Board 8 > So, I finally got Virtue's Last Reward! [playthrough] [rabbits]

(+) Yeah! (+)

I'd say you're definitely past halfway but not by a huge ton

surprise continuation time!

I donno about you, but I'm really looking forward to the next round.

I jump back to the secondary chromatic doors, and take one for the team by pairing with Dio to take on the red door, which leads us to the laboratory. in a surprising twist, Dio actually proves to be one of my favourite puzzle companions yet, being generally knowledgeable, getting amusingly irritated with Clover's silliness, and even making Monty Python references!

after doing some fun biology, we open the safe and grab not only Axelavir, but also a hitherto undiscussed journal in some strange language and a gold binder that suggests Axelavir was first isolated in 2038 (?!). we move to leave, but Dio wants to explore more. he finds an unused "IG replicator" machine, which is helpful, then steals the Axelavir, which is significantly less so. he promises to give the medicine back if I vote ally in the next AB game, which is especially egregious since I know for a fact that he won't.

With Sigma sitting on 1 BP, Clover is justifiably terrified for him, and he shares her opinion. we follow Dio back to the Ambidex rooms to find that even in this timeline we can't stop him opening one early. luckily, everyone else is back already, and we splinter off to check out each other's recent puzzle rooms. Phi requests a look at our new lab journal, reveals that it is in Latin, and finds a page that she can read.

it describes first the meaning of the name Radical-6, then goes on to describe its mechanism, suicidal symptoms, and a nigh-apocalyptic world in which the virus has taken root. she too takes note of the chronological contradictions in the story as described, and theorizes that we might all be among the last survivors of the human race, quarantined for safety against the rampaging virus and put to sleep, potentially for decades, until a cure could be developed. Sigma rebuts that pretty well, with the simple line: "throwing a bunch of people into a game that might kill them is a pretty weird way to protect them from a pandemic." but still, the possibility remains.

Phi runs off, and I go to the infirmary. Sigma looks at Quark, and contemplates the horrendous choice befalling him. suddenly, he hears Quark mumble an innocent call, and he feels suddenly ashamed. how could he consider allowing a child to die, even to save himself?

Luna and I walk back to the Ambidex rooms, where Dio has already hidden himself away. an interesting scene plays out, where Alice (1 BP) and K (6 BP) agree to ally with the inactive Tenmyouji, but K refuses Phi's suggestion to let Alice vote alone.

Sigma and Clover walk into the AB room, their lives at stake. Clover goes for another Hail Mary, imploring Sigma to vote betray to save his own life. he steadfastly refuses, and Clover dives for the voting panel, but Sigma is able to regain control.

he takes a breath, steps up to the panel, and votes.
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Cant spell dick without Di...oh
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The music in that scene is really powerful. It's one of my favorite scenes of the whole game. Very underrated.
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I stood up straight and closed my eyes. It was the result I had expected. I didn't have to wait long.

ALLY, of course.

the results come in. I am betrayed, and become the first living participant of the game so far to hit zero BP. K and Dio hit 9, but that hardly matters.

gasps come from around the group, and Sigma notices a quick stab of pain in his wrist. he falls groggily to the floor, but, his body failing, his mind keeps him in the room. there is something he needs to do.

with Herculean effort, Sigma pulls himself up and over to Dio, who is in front of the 9 door. the situation is made clear to everyone, and Dio emotionlessly tosses the Axelavir over.

with Quark safe, Sigma determinedly turns to spend his cloudy last nine minutes as a living man to thinking of a way to survive.

hopelessness is a state of mind! there had to be an answer!

...

TO BE CONTINUED
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Nah, I don't have it. Or rather, I won't have it in about two seconds.

...BETRAY. I just... couldn't.

we emerge, and Clover is comforting. the results come in, and show that Dio would have betrayed me anyway. K has also reached 9 by betraying Tenmyouji, but that doesn't seem to matter.

Dio erupts in rage, and the situation is explained to the group. Dio remorselessly smashes the Alexavir to the ground, and Sigma loses it. he leaps for Dio, but is stopped by Phi, who points us to the number 9 door, where K is spotted.

he opens the door, justifying his actions this time by placing Quark's health as a priority, saying that someone must escape to bring help. he reveals that his partner Alice can be found unconscious in the AB room, sidesteps a despairing lunge from Dio, and exits the facility.

