In Which Memory Links go Defunct

 As usual, my commentary is in italics, except for dialogue.

Last time, the doctors warped into a school hallway, where they could see River reading something while Johnny and Nicolas were talking to each other.

As soon as they warp in, they hear Nicolas exclaiming something.

Nicolas: (exclaiming) C'mon dude, grow some balls!
Dr. Watts: Erm...
- The scene shifts to the two teenagers talking.
Johnny: It's not that... Look, maybe this wasn't such a good idea.
Nicolas: Oh sheesh, what could possibly happen?
Nicolas: Just think about it! Worst case scenario: she says no.
Nicolas: You strut on like nothing happened; no one'll know and everyone'll still think you're cool.
Johnny: (nervously exclaiming) But what if she tells someone?!
Johnny: (raising arms) Or yells at me?!
Dr. Watts: (yelling) DON'T BE A LITTLE WUSS!!
Johnny: (fully raising his arms, up to his face) Or... or says yes but really means no?!
Nicolas: (enthusiastically) Psh, quit worrying. Who would do that?
Johnny: (lowering his arms to shoulder level) And what if she throws an encyclopedia in my face?!
Johnny: (exclaiming nervously, raising his arms again) I don't even have a helmet--... Dear lord, I'm so not prepared for this!
Nicolas: (annoyedly) DUDE! Don't panic!
Nicolas: Just straighten your spine and quit being a little wuss!
Dr. Watts: (yelling) YEAH! YOU TELL HIM!
Nicolas: Everything'll be alright... Just turn around.
- Johnny turns away from Nicolas.
Johnny: Okay...Okay.
- Nicolas begins pushing Johnny forward forcefully. Johnny screams out.
Johnny: (screaming) H-hey what're y--
Nicolas: Shhh!
- He pushes Johnny all the way till he's in front of River, then runs away. Johnny nervously begins to talk.
Johnny: A-ahem.
Johnny: Hello.
- Several moments of silence pass. River does not answer, and Johnny nervously speaks up again.
Johnny: Eh... Hello?
Johnny: Can you hear me?
River: Yes.
- Johnny is curious to hear her reply.
Johnny: Then why didn't you--... nevermind.
- Johnny nervously looks away, then approaches closer to River.
Johnny: Um, that's a cool platypus you got there.
- River looks at him for a while, then goes back to reading her book.
Johnny: What're you reading?
River: A book.
Johnny:...About platypus?
River: No.
Johnny: Oh... I, er, I think that's great.
- Neil facepalms at this comment. Johnny again nervously looks away and then back.
Johnny: Hey, you wanna get--
River: Lighthouses.
Johnny:...Huh?
- A few moments of silence pass.
River: There are exactly sixteen second-order Fresnel lens lighthouses in the country left.
River: Nine of them are coastal, and one of them was modified from a historic kerosene lamp lighthouse.
- Johnny is speechless at River's response. He eventually replies.
Johnny: Oh, is that what you're reading about?
- A few moments of silence pass. River does not respond.
Johnny: Um, say... you wanna go catch a movie together sometime?
- A few moments of silence pass. River looks around for a bit, then responds.
River: I don't know.
Johnny: (slowly backing away) That's okay, I'll give you the time to consider it.
River: I can't.
Johnny: (Curiously)...Why?
River: There's no date or time.
Johnny:...Oh, um, how about this Saturday at eight?
- River looks around, then goes back to her book. A few moments of silence pass. Johnny gets nervous, and asks.
Johnny:...Well?
- A few moments of silence pass. Neil gets worried and asks Eva.
Dr. Watts: Eva, I think the system froz--
River: Yes.
Johnny: (exclaiming) Oh, great!
Dr. Watts:...Nevermind.
Johnny: I guess we'll work out the details later?
- A few moments of silence pass. River does not answer, and Johnny gets nervous again.
Johnny: Um, I'll just...
- Johnny nervously looks away from River again and walks away. Neil facepalms. The scene shifts back to the doctors, and Rosalene stares at Neil.
Dr. Watts: (looking at Rosalene)...What?
Dr. Watts: What're you looking at me for?
Dr. Rosalene:...
Dr. Watts: (exclaiming) You think I'm going to call out how utterly awkward that was?
Dr. Rosalene:...
Dr. Watts: (exclaiming angrily) Well just forget it. I'm not giving into your expectations.
Dr. Rosalene: Give him a break, he was still just a kid.
Dr. Rosalene: You of all people should relate.
Dr. Watts: (exclaiming) What's that supposed to mean?
Dr. Rosalene: Shut up and go.
Dr. Watts: "Shut up" isn't my name, y'know.

