Ever 17/WMG

List of Unsolved Mysteries...

Not really a WMG, but making a list of mysteries that seem unresolved by the end of the game. In vaguely chronological order.

• Who is the boy that could predict the future, who spoke to Tsugumi as a kid (in the Leiblich lab)? Who tells her exact dates about when she would see sad events in the future? What happened to him?
• Why did Kaburaki lose his memory?
  • It's implied just to have been 'normal' causes that occurred around the time he showed up.
  • It could also be Blick Winkel's influence, as the player knows the Kid, regardless of the year, has amnesia.
• Was the incident in 2017 really an accident?
  • Mostly, yes. Somebody messed up in the lab and a scientist freaked and ran up the stairs without bothering to go through the proper steps. Then, Lieblich evacuated everyone they could, and the improper exit screwed up the water pressure. For a bit of Fan Wank, Lieblich then probably waited until people were already showing up sick outside before bothering to fix Lemuria so as to distract attention. It seems that nobody is aware there was a previous version of the park besides those involved and the rescue crew (who probably died of Tief Blau) so they then hastily rebuilt the park using the debris. Which is why the statues were still around, or something.
    • This seems rather suspicious, though. I mean, consider this: of all the people trapped in LeMU, they are: a CURE carrier, a daughter of an employee who is investigating her father's disappearance, another daughter of an employee who has psychic abilities, a mysterious amnesiac with possible precognitive abilities - and each of these are not likely to return for a repeat trip. Takeshi is the only normal one. I think there's some reason to believe in Tsugumi's suggestion that it's a trap, possibly intentionally put in place by Leiblich. The big question is who it was designed to trap: Tsugumi is the most likely candidate, since possibly Leiblich wouldn't have known about the others. A Tief Blau infection would be pretty good at weeding out non-Cure carriers from Cure carriers.
    • Tsugumi went specifically because she had Cure and wanted a showdown. If the event was planned, they wouldn't have wanted her there because she's not much use dead at the bottom of the ocean. We'll call Coco a fluke, or possibly that she stayed behind on purpose for some insane reason. The amnesiac is just an amnesiac that had a fourth dimensional being piggyback on his brain... which is bizarre enough but the plot messes up without that. So yeah. A trap designed to target Tsugumi is the sort of thing they would do, but the method they would be using here would be wayyyyy to risky considering they already know who she is and no doubt have security guards. Why else sneak in while wearing a disguise? Plus, she went on her own time and didn't go for some sort of bait like she did the second time. And You has been working there for awhile now.
      • Well, Tsugumi's disguise was likely useless: whatever she knew about LeMU, she only 'suspected' things about Sora. Which means she didn't know the full abilities of LeMMIH, and so likely didn't know that the complex had an all pervasive sensor/CCTV system with a sophisticated AI testing it. They probably found her the moment she removed the disguise, and that's why conveniently the elevators shopped just as she was in them.
    • Maybe they knew, maybe they didn't. But is one person with Cure worth a multi billion dollar park, a horrible disease, a gigantic risk to the company and not even making an effort to nab her until she gets to land? I think not. Fluke.
      • Depends on how evil you are, probably. A cure to all human disease in a syringe is worth more than a few billion dollars. Release of Tief Blau can be easily cured too, and they have resources to delay onset of symptoms until Tsugumi is caught. As for failing to make an effort to catch her, probably things went wrong in the end with the involvement of the government.
      • Killing a third of the world's population before the virus finally dies out doesn't sound like a good plan.
        • Well, if you have control over the Cure virus, a mass outbreak like that who you had the only cure for is a pretty good opportunity for an evil organisation.
