Board 8 > Altimadark plays/stares at Zero Time Dilemma (SPOILERS)

(+) Yeah! (+)

Ah, Zero Escape. What strange, bloody mess do you have in store for us this time?

For those who are unfamiliar with the series (why are you here?), Zero Time Dilemma is the third installment of the Zero Escape VN franchise (Following Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors and Virtue's Last Reward), wherein a group of nine people, ostensibly strangers, are forced into the deadly Nonary Game, wherein they must go forward and solve puzzles in the vague hope of survival, masterminded by an enigmatic figure generally referred to as "Zero."

And then morphogenetic fields and parallel timelines start getting involved, and things start getting weird.

But that's for later.

For now, we're introduced to our setting: a compound somewhere in the Nevada Desert, wherein our cast finds themselves locked up for reasons unknown. Par for the course, really. Cast includes returning players Sigma, Phi, and possibly Akane(!), as well as a kid wearing a sphere helmet who will serve as this game's mystery player. Trust me kid, it's a HUGE step up from 999's mystery player.

Also, the bracelets this time look like they're designed to be extremely uncomfortable. I mean, my goodness, at least the previous designs had some ergonomic sense behind them. Gog.

Enter our enigmatic mastermind, bold enough to come out in the open right at the start! He(?) presents us (and by us, I mean the designated main character) a deadly choice: a coin toss! If we lose, six of us must die, but if we win, they'll let us all go free, for reals!

Okay, let's get this Morton's fork out of the way and get on with the Nonary Game proper. I guessed correctly, so of course he's being vague and creepy about letting us go, right before we're suddenly right outside the compound what.

This has to be a joke.

There are credits.

What.

...

This is what I get for starting at midnight, isn't it?
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*sigh* Let's move on, I suppose.

Picking Blue instead of Red this time, which forces/leads us into the game proper. Our cast wakes up and finds themselves inside of a bomb shelter, separated into three groups of three. Our only exit, the giant X-Door. The only way to open it, passwords which will be revealed to us only as people die. Six passwords will open the door. And to really get things moving, we have to have a death election in 90 minutes to kill off one of the three teams. Wonderful.

On the plus side, I get to play as all three teams, so I get some info on our contestants as they look for another way out.

Carlos is leading a team with Akane(!) and Junpei(!!), which, if it wasn't clear before, weren't immediately recognizable with the new art style, but it's an aesthetic which is easily overlooked. Junpei seems to have gotten a bit emo... which is somewhat understandable after 999. Akane seems to be less detached than her VLR counterpart... but we can't really be certain of anything yet. Carlos... is a firefighter. Hmm...

I'll get back to this.
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IIRC that coin toss is completely random, making it entirely possible to "win" it several times before getting into the game proper.

Regaro posted...

IIRC that coin toss is completely random, making it entirely possible to "win" it several times before getting into the game proper.

iirc you always win the first coin toss, and then it becomes random after that
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Oh hey, a dog. Let's send him thru an air duct so we can communicate with the other groups. But seriously, the plan they come up with is decent enough: Have the groups vote for each other such that nobody dies.

Kinda like VLR, where building trust was kinda essential. Might be a good way to go about things here, too. So once the plan is in place, for now, we'll go ahead and follow thru with it.

Moving on, we learn a bit more about our cast. Diana is a nurse, that's fine. Sigma is in fact Dr. Kilm, and both he and Phi are here to follow up on the events of VLR. Sigma for his part just out and told everyone he's from the future, which seems like a hasty decision to me...

Also, both C and D teams have some odd red box with some sort of password input. It's apparently very heavy, though I like how Phi tries to pick it up after Sigma. May as well make sure we're not on the moon this time.

Moving on... Nobody in Q team has ever played one of these games, so of course things are a bit more tense, and Eric is still a bit freaked out by Q's helmet. Of course Q has to claim amnesia and has disturbingly accurate accounts of some serial murderer. Might end up like another mystery player after all... At least Mira is trying to keep Eric from doing something stupid right off the bat. As well as flirt with Eric, as the two seem to have a bit of history together.

Also, it seems everyone (except Q) know each other as part of a bio-dome- like experiment in preparation of a Mars mission. Pretty sure this came up in VLR, though I don't recall it all that well.

Well, votes have been processed, new paths are open, and I'm about to collapse. I'll get back to this.
---

So before I move on, something I forgot to mention from last time: D-Team's strange red box was too meavy to lift, while Q picks up his team's box with barely any effort. Interesting.

----------

Oh wow, look at all the choices open to me now! Which to choose, which to choose... let's stick with C-Team for now.

Standing around talking, standing around talking, standing around talking in a green room... and playing some pool, or something. Huh. Tough choice.

Wait, what's this one at the top? Akane wielding a chainsaw? Seems promising.

"Suspicion"

Carlos and Akane find themselves locked in the Pantry. Junpei is missing. During some small talk, it seems Akane still has feelings for Junpei. Aww.

Puzzle time! Makin' a gelatin torso and reading severed palms. Fun. And on the other side of the door, we find...

Oh. Hi... and bye, Junpei. My goodness. And D-Team, too, it seems.

