danidanidanica (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
danidanidanica) wrote2012-01-16 10:00 pm
danidanidanica) wrote2012-01-16 10:00 pm
Entry tags:
Let's Play Irisu Syndrome Part 3!
Let’s Play Irisu Syndrome: The Text and Plot Edition Part 3
Previous: Part 1 | Part 2
I cautiously click the icon in the lower right corner...
There is a flash of images. A girl, a boy, a blood spatter…
A popular cat.
The misery of a sad rabbit.
And between it all, a lone girl.
…
Why do I remember all this?
That’s surely…
Welcome to Irisu Syndrome Metsu. The menu here is even more straightforwards because we don’t have a plot advancing every time we play a round. This time, you gain another piece of the story each time you score high enough. You still click the title to change the music, you still hit Start to play, and you still hit Ranking to check your scores. The only thing new is that rabbit in the corner, which functions just like the cat in the original game; it will switch you back to the original game.
But before we play, let’s check our files again.
…Well that’s an ominous title.
Those two were happily talking again today.
It's annoying.
-------------
Noisy.
Those two next to me are noisy.
What in the world is so much fun?
I wish everyone would just die.
-------------
Today my eyes met with a lone boy's.
He gave me a nod with a bit of an embarrassed smile.
He was cute.
----
Uujima Satoshi-kun.
That was the kid with the cute smile.
The gentle kid who even gave a kind smile to someone like me.
He's always alone.
Just like me.
----
One day, I peeked at Uujima-kun's notebook.
There, a strange world was spread before me.
Many pencil drawings.
A cat, cooking on an earthen brazier in a sealed room,
A cat, flying a kite in a thunderstorm,
A cat, killing itself slowly with tobacco smoke,
A cat, struck in the head by a falling bullet which had been shot straight up from a gun,
Illustrations expressing such hatred toward cats were lined up.
He's like me, a person with the same feelings.
That time that our eyes met was fate.
And.
Since that day, Uujima-kun and I have been together.
---
These lectures are the one chance I have to be happy together with Uujima.
We always sit four empty seats apart.
Some way or another, it became like this.
I love that I can feel him through this odd sense of distance.
--------
Recently, I have been referring to him as Uuji.
Uuji. Uuji.
Uuji. Uuji. Uuji. Uuji.
...Uuji?
Is this fate?
--------
Uuji and I meet several times a week, sharing the same place and time.
It's been so long since I've felt this happy.
Yes, not since the time I would play with it in elementary school.
The distance between us now is like the wire mesh from back then.
I won't let anything rip through this mesh. I won't allow it.
It won't happen this time.
There's nobody to come between us.
Uuji won't be eaten up.
--------
By the way, I haven't talked to Uuji yet.
But sometimes our eyes meet.
I wonder when the day that we speak will come.
The "u" from Uuji is the "u" from "usagi".
--------
Recently, that girl has gotten too familiar with Uuji.
That girl with a high-pitched voice like a cat's.
What is this?
--------
Lately, that annoying idiot and cat girl have been doing things with Uuji.
What is this?
--------
I can hear them talking.
The three of them are going on a trip.
What is this?
What is this?
Leaving me alone?
Taking Uuji along as you please?
What do they think a person's loved one is?
That. Thieving. Cat.
The coughing. Won't stop.
--------
After all that's happened, I finally understand what I need to do.
Each one of them has to ____.
The plan has been refined.
Them and I, us four will go on a trip to a remote area.
I will ____ Age and Edogawa.
I will thoroughly erase all evidence of my presence.
Hiding myself while I pull all the strings behind the scenes of this trip.
They will die a mysterious death and be disposed of, and eventually forgotten.
And Uuji will become mine alone.
It has a few gaps, but it's a nearly perfect plan.
The largest hurdle is building enough of a relationship to travel with them.
At the same time, winning the right to control the travel plans.
Little by little, I'll fill the distance between us.
I'm bad with this kind of thing, though. I hate it.
It's fine, I can do it if it's for Uuji's sake.
-------------
Exams.
Library.
Opposite me, those three are laughing.
About not knowing anything for tomorrow's ethics test, or something.
I make an effort to modestly address them.
uUm...v
The three of them stop their conversation and look over with puzzled expressions.
This moment of being stared at is unbearable.
Although an unpleasant feeling sticks in my chest,
It's fine, I can do it if it's for Uuji's sake.
I'll fill the distance between us.