GAME OVER
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...seems like I have a few unlocked paths available to me now, which is exciting! I think I can now convince Clover that Alice committed suicide, and a second path seems to have unlocked on the path where both Alice and Quark are unconscious and we need two doses of Axelavir. not sure how I'm equipped to solve that one, but I'll definitely check out both next time.

unless people think the final totally unexplored pathway (yellow/betray) is worth doing first?
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I'd say its worth the path
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alright, will do that then! bump for tomorrow.
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Up
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Wouldn't the heart stop when you were out into cold sleep?

I skip back to the first AB game to BETRAY Tenmyouji and initiate the game's final unexplored path. naturally, Phi makes Sigma feel bad - and she should, since the old bastard decides to ally with me this time. Sigma instinctively retorts to his callout by referencing "last time," which naturally doesn't help his case much. Phi, meanwhile, shifts all the blame on to me then unceremoniously runs away. great, guys. thanks.

the other teams don't fare much better, with solos Alice and Luna being betrayed too. none of the trios come to any kind of resolution in the aftermath either, setting us up for a tense path indeed. my subsequent tour of the facility proceeds largely as before, except that this time Tenmyouji has even less reason to tell me anything interesting. Quark has his episode for about the seventeenth time, and we proceed to the secondary Chromatic Doors.

Tenmyouji claims that the only person he trusts to take care of Quark is Clover. this leaves us with only one option, pairing Alice with Dio for the second time against her will. Sigma joins Clover and Quark behind the green door, with the Treatment Center beyond. after a fun escape ruined by an inexplicable final puzzle, we find an injection gun in the safe. Sigma entrusts it to Clover, who immediately promises him a date for the kind donation. if that's not suspicious, what on earth is?

we turn to leave the Treatment Center, when Clover points out that the treatment pod monitors have changed. we relearn that three people were thawed from cold sleep in the pods just prior to the beginning of the game. Sigma also ponders that Zero is trying to hide the true date and time from us, which has seemed clear for a while. Clover then takes the opportunity to make her betrayal pitch for the next Ambidex game: with us both on 6 BP, and Quark immobilized, voting betray would allow us to escape. and if we don't, one of the other 6 BP players will surely leave without us.

we return to the main warehouse and inform the others about Quark and the curious pod records. Phi theorizes that cold sleep may stop the heart, and that we could use that method for removing our bracelets. we rush to the Treatment Center to try this out, and we find that the cold sleep function no longer works, having been functional just before. Zero is toying with us.

pulled by the tide of Dio's Ambidex clock, we return once again to the warehouse, where Clover goes back on her plan. having had a conversation with Tenmyouji, she is no longer willing to betray his kin. she refuses to reveal why, however.

Sigma turns to the voting machine. whatever to do?
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We don't know where Jumpei is.

ALLY, of course. how could I betray a literal child?

remarkably, each pair syncs up perfectly: Quark and I ally, Luna and Phi ally with the ailing Tenmyouji, and K and Alice fight Dio's betrayal with some of their own. with 6 players starting on 6 BP, remarkably no one reaches 9.

Dio argues surprisingly convincingly that his betrayal was for the greater good; he knew he would be betrayed, and voting ally would have allowed K to walk out unchallenged. having seen this happen twice now, he actually has a point.

with an hour until the tertiary Chromatic Doors open, we split up to try and find Axelavir for Quark. Clover, Phi and I check out the PEC. we find nothing of note, but Sigma does finally get Clover to open up about her job with SOIS. she reveals that the 999 ending showed Alice trying to reach the Nonary facility for investigative purposes, which kind of retrospectively kills the ambiguity a bit for me. she then goes on to discuss Alice reuniting the first Nonary Game participants to recruit their esperic brains to combat the terrorist organization behind Radical-6, and casually namedrops Seven (stalwart cop, still) and Jumpei (lovesick, searching the world for Akane) for the first time. she mentions that they located the headquarters of the terrorists, and planned to strike on Christmas Day, but got kidnapped by Zero before then.

as Sigma questions her on this head-spinning plot dump, she suddenly remembers that the Neostigmine injection gun can act as an antidote for our bracelet poison - meaning someone could be reborn in Nonary terms. she rushes off to inform Alice, and Sigma follows, passing by an ominously slow, light-headed Phi.

he reaches the Treatment Center, only to find it deserted. the Pantry? deserted. warehouses, deserted? even the Crew Quarters is devoid of bodies for once!

