In Which We Enter an Endless Hallway

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

Last time, Watts was left all to himself in a long, dark hallway. He can enter the two classrooms downwards, but there's nothing there. Going right, he runs into globes and computers being flung at him, and spike traps appearing on the floor. He admonishes Eva a little, and she just tells him to stay put till she's done. He then threatens to unplug the machine, but Rosalene points out that that would distort his memories. The lights go out again, and she asks him to meet her at the end of the hallway. 

At some point, Rosalene releases literal zombie clones of herself to stop Watts. Watts comments on how ridiculous this is, then conjures some plants to throw at them.

Yes, this is exactly what happens. The author ended up inserting slapstick humor into an action sequence of all things. In part, this is also a reference to Plants vs. Zombies, albeit an incredibly forced one.

Going forward, he runs into a part of the hallway flanked by platypi on either side. These stop the zombies from rushing through, and he thanks them condescendingly, saying that they're good for something atleast. Going further, he runs into balls rolling down the hallway, and also realizes that it is looping on itself. In frustration, he throws one of the zombie Evas at a wall. This opens up a hole there, surprising him.

Going through the hole, Watts enters another identical hallway. The music dies down, and he explores around for a bit. Going left resets him abruptly, going right causes the scene to shake violently. Watts calls out to Rosalene, but gets no response. He notices child Johnny ahead, who runs into a room downwards.

Entering this room, Watts discovers that they hold messed up versions of his memories, with Johnny and River from various time periods showing up together. They spout dialogue from their corresponding memories, but it doesn't line up in any coherent way.

Watts continues exploring, and runs into more weirdness, as the horses from Johnny and River's second(from last) pre marital memory run past him. A few more rooms of messed up memories follow, and before long, Watts ends up in front of a ringing phone. It's Rosalene; Watts tries to protest a bit more, but she calmly tells him that it has already been done. She conjures up a gate and invites him to come and see the new memories for himself. He reluctantly does.

Overall, this sequence didn't really do much. The author tried to make an action sequence, but given that Watts shows no real ability to catch up to Rosalene or counter her tricks, there was no real suspense or confrontation here. There's not even the depiction of desperation, as Watts falls for all of Rosalene's tricks and doesn't do much to conjure something that would stop them, or even try leaving for another memory and undoing whatever Rosalene is doing. The second corridor is atleast more impactful with all the broken memories providing a haunting sense of loss and foreboding, but it's all quite superficial.

Watts is now back at a normal-looking version of Johnny's high school. He runs upwards and meets Rosalene, He notices her making River disappear, having her be dragged by some silhouetted students. He runs forward in shock, protesting to Rosalene.

Dr. Watts: What did you do to her?
Dr. Rosalene: Relax. She's merely going elsewhere.
- Watts looks around, then tries to undo Rosalene's edits frantically. Nothing happens.
Dr. Watts: Y'know, it's one thing to disable my controls to feed me some olives...
Dr. Watts: (Forcefully turning to Rosalene)...But this is way out of line.
Dr. Rosalene: (turning away from Watts, solemnly closing her eyes) I'm sorry, but this just won't go anywhere if you keep on resetting the memory.
Dr. Rosalene: (looking at the exit River took) At this point, this is the only way....I'm asking you to trust me.
Dr. Rosalene: (turning to Watts) So please, just calm down and wait here.
- Rosalene walks forward towards a window, but Watts interrupts her.
Dr. Watts: Then just pull the trigger already. Where are you going?
- Rosalene conjures up another gate, then turns around to Watts.
Dr. Rosalene:...There's just one last thing I need to do.
- Rosalene opens the gate. Watts interrupts her again.
Dr. Watts: Poser. There's no need to visualize a door.
Dr. Rosalene: (turning to look at Watts) What's with all this melodrama, Neil?
Dr. Rosalene: Why are you fighting so hard for...this?
- Watts is stunned by this. Rosalene turns back to the open gate.
Dr. Rosalene:...Forget it, there's no time.

So this scene establishes that in fact Rosalene has full control over what edits are made to memories, and can just choose to disable Watts' controls at will. Making the earlier scene pointless, and also raising some serious questions about how this procedure actually works. Wasn't it Watts who was setting up the machine? Couldn't he have configured a backdoor of some sort to override Rosalene's controls? I mean, I'm glad that he's not the one in charge, but still...