• Why did Sora think that the L-MRI is broken, when it was merely unplugged?
  • She's a computer. If she sends a signal and nothing happens, she may simply assume it's broken. By her own admission, she only started to really become a person instead of a machine during the incident, after all.
• What's up with the life readings number?
  • The five characters who are always present are Tsugumi, Takeshi/Kaburaki, Kaburaki/Hokuto, Coco/Sara, and You/You. The extra readings are probably You's father in 2017 (who is presumably on the border of where the sensors pick people), Coco in 2034 (who may be interfering with the equipment with her astral projections and whatnot), and Chami (At one point it is said that pets are not allowed in Le Mu due to the way they interfere with some equipment)
    • I think the readings might also detect Blick Winkel; that's the only explanation for the "Life readings: 1" at the end of the "false" scenarios, when everyone else is either escaped or dead.
      • This troper is reasonably certain that the life reading of 1 is actually Coco.
  • At least You and Sora know from the very start of every scenario that Sora's just a hologram, and as such shouldn't show up in the life readings. Why doesn't the fact that the life readings settle on 6 the first time around seem to bother them? You'd think it'd lend some credibility to the Kid's claims of a seventh stowaway.
  • She's familiar with the design of Lemuria to some extent. Plus she's impatient, why not just press the dumb button whenever?
    • It seems remarkably unlikely for any technical documentation to say that the lights in the generator room take exactly 17 seconds to come on after the generator is repaired, and for Tsugumi to memorise that fact.
    • Probably, but that's just a random answer thrown out as a handwave when the obvious one is that the arc number for this VN was 17. There is no more reason.
      • Oh, you're no fun! It worth noting that in the second event, Sara specifically noted that it would be cool if someone pressed the button at 17 seconds so that the lights would go on at the right time. This makes it sound rather more significant than otherwise.
    • That's just a nod to what Tsugumi did... 17 years ago. Yes, I really am no fun. Also I left a word out of the sentence originally when I meant to say she just randomly pressed the button and it happened to work out at 17. Honestly, there's no real meaning you can dig out of this one.
    • This troper looked at the scene as an indicator of the year. Tsugumi pressed the button at Takeshi's count of 17 in 2017 (where the lights come on at 0), and You/Sara/Kid press the button at Kaburaki's count of 34 in 2034 (and the lights come on at 17).
• What was drawn on Takeshi's face?
  • For the guy who deleted this, this is still a mystery. Because Takeshi never found out, the player doesn't know what was drawn on this face the first time. Apparently it was something highly offensive to Tsugumi, though.
• What did happen in that game of 'Kick the Can'?
  • It's likely that due to Blick Winkel's influence, everyone heard echoes of the Kick the Can game played in 2034, and the voice they heard was Hokuto's. Doesn't explain how everyone supposedly heard it when Takeshi's the only one possessed by Blick Winkel.
• Why does Kaburaki have premonitions?
  • Because Blick Winkel piggybacked on him before it was on Hokuto.
• What is Coco's relation to Leiblich and Tsugumi? Why does she know the lullaby?
  • Her father also worked there. She has no connection to Tsugumi, though she claims to be a psychic, both appearing to possess some precognition abilities and being able to distinguish between Blink Winkel and its hosts.
  • With regards to the lullaby, Tsugumi taught it to her during the 2017 incident.
• If Coco knew everything, why doesn't she warn the others of the future?
  • She claims fear/anxiety. She's desperately trying not to think about it because (she isn't omniscient) she thinks she is going to die. And that the others aren't.
  • She also doesn't attempt to change her version of the timeline, probably to avoid messing with history and all that. She is partially to blame for Tsugumi's injury, after all.
• Where did Pipi get the vials of serum from?
  • Perhaps Dr. Yagami secretly gave them to Pipi when Coco visited IBF just in case Coco became infected from her trip, and Pipi would release them under some sort of trigger program.
