After a conversation, Furukawa Hirozawa learned that:
It turns out that Sigmund Corporation primarily enters the memories of its clients through a certain machine and technical means, fulfilling their unfulfilled wishes by altering their memories, and then collecting a commission.
The contract signed with Old John clearly stated this point: the contract would only be fulfilled if his true wish was satisfied.
And these two doctors, dressed in white research coats, were actually employees of Sigmund Corporation, as well as experts in this field.
...
Seeing this, Furukawa Hirozawa couldn't help but feel a little curious.
Huh?
The setting is better than I imagined.
Is it actually possible to fulfill wishes by changing people's memories?
Memory is certainly a crucial part of a person's composition.
One could even say that the reason you are you is not just because you have this physical body, but also because you have these experiences, and these experiences ultimately transform into memories.
A person without memories is blank.
Life is a journey, and memory is your best gift in this world.
Furukawa Hirozawa, upon seeing this, naturally thought a lot, even vaguely feeling that Pokeni's setting this Time had a strong philosophical meaning.
It wouldn't be discussing a profound philosophical question like "What is memory?" in the end, would it?
"Can you do it?" the doctor asked with some concern after introducing Old John's condition.
"It depends on the situation," Dr. Rosaleen said.
"What she means is: yes," interjected Dr. Watts, who was tinkering with the instruments.
From Lily, the maid who had worked there for two years, it was learned that Old John was a man of few words. He had lived his life as a craftsman, and his wife had passed away two years ago.
This is a bit troublesome.
Because a person's memories and desires are closely linked, if the origin of his wish is unknown, it will be difficult to satisfy his true desire even if it is fulfilled.
"There are many of the old man's things in the house. You can go downstairs and find my two children; let them show you around. Maybe you can find some clues," the maid replied.
So Furukawa Hirozawa prepared to search for clues in the house according to the maid's instructions.
Before leaving,
the doctor called out to Dr. Rosaleen and handed her something. "This is a remote medical monitoring device. You can know the old man's current physical condition at any Time."
Rosaleen took the small device. It had a small screen showing the old man's electrocardiogram, and it emitted a faint "drip, drip" sound, synchronized with the medical equipment on the table.
Next was a process of searching and deciphering.
Overall, the house was not very large, but it was decorated quite warmly.
Especially when presented in Pokeni's unique dreamlike fairy-tale style, you could truly feel how much the owner of this house loved this place, and also perceive some small details of Old John and his wife's life.
This must have been a warm family.
Furukawa Hirozawa sighed.
The game is actually quite special; there's no combat, and the entire game takes place on this small island, revolving around Old John.
This was quite different from the galgames he had played before.
But it also didn't seem like a traditional combat RPG.
Yet he couldn't quite pinpoint its genre.
At least from what Furukawa Hirozawa currently understood, this game should be entirely for the sake of the plot.
If he really had to describe it, it would still be that word: "stage play."
A stage play-like game experience.
More than anything, it felt like truly experiencing a segment of life.
Furukawa Hirozawa went downstairs and saw the two children playing the piano again.
After the conversation, Dr. Rosaleen took out a piece of candy and asked them to show her around the house.
"Let's take you to the basement, it's really strange there!" the boy named Tommy excitedly told Rosaleen.
Going down to the basement, Furukawa Hirozawa took a light breath.
In the somewhat eerie room, the floor and tables were piled high with small rabbits—paper-folded rabbits. Near the entrance, there was a very strangely shaped plush platypus toy.
Honestly, suddenly entering such an environment was truly a bit scary.
Even because of the game's fairy-tale style, it created an unsettling, bizarre feeling.
Especially when he saw those strange paper-folded rabbits, Furukawa Hirozawa seemed to feel the temperature in the room drop by several degrees.
This room was his actual room.
Even the shadows cast by the curtains swaying in the wind made Furukawa Hirozawa jump.
...
Rosaleen picked up the platypus, brushed off the dust, and put it away.
"What's with all these paper rabbits?" Rosaleen asked the two children.
"We don't know either, it just feels very strange. Oh, by the way, Auntie, there aren't just origami rabbits here; there's another place with a lot too. Do you want to go see?"
"Where?"
"By the cliff outside, in an abandoned lighthouse."
Dr. Rosaleen followed the two children outside. Not far behind the house, they could see a dilapidated lighthouse, its paint peeling off the walls, and its windows boarded up.
"The entrance to the lighthouse is below; we have to go around," the boy Tommy told Rosaleen.
The three of them returned the way they came, taking a detour to the lighthouse's entrance. On the way, they encountered the smoking car, and the girl asked, "Is this your car? Why is it crashed into a tree?"