A convenient chainsaw and fire axe ready for Carlos and Akane go at each other... or just open the other door, I guess.

After escaping, Carlos takes a moment to talk about his sick little sister. Needs a lot of money to cure her Reverie Syndrome; I presume that's why he joined the bio-dome. Is this an early form of Radical-6, or is it a real disease? Better not look it up in case leads to spoilers. Still, it's motive enough for Akane to presume Carlos killed Junpei, and she's ready to use that chainsaw. It's go time.

Still, Carlos thinks something is up; there's four hours unaccounted for, and Zero at least claims that he can erase their memories every time they sleep. So... what to do? Carlos presumes he has to take out whomever killed Junpei, and obviously that's Zero... right?

*bzzt*

Well. Okay, then... going with the trust thing. Carlos.

DAYUM, he goes out like a real man!

*GAME OVER*

Oh.

*sigh*

More later....
---

Okay, back to it. Guess we have to kill Akane.

Sorry, Carlos, I know you don't like it, but we have to move forward.

*END SEQUENCE*

-_-
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Jumpy and Akane are just the cutest most f***ed up couple
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Okay, since we actually can't continue with the Pantry storyline, let's go play pool instead.

"Anthropic Principle"

Junpei is being emo. Akane and Carlos tell Junpei to stop being emo. The point about Junpei and Akane knowing each other from before comes up again, and Carlos specifically tells Junpei to say something to Akane before it's too late -- especially true in a temporal jumble like this where you will die multiple times. Not that you'd remember any of it. Junpei is secretly holding a ring... does he intend to propose? Slightly related, my vague recollections of 999 tell me there was something about a plastic ring back when Junpei and Akane were in elementary school.

And, sadly, it turns out the rec room does not actually have a pool table, just a bunch of gambling stuffs. We meander about, toppling card towers and acquiring coins, until finally we unlock and push The Button. Gatling guns pop out.

"All of you, roll 1d6. If you don't all roll a 1, you die. If you don't roll in one minute, you die."

Chances? 1 in 216, or about 0.46 percent.

We roll. The result is as one would expect. The only survivor... is Phi. The scene more or less ends with Junpei's limp dead hand, still holding the ring.

*GAME OVER*

Going back to the story tree, it looks like the plot diverges here. Could we try again now and get a different result?

By the by, "The 99.54% Reality"? Nice touch.

The second time around... we still get mowed down. However, the roll itself was different, so perhaps if we keep trying... gog, I hope the game doesn't force us to reroll until we randomly win. Just one more try for now...

Got it! Guns withdrawn, doors open, and Junpei is so stoked by their good fortune that he immediately starts getting drunk. Akane is actually a bit melancholy. She goes into the anthropic principle, which is basically a way to go into the multiple timelines the series is built on, and which Akane would definitely know about (and Junpei should have at least some inkling of.) It's enough to start sobering up Junpei before the death tally comes up. Outside of C-Block, Phi is still the sole survivor. Junpei makes a crack about Phi being the only other person who has to die, which nobody finds funny. Though I find it funny that he did something that stupid. Guess he needs more time to sober up.

*END SEQUENCE*

Hmm, maybe I should check on the other teams next time...
---

Bump
---

Okay, back to it. Moving away from C team for a bit of variety. Gonna just pick the first one... Uh... I guess from the left side? And see where that leads us.

*First Come, First Saved: Q*

Decontamination Room. No puzzles, just a big yellow button and some talky-talk. Eric describes how he fell for Mira: She is hot. So really, we learn nothing.

Zero chimes in, and they're not happy since none of the teams were voted off. So this is the trust branch, perhaps? For now, Zero gets down to business: Press the yellow button within the next three minutes, and the other two teams get showered in acid, enabling the first team to go free. No puzzles, just a button. Eric rushes to push it to avoid getting killed, but Q stops him and points out that they were able to trust the other teams with the death vote. We run the clock.

Nothing happens. Looks like we're fine... Then Zero states that the showers won't activate right away, and the team notices they're about to be knocked out again. Looks like if they die, they die while they sleep.

End Sequence.

...my morbid curiosity compels me to go back and push the button. Of course Q has to be the one to do it. My goodness.

Zero assures the team that their actions are completely and legally justifiable before, again, they're knocked out.

The others wake in their respective decontamination rooms. They've time enough to get a sense of deja vu before the showers start up! So much for dying in your sleep! There are screams and a bloody haze. When it's over, nothing identifiable remains.

Q team comes to, and the passwords come up. Perhaps this is something we can use in another timeline. But before making their escape, they have to go back for the dog!

The dog is chained up in what looks like a research lab. The team tries to free him to no avail. It's rather disheartening as they leave, despondent, while the poor old dog doesn't seem to realize the gravity of his situation.

Q enters the passcodes and opens the door, but as Mira and Eric head out, Q decides to stay; not for the dog, but because he feels like he needs to. At least the dog won't be left alone.

*BAD END*

Daggum... That's just messed up.

