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  • Locked thread
OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016

Gridlocked posted:

This whole game summed up into one smilie:

:tinfoil:

Watase's situation in a single picture:

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OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016
I am......intensely conflicted about what happened to Ena. That is all I can say on that matter at this time.

On speculatory news, the PDA. I may come back and edit this as I come up with more, but I can only discern a couple things of note:

The first is that Subject N's BC ability was something that targeted brain functions.
The second is that he/she was apparently 'born in LABO' if I am interpreting correctly. EDIT: On second thought, it is more likely a recommendation that N, as someone who was kidnapped, be kept separate from those born in LABO.
The final is that there is an Area Zero.

EDIT2: This might be critical. N's ability seems to be, or at least she used something like, something called the "**nses S*******. Now, by the principles of grammar, we can deduce that the last two asterisks are a " and a full stop. This gives us "**nses S******". There are not many words that end in 'nses' and the only one in the context of the game I can think of is 'senses'. This gives us "Senses S*****". Again, there are few words that start with S and have five extra letters, and only one that goes with 'Senses'.



System. As in "Senses System". *insert dramatic sting*

OddHaberdasher fucked around with this message at 14:45 on Dec 4, 2016

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016

Gridlocked posted:

Can we set Ena to 10 in remembrance for her :(

I am in agreement with this.

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016
I could see this going on with Ena dead, but you don't kill off people before you have an actual Sense choice with them, so unless these kids are REAL good at faking death, this is bad end confirmed. Maybe, just maybe, if Ena is willing to do this for us, we should trust her.

EDIT: Just to up the angst factor, Watase is going to shoot Salyu, I bet.

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016

Danaru posted:

Maybe we already did :tinfoil: I still think Natsuhiko has something to do with the whole Case N thing

Course he has something to do with it, he's on the watch list, but I harbor serious doubts he is the Subject N unless things went bad very recently before the 'fire'.

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016

Gridlocked posted:

Well are the only two N names we have seen in the game...

And considering we can easily assume Subject Y is Yui; ONE of the N's is going to be Subject N. And thus either the BBEG or the one we gotta save from their torment cause child experimentation etc.

My beliefs on the whole thing, in itemised format:
Subject N is Nagisa (Observation target Na1 was brought in in 2021, the same time of the accident)
Subject A was the child that died in the fire of 2021 (the arson incident was either the cover for or merely occurred at the same time as the escape and went wrong)
Natsuhiko was involved in the original breakout (observation target Na2 is the only observation target to have Acquired his genetic abnormality, which as far as we know requires exposure to WX particles and other LABO mutagens)
Salyu is Yu1 (she was some sort of failure, remaining completely normal even after exposure, so they wiped memories, discarded her and kept a close watch
Mashiro was their next target (the document recommended radiation exposure tests on Ma)
Nagisa was the driving force behind the original breakout (just something I feel is right, particularly regarding this next point)
Nagisa was capable of using the Senses System (Ena's corrupted document, though lacking, can be determined by deciphering what has enough letters to fill in the asterisks and is a;ready a concept in this game)

OddHaberdasher fucked around with this message at 01:02 on Dec 6, 2016

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016

Gridlocked posted:

Natshuiko's "mother" is also one of the researchers who seems to be heavy into the secret poo poo...

Agreed on most other fronts though I'm sure Yui is Yu.

Nah, there were two Y subjects, one was disposed six days before this mess, the other stayed. Yui doesn't feel like she's been out of LABO in a long time, if ever, and while it hasn't been stated how long Salyu has been around for, she seems 'recent', a very 'Mysterious Transfer Student' vibe about her.

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016

Pollyanna posted:

Wait, who's Yui?

Just me repeatedly misspelling Yuuri, at least for me. It's probably best if we just stick to 'Louise' or 'Salyu' if we wish to refer to the straw-haired one.

OddHaberdasher fucked around with this message at 11:38 on Dec 6, 2016

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016
Anyways, to reply to your last reply, yes Yuuri's PSYDEKICKPAWORS:psyduck: are undoubtedly a big deal, which is another point to the idea that Yuuri is not Yu the observation subject. They'd never risk letting her get away.

