K's suit must assist his jumping ability, because even accounting for the moon's lower gravity, he easily goes over 20 feet up, over twice the height of the AB room itself. When we land, with a remarkably soft impact, I'm almost surprised he doesn't bounce off the floor.
"…I could have done that myself you know." I tell him as I push myself out of his arms, crossing my own irritably. "And some warning might have been nice."
"Ah. My apologies." K says, seeming about as apologetic as his tone ever gets. "I assumed this would be the simplest solution, but I suppose I should have asked first."
I look over at the people clustered around the number 9 door, bracing myself, until I realize that the crowd appears to be two people short. Dio, Quark, Luna, Alice, and Tenmyouji… apparently, we aren't the last to escape as Clover and K were initially supposed to be, which I guess means we're postponing the moment of truth until Sigma and Phi actually manage to get out here.
Everyone is staring at us, which I'm not sure how to react to. Shock is evident on most of their faces, though Tenmyouji seems to be alternating between looking warily at K and squinting at me, while Alice…
"Clover!" she calls out, sounding worried.
I do my best to smile. "Alice!"
I walk over to her as fast as I really can in heeled shoes, inwardly grimacing. I've already decided on playing the part of Clover for now, and keeping events as close to how they went in the game as possible so I can reach the true ending. However, Alice knows Clover better than anyone here, so she's a lot more likely to notice something wrong than the others. I'm not sure how, or even if I can bluff my way through this…
I don't have any time to really come up with anything, as Alice meets me halfway to her, grabbing me by the shoulders in a semi-embrace.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" she asks, looking me over.
"No, I'm fine… a little off balance, and kind of sore from lying on the floor, but otherwise fine." I reply.
Alice looks over at K, flinching at his appearance, before turning back to me.
"Who or… what is that?!"
"Oh, uh, that's K." I tell her, watching as K begins approaching, and the others start tensing and backing away. "I was kind of scared of him when I woke up, but he seems nice enough, armor aside."
Alice pulls me in close, suddenly choosing to whisper in my ear. "Don't think like that Clover. You of all people know that in a situation like this, we can't trust anyone, especially not someone wearing something like that."
Crap, that's right. Alice doesn't have any idea what's going on beyond that she thinks the Myrmidons are involved, and as a member of her organization Clover would naturally be suspicious too, especially of the 7 foot tall guy who can't even be confirmed as a person.
"Right, sorry." I whisper back.
"We'll talk more later, when we're alone." she continues, looking over at K again. "For now, keep the airhead act up in front of these people. It'll help keep attention off of us."
Oh, lovely. She's planning a private meeting, where I'm going to have to act exactly the way Clover would in front of a person she considers a very close friend. Even if I know VLR's story, these two would know way more about each other than just what the game showed. In fact, given how long it's been since I played it, I probably can't hope to replicate even what little conversation we did hear between them. It's not like I took the time to memorize every single line of dialogue. Damn, I should have told K I did have amnesia, if I hadn't already told him I didn't it could have covered for so much-!
My internal lamenting is interrupted by the sudden noise of a hatch opening on top of one of the AB rooms. Everyone briefly turns away from K as a white haired girl leaps out the hatch and lands on the roof, crouching to pull up an old man in a jumpsuit with gray, neck length hair. They quickly spot our little group, and after a moment of discussion they drop to the ground and begin walking over.
Well, I don't FEEL as if the universe is collapsing…
I let go of a breath I hadn't even realized I was holding. Thank goodness. There are plenty more pitfalls to avoid here, but at least the one I was most worried about doesn't seem to be an issue.
As the pair gets closer, I can't help myself from staring at Sigma's bionic eye. Seriously, how does no one ever bring that up? The metal eyepiece jutting out of his head is pretty obtrusive, and you'd think someone would question it, especially given how distrustful everyone is of K for looking like a robot. Not that I'm planning on saying anything about it either, since that could mess up quite a lot of things, but really? Then again, I suppose no one ever questions Dio's ringmaster outfit, Clover's (currently my) lack of an actual shirt, or Alice's… ring either, so I guess they're only interrogating K because his appearance is obviously intimidating. Everyone else is free to be as weird looking as they like.
"Uh… hey there! Any of you guys know what the hell's going on here?" Sigma asks the moment he gets close enough for any of us to hear. His voice is surprisingly strong for someone over 60 years old, which I guess is why he never noticed a difference in the game. "And… what's with the guy dressed like a robot?" he continues, squinting at K.