Sigma finally turns for the infirmary, and opens the door only to immediately feel a sharp, stabbing pain. he falls to the floor and twists open his eyes to witness a gruesome scene - the corpses of Tenmyouji, Phi, Dio, Alice, Clover and Luna all contorted within a lake of blood. in the middle of the gore lay a single scalpel.

crazed by the scene, by the madness of his life, by the virus running through his body, Sigma sees in the scalpel escape. he picks it up, draws it across his throat in a single motion, and joins the mass grave.

CLOVER END
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I could see the door close before my eyes.

BETRAY, of course. how could I possibly miss this chance?

as before, everyone else plays to perfect parity. Clover and I reach 9 BP. as we're being questioned, Sigma makes a break for the door, and slams the lever down.

unfortunately for Sigma, the miraculous ninja skilled afforded to every other character upon pulling the 9 door level don't appear to apply to him. despite having nothing to gain, the others charge at him, and succeed in slamming him to the floor before he can exit the nightmare.

to preserve a degree of hope, Alice literally throws Clover through the door, and implores her to send help. I sense the others are not done with me, but the game certainly is.

GAME OVER
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oh man, all pathways done! ...sort of. join me next time for the beginning of lock chasing - truly the endgame of this mad, mad experience.

this feels like a sort of landmark point, so I'm happy to field questions at this point regarding theories, opinions, etc! let me have it.
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Obvious first question: who do you now think is Zero?
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Ditto; I'm kinda missing those Zero rankings.
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alright then! the recent bombardment of information has counter-intuitively left me more clueless and scatterbrained than ever as far as who Zero is. so first I will recap everything I know about each individual, and hope that collation process helps me reach a conclusion.

what I know (from most complete to least complete):

Dio - assuming that truth transfers across timelines, Dio’s personal backstory is more or less established. a 4th gen clone of the Free the Soul cult, he was sent to the Nonary Game to sabotage it, probably through the planting of bombs to destroy the facility. murders the old lady to join the game. If the mysterious unseen Brother figure is one of our 9 (and I believe he is; it would be uncharacteristic for this series to have such a pivotal character operate completely offscreen), then Dio is unknowingly an operative of Zero, but I think there is almost no chance that he is Zero himself.

Alice and Clover - similarly well understood at this point, I think. both are now operatives for SOIS, who were investigating Free the Soul and their rumoured use of Radical-6 as a bioweapon prior to their kidnapping. barring a pretty massive plot twist, this makes them fairly unlikely to be Zero. the fact that Alice almost always dies and Clover almost always goes crazy would also appear to make them unlikely evil masterminds.

Tenmyouji - Possibly Brother (age wise, it could only really be him). Possibly also Aoi, though this requires jumping through several hoops. Astrophysicist of some kind; responsible for the poorly explained Mars landing simulator that appears to have birthed Radical-6. If he is Aoi, then this must take place in 2070 or so, and everyone we recognise from the time period of 999 must have been frozen for the interim period. This would be Alice, Clover and an unknown third person. If Brother, he's fairly likely to be Zero -- it's easy to imagine Brother setting up the Nonary Game for a number of reasons, the most likely of which would be as a grand search for an heir to lead the new planet after his death (this would also explain Dio's mission, Sigma's Turing Test, and K's presence). Even if he's not Brother, he's still fairly likely to be Zero. Dude is just suspicious.

K - Almost certainly Brother's son and heir. His suit remains a mystery - essentially the only logical reason for him to be dressed up is if the characters or player would otherwise recognise him, but as to who he might really be I have no clue. The amnesia and general mystery surrounding K makes it possible that he is Zero, but I think that's more likely to be a double bluff.