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016

Gridlocked posted:

But if case N has caused poo poo to hit the fan as it has with the fires and stuff maybe she was able to escape on her own? I mean she is fairly secretive as to why a young girl was in the facility apparently alone.

She escaped in the chaos. Found some people who with her mind reading powers discovered maybe dangerous. So she lies to them and probs lightly with her mindpowahs:psyduck: in order to try and get them to help her escape.

But then she winds up getting killed by something.

I think we have a fundamental misunderstanding here. The observation subjects (denoted by two letters- Yu, Na etc.) are those whom LABO is keeping watch on but that are otherwise unaffiliated with LABO and not experimented on. I believe Salyu (as Yu) is part of this group. The test subjects (denoted by a single letter- N, Y-1, Y-2 etc.) are those being experimented on. Y-1 (whom I believe was Salyu) was part of this group before she was deemed worthless, had her memories erased and was placed back into society, where LABO had her monitored as Observation Subject Yu. Y-2 (almost definitely Yuuri) was considered useful, as the only success of their program to create Type S abnormalities, and was kept.

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016
So, Ukita and Jun, huh? Looks like the Ena thing wasn't something she knew about. I don't know if I can forgive her yet, but she seems to be on the path of forgiveness. As for Sannomiya, that just raises questions.
First question, did Ukita shoot Natsuhiko and the pistol just happened to be there from Watase's earlier stunt? If not, who?
Suddenly, it occurs to me that we have only ever had the word of Ukita when it came to seeing the children running about, and have only ever seen Louise. But then, that idea contradicts Watase saying the body was still cooling and had been alive only a few minutes before.
Even the idea that Watase fought Natsuhiko in Area N (maybe somewhere else, but probably not Area N) may have to be scrapped, as we now have confirmation that, whether it be radiation or something more exotic, it is having noticeable effects and we already know it can kill. But then how did Watase and Natsuhiko survive if they were in there earlier?
Finally, something I can't believe I didn't get earlier. It appears that cloning is actually on the cards LABO because Nagisa (who in my mind was probably Subject N and almost certainly the body at the cargo elevator) was actually buried in a service where people could see her face. Also neatly explains the whole 'born at LABO' thing.
Edit: As an addition to the above question, can anyone think of anything we might have missed as to the identity of the mysterious subject A? It definitely seems like something of future importance....

OddHaberdasher fucked around with this message at 01:09 on Dec 7, 2016

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016

CirclMastr posted:

Obviously Ukita and Jun have been possessed by vengeful ghosts. From the ghost reactor.

I'm going to push this narrative until it becomes true, damnit!

If it helps, I am now thinking that perhaps it was A that used the Sense System, not N. Though regardless, the ghost hypothesis would be correct no matter which one it was by now...

EDIT: Though while we're on the subject, while I see the possibility of vengeful ghosts, I don't see the point of a vengeful ghost reactor. What use, in your mind, would there be? When radiation leaks out, It may kill victims slowly and painfully even years after the vent, but at least a cure for Radiation sickness can be made. Homicidal ghosts, not so much.

OddHaberdasher fucked around with this message at 09:08 on Dec 7, 2016

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016
So, the bodies confirmed are-
2 test subjects (Yuuri and Elevator Girl?)
Two special observation targets (Louise and Natsuhiko)
Two observation targets (Mashiro, and the other in Sirius so it's Kazami)
Three researchers (two corpses and Ukita)
Four members of Sirius (either not counting Watase as he was found alive, or not counting Kazami as she is mentioned as an observation target)
Three communicator commissioners (by process of elimination, Ena must be one of these three, with two to go)

EDIT: So wait, if Ukita is just a 'researcher' (albeit probably a high-ranked one) and Ena is an actual 'commissioner' (whatever that may be), that means she's higher up than Ukita (probably)....VINDICATION! All my suspicions were correct! Also, confirmation (as if we needed any) that Ena's story of being a teacher on a school trip is false, seeing as Natsuhiko conned a guard to get in. Hich is all the more suspicious when you note the only children she is seen to have been interacting with are Yuuri (test subject, seemingly recognised her before losing her nerve) and Louise (likely former test subject, antagonistic relationship).