Now to make D-Team do the same thing.
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You're actually guaranteed to win the dice roll on exactly the third try

Any comments on the puzzles? The rec room in particular stumped me a few times (couldn't figure out how to open the floor panel for a long time iirc)
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Can't say I've had much trouble with any of the puzzles as of yet, though I've only gone thru two so far. FWIW, I don't even remember there being a floor panel in the rec room.

Moving on...

*First Come, First Saved: D*

Decontamination room again. Slightly different from Q team's, but otherwise the same deal. Curiously, Phi recalls Diane voting for C team, while Sigma (and the flowchart) only remember her voting for Q team. Diane herself doesn't remember. Phi and Sigma quickly presume there's more timespace memory chicanery afoot, which prompts Diane for more information.

They go into how Radical-6 killed six billon people, and how it supposedly originated at the Dcom Mars experiment, and that they're working with Akane.

Zero chimes in to explain the scenario. Sigma rushes for the button to save the others, but Phi and Diane are able to talk him down, and convince him to wait out the clock.

Unfortunately, I am a little deranged, and force Diane to push it anyway. When Diane claims she has no idea why she did that, Phi realizes that's what she said when she previously voted for C-team, which, again, Sigma says didn't happen.

But before then, a nap and a refreshing shower! Though that won't remove the stain on your soul.

Casualties counted, X-passes revealed. But... These aren't the same as last time. Perhaps each team gets a different set, just in case someone tries anything clever. In any case, Diane is shaken. She didn't want to push the button, right?

Phi suggests she might have some sort of multiple personality disorder, blah blah blah enter X-Codes and be done with it! Also, Gab is here and unchained. Huh.

The three step through before Diane seems possessed and bolts back inside before the door is sealed. Inside, Zero appears on-screen and congratulates/taunts Diane's performance; now Sigma and Phi will be convinced she's not in control of her actions and won't blame her for them, and as such should return with a rescue team.

Gog, this feels even worse than Q's bad end.

Going back, running the clock proves to be as uneventful as it was for Q-team, but it seems we are making progress.

More later.
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Diane is pretty much the only person on display who is *not* on some level a colossal ass*** (well, Q can maybe get a pass), so yeah making her do evil s*** makes you a terrible monster
---

Diana*


D team best team
---

Huh. Wonder why I thought it was Diane... Anyhow...

*First Come, First Saved: C*

So we learn a bit more about what Junpei's been up to since 999 (working as a detective, pretty much just to find Akane again) and notes that Seven, Lotus, and Santa are doing fine (well, Santa's in jail, but other than that...)

And again, Zero chimes in and brings up the situation. I'm just going to wait out the clock and move on. I almost forgot that I'm trying to spend time with the other teams here! I can enjoy Carlos's lament later, and I suspect I'm going to need that last set of X-Passes eventually, anyway.

Oh, looks like that red box is suddenly important. Let's save that for later, too.

Where exactly will Q-Team end up this time? I can't imagine it's going to be any worse than decontamination.

*Radical-6*

Fffffffff---

The team wakes up in the biolab, where Eric is freaking out over a pig in formaldehyde. Eric then tries to reassure Mira while using her as a human shield. From the pig. *sigh*

Seems Zero wants the team to cut open said pig, and certainly not the pillow with the pig on it. Eric is despondent.

Searching about, Q sure seems to know a lot for an amnesiac kid.

I feel like I checked the sink several times before I could actually zoom in on it. Got the knife, cut the pillow, moving along...

Okay, these pills have something to do with the specimens, but what... Oh. Seriously? Yeah, that's not obtuse...

The rest of the room feels rather straightforward. Pig's on the table, there's a convenient scalpel, and Mira is the only one bold enough to cut it open. Eric continues to be useless.

Zero chimes in with a pointless story, or perhaps a story about pointlessness, before directing us to the syringes containing Radical-6, which he describes for our newcomers. He then brings up another virus, Fanatic Bio-R, even deadlier than Radical-6. Get infected with both of them, however, and they cancel each other out. And he might've just infected Q-Team with FBR. So that's our sadistic choice: does Q-Team inject themselves with Radical-6 or not? Just to add a strange twist, Zero claims he can see the future, and thus either has or has not infected Q-Team with FBR based on whether or not they're going to inject themselves with R6. A sadistic choice where, theoretically, both choices are right one. Mira also brings up the very reasonable possibility Zero is lying about being psychic, which of course sets Eric to start panicking. 9_9

And I know I'm going to have to go down both paths, so... I'll choose not to, first.

The door opens! We're not going to die a bloody horrible death! And Mira takes a souvenir?

More later....
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Hmmmm

You can read this spoiler eventually: try running Fanatic Bio-R through an anagram solver

Maybe someone else has an opinion on how long you should wait to read it
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^ oh, I wasn't aware of the thing in that spoiler. Very nice.

Also, tagggggggg. So hype.
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Must... not... highlight... spoilers....

*ahem*

So, where were we? Ah yes, no injections this timeline. Out in the lobby, Q goes into how Radical-6 got its name for a bit. Honestly, the kid knows way too much to be normal, and it's starting to freak me out a bit. The casualties are announced, and C-Team is dead. And with 90 minutes up, the team falls asleep, their memories erased. Looks like Mira will wake up with a syringe of Radical-6 on her person she knows nothing about. That's not gonna lead into shenanigans at. All.