Quark - Strongly associated with Tenmyouji. As such, if he is Brother and/or Aoi, he immediately becomes suspicious. Tenmyouji suggested that he has some kind of supernatural abilities, which are almost certainly esperic. This would explain why Clover's comparatively weaker abilities were absorbed. Ultimately though, probably just a kid.

Phi - we know very little about Phi, except that she has borderline superhuman physical abilities. Also a potential robot, though the Clover ending clearly showed her bleeding red blood.

Sigma - Based on the white blood, almost certainly one of Brother's clones. Other than that, we know very little about Sigma, which also indirectly supports the argument that he is a clone.

Luna - we know almost nothing about Luna, which is exceptionally suspicious at this stage. It's very possible that she was K's surrogate mother, which might give her motive, but otherwise it's hard to say. Also the most Akane-like character, which should ring some alarm bells.

The old woman - She could be Zero! Especially if she's Akane. Akane liked to make Nonary Games. That said, we really know nothing about her at all.
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With that in mind, your new Zero rankings! god I feel so clueless.

1. Tenmyouji
2. Luna
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3. The old woman
4. K
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5. Sigma
6. Phi
7. Quark
8. Clover
9. Dio
10. Alice
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before I play tonight, let's run through the big remaining questions too:

1. Who is Zero?
see above. essentially, I have no idea yet.

2. Where are we? [answered]
I know this one! We're in a hole in the middle of the desert. In a facility that was almost certainly used to rear an army of clones.

3. Why are we here?
still not sure, but it's definitely related to the fact that there's a cult out there trying to destroy humanity with a viral bioweapon and replace us with clones. the Nonary Game is clearly a survival test of some kind, but for what exact purpose it's not yet clear.

4. Who killed that old woman? [answered]
Dio! that bastard.

5. Who is that old woman?
uh, search me. my initial crackpot theory was that she is Akane, and we've heard nothing to support or deny that since. so, hey, why not!

6. Who killed Alice (and sometimes Luna)? [mostly answered]
Alice killed herself, most likely. Luna's death could be completely unrelated though.

7. Who is planting bombs and why?
Dio, I think. quite why is unsure, beyond the fact he was told to.

8. What's going on with Sigma and Phi being able to transfer knowledge through timelines?
it's a necessary game mechanic that they skilfully wove into the plot. other than that, who knows. maybe they're robots?

9. Why are the timelines (especially Dio's actions) so incredibly divergent?
good question, Giggs! why do we only find the woman's body half the time, when the narrative demands it must be somewhere regardless of our in-game choices? why does Dio (or someone else) only plant bombs when we don't discover her body? will this ever make sense? ask again later, maybe.
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Interesting
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phew! think that's enough for now. did I forget anything worth commenting on?

otherwise I'll get on with picking some locks!
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There was no more hiding from the truth. The pandemic already happened.

I decide to prioritize locks for which I logically understand the solution. I jump back first to the magenta/red pathway, where Clover has just tried and failed to seduce Sigma into betraying Tenmyouji so she can escape. We emerge from the AB rooms with nine living participants, all under 9 BP - a beautiful thing! It won't last.

Everyone splits up to look around, but soon everyone is drawn to the Crew Quarters, where Alice's corpse is found. Clover reacts wildly, accusing everyone, and demanding proof that this wasn't murder. Sigma asks who has the Latin lab journal, and Phi eventually produces it from Alice's remains. Phi is incredulous at Sigma's impossible knowledge, but eventually acquiesces to his demand to read page 216, which reveals the terrifying damage caused by Radical-6.

Ten minutes remain until the tertiary Chromatic Doors open, and the disconsolate Clover is eventually convinced by Luna to keep going and live for Alice. Tenmyouji and Sigma return to the infirmary to collect the unconscious Quark, only to find him standing bright and cheery in the middle of the room! Tenmyouji has an emotional reunion with his apparently completely healed grandson, and we quickly depart for the floor B warehouse.

fairly interestingly, it is remarked upon for the first time that any team can enter any tertiary Chromatic Door. this will probably prove to have minimal plot significance, but I'm surprised I didn't think about it before! Tenmyouji, Quark and I enter the rightmost door, finding ourselves once again in the Director's Office, where we are allowed for the first time to fully check the place out!

