Lurker > Altimadark

A bunp to make myself feel better
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

Forceful_Dragon posted...

I prefer the Secret of Evermore anyways.

Yeah, but everybody already knows what that "secret" is. The butler did it.
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

I have taken spinach, pineapple, banana, and pineapple/tropical juice, placed them into a blender, and pressed the button.

The result is still delicious.
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

The Mana Sword posted...

lot of being being added to The List in this topic

Hmm... If anybody knows what the Secret is, certainly The Mana Sword should.
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

LeonhartFour posted...

isn't one of the monsters Santa Claus or something

paperwarior posted...

I can only assume it's somehow related to Monkey Island(TM)

I think we're on to something BIG here. But a piece of the puzzle is missing. Hmm...
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

Natwaf_akidna posted...

Huh?

Aren't the first two reversed?

Maybe that's part of the secret....
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

MariaTaylor posted...

no to both. good to see that most board 8 users are anti-war. really depressing to know that despite most people being against war, dumbass politicians keep sending people off to war over dumbass reasons anyway.

Pretty much this. Nine point nine recurring out of ten
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

Vote and reveal all!
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

DeathChicken posted...

I mean she's not wrong about any of that, but she was also horrible and no one liked her

This and the Streisand Effect, IMO.
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

Ditto; I'm kinda missing those Zero rankings.
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

For service. Which generally boils down to not being a jerk.

Also, prefer to give cash tips so they can decide for themselves if Uncle Sam gets a cut.
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

Same here.
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

Ah, I think I remember where this is going...
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

Gog, it's been so long that I don't even remember the order I went thru. All I remember is getting Dio's ending first. The Zero Bomb was way-four-more less surprising when it came up later.
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

And you just heard about it? Dang.
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

Raka_Putra posted...

Haha, that picture of K riding the children's toy ride made this route worth it.

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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

So I decided to visit my aforementioned Kmart.

Jukkie's dollar store comment seems way four more accurate now.

Gog, they don't even have Cadbury Creme Eggs at this location...
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

There's one still active in my area

It feels like it's trying to be a Wal-Mart, but it's not as cool.

I can't think of a better way to describe it.
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

I get extra taxes to go with my impoverishment. Huzzah.
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

Did I already mention how much I'm enjoying this playthrough? Not sure it can be stated enough. Especially loving the speculation right about now.
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

Just felt like posting to add that these have all been very enjoyable to read.
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

I'd be inclined to pick either the year the Virtual Boy came out, or the year Sega left the console market. Barring any additional context, of course.
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

Not even sure what else to add at this point.

Maybe I should make a topic about my gradual viewing of Twin Peaks.
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

You've definitely and/or definitively figured out at least none of the game's mysterious plot points thus far.
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

MariaTaylor posted...

A synthetic being from Zero:Fiber you fall somewhere between Android and Cyborg on the classification spectrum. This distinction is not only heavily debated among fans but also serves as a driving inner conflict for much of the game. Altima is a computer program that was created by patterning the memories and emotional blueprint of a human before they died. The original human has since passed away but the mind upload was transferred to a mechanical body. So which is it...? Is Altima the same person as Sigrid? Or did Sigrid die, and Altima is a mere Android -- a replication of life? The game asks this question often but never conclusively answers it. That is left for the player to decide.

A robot and a pilot (based on what they're wearing)? Noice.
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

We've no choice now. The only way Super Saiyan Nappa will survive...

...is in our hearts.
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

BowserCuffs posted...

ImTheMacheteGuy posted...

Altimadark posted...

The Flat Earth Society has members from around the globe.

you... you are someone.

It's funnier because that's an actual quote that an actual flat-earther on facebook said.

I mean, they probably meant it as a figure of speech, but still, it's hilarious.

I kinda wish I had more excuses to say it.... but then I'd probably wear the phrase out, so meh.
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

Great update. Makes me wish the next post was already up!
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

The Flat Earth Society has members from around the globe.
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

I'm still interested! I just feel like posting too much is rude (but then I didn't even post after the first time, so there's that...)
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

Not quite; the click-click-click sounds a bit more regular.

FWIW, I had to drop it off at the shop. They'd said they could probably have it fixed it by noon tomorrow... which I kinda need so I can get to work in the evening.
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

Giggsalot posted...

[side question about the 9 door: once a person wielding a 9 bracelet opens it, is it only other 9 bracelet holders that can pass through, or is it anyone? I don't know if I missed this or if the game's being deliberately ambiguous.]