- She walks through the gate and warps out. The gate vanishes. Watts hears Nicolas talking to Johnny at his back.
Nicolas: Everything'll be alright, man.
Nicolas: Just turn around.
- Watts turns around to them.
Johnny: Okay...Okay.
- Nicolas pushes Johnny forwards forcefully.
Johnny: (exclaiming) H-h-hey what're y--
Nicolas: Shhh!
(Nicolas finishes pushing Johnny all the way next to the staircase River was on, then leaves. Johnny nervously addresses the now missing River.)
Johnny: Ahem. Hello--
- Johnny silently looks on, as he notices River isn't there. Watts slowly walks over towards him.
Dr. Watts: Sorry, kid...
- Watts looks up the stairs.
Dr. Watts:...It's already started.
- The entire memory flashes out, and we hear the sounds of birds chirping. Watts looks around, and suddenly notices some kids rushing down the staircase.

Unnamed teen: (excitedly) C'mon, they're gonna hog all the good tables.
Nicolas: (descending down the stairs) They're all the same, sheesh.
Johnny: (descending down the stairs partway)...Naw, Joey's right. The ones by the kitchen smell better.
Joey: (enthusiastically) Totally! And olive refills are just steps away!
- Joey runs off to the cafeteria.
Johnny: Ack, olives...
- Both Johnny and Nicolas leave, following Joey. Rosalene descends down the staircase and looks on alongside Watts.
Dr. Watts: Saving him doesn't justify it.
Dr. Rosalene: (solemnly closing her eyes) He can always find another "River", Neil.
- Watts looks at Rosalene.
Dr. Rosalene:...But he'll only have one brother.
Dr. Rosalene:...C'mon, we're in the way.
- Both doctors warp out.

I really don't get why Rosalene tried to justify her actions with such a weak claim, she was already working from a morally just angle, trying to give her patient what he had wished for and had paid money for. A few people have argued with me that Johnny going to the moon is more of a metaphor and that his wish could've been fulfilled without removing his wife, but I don't see how. His motivation for going to the moon, nonsensical as it is, stems from his childhood meeting, where he promised he would go there if he didn't meet River again. So the only way it was getting fulfilled was if in fact he never met her again.

We then watch a cutscene where Johnny's old memories get thoroughly replaced, as he works hard to become an astronaut, with Joey becoming a successful writer and Nicolas being closer to him.

This is pretty much one of the best sequences in the game, watching his old memories get removed forcefully to the tune of this song is genuinely heart rending, especially when contrasted with him happily spending time with Joey and Nicolas. This is one of the few sequences in the game that needs to be watched to be felt, so I'm linking a video someone else recorded of it. It's too bad that it's anchored by a mostly mediocre plot with lots of absurdities.

Eventually, Johnny gets a call from NASA after submitting his application multiple times. He drives to their headquarters, and we cut to the inside.

The doctors warp in, and Watts looks around and speaks:

Dr. Watts: He actually made it...huh.
Dr. Rosalene: (turning to Watts) You sound surprised.
- Watts looks at Rosalene.
Dr. Rosalene: Whatever happened to "we always succeed, because we are awesome"?
- Watts ponders the question, then looks away from Rosalene.
Dr. Watts:...This isn't a success.
Dr. Rosalene: (quickly gesturing to Watts) Oh lighten up, we're in NASA!
Dr. Rosalene: (turning to the hallway upwards) We don't have much time left, let's at least check this place out.

Watts is still understandably miffed at being outdone by Rosalene. The game tries to make him sympathetic towards the end, but doesn't really succeed at that, because of what I pointed out in the last entry: none of his outbursts are convincing, nor does he manage to accomplish anything.

The doctors move upwards, and run into someone asking Johnny to wait. He puts down a book, which the doctors can examine for a memory link. It's from his brother, and is titled To the Moon. Rosalene also teases Neil a little about how he isn't making fun of everything anymore when they interact with Johnny. Going further, they enter a small elevator, and visit various floors of the headquarters. They run into Johnny being introduced to the place, and gain memory links while doing so. During these moments, Rosalene seems to be looking for something, and exclaims that it isn't there, much to Watts' puzzlement. They also make some minor small talk while in the elevator, and mock the perspective of the game on the fourth floor while looking outside a window to see a space shuttle.

With four links at hand, they finally enter the room further inside on the ground floor. Watts walks forward and looks around a bit.