"That's what we'd like to know." Alice says as K lingers near the outside of the group, keeping his distance.
"I assure you, I am not a robot." K protests in a rather robotic tone that does not remotely help his case. "At least, I don't think I am."
"You don't think?" Phi repeats, raising an eyebrow.
"I can't seem to remember who I am… or anything else, for that matter."
There's a round of shocked faces for everyone again, besides me.
"Seriously?" Sigma asks, disbelievingly.
"Yes. I have no idea where I am, who I am, or… even what day it is. If any of you happen to know any of those things, I would very much appreciate if you shared that information. Not knowing one's identity is… vexing."
Dio immediately starts going off on K about how we can't take a guy wearing a robot suit and whose face we can't see seriously, and asks if we're supposed to assume someone forced him into the armor, which sounds vaguely familiar to me. K's response and Tenmyouji's follow up about how calm he seems are equally so. Is this the normal dialogue? I'd say that's a good thing, since it means less changes I have to worry about potentially affecting the path to the true ending, but no one's introduced themselves yet, and that was supposed to happen first, so it can't last.
"Hey, you. Clover, was it?" Tenmyouji suddenly speaks up, looking at me. "Do you believe this guy?"
I definitely don't remember that line, which makes sense since Clover was probably still unconscious during this scene. Since the "normal" course of events is already ruined to some extent, I guess I'll just give him my honest opinion.
"I guess? I mean, I don't really know him, but he was perfectly nice while we were stuck in that room." I answer, shrugging. "I don't think he's going to hurt anyone at least, and I do think he's telling the truth about his memory."
That doesn't exactly satisfy everyone, but it does seem to lower tensions a bit. Tenmyouji in particular seems to lose most of his accusatory tone, even if Dio still doesn't seem remotely convinced. After that, the group begins asking K questions about pretty much every personal subject under the sun: his birthday, his favorite food, even the last time he went to the toilet (which I imagine might be rather difficult in a suit like that), but as expected he doesn't remember a whit of it. Luna concludes he has generalized amnesia, which K attempts to make a very bad joke about, and which Dio continues to call bullshit on.
"Well, whether it is or not, it doesn't seem like we're getting anywhere with this." Tenmyouji concludes. "Since the rooms should all be empty now, I assume this is everyone. We might as well introduce ourselves."
Everyone seems to either agree with or have no issue with that suggestion. Tenmyouji goes first, followed by Quark. My eyes wander over each person as they announce their name, recalling everything I know about each of them in turn. There are so many secrets between this group's nine members, and I know virtually all of them… not that I can use that information, or even really mention it since that would probably screw a lot of proceeding events up, but it's kind of weird to consider.
"I'm Alice, and this is Clover." Alice says, introducing me simultaneously.
"Huh. I take it you two know each other?" Sigma asks.
"Yes. Clover and I are… coworkers." Alice finishes vaguely. I notice Sigma squint and mutter something under his breath at that, but decide to ignore it.
"And just what are we supposed to call you?" Dio asks once we get around to K.
"Hmm…" K places a hand on his chin, clearly giving it some thought. "Well…"
"If you're not gonna admit you're lying about this amnesia shit, just make something up." Dio snidely comments. "Call yourself 'Asshole' for all I care, just pick something."
"…I suppose you can call me… K."
Everyone seems a bit nonplussed. "K?" Dio protests, looking caught between being annoyed and confused. "The hell does 'K' have to do with anything?"
"I don't know." K answers. "I feel as if it's somehow important, however…"
…whoops. I just realized I told Alice his name was K before he actually had a chance to come up with it. Hopefully she didn't notice that…
"Alright then." Tenmyouji says, looking around at everyone. "Now that that's settled, I'd like to make sure of something. Besides those of us that can't remember, we were all gassed and grabbed, right?"
Weird that he'd be the one to bring that up, since I know that he himself wasn't.
"Yeah, sounds about right." Sigma replies. "I got in my car, tried to start the engine, and white smoke started pouring out of the AC…"
"I believe we all experienced something to that effect." Luna chimes in. "The smoke seems to have acted as some kind of general anesthetic. When I woke up, I was in one of these 'elevators'."