I believe Zero mentioned earlier that if anyone with less than 9BP goes through the 9 door, they'll die, just as if they hit 0BP.
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

And it's not starting again... Definitely need to get it looked at.
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

Wow.

Owner's manual said not to connect negative to negative. Tower does it anyway, engine is running a minute later.

Not sure how I feel about this. Prob need to replace battery anyway.
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

Makes a marginally concerning clicking noise. Guy in the neighborhood tried to help me jumpstart it, didn't change anything.

Quick web search suggests it's the starter or alternator. How much can I expect this to cost me?

I was also supposed to be at a meeting this evening. That's probably not happening now. Hopefully my boss doesn't get too upset.
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

Raka_Putra posted...

Altimadark posted...

Raka_Putra posted...

Hey, Sean is a good kid...robot...!

Kid broke a criminal out of jail when he was being good, and who knows when Zero will switch him to Evil Robot mode? That aside, he's okay.

Yeah he can save you if you got into trouble with the law. :p

I feel like this is saying Eric can avenge you if he falls in love with you.
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

Giggsalot posted...

Alice wasn't alone. K and Clover chose to betray Tenmyouji too, which is curious considering what we know about Clover (assuming she's the same person, which is far from certain). sure, she's liable to lose her shit a little in these situations - don't think I forgot about that time you axe murdered me, bitch! - but you might think she of all people would focus on the common good here.

I recommend remembering this. I think it'll become more amusing later.
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

Raka_Putra posted...

Hey, Sean is a good kid...robot...!

Kid broke a criminal out of jail when he was being good, and who knows when Zero will switch him to Evil Robot mode? That aside, he's okay.
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

RPG character classes (feel free to choose whatever game/system/etc)
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

I suppose I should actually get to this favoritism rating thing...

Gab > Junpei > Phi > Akane > Sigma > Diana > Carlos > Sean > Eric > Mira > Zero > Delta

It occurred to me while (hastily) putting this ranking together that I do NOT want to be in the same room as any single member of Q-Team.
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

Tag'd.

GOG that flowchart was such a welcome addition.

On an unrelated note, I just noticed the Alice in Wonderland reference. Perhaps I should play thru it again to see if I spot any more...
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

I can't see this going awry at all.
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

I think if I did it by favoritism, Gab would probably be at the top.
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

I don't do a lot of character rankings... In fact, I can't remember ever doing one before. What would be the ideal way to rank characters?
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

It's not where I expected to end up, but yeah, as characters, I liked Eric way more than Sigma or Phi. Keep in mind that this is based on their portrayal in ZTD; the two would definitely be closer to the top in VLR. Which, IMO, just adds to the disappointment.

Eric may have done some stupid things, but even when he did, his actions made sense, at least for his character. More than this, though? He felt like a much more active character than either Phi or Sigma.

Looking back, I cannot think of a single thing Phi actually did to advance the story. I will admit that my memory isn't the best, so who knows, maybe another viewing will change my opinion. Sigma's ranking was helped by the Twins ending (among others), but I still feel like the two people who went back in time to prevent a bad future weren't really doing much of anything to stop it.
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

DeathChicken posted...

Also if you were curious about Zero's true motives, this video explains it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfOsjVT8mlU

I swear, this would've made the ending at least... 17.0794684% less ridiculous. That's two pie!

Raka_Putra posted...

Character ranking please.

I don't wanna. But I guess I'll do it anyway...

Junpei > Carlos > Eric > Zero > Sean >= Diana > Mira > Akane > Gab > Sigma > Delta > Phi

And yes, I'm counting Delta and his Zero persona as seperate characters, because if Delta can disassociate from his alternate selves, why not?
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

So, finally took some time to digest the post-payoff documents.

Overall? Rather "meh" about them.

Carlos's sister gets better, Junpei and Akane are officially a couple, pretty much what you'd expect there.

Mira turned herself in, which is fine. Eric is still in love with her, and willing to marry her while she's still in jail. Odd, but totally believable for Eric's character. Sean breaks Mira out of jail, locates the Time Fax, and plans to have Eric and Mira use it to create a timeline where Mira never becomes the Heart Ripper. Within the context of the series, this is actually par for the course, but it still feels just a little ridiculous. Also, stop taking pages from Delta's book, kid.

D-Team is... absent. Huh. Did... did I miss something?

And there's clearly a sequel hook what with the doomsday fanatic, which... well, what else can I say at this point but "meh?"

ZTD had some interesting ideas, but the end result was a little lacking. Assuming D-Team's post payoff isn't incredibly awesome, or something. Might need to pull up a guide for this one.