This gets me thinking about VLR again. Just gonna speculate for a bit here; I presume that the ending which leads into VLR is not going to be the one where everyone survives, and as such, has to be one where only Phi, Junpei, and Akane survive (with Sigma finding a loophole in exchange for an arm and ...another arm). Which subsequently means it has to branch off from the path where Q-Team is killed off at the start. Followed by the team leaders. Huh.

I'll get back to this later today.
---

Rewind! Let's inject! Q tosses some numbers around to show survivability is in their favor if they inject. Not sure I quite agree, but it gets the job done.

The three are let out, and Eric starts talking about his semi-creepy childhood after the two question his semi-creepy laugh. Maybe it's just the child-Eric voice. In any case, we learn a bit more about Eric. Mom taught him to smile to be positive, and when she died, Dad went alcoholic and forced Eric to smile or else. It's a bit sad, and I can see how this would make Eric the nervous wreck he's shown himself to be so far. He also brings up his brother, and by the way Eric acts when he says he's about Q's age makes me think he's dead (or at least hospitalized).

And Mira just laughs, thinking it's a joke. Eh? Clumsy? Wh--

*STAB*

Oh gog. Goodbye, Eric.

Goodbye, Q.

Mira... what's going on with you?

Ohey, we have a fragment where Q seems to have a gun drawn on Mira. Maybe we'll find some answers here.

*Triangle*

More later.
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Altimadark posted...

And Mira just laughs, thinking it's a joke. Eh? Clumsy? Wh--

*STAB*

I love this part.
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And here we go! Looks like Eric did something useful and found Zero's study! Let's raid it!

SEEK A WAY OUT!

...

They're, uh... not locked in. Checking the door confirms as much. Whatever.

Let's see... odd parts, creepy doll portraits of the players, funky kung-fu dolls, weapons, and safes. Clearly we have to shoot the creepy pics with the weapons, because symbolism.

Got two codes for the egg chair, and at the end of the sequence, I realize I've only used one. And seeing as I have Note 1 and Note 3, I have to wonder where Note 2 is...

There's three funky kung-fu dolls behind the glass safe. I guess it's a hint for something, but it never came up. Huh.

I wonder if the joke is that Q-Team was here before, did some puzzles to escape, then forgot after the sequence. That could also explain how Eric found it later.

And in the big safe, which required all those strange parts, is...

"KILL ONE."

Outside of Q-Team, everyone but Akane is dead. We even get to see Carlos go out like a man again. But the point is clear: if one more person dies... the game is done. And they just found all these nifty weapons...

As tense as this Mexican Standoff is, I do find it slightly humorous that Eric is pointing a grenade launcher at Q... from about three feet away. Dude, you do recall we had to take cover when we used that earlier, right?

This is quickly getting ridiculous. Mira, I know NOW that there's something wrong with you, but I don't think you're very convincing when you say you love Eric while you have a gun pointed at him.

Decision time! Who do I kill?

Zero? no... Akane? no...

I saw from the tree there are four outcomes, so what if...

Nobody? Yes! Wait, Eric, what are you... NO! You douche!

Goodbye, Q.

Eric's all proud of himself, while Mira is clearly upset, even as the X-Door finally opens. Three days later... back at Eric's childhood home... Mira kills him again, and yet somehow I feel WAY less sympathetic towards him this time.

Clearly I'ma have to go back and do this again.

More later...
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^ that segment was one that gave me quite a challenge <_<

Also I like how Zero used different type of dolls to represent the characters. IIRC Mira was a Bratz-like doll, Akane was a nendoroid, and so on.
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Eric is just the worst at everything all at once
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Well, the peaceful route didn't work, so...

Eric, you're first! Catch! Aww, it just went into his shoulder. Oh gog oh gog I hit an artery or something, he's beeding out.

Mira points out that Eric could be saved if he gets help immediately, but as things are, well... Mira decides to mercy-kill him, but the way she does it... even as Eric forgives her... Is this what she meant when she said she was being "clumsy" in the other timeline? And now she's... going to touch Eric's heart. Literally. Eeeeugh.

Now Mira exposits on what's wrong with her: she can't feel or even understand emotions. Her mother tried explaining them to her, saying they come from the heart... which she took rather literally, deciding to find out what a heart looks like. Mira describes her first victim, and the account line up eerily well with Q's account of that serial murderer he blabbed on about earlier. Ooo-kay, Mira is now the scariest contestant, hands-down.

Wait. Mira's first victim was a woman about her mother's age, and she forgave Mira and told her to smile as she was dying, just... like... Eric...

Holy s***.

Mira's first victim was Eric's mother!? And then she goes into how she knew Eric was a loser when they first met... oh gog, it's Mira's fault and neither of them even know.

This certainly puts some of her previous scenes into a new light.

And finally, Mira gets to touch the heart of someone who loved her. I think I'm gonna be sick.

Q just accepts it. What could he even do?

X-Door opens, Gab comes along for the escape, and... credits roll.