• How does Takeshi do his amazing feats of endurance?
  • Because he is just that badass of a determinator. Seriously, he resurrected himself from the dead.
  • By making every other option paradoxical, forcing reality to pick the seriously unlikely but at least possible path.
  • This is obviously because he contracted the Cure virus when he had sex with Tsugumi.
• How did Kaburaki and You'haru successfully infiltrate Leiblich, given they are both Cure carriers?
  • It's a rather strange thing to check every single employee for considering most people with Cure would be avoiding them like Tsugumi does. Plus it's incredibly rare. Also, was Kaburaki part of Lieblich? You'haru went through at least a little effort to make herself seem older than 23 with glasses and dress style.
    • The timeline at the end said that Kaburaki and You'haru both started working for Leiblich/LeMU, yes. It seems like the two of them would definitely have been checked for Cure, since they survived Tief Blau. At the very least, they'd have been put through something like the L-MRI scanner, which would have shown Cure immediately.
    • In the chaos that surely accompanied such a plague, is there any reason they would know they had caught it? Not everyone from Lemuria could have caught it or it would be far too obvious as to the source. Also, remember, right after the event You was walking around feeling fine talking to Lieblich. She wasn't sick anymore. Neither was Takeshi when he was off breaking the laws of physics through sheer awesome. Neither of the people rescued were sick anymore, and they obviously (to all appearances) hadn't caught it from You's father either.
      • They would be rescued from the top secret labs of Lieblich Pharm, together with the corpse of a man very obviously suffering from Tief Blau, and with plenty more bleeding corpses in adjoining rooms. Each of them had vomited blood, so they would have dried blood on their faces and clothing (which is noted somewhere, IIRC). Personnel working for Leiblich are definitely still around in numbers, and the island was clearly not in chaos. If they were acting healthy, things would be even more unusual. Even non-lieblich people would be interested, at least in being able to generate a serum against TB from their blood.
    • They were not rescued by Lieblich. Also, most of those corpses were just that: corpses. Diseases often do not remain communicable after the host dies, especially if it has been a few days and especially if it's meant to be used as a weapon. You don't want your troops picking it up from dead enemies, right? Despite the blood from clawing their throats out plus the explosive nosebleeds, the only person they were likely to have caught it from was Tanaka. Also, by your logic, if the island is peachy keen, then a survivor not being sick doesn't mean anything. Takeshi was essentially fully recovered from a far far worse position than they were. Just very tired. As for non Lieblich, the disease is apparently 100% fatal if you don't have the serum. If these guys aren't dead, they probably never had it.
• How did they trigger the second incident, and ensure the damage to LeMU was the same?
  • They didn't do the latter. Blick Winkel just told them to set off the chain of events and things would work out by themselves. As for the first, the original event was quite easy to set off, and You seemed to hold a fairly important position. It's not unreasonably to think she had at least as much ability to trigger a second event as the original escapee did.
    • Well, I mean, things like the warehouse flooding occured at the same time, despite being caused by unpredictable currents in the first case. This leads me to suspect that LeMMIH (if not Sora) had some coding surreptiously inserted to replicate the incident.
    • Blick specifically said not to worry about the details except what to say at the end and to pull everyone out at 9:30? or so if he hadn't shown up by then, in part because he had already seen it and knew how it would turn out. In other words, pure dumb luck pulled it off.
• Why was Kaburaki dreaming of You's body?
  • He wasn't. He was probably just repeating what Takashi had been saying in order to get the event to happen again.