I appreciate that this scene shows the two teenage boys acting with the same brashness and nervousness most teenagers would exhibit in high school, and the dialogue between our couple here is a clever play on just HOW awkward his nervousness meeting her autism is. It's very believable and for a moment, makes the two feel like people with dimensions, despite their rather barebones characterization so far. In contrast, Watts' childish reaction to Rosalene digs him even deeper into douchebag territory, while Rosalene continues to maintain a calm and collected front. I must say, I'm seriously impressed at how dedicated she has been to the work, her odd bouts of sentimentalism and squabbles with Neil notwithstanding.

The doctors explore around the hallway. They can interact with River, but this accomplishes little. Her platypus causes Watts to comment a bit about his opinion on it, and a memory link to drop. Interacting with Nicolas or Johnny causes another conversation to occur.

Nicolas: What the heck were you doing in there, dude?!
John: What? I asked her out!
Nicolas: Nooo, that was pathetic!
Nicolas: If I were you, I would've just barged in there and be all like, "HAY, YOU! Go out! Me, you, now!"
John: That's just terrible.
Nicolas: I know. And it would've still been better than what you just did.

And a memory link to drop.

You can talk with them again for some minor dialogue, which causes Rosalene to chide Neil. I'm not transcribing that, it's not relevant to anything.

Throughout the hallway, they can interact with various people in several classrooms for certain gags. The door to the right is closed and requires three memory links, but only one of the classrooms is required to fulfil this. I'll be covering them in counter clockwise order.

Art classroom:

Silhouetted teacher: Leonardo da Vinci trained by drawing eggs. Barrels are like very big eggs.
Silhouetted teacher: Therefore, you will all be very big Da Vinci-s.
John: (exclaiming) Dear lord, I can't believe you got me to take this stupid class.
Nicolas: Aw c'mon, it's fun!
John: (exclaiming) Only if you can paint!
Nicolas: You'll get good if you practice, y'know.
John:...Yeah right. After this class, I'm never picking up a brush again.

Worth pointing out that for initiating any of these scenes, except the one that gives a memory link, the background track changes to a pleasantly whimsical tune. Not sure why that's the case, it would've been better off to have that play the moment they entered any classroom. Further comments later.

Computer classroom:

Nicolas: (whispering) Psst, she's coming this way!!
John: (whispering) Alt-tab! ALT-TAB!!!

This gives a note.

History classroom:

Silhouetted teacher: Anyone?
- A few moments of silence pass. The teacher questions again.
Silhouetted teacher: Anyone at all?
Silhouetted teacher:...
- A few moments of silence pass. The teacher remarks.
Silhouetted teacher: Alright then...
- The teacher begins to move to their desk, but stops partway and asks again.
Silhouetted teacher: River, why don't you answer it?
- River is stunned at being called out. The teacher talks again.
Silhouetted teacher: I know you know the answer.
Silhouetted teacher: We're waiting, River.
- A few moments of silence pass. The teacher eventually resigns themselves.
Silhouetted teacher: Fine, I guess we'll have to--
River: (exclaiming)...He made sail on August 3rd of 1492 from the Spanish city of Palos de la Frontera, which was founded in 1322, and granted to Alvar Perez de Guzman who was at the mere age of 14 by the--...
Silhouetted teacher: Okay, okay, I only asked for the date!
Silhouetted teacher: But see, was that so hard?
- The scene shifts to the doctors.
Dr. Watts: Good Lord, does everyone with her condition have near-photographic memory?
Dr. Rosalene: Not really... though I think their rote memory is often fairly strong.

A memory link falls.

Unlike a lot of attempts at humor in this game, the above sequences genuinely bring amusement, especially since they don't happen at the expense of the main plot. The best one in my opinion is the one involving the art teacher making their class draw barrels, because it really channels both their absurd belief and contrasts Johnny's and Nicolas' attitudes towards it, while being couched in believable words. The one required scene is not some throwaway attempt at slapstick humor or a sentimental scene, but rather characterization by illustrating River as a knowledgeable and rather wordy student, thus giving her an alternate angle and letting her expand beyond "girl with autism who likes lighthouses". Unfortunately, the story will make little effort to capitalize on this.

With three links in hand, the doctors move on to the door on the right of the hallway. It leads to an inner courtyard, where we see Johnny and Nicolas walking away along with other silhouetted students. The teacher makes a small play on words, and Watts mocks how the courtyard's lines are straight in the memory.

This is mostly just a small meta joke about the limitations of RPG Maker, and how it forces map makers to make odd, straight outlines even for irregular geometry. The author hadn't quite figured out how to get around that problem yet.

Interacting with the teacher makes Johnny and Nicolas appear on the mat, practicing push ups. Interacting with them then gives another memory link, and shows them heading to the cafeteria back at the hallway. The door is now open, and flashes to a crowded cafeteria. The doctors head upwards and run into Johnny and Nicolas talking again.