*Q-END: 1*

GOG.
---

And they lived happily ever after, a small child, a serial killer and their dog
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Next up: Mira! Sorry, Eric, this is for your own goo--

Aaaaand Eric caught it. With his heart. The power of love, folks.

Given the previous ending, it's no surprise why Mira is none too happy about this, and offs Q.

*GAME OVER*

Well, that was simple enough. That only leaves Q --

*PLEASE INPUT Q'S NAME*

..........

I swear, I'm going to run out of abrupt cuts and ellipses before this run is through. -_-

More later.
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One thing I regret from playing the Triangle segment is randomly punching in names and accidentally putting in the right one to open the last branch. I think it would be been much cooler if I had figured it out on my own instead of just guessing.
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Team Rocket Elite posted...

One thing I regret from playing the Triangle segment is randomly punching in names and accidentally putting in the right one to open the last branch. I think it would be been much cooler if I had figured it out on my own instead of just guessing.

BIG SPOILERS
Did you just randomly type Delta before even knowing there was an actual character named that? How much did that ruin the twist for you?
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I did that too and was left wondering "Well they just killed...me, so apparently *I* am a character here?" I kind of figured it was just some bit of fourth wall breaking funniness
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No! Not more spoiler blocks! My one weakne--moving on...

Just to be thorough, I took care of those missing puzzle bits; nothing meaningful resulted.

I think it's high time D-Team does more than stain Diana's soul. So let's pick the fragment with a gun inexplicably in the wall.

*FIRE*

The garbage disposal. And Phi is missing. Is this another pantry situation?

Oh, she's still alive. In the incinerator. And it's warming up with just enough time to solve the puzzles.

The puzzles were straightforward, and soon enough the aforementioned gun is locked into a panel pointed at Sigma, who's locked into a chair. Zero chimes in: half the rounds are live, half are blanks. Shoot Sigma and Phi is freed, but Sigma might die. Don't shoot and Phi will burn to death.

Zero also goes into this snail story he's brought up before, and I only now notice that it's referring in part to the death of Eric's mother. Suggesting Zero is Eric's little brother, maybe?

On a personal note, nice to see Phi and Sigma plead to save each other, albeit in different ways: Sigma actually seems to care about Phi, while Phi seems to not care about herself. Interesting, especially considering Dr. Kilm manipulated even himself in VLR.

For better or worse, not only must a choice be made, but all choices must be made. Diana fires.

Goodbye, Sigma.

While Phi is in tears, Diana decides not to say goodbye to Sigma, and promptly joins him with a gentle smile on her face. Phi alone survives, and this path leads into C-Team in the rec room. For now, the paths following are still locked out.

*END SEQUENCE*

Going back, Diana instead hesitates. The incinerator sequence is locked in. Sigma demands to take Phi's place, with no response. Phi seems content, accepting her fate. Once the incinerator does its job, nothing remains but a pile of ash... and Phi's trinket of the roman god Jupiter, tying into VLR again. In a flashback, Phi says she got it from the mother she never knew, followed by a hug from Diana (away with you, fanfic writers!). With that context, Diana breaks down and cries. All too soon, time is up, memories are wiped, and Phi's trinket is still on Diana's person.

*END SEQUENCE*

Need to unlock something to go further here, so for now, I'll see if I can open the third branch.

Success! But kinda expected at this point. Everyone lives this time! Well, except Q-Team, because in this branch Carlos is evil, I guess. When Phi says people always have secrets, Sigma asks Phi what hers is, and she reveals... that's she's actually a redhead!

https://youtu.be/jHjFxJVeCQs

Okay, wait, back up a bit. Phi and Diana are both redheads, and we just got a flashback where Phi revealed she never knew her real parents, and somehow felt... complete? ...after getting a hug from Diana. And this series is loaded with weird character revelations. I'ma go out on a limb here and say Phi and Diana are probably sisters.

But no time for that, death approaches! Rather suddenly; everyone's just kinda... dying? And then Gab comes by with an antidote from C-Team. Can they trust them?

Carlos killed Q-Team; better not risk it. Wait, is this Bio Fanatic-R?

*GAME OVER*

Uh, whoops, looks like D-Team is already dead. Rewind! Take the antidote! Which is probably Radical-6... wait...

*END SEQUENCE*

Yeah yeah, just... I'm trying to process this. Right now, this and the "trust" timeline are the only two which could still conceivably lead into VLR... but I don't see the Everyone Lives ending leading into VLR, and it doesn't seem like VLR could work if Sigma and/or Phi are infected with BFR. (Can we call this Betrayal's First Reward?) How exactly is this all supposed to work out?

I'm probably overthinking this.

More later.
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That's a great fragment

I love this official art of it, too
http://www.aksysgames.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/ZTD-Key-Art.jpg-Updated.jpg
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Sisters lol. I grinned so hard when I read that word after that paragraph.

Good reactions.

Altimadark posted...

I'm probably overthinking this.

Well, there are still a few paths not taken if I'm not mistaken, so yeah, for now just continue.
---

Hey, this big blue button fragment looks interesting. Let's push it!