  • His dream dialogue actually changes per run.
    • Why was Takeshi dreaming of You's body? (Actually, I suspect that the dreams of Takeshi and Kaburaki were different, because we don't know what Takeshi actually said in his dream. I just suspect that this suggests some sort of relationship between You and Kaburaki, which of course You'aki would totally misinterpret)
    • I don't think Kaburaki was asleep at all. As for Takeshi, he thought she kinda cute and hadn't gotten involved with Tsugumi by that point. Since Kaburaki as The Kid had been there the first time and the two You's were essentially the same person, saying the same things he had heard Takeshi say would have ended up with essentially the same result. Also, Kaburaki would be unlikely to have a relationship like that with You due to how fixated he is on Coco.
      • Hey, people grow up. It's been 17 years. Coco could easily have faded into a childhood crush. (One that's going to be incredibly awkward now that the story has ended, heheh - is Coco going to be locked in her age forever, or will she get 5 years of growth?) Given Kaburaki and Hokuto's experiences with You were initially the same, there's a decent potential at least for something to happen in those 17 years, given that they were two people in an unique situation with a secret shared between them. Don't stand in the way of my ship!
    • Only Kaburaki notes in the epilogue he still has it bad for Coco. And yes, the fridge logic in that situation is pretty bad for him. He's so screwed. No job, no education, the local rescued girl plans on hooking up with a non physical eyeball. Even if she hadn't, we don't know if she's ever going to grow anymore. Side note, more fun fridge logic: What happens to future kids between Takeshi and Tsugumi? Having Cure from the moment of fertilization? Good luck.
      • Sara and Hokuto are hybrids between a Normal Human and a Cure Human. It is stated in the game that they can't be infected by Cure, because the virus only targets pure humans. They only get some benefits, but not immortality.
        • Youbiseiharukana got a doctorate degree and became a distinguished scientist, all while raising her "daughter" in the 17 years. Surely Kaburaki had enough time to get all the education he wanted. And even if he did not, now he has all the time he needs. Coco will bodily age 5 years because the cryostasis slowed her rate of cell turnover.
          • The Drama CDs set after the game tell us that Kaburaki ended up working for a pharmaceutical company along with Sora, and that he basically ended up with her, so yeah, it seems that Kaburaki ended up alright after the incident.
• What did happen in the second game of 'Kick the Can'?
• Where did the hot dogs go?
  • Maybe Chami ate them? That'd be one hungry hampster...
  • I thought Tsugumi implied that she ate them all, specifically to spite Kaburaki (so he couldn't eat them all himself the way Takeshi had in the first incident).
• Why were there two sets of carvings?
  • Coco carves on a different statue depending on the route (south for Tsugumi, sky for Sora, and east for Kid's route). The statue with its hands clasped in front was left alone.
• What was the real password/login? What was the significance of the piece of paper, and why did it trigger the account being disabled?
  • The real log in was You's father Tanaka.
    • It seems suspiciously convenient that the account would get locked out just as the right password was entered, though.
    • Perhaps You put some sort of trap on the account? After all, if her daugher had logged in and seen the real info, she would have guessed everything that was going on and accidentally completely ruined the entire gambit.
    • You'aki had the right password, but the wrong username. She was trying to log in using the name "Yurie Tanaka", when the password was actually for the account "Yoichi Tanaka". This is explained in Coco's route.
• How did Hokuto swim over a hundred feet with a broken arm, pulling Sara, and suffering from the bends?
  • Plot power.
  • Coco's route implies that as a result of inheriting Cure-augmented DNA from Tsugumi, Sara is abnormally intelligent (the best hacker in the world) while Hokuto is abnormally athletic (he was already a proficient swimmer at one and a half years old).