Little by little.
uI was absent for the lecture.
If it's fine with you, can I copy your notes?v
This time, I certainly went down the rabbit hole.
---------------
It's mad, isn't it?
Yes, it's mad.
While soaking in the tub, I reread my notes.
This is too ridiculous.
A perfect crime?
First of all, I was being strange at the time when I wrote the plan down.
Erase the evidence?
Stupid. Like I could do something like that.
The finely torn notes form a narrow, round, miniature tower on top of the drain.
I stare fixedly as if to light a fire which would slowly spread into a blaze.
Goodbye to the confused me of the past.
Nevertheless, to go so far as to organize that strange surprise party,
It may be better to evaluate myself.
How dare I deceive everyone.
Also, my weapon choice was good sense.
A blackjack in the form of a durable stocking amply stuffed with rocks and soil.
Not bad for a beautiful, compact weapon I can easily make anywhere.
Breaking open a packet of medicine, I smoothly pour the white granules into my mouth.
I sense the cool sensation inside my mouth spreading until it reaches my brain.
I felt myself breathing a bit easier.
The reason I couldn't go through with it,
Was just because of my feelings.
I intently destroy odd things in the cold, inhuman reality of the strange world on the back of my eyelids.
It's a game I've played my entire life, ever since my lonely childhood.
As I play this game and calm my heart,
my feelings of insecurity have somehow disappeared.
Now I want to thank such fickleness of mine from the bottom of my heart.
I almost crossed the point where I could no longer undo my mistakes.
At that time I was utterly strange.
Firstly, there's no need to lure my loved one to the scene.
And that stupid guy. He's an idiot, but harmless, so there's no need to do anything to him.
The target is that cat. Her alone is good enough.
Breaking open a packet of cough medicine, I smoothly pour the white granules into my mouth.
This makes 30 packets.
Ephedrine and codeine fly about my medulla oblongata and sympathetic nerves.
In my hazy, drunken brain, thoughts spin and turn.
Last time, I was too interested in looking to entertain myself.
This time, my feelings will not waver.
This time, I'll cut emotion out of the equation.
I will doggedly attempt to construct a flawless plan.
And if I succeed... alone with Uuji, our backs to the sunset, we'll admire those beautiful drawings together.
…Well. That. Explains a few things. It also explains why we’re playing this in the first place: Irisu keeps herself calm by playing a game in her head. So when the player does poorly… the bad ending is the result.
Now for the actual game itself!
♫A Cat and a Rabbit and an Old Story
Here is our game screen. Looks a lot different, right? Well, it’s not really. Blocks continue to fall from the top, and hitting the same colored ones into each other will make them disappear regardless if they hit others that match in color at the bottom. Blocks that hit the bottom without matching any colors will stick, and can be removed by knocking like colored ones into them. Every so often you’ll get a flashing circle that will remove any blocks (or circles) that match the color of whatever you hit into it.
The meter on the left is your life, much like how it was in the original. It continues to drop as you play, so you need to score to keep it up. Your score is recorded vertically on the right. As for those circles that are coming up from the bottom…
By hitting the blocks into them, they will light up and eventually disappear.
I say eventually because every time you get a circle to glow, you can get others to do the same by simply touching them together. However, if you aren’t careful you’ll just end up with a bunch of white blocks around the circles, so you have to be wary when trying to knock them around.
New game, new game over screen. Where is she going?
Scored high enough! There is now a note on the menu. Let’s see what all those images from before were about.
Apparently this game continues to be about cats and rabbits. Who would have thought?
A story from when I was in elementary school.
There was a cat kept at the school.
That cat was cute and friendly. It was truly everyone’s favorite.
…
One day, a rabbit came to live at the school.
Somebody had picked it up in the schoolyard, and they decided to keep it in a cage at school.
The rabbit looked miserable, it was wounded and ragged.
It was missing an ear on one side, and for some reason, tended to avoid people.
The rabbit wasn’t well liked by the students, and so it was always alone.
Well that’s a nice story—wait a minute. Missing an ear?
Oh. Okay.
Another round. Because the circles are constantly floating up, things can get very clustered very quickly. Sometimes you just need to click on a few that are super floaty so you can knock them back down again, that way you have more space to maneuver the falling blocks in.
♫USAGI Note
The cat seemed to enjoy being surrounded by people.
On the other hand, not many students seemed to care about the rabbit. That’s how it was treated.