Rosaleen sighed and said, "I didn't do it."
The path wasn't far, and they soon arrived at the old entrance of the lighthouse.
Not far from the entrance, stood a tombstone, on which was written: "In Memory of River E. Wiles."
Furukawa Hirozawa remembered what the maid had said, that John's wife had passed away two years ago, and he guessed that this River must be the owner of the tombstone.
Climbing the stairs to the top floor of the lighthouse, it was indeed as the two children had said: the floor was covered with paper rabbits.
In a prominent spot, there was also a large paper rabbit, different from the others; it was the only one here made from two colors of paper.
The middle part of the rabbit was bright yellow, looking like a large, bulging belly.
The other parts were blue.
The two colors together added a few more points of eeriness.
Furukawa Hirozawa thought to himself—
This wouldn't be some horror puzzle game, would it?
Despite being a man nearing 30, he was actually quite afraid of ghosts and the like deep down.
Playing to this point, Furukawa Hirozawa seemed to feel a few degrees colder again.
So he found the quilt from the room, draped it over himself, and continued playing the game.
...
The boy Tommy said in surprise, "That's strange, when we came to play last week, this big rabbit wasn't here yet."
"It seems John must have been here before he fell ill," Rosaleen thought.
Just then, the phone rang, and Rosaleen answered. It was Watts.
"Ready to go, we can start. How are things on your end?"
"Not many clues, a bit strange. I'll tell you when I get back."
Back on the second floor of the house, Dr. Watts had already connected the instruments. On the screen, there was a human figure, and the brain emitted a red light.
"Why did it take so long? Never mind, let's not talk, let's start first. Your helmet is on the sofa."
Rosaleen and Watts both put on their helmets, and another helmet was placed on John's head on the bed. Watts nodded to Rosaleen and pressed the start button.
A flash of white light, and the two were still in the room, but John on the bed, the maid, and the doctor were gone. This was not the real room; they had entered John's memory.
Wow.
Furukawa Hirozawa let out a sigh.
So, you actually need to enter the memory to modify it.
He had thought it would be a direct operation on the machine, selecting certain fragments.
Furukawa Hirozawa even guessed that the next game would be from Old John's first-person perspective, but he didn't expect that the characters he controlled would still be the two doctors, and they would enter Old John's memory to explore.
Pokeni's production actually had a strong artistic sense.
In the UI section above, there were many images of John, from his childhood all the way to old age.
This indicated that these images were key Time points, and you could choose to enter the memory of a certain Time period at any Time.
...
The two didn't travel too far back in Time; this should be the house from not long ago.
"This is the furthest memory we can reach in a natural state. Let's go find Mr. John first," Dr. Rosaleen said.
The two walked out of the house and came to the cliff overlooking the lighthouse, where Old John and the maid Lily were standing.
Once you enter a memory, you can choose between invisible mode or visible mode. If you turn off invisible mode, you can interact with the characters re-enacted in the memory, and they will be able to see you.
The two inquired about John's reason for wanting to go to the moon.
Only by understanding why he wanted to go to the moon could his wish truly be fulfilled.
This reason was very important.
However, during their conversation, Old John couldn't remember anything; he didn't know why he wanted to go to the moon.
A hint of sadness appeared in his eyes, which made one feel a little downhearted.
"I don't know," John said, lowering his head with a touch of melancholy.
"You must tell us," Rosaleen explained. "The principle here is a bit complex. Simply put, if we don't understand the reason you want to go to the moon, simply giving you a memory of having gone to the moon might not fulfill your true wish. And fulfilling your final wish is an obligation we signed in the contract."
"Do you want to be famous? Or do you want to get rich? You must have a reason, right?" Watts pressed.
John lowered his head even further: "I don't know. I just have to go."
…
The doctors had encountered this situation before: the client was too old and couldn't remember some things clearly.
So, next, they needed to enter Old John's childhood Time, where they might find the reason.
Deep into the memory.
However, childhood was too far away to be completed in one memory trip.
So they would gradually perform reverse jumps, traversing John's memories.
To jump into a memory, we need an item that is very important to you, as a connecting tool for the memory.
"Do you possess any memory fragments to serve as a bond for Time travel?" Dr. Rosaleen asked.
The old man thought for a moment, then pulled a paper rabbit from his pocket and handed it to her.
This was precisely the one Furukawa Hirozawa had seen in the room at the top of the lighthouse, with two colors.
As long as this connecting item exists in the past memory scene, they can jump to that scene's memory.
During the process of tracing forward, other memory fragments will be found as connecting objects. Each one found allows for a jump forward in Time.
All preparations were complete.