*Suppression*

We're in the Safe Space. I mean Safe Space. I mean Healing Room. It's got everything: a liquid-filled Light capsule, a psuedo-piano, a strange mechanism , and... uhh... where's the big blue button?

Ah, found it after finagling with the holodeck settings and ignoring a lesson about harpsichords. As one does.

It's also got a clear warning not to press it (of course) and a decision timer of... ONE HOUR!? Oh wait, misread that; it's one minute. Derp.

We wait out the clock, and... the door opens. Huzzah! Outside, C-Team and Eric are dead, and as with the decontamination room, Sigma is sure Diana voted for Q-Team, while Diana can't remember. This gets Sigma to exposit on SHIFTing, reminding me that it requires the psychic's life to be in danger.

Phi goes off to who-knows-where before the lights go out like they did with Akane and the chainsaw. Huh. Suddenly, there's a cloaked figure with tiny hands (make your own Trump joke) who goes in for the attack, stabbing Sigma in the side. Diana runs off to find Phi, and after searching every other room, finds her back in the healing room. By the time they get back to Sigma, it's too late to do anything.

Sigma at first mistakes Diana for Luna (I can see that) before lamenting that he won't see Luna, Kyle, or Lagomorph(!) ever again. Aww, for a mad scientist, it seems like he really did care for those close to him, even if half of them are AI. And he takes some solace knowing the timeline has now been changed, so maybe Radical-6 won't kill six billion people.

Sigma's X-Pass is revealed. Diana, realizing the only murder suspect must be Phi, runs off to hide. But by the time Phi catches up to her, Phi has also been stabbed! She gets another familiar hug from Diana before her X-Pass is also revealed. Diana gets Gab and makes her escape, but gets stabbed by the tiny-hands killer right after the X-Door opens, leaving only Q and Mira alive.

*GAME OVER*

So I'ma go back and... wait. This path branches out from the fragment where Mira stabbed both Eric and Q. Why hasn't Q's X-Pass been revealed? And this branch keeps going? How!?

Looking back, there was some sort of robot lab among the rooms Diana checked looking for Phi, so I imagine that's where the tiny-handed killer came from. Funny how that's the least confusing part of this whole thing.

Anyway, I'ma go back and this time push the button...

*GAME OVER*

...for the self-destruct.

Well, at least it was quick.

I wonder how C-Team is doing...

More later.
---

I don't even remember, is there a point to that button other than creating an extra game over segment?
---

LordoftheMorons posted...

That's a great fragment

I love this official art of it, too
http://www.aksysgames.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/ZTD-Key-Art.jpg-Updated.jpg

Also, I feel I should mention that this looks awesome.
---

The self-destruct ending is f***ing hilarious just for how quick it is. "Choose." "Okay." "You suck, ded"
---

DeathChicken posted...

The self-destruct ending is f***ing hilarious just for how quick it is. "Choose." "Okay." "You suck, ded"

^

Altimadark posted...

LordoftheMorons posted...

That's a great fragment

I love this official art of it, too
http://www.aksysgames.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/ZTD-Key-Art.jpg-Updated.jpg

Also, I feel I should mention that this looks awesome.

IRC that was one of the first pieces of official art released for the game, too.

So you can understand how hype it was

C-Team, what's been up?

*Monty Hall*

So we're in the control room, or at least a reasonable simulation of one. We get a quick reminder that Carlos is a firefighter and as such is familiar with fire safety equipment and installations, such as the CO2 whozit in the ceiling. I'm sure it's not important.

We start playing around with electricity and lasers (as well as a rigged crane game), and unsurprisingly, we end up starting a fire directly underneath the CO2 whozit. Whoops. Fortunately, it activates and puts the fire out. Unfortunately, it fails to deactivate, filling the room with CO2. Instead of Zero, Computer Voice chimes in and tells us 1) the door will open automatically in 20 minutes, and 2) there's a gas mask inside of one of ten lockers. Once we pick one, it throws the Monty Hall problem at us. Of the remaining nine, eight are opened to reveal nothing. Do we stick to our guns, or pick the remaining unopened locker?

As it happens, I'm familiar enough with the Monty Hall problem that I know to pick the other locker, and sure enough, I'm rewarded with... a single gas mask. Welp. Carlos confirms that passing it around won't work out, so he and Junpei elect to give it to Akane, and Junpei has time enough to say goodbye. All too soon, twenty minutes pass, and Akane finds herself with six X-Passes. She steps through the door...

*GAME OVER*

Going back and screwing it up, Carlos futilely kicks at the unopening door, and Junpei laments that he didn't have time to say goodbye. Soon enough, we fast-forward to Sigma and Diana, who've forgotten Phi just got transmogrified into a tiny pile of ash. As such, Sigma's convinced the entire thing is a hoax, and that they'll find their associates alive and well once they escape. With more than enough X-Passes, they step through the door...

*GAME OVER*

Oh look, one of these branches keeps going. How? Who knows? I'm already plenty confused as it is.

More later...
---

Altimadark posted...

Instead of Zero, Computer Voice chimes in and tells us 1) the door will open automatically in 20 minutes, and 2) there's a gas mask inside of one of ten lockers. Once we pick one, it throws the Monty Hall problem at us. Of the remaining nine, eight are opened to reveal nothing. Do we stick to our guns, or pick the remaining unopened locker?