Sigma then chooses to ask the rather stupid question of whether we all woke up in the same elevator (would we have even fit?), leading to the "reveal" that Alice, Luna, and Tenmyouji woke up alone, while Quark woke up with Dio and I woke up with K. They start talking about the bracelets and what the solo/pair assignments could mean as something occurs to me — come to think of it, how did Alice manage to get out of her room without realizing she suddenly had super jumping powers? Tenmyouji and Luna already know where we are, so it wouldn't have surprised them, but Alice doesn't, and I don't recall her ever bringing it up in the game. Sigma never does either, despite how I believe he explicitly notes Phi's incredible "flying" abilities at one point, which Phi herself doesn't even seem to question. Is that a plot hole, or just something none of those three found interesting enough to mention for some reason? Should I ask Alice about it? I don't really want to rock the boat any more than I already have, so probably not…
Discussion eventually ceases, with no one really knowing what else to say. Phi wanders off towards the "Two milkmen go comedy" graffiti written in what looks like blood at the back of the warehouse, while Sigma begins fruitlessly trying to open the magenta Chromatic Door, which is honestly kind of funny given that it doesn't even have a handle. I've no idea what exactly he thinks he's going to accomplish just shoving on that thing, but perhaps he simply feels compelled to at least give it a try. I'm about to go join Phi, since I don't really remember what the message was an anagram of or if it was remotely important, until I'm suddenly interrupted.
"Hey. Clover, right?"
I turn around and almost wince. Dio, everyone's least favorite character, appears to be attempting to talk to me.
"What's that folder you've got?"
I blink, honestly having forgotten that I've been holding that at my side this whole time. The others turn to me as well, most of them apparently having not noticed it until now.
"You mean this?" I say, holding the folder up. "I'm not sure. It was inside the safe in our room, but I haven't really looked at it yet."
"Well why not? There could be important information in there." Dio points out. "Hurry up and-"
"He he he… eee he he he he he he… eee he he he he he he he he he…"
Everyone looks around wildly as Zero Three chooses to giggle manically over the intercom for a few seconds before projecting himself onto the wall.
"Welllll now. Looks like someone found one of the secret archives! Congratulations, Cleaver!"
I startle at the rabbit AI directly addressing me again.
"You'd better not tell anyone what's in there yet! I do have a plan here you know, and I can't just have you revealing things out of order."
"So that folder IS important!" Dio exclaims, rounding on me.
"Oh, I wouldn't say that." Zero replies, waving a paw nonchalantly. "I just don't want its contents spoiling you all on what's to come. It's far too exciting! Eee he he he he…"
"Why you…" Dio's temper swings back around as he turns back towards the wall. "Show yourself you little bastard!"
As Zero begins mercilessly baiting Dio, I look down at the folder in my hands. Was that call out some sort of indication that Zero knows I'm not really Clover? I... kind of hope it was, since that would imply Sigma-Zero knew when he was programming the AI, which in turn implies I'll at least survive long enough for it to become known I'm not her at some point in the timeline. Since I only plan on revealing that when I talk to Akane, it would be near ironclad assurance that I'll be making it to the true ending. Unfortunately, that seemed more directed at my having found the file than anything to do with who I actually am…
"Ooooh, you mean you want to see the person who's controlling me?" Zero coos in response to Dio demanding to see the man behind the curtain. "Well, in that case, maybe you need to take a look around!"
"What are you talking about?" Dio scoffs. "This place is empty! There's no one here but-"
"What he's saying," Phi mutters, loudly enough for everyone to hear, "is that the real Zero could be one of us…"
"Well done, Phido!" Zero praises. "Minus points for needing a hint, however. You're cleverer than that, aren't you?"
The group looks more confused than surprised by this potential revelation. "How can that be?" Quark asks, speaking up for the first time since he told us his name. "You're speaking and responding to us right now…"
Zero goes on to tell everyone that he's an AI, before finally beginning to explain the Nonary Game proper. I start listening more carefully once he gets to that part — unlike in the elevator, I figure this time I should try to actually pay attention to him. Sure, I theoretically already know the rules here, but it's been a while, and I want to make sure I remember everything correctly. Though, annoyingly, Zero's… theatricality means he is not exactly doling out the information quickly. It takes him over two minutes just to explain the function of the number 9 door, which I feel could have been summarized in all of 10 seconds: here's the way out, it opens once and once only, don't get left behind.
I've never been the most patient person. By the time Zero starts explaining the bracelets, it occurs to me that I could probably get all this stuff from the file if I wanted to. The early ones were basically just term glossaries, and since Zero told me not to "spoil" things, this one almost certainly goes over what he's talking about right now. He just said not to tell anyone yet, not that I couldn't look at it myself, right?