Nicolas: Yeah, she's unique, but she's uniquely boring!
Nicolas: I mean, just look at her!
- Nicolas looks in the direction of River, who is sitting at a table all by herself.
Nicolas: She just sits there by herself all day, with that creepy deformed duck toy.
John: (annoyedly) That's not a deformed duck. That's a platypus.
Nicolas: (looking at Johnny, curiously speaking) What the heck's a platypus? Quit making words up.
Nicolas: Anyway, she's just so... off, y'know?
Nicolas: It's like she's from a totally different planet or something.
John: (exclaiming) I know! Isn't that cool?
Nicolas: Uh, if you're into aliens and that sort of stuff, I guess.
Nicolas: But really, if you wanna be weird, why don't you just go hang out with the emos and goths?
John: Well, for one, I don't wanna ruin my hair.
John: The fact that we got a name for them says a lot too.
John: (solemnly closing his eyes) Look, Nick,
John: I just... I just don't wanna be another typical kid in a sea of typical people.
Nicolas: (exclaiming angrily) But how the heck would being with her change your own identity?!
Nicolas: I mean, you'd just be some guy who hangs out with a shy girl.
John: She's not just shy, Nick.
John: There's something strange about her.
Nicolas: Being strange isn't always a good thing, y'know.
Nicolas: Do you even know if she wants to be different?
Nicolas: Maybe she just wants to fit in like everyone else.
- Johnny is speechless at Nicolas' words. He continues.
Nicolas: And if she does, pushing her the other way wouldn't help, would it?
John: Look Nick, the point is that I know what I need...
John:...And she's the one who has it.
Nicolas: So you want her for what she has, but not for her?
- A few moments of silence pass.
Nicolas:...That's cold, man.
Nicolas: I just hope you know what you're doing.
John: I do.
- John solemnly closes his eyes as Nicolas keeps talking.
Nicolas: I think you're wrong, though.
Nicolas: People aren't that typical. Everyone's unique in some way.
John: (solemnly closing his eyes)...That's just what grandmas tell you.
- The scene shifts to the doctors.
Dr. Watts: Wait, so this guy's some kind of a human-hogging hipster...?
Dr. Watts: That's sorta, uh... disturbing.
Dr. Rosalene: Y'know, sometimes I want to slap our clients upside the head.
Dr. Watts: It's high school. Everyone's a bastard.
- Rosalene turns towards Watts.
Dr. Watts: But hey, welcome to the club.
- Rosalene turns around, then back to Watts.
Dr. Rosalene: Wait, so this is what he told her about at the cliff?
- The scene briefly flashes back to the scene on the cliffside back in the seventh entry.
Dr. Watts: I suppose so.
Dr. Watts: She then went cuckoo and began to make those creepy rabbits, right?
Dr. Rosalene: (turning back) Because he confessed this from who knows how long ago?
Dr. Watts: I guess she's pretty good at holding a grudge.
- Rosalene silently ponders for a bit.
Dr. Rosalene:...I'm not buying it.
Dr. Rosalene: Something feels missing.
Dr. Watts: Then go get a hat, Sherlock.
- Watts walks forwards, towards the teenage boys.
Dr. Watts: C'mon, I think our passport's leaning against the table there.

A pretty long conversation that sheds some critical light on Johnny's relationship with River. Basically, he started this relationship for selfish reasons, and it would seem like part of that remained later, all the way until River died. This is a pretty unflattering look at him, which makes all the attempts at building sympathy for him look a bit dishonest. Nicolas is depicted as a very pragmatic person, with fairly accurate insights into people. He also is bold about calling out Johnny's wrongs here. It's a shame he seems to not play much of a role later in Johnny's life, perhaps he could've rubbed off some of his insight onto him and given him a happier relationship.

The doctors for once seem to do their duty and talk about the case, though not before understandably berating their client. Rosalene rightfully seems to think that there's a deeper cause behind River's rabbit making, and that being triggered by Johnny's confession of his embarrassing crush doesn't mean it was the primary trigger. I wish it was Watts who made this observation instead; as much as I've been hard on him, it would fit nicely into the brief characterization he got in the seventh entry of being an incredulous person who looks beneath the surface of the situation. But instead it's Rosalene who upends him, making him feel redundant even when he's not being dickish.

One last thing: even though the game pulled some blatant narrative cheating, there was no good reason to keep his motivation for proposing to River under wraps. Showing it back then would have made his conversations with Nicolas and Isabelle have more weight, as well as perhaps helped show character growth if he had been written to be more genuinely concerned and caring for River, and more apologetic for his crush.

The doctors examine the cafeteria for the last memory link. They can interact with Nicolas and River, but for the most part those just generate small discussion about how incredible it was that Johnny met them in high school and stayed in touch with them for his whole life. Interacting with the platypus makes Watts joke about how it guarantees a memory link every time it shows up.