As it happens, I'm familiar enough with the Monty Hall problem that I know to pick the other locker, and sure enough, I'm rewarded with... a single gas mask. Welp.

Fun fact, the game actually does decide which locker the mask is in before you pick, so if you hit the 1/10 chance of picking the right locker the first time you can still get the bad outcome from switching! It's kind of interesting how some odds in this game are rigged (the opening coin toss, getting the 6s on the dice) and some aren't (in addition to this, firing the gun in the garbage disposal is straight up 50/50 odds on which outcome you get).
---

Is there special dialogue for switching when you shouldn't?
---

Mayonesa posted...

Is there special dialogue for switching when you shouldn't?

I didn't notice anything to that effect when I'd tried, and I wound up with 100% completion for that fragment anyhow.

Moving on, time to check back in on Q-Team. I'ma pick the fragment where Eric looks.. Eric-y, while Mira seems to be locked inside some sort of capsule.

*Pop Off*

Huh.

We start off in a pod room with no pods and no Mira, so naturally Eric's going nuts. Oh, if he only knew... Anyway, Q is able to talk him down, and they even have a moment without Eric being a total loser-jerk.

WOW, why on earth would Zero give us a hammer this big!? Oh, because Q's a child and Eric's Eric. Seems Zero knows what he's doing after all... Eric "kindly" allows Q to do all the colorful puzzles himself.

And with the shotgun unlocked,, the big button gets pushed and the pods come out.

Goodbye, Mira, and thanks for all the key. Eric, naturally, is devastated. And when Q points out Mira must've been strangled, Eric has a flashback. Seems Eric's brother Chris was strangled by their father, and Eric wound up dumping Chris's body in a lake. Daggum.

A monitor lights up, showing us Junpei's severed head and Akane getting cut down by Chris. The announcer notes the deaths of D-Team alongside Junpei, Akane, and Mira, so it looks like we might be able to get out of here, at least.

Of course, Eric has to blame Q for Mira's death, blaming him of conspiring with Carlos, and proceeds to strangle him. Q is somehow able to kick him across the room. I knew Eric was a bit of a wuss, but gog. Q rushes over to the X-Door and proceeds to enter the passwords, but Eric catches up, shotgun in hand, and shoots the X-Pass entry panel. Eric lines up his shot in front of Q's face. Q claims he couldn't have done it, So Eric asks who else could have. We have 20 seconds, and by that I mean 16.

Accusing Zero actually works! Sorta. Zero might've set it up, but he still blames Q for personally doing the deed.

*BLAM*

Q: "Why..."

*GAME OVER*

Q was shot in the face. He's still able to talk, and there's not even any blood. What on earth has this kid been eating?

Oh well, let's go back and try that again...

There is a lock between C-Team and Q-Team's scenarios. Seems like the mysteries just keep piling up.

Anyhow, let's try that again. Q, admit you did it.

Eric: "That's clearly impossible!" *BLAM!*

Q: "Why..."

*GAME OVER*

...what.

Is... is this a glitch? Or another mystery to add to the pile? Doubt I'm getting answers anytime soon...

Let's see if Q(?) can convince Eric he did it.

*BLAM* *GAME OVER*

Okay, let's say nobody did it.

*BLAM* *GAME OVER*

Okay, let's let run the clock.

There we go. Eric just can't do it. Not even he can shoot a child sobbing his eyes out in confusion. He sits down and talks about how he got into a relationship with Mira, which would probably be way four more touching if I didn't already know Mira's murderous issues. The moment he says he was about to propose... gog; if anything, Zero probably prolonged Eric's life.

Q offers to work together with Eric to find Mira's killer. Then he notices a stain on the floor.

*End Sequence*

Well. That was a bit odd.

More later.
---

I never tried answers that were outside of the scope of what the game expects as answers, so I assumed Eric's "that's clearly impossible" is just what happens if you type random things.
---

"The only ones I can trust are me and this big gun!"

Only good thing Eric ever does right there
---

It's neat how even though all the "wrong" options lead to the same game over, Eric has multiple unique responses for accusing different characters. Even the dog!
---

WELCOME, ONE AND ALL, TO ZERO TIME DILEMMA!

Existence is upside-down, and convolution reigns supreme!

Time is proper-f***ed, and meaning has no meaning.

This madness never stops.

....

Two new branches, with everything else blocked out.

...

Fade to white.

Pods open. Sigma and Diana enter. The transport begins to glow and sparkle.

Sigma programs the transporter to take them not just to the past, but an alternate branch, because apparently he just knows how to do that. I mean, I guess he's technically a mad scientist, but it still feels like this tests my suspension of disbelief.

*ahem*

>_>

<_<

As can be expected. Let's go back and then, uhh... go back.

*GAME OVER*

Time passes. No injections commence. But of course, the decision game is over. And Sigma and Diana are trapped down here, perhaps for the rest of their lives.

Diana refuses, smashing the controls. Clearly this is some plot cooked up by Zero! Also, the transporter goes bright-blue kablooey, but at least it's contained to the transporter room, unlike another blue-related explosion...