[sneaky game, I mostly picked this path first because it looked short! I have a whole other fork to go now.]
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Her name is Akane Kurashiki. I've been looking for her for... a long time.

we enter the Director's Office. one of the puzzles requires a female face, for some odd reason, and Tenmyouji uses his secret picture from earlier. he then reveals that it's a picture of Akane, and that he may have loved her once. HOLY SHIT TENMYOUJI IS JUMPEI. maybe. if he's Brother too then that would be fuckin crazy. it's kinda crazy either way.

in any case, we clear the room, ignoring both the ominous computer of past locks and a weird Roomba-looking machine in the corner. the safe gives us nothing exciting, but we do leave the room with a slingshot! this may or may not be plot-pivotal; I genuinely wouldn't be surprised either way.

as we return to the warehouse, Tenmyouji remembers that he left Akane's picture in the Director's Office, and he and Quark return to get it. as soon as Sigma arrives in the warehouse, Dio opens the AB rooms with a smug smile. such a considerate gentleman!

twenty minutes later, Sigma's partners are still yet to return. Sigma returns to the Director's Office to find the picture gone, but no one around. he chuckles to himself about the comedy of the mishap and shapes to return, when he notices that the Roomba-like thing has awakened. a sudden wave of "inexplicable, nauseating dread" overcomes him, and he edges towards it.
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Hype
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So, you've finally made it. I am Zero.

a recorded hologram of an old man appears, and he introduces himself as Zero. he understands my time is short, and decides to tell me about two things that will decide my fate. the first is termites. he explains the beauty of termite mound architecture, beyond the understanding of any of its creators. he claims that we are just like the termites, and we are undoubtedly working towards some grand celestial undertaking that no one could hope to understand. until Sigma. until now.

the second thing that he wishes to tell me is the password to bomb number one. a bomb, of course, that Sigma has not seen in this timeline. because that would be too easy. he is also informed that, should he divulge any of this valuable information to his fellow participants, he will be killed. because of course he will.

exasperated by this absurdly cryptic message, Sigma can do nothing but rush back to the AB Rooms, where Tenmyouji and Quark promise him that he will vote ALLY. they also promise that they will not take their 9 BP and run for it, but I've heard that before.

Sigma enters the Ambidex room, too much on his mind.
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I assume you're actually writing these passwords down, right?

I also found that the messages degraded over time when I used the memo function for some reason, so I'd write them down on actual paper.
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I'm excited to see how these lates revelations impact the Zero Rankings (tm)

LordoftheMorons posted...

I assume you're actually writing these passwords down, right?

I also found that the messages degraded over time when I used the memo function for some reason, so I'd write them down on actual paper.

never noticed that
thank god for the 3DS functions
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It was a really stormy day when he found me.

ALLY. he can't betray Quark. he just can't do it.

Tenmyouji and Quark have no such qualms, and I am betrayed for literally no reason. those two and Clover, who betrayed K, all reach a fairly ridiculous total of 11 BP.

in one of the sillier setpieces of the game, Tenmyouji claims he has kept all of his promises. he never claimed he would ally, apparently, only that he wouldn't open the 9 door. and he didn't. luckily for him, Clover does!

as he leaves, Tenmyouji claims he knows exactly who Zero is, and that he is leaving to ensure that the villain is brought to justice. Quark also takes the opportunity to give me a handwritten letter about Tenmyouji, and cheerfully bids me farewell. Clover does neither of these things, because Clover is a total bitch.

the doors close, and everyone stands around in hope that help will eventually arrive. Sigma takes the opportunity to read Quark's letter, which is about 15000 words long and features several paragraphs about a root beer float. it conveys fairly poignantly that Tenmyouji is a nice man underneath his gruff exterior, which I'm sure is a great comfort to the others who are trapped in a death factory for eternity partially due to his actions.

what happened to them, you ask? oh, the game doesn't tell you that, don't be silly. root beer, guys!

TENMYOUJI END
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LordoftheMorons posted...

I assume you're actually writing these passwords down, right?