Like I said in the previous entry, he's wrong. However the platypus will become incredibly important soon.

The doctors then prepare their memento, Johnny's backpack. They get into a brief altercation over Watts shouting random battle cries while breaking the glass orb.

I'm really not interested in going over why I dislike such scenes, you can read my sixth entry and find out why.

The memento leads to...

...a living room in a house somewhere. We see his mother busy cooking while Johnny is in his room. The doctors warp in, and he leaves, headed for his backpack. He stops to wish his mom off.

John: I'm going to school now, ma.
Mother: Have a nice day, Joey.
- Rosalene looks towards Watts, then back.
Mother: My baby boy... growing up so fast.
- Johnny picks up his bag and leaves.
Dr. Rosalene: Ack, what if he was a girl? Would she still nickname him after his grandpa?
Dr. Watts: It wouldn't be that bad actually, since it ends in "ey".
Dr. Watts: Jo-Ey... Ju-wee... Jul-E. Sounds cute.
Dr. Rosalene: If it sounds so cute why don't you marry him?
Dr. Watts: (turning away from her, arms folded) Ah, jealous?
Dr. Rosalene: Oh yes, so jealous.

It's interesting to note how far his mother's peculiar naming habit came from. For whatever reason, the doctors decided to get into yet another spat over this.

Exploring the house, they get a memory link by sitting on the couch, examining a jar of pickled cucumbers, a ticking clock, and a shelf of books.

None of these seem to have any strong link with Johnny, outside of the pickled cucumbers perhaps leading to pickled olives and the ticking clock being relevant IF River came here. I don't get the memory link from the couch in particular, why would it be notable enough in his mind to generate memory links? Even if he used it frequently, it would just be a piece of furniture in the background, not something he would be attached to in particular.

Entering Johnny's room gives the last memory link. The memento is the football in his room. The doctors prepare it, but before leaving, Rosalene turns around to take a closer look at the room. It leads to...

A white void somewhere. The doctors look around, and Neil speaks up.

Dr. Watts: (annoyedly) Ack, it smells like roadkill again.
Dr. Watts:..Where are we?
Dr. Watts: (turning to Rosalene) Eva?
- Watts then turns in Rosalene's direction and is shocked.
Dr. Watts: What the hell is that?!
- The scene shifts in the direction of Rosalene's facing to reveal a giant void with houses standing over it. The doctors walk closer towards it.
Dr. Rosalene: That's his next memory.
Dr. Watts: Yeah, but why is it going Laputa on us?
Dr. Rosalene: I don't know, it's just not linking the memories together for construction.
Dr. Rosalene: (backing up)...There must be a malfunction within the machine's ADG.
Dr. Watts: (looking at Rosalene, exclaiming) Again?! I thought the last fix was foolproof for another half a year!
Dr. Watts: (looking back, angrily exclaiming)...I can't believe those idiots in the maintenance department.
Dr. Rosalene: Look, don't worry, we've already gotten the teenage years saved.
Dr. Rosalene: We might still be able to do this.
- Watts silently ponders Rosalene's suggestion, then finally talks.
Dr. Watts:...Alright, but I ain't telling him about this.
- Rosalene looks at Watts briefly, then turns back.
Dr. Rosalene:..As long as we succeed, he doesn't have to know.
- Rosalene looks around for a while, then speaks.
Dr. Rosalene: Well, I guess this is it... There's nothing we can do here.
Dr. Rosalene: (turning to Watts) Ready to finalize before activation?
Dr. Watts: (turning to Rosalene) Ladies first.
- Rosalene warps out. Neil turns to look at the void again.
Dr. Watts: (thinking)...What a shame, I was actually looking forward to it.
- Watts warps out too. The scene flashes white, then fades out.

If you were paying attention, you would realize several things odd about Johnny's room. First, the football is a memento even though Johnny has never been shown as particularly physically inclined. Second, and more notably, he has a bunk bed, even though we've not seen him have a sibling so far. This is incredibly suspicious, and foreshadows something big later on. That the very next memory is broken is not a coincidence.

Rosalene claims that they can grant his wish since they've got his teenage years saved, but this contradicts her dialogue in the fourth entry of this series, where she said they would influence his childhood to grant his wish. Teenage is not the same as childhood, and even despite that there's a bigger reason for why it's unlikely for the doctors' method to work. Further, there's a small attempt to depict Watts as invested in Johnny's story, but given his incredibly abrasive personality and remarks so far, it does too little for me to buy it.

The sequence continues on in Act 2, but I find it best to tackle that separately.

Next time, the doctors attempt to grant wishes. We shall see how that works out then.

Next: In Which Deja Vu Occurs a Lot.