More later.



...Say, if Carlos Time-Fax'd himself ten months into the past, doesn't this mean there's now a second Carlos running around post-payoff? As well as the other timelines?

Wow it's four in the morning, why am I still up?
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

Gog it all...

*FINAL DECISION*

Sigma breaks the holodeck settings just before the other teams pour out into the lobby, thanks largely to some bad acting, convenient hacking, and alien card games. As such, everyone is now up to date on the multiple timeline shenanigans, even those without access to the morphogenetic field.

Delta comes in with a shotgun in hand and way more than a mouthful of exposition. Seems he actually can't SHIFT, but he can hack minds, and thus learn about alternate timelines by reading the minds of those who do shift... Honestly, that actually seems more convoluted than using the time fax, but whatever... Though I do like how it makes Carlos's bad acting even more pointless.

So what's the point, Delta? Why make the others remember the other timelines? Why allow them to get away with the ruse? Why keep them trapped down here at this point?

Why, to troll them, of course. Mind, that's not actually what he says, but the more he jabbers on, the more I'm convinced he's just messing with them. He claims his motives are complex, but I'll simplify them anyway. First, he's closing the time loop responsible for his own existence (I mean, obviously). This gets him jump-kicked by Phi, and Eric takes the opportunity to equip the shotgun again. With Delta pinned, Diana inserts the mementos into the Force-Quit Box.

*TEN MINUTES UNTIL EXPLOSION*

Like I said, Delta's trolling them. He even goes on to point out that he shot Gab (what a douche!), then kills himself by mind hacking Eric into shooting him. Gotta give him some credit for killing himself in order to troll his victims, tho.

As he dies, Delta gives them the eponymous Final Decision: accept their fate and let the bomb take them, or... *DEAD*

*ahem* ...or SHIFT over to the timeline where they won the coin toss. With six espers, even Eric and Mira would be able to come along for the ride. Of course, their victorious but amnesiac counterparts would have to die in their place.

The decision to stay is little more than a formality to make sure the entire board is filled.

*PAYOFF 2*

Outside the DCom facility, it's raining HADOKENs, and everyone is reasonably cheerful. Then this timeline's Delta pops in, with more exposition. 9_9 Again, simplifying it: Second, he's giving the participants the knowledge and incentive to stop the doomsday fanatic (you remember them, right?), without the need to resort to Radical-6. And he does it in a way where he can still enjoy messing with all of them, without actually bloodying his hands.

That said, he gives the group -- specifically Carlos -- a chance to shoot him, if they feel so inclined.

The credits roll before we see if they actually do.

And naught but the save screen follows the credits.

Poking around earns me some new TEXT files, but I don't really feel like reading them right now.

Maybe more later.

...

Gog this was such a disappointing finale.
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

Okay, just a quick update. Which means it'll probably take up 99% of the character limit, as seems to be the norm for me recently.

Force Quit: Q

Sean inputs the code to open the port to the main computer, then inputs the code to take off his head. For some reason these are both decision points, even though you needed the head code to get the port code. Despite Eric's initial hour-long reaction, I feel like he and Mira are both reasonably weirded out. FWIW, I find it a welcome change compared to seeing Eric just continuously coming apart at the seams upon Mira's death. The lack of a firearm in his hands helps too.

Sean explains to Eric and Mira on how his artificial brain, the quantum computer doohickey, allows him to acquire info from his experiences in other timelines, and suggests to them how the human brain might work much the same way. Eric is reasonably incredulous.

Sean, please stop dropping your head every which way; you're going to lose and/or break it at this rate.

Sean activates the computer, causing static on Delta's feed from all three camera angles. Fast forward back to the bar, with the main computer up and running, Force Quit is now on standby, awaiting the mementos from D-Team. Before Q-Team can make anything out of this, their time is up and they're knocked out.

*END SEQUENCE*

Hold on, let me check something...

Okay, so D-Team didn't actually set the mementos during their force-quit fragment, nor does their time run out, so presumably the next fragment -- the final fragment will start there, or close enough to it. Nice to see it appear for all three teams, capping off the coin flip way back at the start of this episode of madness. Also nice to see them together, finally.

That would be one of my major complaints for this game; the other two entries had all the participants interacting with each other way more often. Even when they were divided into teams, they at least shuffled teams around often enough so you weren't stuck with the same group all the time.