I also found that the messages degraded over time when I used the memo function for some reason, so I'd write them down on actual paper.

wait wait wait what the fuck

i guess I can replay the segments and write them down without too much hassle, but you're telling me the game/Sigma's character doesn't remember? what kind of nonsense is that?
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Yep, you're going to actually need to enter them at some point.
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I love root beer too so I totally get where its coming from

If you were playing the Vita version, you would've just gotten the trophy In Root Beer Veritas.
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god you said some interesting shit and now I'm excited to see your reaction to some things

There's something you said in particular that was very interesting. I can't explain why, because my motives are complex.
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Her face was a mask of ice.

I jump back to the recent AB room and, knowing that Tenmyouji and Quark will vote BETRAY, I do the same to them. the bastards try it again, vindicating my decision, and leaving the treacherous Clover as the only participant reaching 9 BP this time.

in the midst of the aftermath, she opens the 9 door, muttering something about vengeance and looking utterly deranged. before we know it, she is gone.

GAME OVER

moving swiftly on...
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Previously on VIRTUE'S LAST REWARD (magenta/blue edition):

Giggsalot posted...

- Alice and Luna are dead.
- I betray K in the second Ambidex game, leaving Quark with 9 BP.
- Quark is found alive in a treatment pod, with his bracelet removed.
- The GAULEM Bay has been opened somehow without the puzzle being completed.
- Sigma discovers that Dio killed the old woman, and locks him in a treatment pod.
- Someone kills Dio by cutting off oxygen to his pod, and smashes his bracelet.
- This essentially marks a death sentence for Phi and K, who will be fatally penalized without Dio's bracelet when the next Chromatic Doors close.
- While all of this is happening, Tenmyouji and Clover are nowhere to be seen.

No, that's impossible. That face... that's my face.

phew, what a path. excited to start this one again!

we rejoin in the final five minutes until the Chromatic Doors close, where Sigma has just discovered the grim fate of Phi and K. with a flash of inspiration, Sigma bolts off to the Treatment Center to get the antidote gun. after raking through Dio's corpse, he realises with force that the gun only contains a single dose.

he rushes back to the Chromatic Doors, only to find them closing in front of his eyes. his wrist is pricked by the needles of eternal rest, and he falls to the floor. without even considering the possibility of injecting himself with the gun, he chooses to save Phi due to K's impenetrable armour.

collapsed on the floor, Sigma notices the openable back of K's helmet, and makes a fairly stunning and improbable deduction: K killed Dio, and was running around the building with his suit off for a fairly substantial period of time during the previous section of the game. somewhat amazingly, K not only confirms this, but explains that he did it because the old woman that Dio killed was his "mother" figure. with his dying breath, he also gives me a code (MIL KEV OLI) to open the "second gate."

K then succumbs to the poison, and Sigma, in desperation, tears off his mask to see who he is. the face he sees, staring back at him with empty eyes, is his own.

Sigma recoils in horror, and the needles greet him for a second time. in sheer incredulity, he falls back into the blank nothingness of death.

K END
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yeah this one's a doozy
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since that was fairly revelatory, let's update the Zero Rankings:

1. Luna (was 2) - the more we learn about everyone else, the more Luna's complete lack of development stands out. she has never betrayed anyone, never showcased a strong opinion, and never reached 9 BP. she seems completely isolated from every larger plot swirling around, which probably means she's right in the middle of all of them. or she's just this game's Lotus. for now, though, she has to jump to number one.
2. The old woman (was 3) - not only (maybe) Akane, but also K's mother figure. could this suggest that Brother is Aoi? if so, where the hell is he? Aoi = Brother = Zero doesn't make a lot of sense to me, since I can't think of any reason why he'd place his sister in a Nonary Game. the only possible exception to that is if she was the game's Zero figure, which is certainly a non-zero possibility.
3. K (was 4) - weirdly, despite the massive revelations in his ending, it doesn't tell us too much about K himself. I guess he's unlikely to place his mother in a Nonary Game and then subsequently avenge her murder though. unless, as discussed above, they planned it together, which seems possible.
4. Tenmyouji (was 1) - the more I think about the possibility of him being Jumpei, the more it checks out - the love for Akane, the mourning of the old woman who might be Akane, the unexplained implicit trust of Clover. while Jumpei becoming Brother and/or Zero seems like an exciting narrative prospect, I don't really see it. he seems to devoted to Quark and dedicated to escaping this nightmare to have any massive ulterior motive. too much remains unexplained about his backstory and motivations to discount him completely, but my suspicion of him as a villain has cooled somewhat.
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5. Phi (was 6) - we haven't learned much about Phi in the last few plays, really. why she's on the game box cover and therefore probably the second most important character is a fairly unresolved matter.
6. Clover (was 8) - if Tenmyouji is Jumpei, Clover and Alice have either been frozen for a long-ass time or are completely fake identities. why does Jumpei not find it exceptionally odd to see an old friend, completely unaged, fifty years later? weird stuff.
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7. Sigma (was 5) - a clone of K, most likely. absolutely definitely not a regular human now, which makes him pretty unlikely to be Zero.
8. Dio (was 9) - nothing much has changed here.
9. Alice (was 10) - see Clover.
10. Quark (was 7) - nice kid. likes root beer. probably not Zero.