OddHaberdasher fucked around with this message at 02:00 on Dec 9, 2016

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016
So, I was just looking back at the last few LP posts, and I notice a lot of people thinking that Ukita did something to piss of Jun while we weren't looking. In my reading, it's not that Ukita did something to Jun, it's that he blatantly says out loud that he killed Ena and then some other stuff about "you crushed my hopes", things that would cause someone who overheard it (Jun) to think that Ukita was the real killer and planned to hunt down the rest.

Also wondering what Ukita said to make Kazami accuse us of being behind it all. Having doubts is one thing, she clearly had doubts. But you'd think that after Jun had been murdered and she'd been engine-gutted she would think maybe she was wrong, but she seemed so certain.

Finally, apparently Nat believed terrorists were going to try something before he went to LABO (or at least that's what he told/said within earshot of his mother).

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016

POOL IS CLOSED posted:

Wait, if Natsuhiko's BCusing Watase, and he and Salyu are buds, why doesn't he just BCtell Salyu to stop trying to axe murder Watase?

Because Nat is the BC user, with Sal being the type 4 normie wait that doesn't work BC is one way communication. Even if you couldn't use it you'd hear it. Or maybe you wouldn't, the only (probable) BC use we saw before was Kazami's mysterious conversation, and she's a Type S like Nat.

Gridlocked posted:

And the one who put those bullets in Natshuiko was Old-Watase. So he's been piggy backing on New-Watase to what? Stop him from being evil? I guess that means the whole instigator of this poo poo was Old-Watase and the two other Sirius guys who were with him.


It was us. We were the terrorists.

I'm no expert on ESP, but Nat was surprisingly cogent for someone on his last legs before Watase got there. Also, very unwilling to let the nice guy who he's inside the head of go to his body's location and hopefully help him. And Mashiro's still MIA, as are two 'commissioners', so don't go pointing fingers as to who's piggy-backing or shooting who.

TheMcD posted:

I should amend my statement in case it wasn't entirely clear - the voices that you hear from Natsuhiko in that flashback scene and the voice that is BCing Watase sound incredibly similar, and it seems pretty clear that it's Natsuhiko.

However, if you ascribe to a clone theory like some of you do, it would also be possible that it's a clone Natsuhiko. Furthermore, it might be within the possibilities of BC to fake the voice that you send.

But for all we know right now, it's basically confirmed that Natsuhiko is the auditory hallucination.

For the reasons outlined above, I'm not buying the Nat theory. The clone theory is off the table (why the distinction between natural Type S and artificial if they're all clones? Why did they let A stay dead? Why did they need to kidnap Nagisa and let people think she was dead?) so, of the options outlined above, the Idea that someone faked their voice (or just sounds the same) is the soundest. Mashiro was a Type B, maybe this is something B's can do.This would require him to be gravely uninformed of the truth behind the facility, but maybe Nat (been here, done that before) and Sal (regaining her memories?) dumped him somewhere and he's just trying his best to help.

I'm just saying, don't fall into your preconceived notions. I wouldn't have believed for a second Ena was willing to risk death for us before.

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016

TheMcD posted:

But I'll just say this: ...You and I are no longer buddies.

You don't mean that Jun! You can't mean that! I refuse to believe it!


TheMcD posted:

Natsuhiko!? And Louise!? Dear Lord... How'd they get hurt so badly!? And where have they been this whole time...!?

Did you just say... putting out the fires in Area N? I see... now I finally understand...! I knew it! You really are a traitor, through and through!

Captain Kasasagi... I know you'll have trouble believing this, but I did trust you. I truly believed you to be a man of justice... That's why I risked my life in my own way to save those girls. But then you...! You'll pay for this...!

...Go ahead and laugh. I know it's fragile justice. But it's my choice. If killing you means it'll put an end to all of this, then I'll do what I must. Even if it means staining my hands in sin for the first and last time in my life...!