I'd loved to have seen a team of, say, just Carlos and Eric -- the heroic firefighter and the neurotic ice cream salesman. Or how about Mira, Akane, and Junpei -- Heart Ripper and estranged couple? Maybe Akane, Sigma, and Delta -- all the Zeroes, but only one knows. Tell me those wouldn't result in lots of entertaining exchanges.

Then again, 999 and VLR had clear focus characters, whereas ZTD does not, and no, the reveal that Delta has been watching them the whole time doesn't count. Junpei interacted with the others on a personal level. Sigma interacted with the others on a personal level. Delta, that is, "Q," just watched everything from within the fourth wall.

My known issues with the time fax feel more personal than anything, so I won't go into it. Now that I think about it, it was vaguely hinted to in the epilogue to VLR, so maybe it was always intended to play a role at some point.

Grumbles aside, everything seems like it's coming together well enough. The big questions I have on my mind before I proceed:

What exactly is Delta's plan with the Force Quit boxes? It seems like the only "good" endings for him would be ensuring his own existence and preventing humanity's extinction, which he's already accomplished, sorta.

Grumbles with the time fax itself aside, what's with the age discrepancy between Phi and Delta? Even within its own logic, it's not adding up. Gog, it would be hilarious if Phi was immediately put into cryostasis upon arriving in 1904.

This sorta ties into the first question, but where are things going with Mira? Given she's a serial killer and the root cause of all this nonsense (though with the time loop... mrgrgr...), she can't just be left to go free. Or to put it another way, what's to stop her at this point from trying to, ahem, touch Eric's heart once they all get out?

More later.
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.

Back to Eric pointing his gun at Sean. This time, Sean remembers his code, takes off his head, then shows us he has white blood. Oh yeah, Dr. Klim's arms were like that back in VLR. Anyway, since Mira drew blood from her killer, Sean couldn't have been the killer, but he's also forced to reveal he was built by Zero for the decision game. Eric's ready to kill hm on the spot, but Diana convinces Eric to give Sean a chance. Sean now needs to point to the real Zero, or--

"Sigma"

*BANG!*

Yeah, that.

"Screw it, I'll just kill all of you!"

*BANG!**BANG**BANG!*

Daggum, Gab, you really do take everything in stride...

"I'm coming to you, Mira."

*BANG!*

*GAME OVER*

And guessing Q at this point would just be silly. So let's do it!

"PLEASE ENTER ZERO'S NAME*

O_O

There's no way that can be right. Can iiiiiit...?

"Delta"

*DING!*

.....I think it's right.

Sean once again points to the man behind the fourth wall. He accuses Delta.

We see the scene from Delta's perspective. seems to be viewing things thru a video feed. The name is familiar to Diana and Sigma, but Eric points out that his name is Q. But any doubts for me at this point have been dealt with; Zero is Delta, and the real Q.

And he goes by Brother, too? Gog he has a lot of names.

Before Eric can raise any further objections... Delta stands. Seems he was pretending to Professor X it this whole time. And finally, he's revealed to the player: an old man in a turtleneck wearing glasses. I joke, but the guy looks incredible for a 125-year old man. He confirms Sean's accusations, and the others are just shocked. They were under the impression that "Q" was blind, deaf, and wheelchair-bound this whole time. No wonder nobody paid much attention to him!

Gog, that's as stupid as it it brilliant.

Delta reveals all sorts of information: his eyes are purple, with black sclera. His glasses provide a convenient video feed to help him spy on the other participants. He stands about as tall as his father, with a similar enough build. And he shows the wounds he received from Mira as he strangled her. Like I said, incredible for a 125-year old man. He's got veins of ice, too; he's not bothered at all as Eric keeps the shotgun pointed at him.

Eric lowers the gun so Delta can exposit some more. Mira, the "Heart Ripper," was allowed to roam free, spared the drugs the others were injected with at the end of every session. But when she killed Junpei, Delta in turn killed her. Eric seems to realize the implications and rejects it, taking aim again before he gets talked down again. Delta should know how to open the X-Door.

In the computer room, Delta gives the code to unlock the computer so Sean can connect to it and open the X-Door.

Then Eric shoots Sean and Sigma. Even Eric is surprised; it seems he's not in full control of his actions! I have a sudden sense of deja vu... And Sean has actual physical damage this time. Daggum.

Seems like Delta can just do that, because... actually, since psychic powers really exist in this series, I guess it's probably that. He forces Eric to take aim at his own head, and...

*BANG!*

Only Diana, shaking in fear of her own life, remains to face Zero.

"Mom."

*Q-END:2"

....

*deep breath*

All that remains is the force-quit path.

More later.
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There never was a post. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.