So now it's time to decide: Do we stay or do we go?

It's almost time for the next injection, so Sigma decides on a hasty plan: they're going to use the transporter and go back in time to when Phi is still alive. From there? Who knows?

On an interesting note Diana actually recalls with certainty that she complied with Carlos's instructions and voted for Q-Team. Huh.

Phi is dead and gone, the X-Door is sealed, and who knows if or when Akane will ever return?

Sigma can't accept this and starts looking everywhere for Phi, but she's nowhere to be found. Eventually, we wind up in the incinerator room, and a painful flashback confirms exactly which path we've gone down. I wonder, when Diana will find Phi's Jupiter trinket?

Oh gog Sigma's expression is horrible. Did he regress into a caveman or something for this scene?

And once everything is put together, instead of a trap... we get a casualty update. Phi is confirmed dead, along with Q-Team, Junpei and Carlos. And while Diana and Sigma were goofing around, Akane opened the X-Door and left, sealing the two inside indefinitely.

We fiddle about with a bunch of cards with symbols to represent number; I didn't notice it right away, but the symbol for zero was the same one that was on the big safe in Zero's study. Of course.

On a side note, the idea that the Nazis were goofing around with this thing does have some storytelling potential. I wonder if this isn't a reference to another game or VN.

I have a feeling things are about to get way-four-more complicated than before.

It's a time machine.

Oh gog, no.

Oh gog.

Diana and Sigma wake up in the main lobby, and to nobody's surprise, Phi is missing. Sigma and Diana look around and can't find her anywhere. Soon enough, the two end up in the alien-looking transporter room, where Zero chimes in. It seems this alien device is quite literally from another world, and...

*Transporter*

So! Back to D-Team. We've got a fragment with Phi looking snarky, and another one without Phi at all. Let's pick the latter.

Originally I came up with this idea on a whim, then decided it was kinda stupid. But... with this particular fragment, I feel like it fits.

I'ma gonna post this fragment backwards.
---

Returning where we left off...

Diana and Sigma awaken still inside the time machine's input pods. It seems the time machine works more like a fax machine than a proper transport. Seems there's nothing else to do here yet...

Meanwhile(?), in another timeline...

*Door Of Truth*

The time-fax'd Diana and Sigma awaken from the machine's output pods. Where? Who knows? Even Sigma admits he just selected at random. 9_9

They look around for Phi, but a psychic flashback suggests that this timeline branches off from the one where D-Team was executed. Searching the rooms, the pair soon finds themselves locked inside one of them.

*SEEK A WAY OUT*

Gog, Zero really is prepared for just about anything.

More later.
---

The D-2 ending is so good
---

Locked in the locker room. Even though looking back this seems straightforward, it felt like the most troublesome room yet. Not quite sure how I stumbled onto the 3x3 code under the drainage lid, but eventually we flooded the locker room, thereby revealing a golden door behind the shower. Of course!

To enter it, I need some sorta 8-digit pass code. Probably a date, but I've got no point of reference at the moment. At the very least, it boots me back to the fragment select when I give up. No endings, tho.

Checking the flowchart, it seems this specific branch follows the one where Carlos axes Akane and Q offers to help Eric discover who killed Mira. And there are more branching paths down below. In fact, this seems to be the longest branch of them all. Huh.

Back to C-Team for now, and I just noticed Monty Hall is the only fragment of theirs I've played thru and fully completed. Huh. Only two of those available remain untouched; let's go with the one where they're not trying to rent a movie from RedBox.

*Poison*

Well derp.
---

C-Team awakens in the infirmary, with the door opening up soon after. Zero chimes in and declares he's poisoned us, but if we solve the room's puzzles, we'll find the antidote.

*Seek A Way Out!*

...

Moving on, the puzzles... Are surprisingly straightforward. Soon enough, we have eight cases of potential antidote for all six survivors (I presume Q-Team has been killed at this point), but Zero chimes in and notes that only one of the cases has the antidote.

That said, there's enough sample for us to do a test with... But the test takes three minutes, and we only have five. Akane comes up with a plan to test all eight of them at once which is actually pretty clever... But she doesn't bother trying to explain it until she's about to pass put from the poison. Of course.

Still, I was paying very close attention, so with no worries I pick the antidote and--

*GAME OVER*

Whoops.

Let me try that again...

Looks like I screwed up again... *sigh*

Wait, Carlos just had a flashback! To... Junpei's severed head? Huh? Well, in any case, it worked! And with Q-Team dead--wait, Q couldn't see or hear anything when he died? Assuming that's true, how would Junpei know that? Anyhow, with Q-Team dead, it's clear these vials are going over to D-Team just as they escape the incinerator. Huh, I wonder why they only needed it when all three of them survived... Eh, I'm sure it's not important.

With Gab on his way to deliver the package, Carlos talks about his flashback of Junpei's severed head. Junpei laughs it off, But Akane suspects Carlos might have access to the morphogenetic field.

Before she can go into it, Zero chimes in. Time to sleep, to forget, all over again.

More later...
---