So, judging from this, Ukita knew Nat and Louise (though Nat is the son of a co-worker and Louise was a test subject) and colluded with Watase to save the subjects, which included attempting to start fires in Area N, before Watase did something. Ukita is unstable, but even I cannot maintain a high Sense of Watase for much longer.

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016

Gridlocked posted:

But it's 5min of credits T_T

Basically, at the very end we hear some water bubbling noises (think scuba diver breathing out) and Watase, who's presumably still in the water since it has a radio-esque filter on his voice, says "What is this? The hell is going on?" (paraphrased).

EDIT: It occurs to me that I may have worded this poorly, so to cover my bases I do NOT believe that LABO has a squad of Scuba Soldiers patrolling the lake, the breathing is just Watase.

OddHaberdasher fucked around with this message at 11:58 on Dec 13, 2016

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016

asymmetrical posted:

So, pending the game telling us otherwise, that ending was at least a not-everyone-dies ending! Good job team!

There is still the random explosion from last ending what we don't know the cause of. Also, rewatched the credits, the exact words used are "What's that? Are you kidding me?".

OddHaberdasher fucked around with this message at 12:02 on Dec 13, 2016

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016

TheMcD posted:

If you don't know, then I'll tell you. This man is a terrorist. He attacked us last night and this morning as well. Everything that's happening here is all his fault. Even you should have questioned that idea several times.

Well, this is some highly suspicious new information about the activities of our protagonist.

TheMcD posted:

...Captain, may I ask you just one question?
...What is it?
This mystery has been on my mind for a long time... Captain, why was it that you went down to the basement at 6:42 AM, shortly after this accident occurred?
That's-- I told you guys, that's because Dojima and Hiyama called for me on their radio...
So what you're saying is that your radio could receive transmissions then, correct? But... but you know... I personally tried to reach you on your radio just a few minutes before that...!
...!

Watase felt his insides freeze over. Now that she mentioned it, Kazami had said something to that effect way back. ''At 6:35 AM, radio communication with Watase had suddenly ceased''. --There was an inconsistency with those words. Which meant--

Why was it that Dojima and Hiyama's transmission got through to your radio, yet mine did not...? Did you make it... so that my transmissions weren't received for some reason...? So that you could sneak off during a lifesaving mission and do something else?

Well, we already knew this from the beginning, but dropping everything to help your men with their secret mission is different from actively ignoring your other teammates sometime before you got the call.

EDIT:

Junpei posted:

Wait. I just realized.

Watase sounds like the Japanese word watashi, which roughly means "I". Either that's a pun, I reading to far into things or it's foreshadowing. McD, can you confirm either of those three?

That is not something McD can or should answer. Given Watase's recurrent identity discord, even saying you're reading too far may reval the absence of a plot point we are all expecting to some degree. It's one thing to speculate, but asking the OP to confirm it is just rude to the rest of us.

OddHaberdasher fucked around with this message at 00:37 on Dec 14, 2016

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016

Cyouni posted:

This is the main thing I mentioned earlier that I was surprised no one picked up on. Kazami briefly touched on it during Normal End, but it was kind of overshadowed by the rest of the path.

To be perfectly honest, by that point Watase's beliefs about what happened were so riddled with flaws, contradictions and speculation that she could have been talking about anything.

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016
B2 because it'll probably be smoother to unlock the epilogues for Kazami and others before we end this game and not have to go back. I don't care as much for the bad ends, but the epilogues would be nice even if they aren't with Best Buddy Jun (she saw the error in her ways in both routes and only pushed us away to keep us safe).