Another flash of white light, and using this Time fragment tool, Watts and Rosaleen flashed back to the house a few years ago, where the two-color paper rabbit was on the floor of the room.
Besides it, many white origami rabbits were also on the ground.
John was sitting at the piano, playing a tune.
On the piano, there was a plush platypus, identical to the one Rosaleen had seen in the basement.
Rosaleen said to Watts, "Turn off the visible and interactive states. We can't explain who we are every Time we travel."
Dr. Watts operated something, and their figures became transparent.
He looked at the paper rabbits scattered on the floor and said, "I have a creepy feeling. Perhaps we should check his psychiatric history."
Not only did the male doctor think so, but Furukawa Hirozawa also deeply agreed.
He nodded in agreement.
Playing game to this point truly gave one a creepy feeling. Could Old John really be a mental patient?
Could it be that his wife was murdered by him?
No way, no way?
Then, as the memory continued to be traced back, when the truth was revealed, it turned out that Old John was the murderer, and then the two doctors were also trapped in the memory?
Furukawa Hirozawa was startled by his own association and couldn't help but clutch the blanket tighter.
…
Near the old man, an old umbrella was found, emitting a faint light.
"This might be the crucial memory fragment," Watts said, activating the memory fragment, and the two set off again.
A flash of white light, and the two disappeared from the room.
Through that umbrella, they traveled forward a few more years in John's memory. It was raining heavily, and Old John, holding that umbrella, stood before a tombstone next to the lighthouse.
Even the sky revealed a mournful emotion.
"It's all over, River."
The old man looked dejected and whispered to the tombstone, "I can also take care of her every day, just like you. She will never be lonely again.
Although I may never understand, I will be loyal to your wish. Anya must also be grateful to you. But, after I leave this world, who will look after us?"
"Who is Anya?" Watts said.
Furukawa Hirozawa also really wanted to know.
"I don't know. Turn on the visual interaction. I have some questions I want to ask him," Rosaleen said to Watts.
The next moment, Rosaleen and Watts appeared.
The old man slowly raised his head, asking with a slight surprise, "Who are you?"
"My name is Rosaleen. I just happened to be passing by. Is this your wife? River is a truly beautiful name."
"Thank you," John looked back at the tombstone. "She shouldn't be resting here. She shouldn't have done this, but she did… You wouldn't understand, not even I can understand her."
"Who is Anya you mentioned?" Rosaleen asked.
The old man shook his head, looking at the distant sky.
Rosaleen said nothing more. They became invisible and entered the lighthouse.
In the room at the top of the tower, John sat alone on the floor, silent and lonely.
"I guess he started making those paper rabbits around this Time," Rosaleen said.
"To commemorate his wife? Why rabbits?" Watts said.
"I don't know. Look, what's that?"
"Hmm? It's that ugly platypus again." Watts saw the faintly glowing plush toy.
"That's it. There are no clues we want here. Let's continue," Rosaleen said.
…
This Time, through it, the two traveled forward a few more years.
At this Time, John's wife, River, was still alive. She lay in bed, with the plush platypus beside her. John stood by her, and the two were talking.
"It's enough. Even after paying for the surgery, there's still plenty of money left… So, don't worry," Johnnie said to River, who was lying down.
Actually, Furukawa Hirozawa knew that John had no money at this Time; he had to sell his house to pay for River's treatment.
".A white lie," River whispered softly.
"It's really enough—"
"Stop talking. I don't like you lying. Why do you want me to go against my beliefs?"
John cried out urgently, "We need that money to pay for your medical expenses, River! I understand Anya is very important to you, but you… you've gone too far. She's not even—"
"Do you know what can make me happy, Johnnie?" River interrupted him calmly.
"I… I know." John's face turned red.
"Yes, you know. After the treatment plan comes down, I won't sign it. As for what our money should be used for, that's up to you. But if you approve of my ideal, I hope you can use that money to build that house. Then, I hope that as long as you live there, you can take good care of her… Spend more Time with her. I hope she won't be lonely anymore."
"What about you?"
"This is where my happiness lies, Johnnie," she said, handing John something. "Tell me, what is it?"
".It's a paper rabbit."
"How is it different from the other rabbits?"
"Its body is yellow, and the rest is blue…"
"Only that?" River's face was filled with disappointment.
"Let's not talk about the rabbit, River. I composed a song for you. Would you like to hear it?"
"Sure. What's it called?"
"To River."
River laughed: "Why is it so corny?"
John didn't speak, walked to the piano, and began to play.
Slow, beautiful music began to play.
Seeing this scene, Furukawa Hirozawa's eyes were a little moist.
Did I misunderstand John?
It seems like he should love his wife very much.
Their relationship was so good; River's departure must have made him very sad, right?
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