Huh...?





What, my axe?

Exactly!











Carlos, your injury...



Akane did this...

Akane...?

Well, I didn't see her do it myself...









The X-Pass input device is...







runrunrun



No...

That means the X-Door won't...







Just look how there are bullet holes everywhere!





Oh, I know that sound. Shotgun?



Eric...

Music: Trepidation 2nd Mix



It's hazy, but I remember. What happened before I was put to sleep...











I have to make sure to shoot the one who did it.







Spit it out. I'll spare the others if you do.





Know how you can be sure to win at horse racing? You bet on all of them. One of them has to cross the line first. Same concept.



That way, I'll know for sure I got them.













You guys must be some sort of fake Diana and Sigma.







Ha. Don't make me laugh... If you're gonna lie, come up with something bett--!















Don't play dumb. I know you were the one who killed Akane.



We all saw the footage earlier.



They really liked this shot of Akane I guess.











I doubt you'd believe me if I explained it.











The two are fundamentally different.



Cut it out! I'm so sick of this shit!



We all know for a fact that Carlos killed Akane.



So I bet the one who killed Junpei...



And the one who killed Mira too...





And besides, how in the world could I kill Mira?! I'm part of C-Team. I was limited to the space in Ward C! And Mira was--!

Um, you're here now...







We just walked right over into another ward...



There has to be some kind of secret door.

No, I'm not really sure that's what it is.



Fade to black. There's a lock here, but we already busted it open by playing almost everything possible before getting here.

Music: Clarification 2nd Mix



Diana walks across the Lounge.



Actually there's only one specific additional scene needed to unlock this one. And we're about to find out which one.







Now what would the Healing Room have to do with anything? (You have to see the scene from not pressing the button to open this lock.)





Please shoot at the wall with that shotgun.



Wh-Why should I--

Just do it, please!















Music: Divulgation 2nd Mix



You're kidding me...



The wall...

Not just the wall...



The floor, the ceiling...



The sofa and the tables...



It's just like the Healing Room walls...



Healing Room...?

What are you saying...?















Yeah...

I have ours...





First is the map for Ward C.



And this is Ward Q...



And this here is the map for Ward D.



If you rotate the angles of all three of them...





There actually aren't that many hints for this one. The biggest one is probably the shape of the wards themselves - who would build rooms that are that spaced out? One other neat little thing is on the combined map, the Locker Room and the Pod Room are right next to each other, connected by the yellow door. Did you really think there was a long tunnel connecting them or something? Anyway I'll go into more in a little bit, because we're not done here.







So that's a bit of a cheat there. There was no expectation that they'd see each other's wards, so the only reason for those rooms to look any different is to fool the player.







But then, how did we never bump into each other at some point?



True... We all should've been right here for the vote at 13:30.



They both nod.





The bracelet?



Um, Carlos? Where's yours...



I've got it.



Oh yeah, your left hand...

I'll explain later.



Could you check your current time?



It says 23:23.





Huh? My bracelet says it's 21:23...!

So does mine!





It's like I thought.

19:23...

Did anybody have Diana pegged as the one who would figure everything out?



That isn't really important right now.





How about we use C-Team's time as a base. That would mean Q-Team is two hours behind, and D-Team is four hours behind. The bracelets have a built-in time lag.



In other words, Q-Team didn't vote at 13:30 but--



Yes.







Inside the pods...



So that's why none of the teams ever saw each other...



That's all I figured out.

So a couple people picked up on the fact that the teams might be running at different times, but no one really put together the implication of why they would need to be at different times, or what that would open up (them all being in the same ward after all). Here are some of the hints at the different time / same ward secret:

• The decision in one fragment affects which fragment the next team appears in, even though they appear to take place at the same time. For instance, the Pantry for C-Team can lead to Q-Team being in either the Study or the Pod Room. It's a pretty obvious explanation that the two events must happen linearly at different times, with the result of the first influencing the second. But in the third game of a series all about messing with causality, the obvious explanation is never really considered.
  
• In the Healing Room fragment, D-Team is killed by a cloaked killer that appears to be Mira. The simple explanation is that she was in the same ward as them the whole time, and simply wasn't put to sleep after the Biolab (or was woken up when D-Team was active).
  
• In the Pod Room fragment, one of the scenes ends with spotting some marks on the floor. These marks are from the chainsaw hitting the ground in the Pantry fragment. They're the same floor, in the same Lounge.
  
• In the Decontamination Room fragments, it's implied that the first team to hit the button "wins" and the other teams are executed via acid bath. The global flowchart actually shows Q-Team's fragment extending from C-Team's "don't press" decision, and D-Team's fragment extending from Q-Team's "don't press" decision. The race was a lie - C-Team pressing the button would always execute Q-Team and D-Team, without even giving them the chance to do the same.
  
• The one that most people picked up on was the Manufacturing fragment. In the Moon End we saw Q-Team put to sleep at 19:30 after the Biolab fragment, but D-Team blew them up before 19:30 in making their escape. Obviously those two events couldn't actually take place at the same time.
  
• The most obvious hint was earlier in this update. The X-Pass input device is shot up in Ward D, even though that event happened in the Pod Room fragment in Ward Q. Makes a lot more sense if it's the same input device, in the same ward.
  
• Did you notice how Gab always seems to be hanging out in the Lounge whenever a team was there? Turns out he wasn't actually going anywhere. In the Execution fragments, he was just hopping in the vent on one side, then getting carried over to the other side to wait for the next team to find him.
  
• One of the more subtle hints that I threw in? Some of the music tracks are called "CQD Ward", which could mean it's used for all three wards, but really means that all three teams are in one ward.

Those are all the ones I spotted; did you see any others? Probably the biggest hints are actually in some of the fragments we haven't seen yet...



What's that?

Music: Solitary Snail















Music: Transient Tranquility



Wow, this is the Transporter Room?





We won't know until we try. Let's try using what I gave you earlier.



Right.







Now, it is time for you to sleep. When next you wake, know that you will have no memory of these past ninety minutes. Pleasant--







--dreams.



The needles strain for a moment, then snap off!



I think it must've worked...



Sigma sighs in relief. What just happened?



That card thing stopped the injecction from the bracelet!

Card thing, huh...



I'll show you.



Anyone think of using the super-hard alien-material cards to prevent the bracelet from injecting us?





Eric's trying to think about which of the crazy things he's seen so far that he believes or not.







That's it! We also completed the Locker Room fragment, though I missed the screenshot of it since it was on the other recording that I lost.



Okay, that's not really it. C-Team has a new fragment that appears to continue from where we left off, in the Transporter Room with missing-hand Carlos. But we're off the rails now so we can go anywhere we want!



The short scene after getting the code for the yellow door right is just called "Correct". The long scene after that is "The Six Bodies", and the final scene with the lock is simply called "Wards and Times".



The global flowchart has changed as well, to reflect the fact that we know that the C-Team, Q-Team, and D-Team fragments actually happen in series, rather than in parallel.



Frankly I think stretching it out like this makes the global flowchart a lot uglier and harder to read, but whatever. It's been awhile since we've been free to choose, but we've got a few options on where to go next. Select the story fragment.


Extras:



A chart explaining when each team was really awake, in case the explanation wasn't enough.