Onto more interesting news, in order:
Natsuhiko is confirmed not on our side.
Area N leads to the Verdant Underground, where presumably the subjects are kept in something resembling comfort, and where our two BC commissioners are lying dead.
One of Watase's men (blue armband) is said to have 'collapsed before reaching their goal', as opposed to the other, who appears to have had a 'most unnatural death'.
Elevator Girl is said to have been the victim of malice (could just be a way of referring to her murder, but I can't help but feel this is a reference to something more).
Mashiro Toba in some 'forgotten corner' and appears to be the one guiding us (never mind her voice, because we can guess Natsuhiko would never give us the time of day).
So everything was peaceful until Ukita somehow hosed it all by crashing. Good to know.
Two interesting things: Yuuri was friends with Nat outside LABO (always believed up until now she was in LABO from a very early age) and 'Communicator Trainees' is shown before their faces. Was their 'observation' disguised as a low level sort of testing/teaching (could that be how Ena enters the picture)?
Louise confirmed Mysterious Transfer Student.
Ukita is Nat's neighbour, trying to warn him away. Fits with Ukita's perception of how he was trying to help them.
The kids BC powers only just beginning to emerge, along with Nat's memories of LABO.
A Pair(?) of goons, one (blue hoodie) with a gun, while White Hoodie, while his face isn't clear, what we see of his hair is reminiscent of Watase, minus the odd white hairs. Salyu mentioned being attacked last night...
Louise looking like she kicked rear end.
Something happened at LABO at 6:19. 6:19, 6:35, 6:42....
"Even if what awaits them there is a cruel truth" Yuuri looking angry....
"I swear I'll save you. I will rewind your time as many times as it takes to do that."

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016
Seeing these friendship scenes is like, well....Best Buddy Jun is Best Buddy (derangement notwithstanding) but seeing the Ena scenes is making me feel like a right heel.

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016

TheMcD posted:

That only figures. That room is enough to drive even the living insane.

There was something unsettling about how Ukita had said that-- but Watase ignored it.
:tinfoil:
Ukita has definitely shown he knows more than he can safely let on and that was a very odd word choice. At this point anything could be true.

EDIT: Between the different splits and such, is there any situation where friendship scenes are mutually exclusive? There doesn't seem to have been any so far, but maybe I missed something.

OddHaberdasher fucked around with this message at 07:05 on Dec 27, 2016

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016
This is probably getting into spoilers territory, but while the friendship scenes may be mutually exclusive, are the epilogues necessarily? By which I mean, when we get to the end are the respective epilogues irreconcilable? I mean, with the way Ena is going I can see why she would be irreconcilable with Kazami 'my ex-girlfriend' Tachibana, but I see no reason (barring a sudden turn) why Best Buddy Jun couldn't have her epilogue as well barring game play contrivances. It just seems a pity when games that do not have wholesale differences between different choices still feel the need to make character development mutually exclusive, especially when missing just one scene means that character's development is locked off to you.

TL;DR If answering this one way or another does not constitute a spoiler: When we get to the end of the game, are the epilogues mutually exclusive to the point pretending they took place in the same play-through would require ignoring whole paragraphs (Ex: Tachibana and Ena both seem to be going the romance route)?

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016
Ya know, finding out that The Captain used to be Anti-Buddies with Jun, and looking back on his failed relationship with Kazami....There is a difference between allowing yourself to drop everything to ensure the success of your (morally dubious at best) scheme, and actively ignoring the half of your team not in on the affair. There are valid reasons for doing so, when you really cannot risk them seeing something they shouldn't, but knowing that those particular people were on that team does potentially put a new spin on The Captain's actions. He doesn't strike me as that petty, but if these are the kind of thoughts running through Jun's mind when she turns on Watase, that makes her willingness to bring the engine cutter into the equation more understandable.

EDIT: As for her willingness to kill Ena (or perhaps simply her skill at rationalizing away an unfortunate accident when she saw Watase?) I'm just gonna have to blame it on hostile supernatural activity, whether that be Natsuhiko's unconscious influence or ghosts.

OddHaberdasher fucked around with this message at 16:50 on Dec 30, 2016

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016
*Finished Before's opening*

So basically everything we thought we 'knew' about the kids (barring perhaps Nat's exposure to WX) is rapidly becoming more hazy. I mean, you would think a test subject (like what we thought Yuuri was) would not be allowed out. Unless this is some psychic ghost clone memory sharing shenanigans going on. Also, the tutorial was canon (though I had the vaguest feeling it was anyway) and whatever Watase was doing there, he didn't have anything to do with LABO's catastrophe. In short, I now have to speculate about everything all over again. The best part of these threads::).