Dr. Watts: I wonder if the real NASA looks like this.
Dr. Rosalene: Probably not. It's constructed in part with Johnny's beliefs after all.
Dr. Watts: Ah yes, a wiki of existing facts tainted by personal fairytales.
- Watts walks forward to a window.
Dr. Watts: It's odd, though, to hear birds and see none.
- Rosalene walks forward a bit, then looks around, before solemnly closing her eyes.
Dr. Rosalene:...Sorry, Neil.
- Watts turns to her curiously.
Dr. Rosalene: I really thought there was a good chance.
Dr. Watts: (turning to Rosalene further)...What?
- The doors to the room suddenly open, with Johnny and a silhouetted person walking through. The doctors turn around to him. The silhouetted person leads him inside, then starts talking to him.
Silhouetted Person: And this is the break room.
- The person turns away from Johnny, towards someone working on a computer.
Silhouetted Person: Here's David; he's a mission specialist.
- The silhouetted person makes way for Johnny.
John: Nice to meet you.
- The scene shifts back to the doctors.
Dr. Watts:...At least he got into NASA, I guess.
Dr. Watts: You think he made it to the end?
Dr. Rosalene: Even if he did, it'd take more than just a few years to become an astronaut.
Dr. Watts: (turning to Rosalene) Let's hurry and find the last link, then.
- Rosalene turns towards Watts.
Dr. Watts:...I'd hate to miss the finale.
- Suddenly, the lights flicker for a bit, while the sounds of a pulsing heartbeat are heard. The doctors look around, confused.
Dr. Watts:...What's going on?
- Watts turns to Rosalene.
Dr. Watts: Are we out of time?
- Rosalene looks away from Watts.
Dr. Rosalene: I...I don't know.
- The scene shifts to Johnny and the silhouetted person. They go towards the door, and an adult River walks in. Watts is stunned to see her. The silhouetted person introduces her.

Silhouetted Person: Ah, and here's our other new recruit.
- River walks up towards them.
Silhouetted Person: River, right?
Silhouetted Person: Good to have you on board.
- They both turn to Johnny, and River walks towards him.
John: Hello, I'm John.
- The last memory link drops, as River looks at him nervously. The scene shifts back to the doctors.
Dr. Rosalene: (solemnly closing her eyes)...Whew.
Dr. Rosalene: I almost thought she wasn't--
Dr. Watts: (stretching his limbs, angrily exclaiming) What the (censored), Eva?!
Dr. Watts: (drawing back his limbs quickly) But you...deleted her!
Dr. Rosalene: No. I told you, I just moved her.
- Watts is stunned by her response.
Dr. Rosalene: What she does with her life is still up to..."her".
- Rosalene continues speaking as Watts tries to touch River in disbelief.
Dr. Rosalene: But this new world...it's based on public data and Johnny's own beliefs.
- Watts silently ponders what Rosalene says.
Dr. Rosalene: And since River's data as an individual is not recorded in the public domain...
Dr. Watts: (turning to Rosalene)...It all comes from Johnny...
- The doctors look at each other in silence for a few moments. Watts eventually turns around to the couple.
Dr. Watts: But even then, that merely increases the odds...
Dr. Watts: How were you sure that it'd work?
Dr. Rosalene: I wasn't.
- Watts glances at Rosalene for a moment, then turns back to the couple.
Dr. Watts: It could've gone very badly, y'know.
Dr. Rosalene: (solemnly closing her eyes) You were never one to take risks, Neil.
Dr. Rosalene:...Let's just say I won this round.
- Rosalene walks towards Watts, and speaks to him.
Dr. Rosalene: (looking at Watts) We still have the two spare helmets, right?
Dr. Rosalene: I think Johnny'd appreciate some company.
- Both doctors warp out.

Okay, it's cute that the author recognizes how important River was to Johnny that she would return in his new memories, thanks to his overwhelming desire. What I don't get is why these doctors seem to argue about the procedure here, with Rosalene even expressing doubts on whether it would work despite having edited his memories herself. Like, it's fine to double check your work, but why were there doubts about River coming back or him successfully completing NASA? Those are supposed to be key moments of his life, not minor details!

Also, I find it a bit disturbing that River is replaced by a fantasized version of her based on Johnny's expectations in these new memories. He was always rather selfish in his relationship with her, so having her character be rewritten by him feels a bit wrong.

We then watch a brief sequence of events in the headquarters, where River hears Johnny play For River(now called To the Moon) on the piano and likes it. Johnny later meets River in the centrifugal chamber. We then cut to the present, where Watts turns on helmets on Lily and the third doctor. He then picks up his own helmet and turns it on. We cut back to Johnny playing the piano, with River standing by him. The scene flashes to later in their life, when both are middle aged adults. Someone asks them to rest, since tomorrow is the launch day. We finally cut to Watts warping onto a bridge overlooking the headquarters.

Next time, the couple take off for the moon! And other things also happen. See you then.

Next: In Which We Go to The Moon!