There's a second Blick Winkel.

There's no reason why there can't be more than one 4D entity. So there could be a second perspective who is also trapped by the third eye plan. The second Blick Winkel would probably have inhabited Kaburaki, as well as the amnesiac boy who could see the future. (in Tsugumi's past) This explains Tsugumi's knowledge of the 17 seconds, Kaburaki's repeated loss of memory, and Kaburaki's premonitions.

• There's also no reason there needs to be a second. In fact, it puts a plot hole into the story because the whole reason the whole gambit works is that Blick tricks himself into thinking the two events he is watching are one and the same. Also, he's not exactly a 4D entity, he's the... personification of looking from the fourth dimension. And wow does that sound lame. Er. And this troper thought it was implied that he was Hokuto after he grew up and whatnot.

Takeshi's Bad End leads to the events of Planetarian

Leiblich covered everything up, and continued their work on Tief Blau, eventually creating the variant that kills off most of humanity in Planetarian. Leiblich still creates the robot body for Sora, and the development team teams up with the (surviving elements of) Sora's development team to create the line of robots Reverie belongs to.

Tief Blau is Hinamizawa Syndrome

Except upgraded.

It's not a retro virus

It's actually DX-1118. It also explains how it can rewrite the host and have infrared vision.

Tief Blau is actually Blue Fever

By God, it all makes sense now!

Cure virus is Cure syndrome

To my understanding, Cure syndrome, as explained in Never7, is a mental illness that affects an individual's interaction with quantum states. In brief, beliefs become reality. Tom believed he could 'cure' and pass along the ability by touch, and so he did. Tsugumi, being told that what she had was the 'Cure Virus', believed that she had a virus, and so the syndrome would be transmitted like a virus, through bodily fluids.

But actually what she had wasn't a virus, and couldn't act like a virus at all. That's why Leiblich never was able to extract it from her despite endlessly taking blood from her, and so wasn't able to use it as a cure for anything. What was important, when she transmitted it to Chami, and to the others on Le MU, was that she *believed* that she transmitted it to them. This explains why Cure was able to accomplish biologically impossible things, act impossibly quickly, and why in Coco's route only Takeshi came back to life - Tsugumi believed that drowning would defeat Cure, while Blick Winkel, at this point also infected with Cure via possessing Takeshi, did not.

Also note the relation to 'pygmalion effect', which is a theme of the game. It's practically spelt out, if you look at what the actual definition of pygmalion effect is "The Pygmalion effect, or Rosenthal effect, refers to the phenomenon in which the greater the expectation placed upon people, often children or students and employees, the better they perform."

• • Not quite- The Cure Virus ORIGINATED from Cure Syndrome, but it's not the same thing. What happens is that, as you say, beliefs become reality. Tom believed he had the ability to pass something he called the "Immortality Contagion" to people, that is, a virus that made people immortal. He passed it to his friend Julia by believing he could heal her with the Immortality Contagion. It worked, and the Contagion spread to the other people of Julia's ward, who had also heard of Tom's beliefs, and therefore they believed in the "Immortality Contagion", which at the very least cured their illnesses.

However, while Tsugumi was friends with Julia, she never heard of Tom or his beliefs. As a result, when she got the "Immortality Contagion" from Tsugumi, she didn't know the story about the "Immortality Contagion". With no delusion to influence Tsugumi, the Immortality Contagion had no way to survive in Tsugumi as it's original form. Therefore, the Immortality Contagion mutated in Tsugumi's body in order to become a form where it could logically become an "immortality virus". The contagion then changed into a new form known as the "Cure Virus", and with it now in a form where it could logically exist, the virus spread from Tsugumi.

Takeshi had already been infected with Cure prior to the events that took place on the last day.

Chami was able to become infected with Cure through getting some of Tsugumi's blood. During the warehouse collapse, Tsugumi was hemorrhaging blood at a nearly fatal rate into the water that Takeshi then had to swim through to get Tsugumi free of the wreckage. If we assume that some of Tsugumi's blood had managed to get inside of his system at that point, then his body was already well on its way to becoming a Cure body by the time that they had made it into IBF. The conversion did not, however, advance rapidly enough to prevent him from passing pure-strain human DNA onto his children. At this point, presumably exchanging bodily fluids with Tsugumi caused him to receive a second dose of Cure, accelerating its spread through his system. His temporary outbreak of Tief Blau and near-death (or perhaps outright dying) to explosive decompression combined to form an external impetus for the Cure virus to begin properly manifesting in order to save its host - because his Cure infection had already had several days and multiple exposures to begin working, he was able to recover from explosive decompression quickly, and after Cure had fixed that problem, Takeshi would have the ability to survive his drowning at the bottom of the ocean.

• • When Tsugumi kisses Takeshi in Sora's route isn't it explicitly said that he gets her blood in his mouth, because she was biting her lip while strangling him and drew blood? It suggests that he was infected throughout the rest of Sora's route, but leads to the theory that when he and Sora drowned in her Good End, he ended up stuck in the ruins of Le MU, still alive. I can't remember that happening in Tsugumi's route, though.