question: if you guys can remember, are my thoughts at this point similar to what yours were, or what would constitute "typical" theorizing? if this is impossible to answer without specifics or spoilers, don't worry, but I'm super curious.
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At this point I was paying a lot of attention to the Zero we spoke to and his fashion sense. Old (if not Tenmoldy old), odd handcuff belt, *dramatic aristocrat arm pose*
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DeathChicken posted...

At this point I was paying a lot of attention to the Zero we spoke to and his fashion sense. Old (if not Tenmoldy old), odd handcuff belt, *dramatic aristocrat arm pose*

that's interesting! I did note his physical appearance and demeanour but ultimately didn't put much stock in it. the figures presented as Zero in this series so far have included a cartoon rabbit and a dead man in a sailor's costume, so I'm not convinced that a hologram has any more reason to accurately represent reality. it also doesn't seem to correspond to any character we know, so it's hard to use as evidence.

but hey, I might be totally off there.
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I think I probably thought Zero was Tenmyouji? Not positive.
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This continues to be excellent.
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Bumping this! Hopefully more tonight.
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A bunp to make myself feel better
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I'M BAAACK.

All of humanity is going to die!

I jump back to what I discern from process of elimination to be the Alice pathway, where I have just escaped the Garden with Alice and Luna. Quark contracts Radical-6, has his suicidal episode, and Alice soon follows. Sigma eventually finds Phi cradling her unconscious body in the Garden. We go to move both stricken individuals to the Treatment Pods, when a single vial of Axelavir falls out of Quark’s pocket. Only enough to save one of them…

Sigma racks his brains, and remembers the IG Replicator device in the Laboratory, which may prove capable of generating more Axelavir. Leaving Luna behind as nurse, everyone heads back there. We successfully replicate the drug, but Phi notices something else - bomb #2. We also find a purple memory card dropped beside the bomb, but currently have no way to use it.

(Weirdly, no one suggests replicating further doses of Axelavir while we still have some, which means that if anyone else contracts Radical-6 then we’re totally boned. Hurray!)

We return to the infirmary and quickly cure Alice and Quark. Before we can catch our breath, the Ambidex game calls. Tenmyouji (at 1 BP) stays behind in the infirmary, placing Phi (also 1 BP) in a horrible position - against Dio, 1 vs. 1, she has to risk her own life by voting ally or risk Tenmyouji’s by voting betray. K and Clover, both on 6 BP, also face off mano-a-mano. They both promise to vote ally, but if that happens I will eat my socks.

Luna and I enter the AB Rooms, with our opponent Alice unconscious in the infirmary. No reason not to vote ally. But no reason not to vote betray.
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It was a question I would never know the answer to.

No reason not to vote ALLY.

K and Clover, brilliantly, both betray each other after promising to ally. Phi bets her life on Dio completely disregarding it, and miraculously everyone survives.

...Then Alice betrays me, hitting 9 BP and leaving me with -1.

WHAT THE

Before Sigma can comprehend what has just transpired, he feels a light stabbing sensation in his wrist, and collapses to the floor. With his last energy, he turns towards the Ambidex rooms and wrenches open his fading eyelids.

Alice stands calmly in the second Ambidex room, the last thing that Sigma will ever see.

GAME OVER
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yeah this was..
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And that's why Alice is one of the worst characters ever
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Welcome to the worst part of the entire game.
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