Also, apologies, but I had to do this:

DAIJU NI NO BAKUDAN:
BITE ZA DUSTO!

OddHaberdasher fucked around with this message at 15:31 on Jan 2, 2017

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016

SSNeoman posted:

Seriously how anyone ever trusted Ukita I will never know.

Given that the majority of his negativity is directed towards Ena (difficult to get along with, as we well know) and Watase (locked him in a room during a fire, did other obscure but almost certainly nefarious deeds), I'm inclined to cut some slack.

Danaru posted:

Dude just openly threatened us, but god forbid Watase suplex HIM <:mad:>

No, he just gave a warning, as polite as the circumstances allowed, that the secrets of LABO are such that if they so much as knock the wrong file over they (and likely anyone close to them) will be disappeared. Quite frankly, it was probably a personal risk to him just to say that much.

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016
Speaking from a logical point of view, unless we are absolutely determined to get the implied death-by-low-favor, we have no reason not to put them on High at the very least. They're our friends.

EDIT: So, depending on how you read it, we have mental time travel (the description of this route pretty much stated this as well). Because things weren't getting messy enough apparently.

OddHaberdasher fucked around with this message at 22:33 on Jan 2, 2017

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016

Pollyanna posted:

I can't wait to see if we somehow end up in horrific bad ends during the Slice of Life segments just for choosing bad levels. :shepface:

Well, we do know from the Afters end trailer that we get involved with a nearby car crash, a surprise mugging/warning (involving Watase?) and Louise Yui Sannomiya. So time paradoxes are perfectly possible, in my opinion.

EDIT:

Probably isn't physical time travel (someone would have noticed scrapes and/or burns from the last bomb) so either mental time travel or simple precognition.

OddHaberdasher fucked around with this message at 04:41 on Jan 3, 2017

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016
So, BC is natural (far too widespread to be the result of experiments, but this is good to know nonetheless).
Ever since it's discovery in 2014 by Nat's mother (the same year he was born), the number of communicator births has been increasing. A matter of detection, or some sort of morphogenetic shenanigans?
The discovery of BC users was marred by 'witch hunts'. One of Watase's flashbacks (in the Test Subject chapter) was a internet news headline, with a tiny thing in the upper left that said 'modern witch hunts?'. It was one of a number of images that filled him with 'intense fear and unpleasant feelings'.
Telepathy (sending thoughts to others, allowing faraway conversation between two BC users) is a different ability to 'Empathy' (reading the thoughts of others, without them being sent at you). The way Ena words it, it appears Empathy and Telepathy may be mutually exclusive, or that the ability to do both is rare ("Quite a few of you can do telepathy, right?"). This also implies Empathy is itself rare.
There is a six level ranking of BC talent (0-5). This may or may not line up with the E-S scale of BC Potential.
Nat knows at least something of how he gained his S rank potential, though it seems his exposure may have left him with some problems in using BC at even his natural, C rank level (speculation).
Telepathy allows you to directly convey that which cannot be conveyed verbally, or can only do so imperfectly, such as concepts and emotions.
Ena wants to join our Harem. Mashiro will cut us if we do.
Concentration is what matters in BC usage. With proper Concentration comes true power in BC, concentration that dulls all your senses, with certain cases of Concentration resulting in the dropping of vital signs and the lowering of body temperatures....

EDIT: BC is acquired when the IGF2R gene mutates. In the Test Subject chapter, Observation target Yu had a Type 4 gene, but not an abnormality....

OddHaberdasher fucked around with this message at 21:29 on Jan 5, 2017

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016
The dark side of BC reveals itself. Dear God, recess and lunch at school could get overwhelmingly loud in the quadrangle on a regular day, but there were always little quiet corners to hide in. But there is no escape from telepaths. Not even being outside the school can save you. You can't even 'tune it out' because it is literally in your mind. I would probably go insane.

OddHaberdasher fucked around with this message at 15:50 on Jan 6, 2017

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016

CirclMastr posted:

Obviously the other life lost was Natsuhiko's and he's a ghost now.

It'll be true someday, damnit!