I scoot to the back of the group and flip the folder open. There's a single sheet inside, which I quickly skim over. Yep, basically just a glossary of terms and objects relevant to the Nonary Game, though it's a lot less useful as a reference than I thought it might be. It does go over what the AB rooms are, explains what a quantum computer is, and mentions how and why the bracelets might kill us — well, actually it just heavily implies they will, oddly enough — but for some reason, it also covers the phrases Zero Three uses before he leaves, makes a joke about AI standing for Artificial Insemination, and pointlessly talks about how unsafe the elevator doors are, rather than utilizing the space for more useful information. Well, I guess these were mostly just meant as a "bonus" for the player to collect, so they're free to be a little silly… which only highlights how weird it is that they now seem to be included in the rather more serious plot.
Zero has moved on to talking about the AB rooms and the keycards needed to access them, which I'm fairly sure I haven't forgotten anything about, so I continue ignoring him. There's nothing else to gain from looking at the file any longer, so on another note entirely: what was that thing about "keeping up the airhead act" Alice mentioned? I guess she thinks my acting like a ditz will help us here somehow? Did Clover do that in this game? That's kind of distasteful to be perfectly honest, and either way, I think that ship may have already sailed. I solved the first room pretty much on my own after all, and while it was relatively simple, I was also the only one to get the secret file. Besides which, a lot of the people here are going to be suspicious of everyone else regardless, so it probably doesn't matter how intelligent I act in regards to drawing attention. That said, I don't want Alice to think I'm just ignoring her… but this is a minor issue all things considered, so I suppose I'll just cross that bridge when I get to it.
I tune back in just in time to hear Zero literally reviewing what we've gone over so far. Nice to know I've missed absolutely nothing by almost completely ignoring him.
"Cleaver, can you tell me what the three primary colors are?" he suddenly asks.
I tilt my head at the unexpected question. "I… assume you mean red, green, and blue, not red, blue, and yellow. But why ask me?"
"Because. You're the only person I haven't talked with yet." Zero snappily replies. "No reason to go mute around me, communication is a wonderful thing. And yes, of course I don't mean red, blue, and yellow. You're not in elementary school anymore Cleaver, you should know better!"
I glare at the projection for a moment, which Zero giggles at.
"Now, what colors do you need to make Magenta?" he asks, drawing out the name of the color.
"Red and blue."
"How about y-"
"You use red and green to get yellow and blue and green to get cyan." I say impatiently. I kind of want to sarcastically ask if we should just intuit the rest from that, but I can't think of a way to phrase it that doesn't sound stupid, and it probably isn't the best idea to tick Zero off, no matter how annoying he is. We shouldn't have to deal with him much longer anyways.
The rabbit sniffs huffily at my preempting him before resuming his explanation. Man, I forgot how long these little infodumps took. Didn't we just establish that we only have 10 minutes left before the doors open? How can this feel like an eternity? Can't be the Radical-6; that makes things seem sped up, not slowed down. I'm doing my best to look as though I'm still interested, but I'm increasingly less concerned that anything about this scenario is different from the one I'm already familiar with, besides my being in it. VLR lets you skip dialogue you've already heard for a reason, and this would be that reason.
I'm a little surprised the whole death penalty thing hasn't been mentioned yet. Does that come later? I thought for sure it was part of this scene, but maybe Zero doesn't explain that until the first AB game, which I suppose makes more sense now that I think of it. Honestly, I'm not all that worried about the bracelet killing me regardless — I'm far more concerned about all the OTHER potential causes of death this game presents. If I recall, just going by things seen onscreen, I could get murdered by Dio, blown up by antimatter bombs, or fall victim to plague-induced suicide. Lovely. Hopefully I won't have to deal with any of those, but each of the three main timelines beyond the first Chromatic Doors has one of those as an overall theme, so that's probably not really possible.
An activation sound suddenly plays, and the Chromatic Doors slide up into the walls.
"Chromatic Doors have opened." Akane's voice rings out over the warehouse. "Five minutes remain until Chromatic Doors close."