The other life lost was Test Subject A (whoever they were). Not denying the ghost hypothesis, indeed I have become a firm proponent.

Empathy is both extraordinarily rare and completely undetectable.

So, Rokumei city. A city where you need to pass through checkpoints to get in, there are cameras everywhere, communications are monitored and the Rokumei Automobile Control Office can remotely jack your ride if they want to. Not to mention the beloved pieces of government propaganda "Beyonder" and "BeyoBEYO".

Hmm, with what Ukita said it seems maybe that LABO was keeping an eye on the people affected nine years ago to see what effects there may have been. Maybe they were keeping a lookout for if he exhibited strong BC, and then intervening after the car crash. Alternatively, given the paranoid mindset I'm in, which suggests that 'car accident of Ukita's was no accident, they could be clearing house, starting with the conscientious objector (that's what Ukita seems to be, to me). Ah well, speculation.

So, both the people at LABO on that day are artificially more powerful BC users, but both seem to have problems using that power except under stressful circumstances. An adverse reaction to the contaminants? Or a simple mental block?

I really have no idea what Yuuri is about towards the end, but I'm liable to call it a hallucination on Natsuhiko's part given this has all been in his head (but does that necessarily mean it's fake?).


Natsuhiko, you've gotta come back with me!
Where?
Back to the future!

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016

EponymousMrYar posted:

So, Salyu was at the crash too.

I'm beginning to think she's the cause of all of this because of revenge/hate.

She does seem the type, though I am hesitant to lay this all at the feet of a single person at this point in time.

AlphaKretin posted:

Well that sure is a chapter title. Speculation: Natsuhiko is hosed up in LABO right now and dreaming of how he got there while unconscious (perhaps to practice his BC for use on Watase?).

That could be the case. It could also be the case that LABO is actually visions of the future, and that what Natsuhiko thinks are flashbacks are actually the present. Both of those are reasonable interpretations of the chapter title.

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016

Llab posted:

That final scene was pretty creepy for me. I wasn't expecting it. I also noticed Yuuri didn't finish her milk. Maybe she never touched it at all. Maybe she's a ghost!

I'm just going to point out that at this time, the only member of the cast that has not gotten into a potentially fatal accident (whether nine years ago, Before or After) is, if my date-fu is correct, Salyu as she was brought in after the fire nine years ago. She is also an extraordinarily proficient rear end-kicker. The obvious conclusion is that, as the only character that is not a ghost, she has the advantage in physical combat.

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016
Who to pick? Everyone in this route is so mysterious. I think I will go with Mashiron Top, Both Yu's High and Hikoron Neutral.

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016

GeneralYeti posted:

This seems as good a plan as any.

I'm placing my bet on this Yuuri we keep seeing in LABO to be some hallucination, or astral projection, or ghost, or something. It makes sense, since she won't leave the house otherwise.
Alternatively, 'Yuuri' is just Natsuhiko's alternate personality and he has schizophrenia or some poo poo.

I realize the still-poorly-understood nature of BC allows for a lot of things, but given that Watase and others could see and interact with Yuuri, I'm gonna guess she's not a schizophrenic delusion. Maybe the astral projection.

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016
Everyone at neutral!

Trust nobody, not even the guys telling us who to trust!

THIS WAS NOT AN ACTUAL VOTE, I ALREADY VOTED

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016

SSNeoman posted:

She's got some peepers that you can use as a mirror though goddamn

Well, it is a scientific fact that your eyes are one of the few things that don't grow as you age. Granted, as 16-18 year olds they don't have much more growing, but still. Kazami and Jun, imagining how wide their eyes must have been when they were single digits or something, that's a thing of wonder.

OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016
First and most important observation: Holy poo poo a 13 year old kicked our rear end.

Second observation: that BeyoBEYO thing with Mashiro is definitely going to come up at some point.

But just to reiterate: a 13 year old kicked our rear end.

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OddHaberdasher
Jan 21, 2016
Hideo Kojima has ruined me for any reference to 'terrible children', particularly blond ones. I'm just going to go ahead and guess Yuuri was given the dominant genes.

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