I glance over at the doors in question. Zero still isn't gone yet, but I guess that means it's time to move on. I should- shit, I should have started thinking about this sooner. I need to get to the true ending, which means I need to end up in the bomb timeline. How did that one start? I think Sigma and Phi went to… darn it, it definitely wasn't the lounge… I'm pretty sure it was the crew quarters? Yeah, the first bomb was under one of the fold out beds, it was definitely there. It may not actually matter who goes there as long as someone discovers the bomb, except that I don't remember if Dio even planted them in the murder and sickness timelines. Much like how Quark somehow doesn't get sick in at least one of the timelines but does in the other(s), I don't fully understand the factors in play there. It's not worth risking.
So, I need to make sure I'm in the timeline where Sigma chooses to go to the crew quarters. Problem is, I have no way of making Sigma want to go to the crew quarters. The pairings are ultimately left up to him in the game, and he makes his choice at close to the last second every time, so I'm not going to have much chance to object if he chooses to go to the lounge or the infirmary. How would I even justify asking a team I'm not even paired up with to go to a specific door, unless- wait, there's a much easier way! If I insist on K and I's partner, then I can "choose" where the others go — once one team is decided, everyone else only has one option. I need Sigma and Phi to go through the cyan door, so they need to pair up with… crap, maybe I should have been listening to who had what color after all.
"Well… death." Zero says nonchalantly.
Everyone looks horrified. It takes me half a second to catch up with them, as I missed the context, though I think I can guess what it was. Sure enough, Zero finally begins explaining how the bracelets can kill us if we don't follow the rules. For the love of- he's choosing to do this NOW of all times?! Oh wait, of course he is, he wants us all as stressed as possible. It's only natural he'd choose to run down the time we have to decide who goes where.
Once Zero finishes lighting a fire under everyone's collective backside and finally disappears, Phi quickly starts going over our options, which means I get to hear everyone's colors again. In order for Sigma and Phi, the red pair, to access the crew quarters behind the cyan door, they need to go with Alice, the red solo. Which means K and I, the green pair, need to insist on… Tenmyouji. Damn, what reason can I give for that? A 19 (I think) year old girl requesting to pair up with a strange dude in his 60s. Right, no one will question that whatsoever, especially since Clover would probably be far more likely to want to pair up with Alice… hold on, maybe that's it!
I tap Alice lightly on the shoulder from behind, and begin whispering in her ear.
"Alice, we should try to gather information on these people. Don't request me. We can find out more on different teams."
Alice seems surprised, as one might expect. "I agree that we need to figure out who and what we're dealing with, but are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure. I'll ask to pair up with Tenmyouji, you ask for Sigma and Phi. We'll have a better chance of getting our choice that way."
Alice slowly nods, and I back away, just as Phi finishes explaining the option I'm hoping we take. Luna frantically begins asking that someone pick, deferring to Sigma at first, but conveniently proceeding to suggest that either I or Alice pick once he protests being put on the spot. It sounds like she's going to go on to suggest any of the others as well, but I don't think I'm going to have a better time to make my move.
"I'd actually like to pair up with Tenmyouji and go through the magenta door." I say, cutting Luna off.
Several people, including both Tenmyouji and Sigma, turn to give me bewildered looks. Multiple "Huh?"s go unheard as the announcement that we only have one minute left plays over top of them.
"Now there's a choice I didn't expect to hear…" Phi murmurs, crossing her arms.
"And as it happens, I'd like to pair up with Sigma and Phi to go through the cyan door, so that works out perfectly." Alice continues, which seems to shock Sigma.
"Wha- wait, why would you want to go with-"
"What, am I not good enough for you?" Alice pouts indignantly, placing a hand on her collarbone and giving him a sly look.
"No, I just don't understand-"
"We don't have time to argue about this." Phi interrupts. "That's two people who want Option C. Does anyone have any objections?"
"That means me, Mister Dio, and Miss Luna would be going through the yellow door, right?" Quark asks. "I'm alright with that."
"Yeah, think I'm all right with that as well." Dio says, giving Luna an appraising look.
"Don't see a reason to say no." Tenmyouji mumbles, still looking at me with a puzzled expression.
"Ten seconds remain until Chromatic Doors close. Nine… Eight… Seven…"
"We need to hurry!" Luna cries, prompting everyone to make a break for it towards their doors. Thank goodness the magenta door is the closest one to where we were standing, because I don't think I could have run to the others quickly enough in Clover's shoes.
"Three… Two… One…"
We slip into the room, just before the final announcement plays.
"Zero. Chromatic Doors closing."
The door descends, and the three of us are swallowed by the darkness.