Well, children have a tendency to be cruel.
But I came to feel sorry for the rabbit.
Being careful that nobody would see me, I sometimes went to visit it.
I was really relieved every time I saw that the rabbit was alive and well.
…
The cat and the rabbit would play with each other through the fence. I saw it many times.
Although the favorite and the unpopular one were different, their relationship was good, right?
At least, that’s how I saw it.
Not too much to go on here besides an anti-social rabbit. Let’s have another round.
♫I Thought I’d Like To Be _____ed By Her
One day when going to see the rabbit, there was a previous visitor.
She was a girl, about the same age as me.
The girl talked to the rabbit, and she gave it food.
My, it was a pleasant scene.
The girl was playing with the rabbit.
She played with it for what seemed like forever.
I watched it all from afar.
…
From here are things I learned later.
That girl was from a different class than me.
That girl was allergic to cats.
That girl was always alone.
…Okay then. So clearly this is some kind of origin story as told by a boy who knew Irisu when she was little. But… what happened? And what was with that blood spatter?
…
Either way… This little flashback probably will not end well.
Next: Part 4
Previous: Part 1 | Part 2
I cautiously click the icon in the lower right corner...
There is a flash of images. A girl, a boy, a blood spatter…
The misery of a sad rabbit.
And between it all, a lone girl.
…
Why do I remember all this?
That’s surely…
Welcome to Irisu Syndrome Metsu. The menu here is even more straightforwards because we don’t have a plot advancing every time we play a round. This time, you gain another piece of the story each time you score high enough. You still click the title to change the music, you still hit Start to play, and you still hit Ranking to check your scores. The only thing new is that rabbit in the corner, which functions just like the cat in the original game; it will switch you back to the original game.
But before we play, let’s check our files again.
…Well that’s an ominous title.
Those two were happily talking again today.
It's annoying.
-------------
Noisy.
Those two next to me are noisy.
What in the world is so much fun?
I wish everyone would just die.
-------------
Today my eyes met with a lone boy's.
He gave me a nod with a bit of an embarrassed smile.
He was cute.
----
Uujima Satoshi-kun.
That was the kid with the cute smile.
The gentle kid who even gave a kind smile to someone like me.
He's always alone.
Just like me.
----
One day, I peeked at Uujima-kun's notebook.
There, a strange world was spread before me.
Many pencil drawings.
A cat, cooking on an earthen brazier in a sealed room,
A cat, flying a kite in a thunderstorm,
A cat, killing itself slowly with tobacco smoke,
A cat, struck in the head by a falling bullet which had been shot straight up from a gun,
Illustrations expressing such hatred toward cats were lined up.
He's like me, a person with the same feelings.
That time that our eyes met was fate.
And.
Since that day, Uujima-kun and I have been together.
---
These lectures are the one chance I have to be happy together with Uujima.
We always sit four empty seats apart.
Some way or another, it became like this.
I love that I can feel him through this odd sense of distance.
--------
Recently, I have been referring to him as Uuji.
Uuji. Uuji.
Uuji. Uuji. Uuji. Uuji.
...Uuji?
Is this fate?
--------
Uuji and I meet several times a week, sharing the same place and time.
It's been so long since I've felt this happy.
Yes, not since the time I would play with it in elementary school.
The distance between us now is like the wire mesh from back then.
I won't let anything rip through this mesh. I won't allow it.
It won't happen this time.
There's nobody to come between us.
Uuji won't be eaten up.
--------
By the way, I haven't talked to Uuji yet.
But sometimes our eyes meet.
I wonder when the day that we speak will come.
The "u" from Uuji is the "u" from "usagi".
--------
Recently, that girl has gotten too familiar with Uuji.
That girl with a high-pitched voice like a cat's.
What is this?
--------
Lately, that annoying idiot and cat girl have been doing things with Uuji.
What is this?
--------
I can hear them talking.
The three of them are going on a trip.
What is this?
What is this?
Leaving me alone?
Taking Uuji along as you please?
What do they think a person's loved one is?
That. Thieving. Cat.
The coughing. Won't stop.
--------
After all that's happened, I finally understand what I need to do.
Each one of them has to ____.
The plan has been refined.
Them and I, us four will go on a trip to a remote area.
I will ____ Age and Edogawa.
I will thoroughly erase all evidence of my presence.
Hiding myself while I pull all the strings behind the scenes of this trip.
They will die a mysterious death and be disposed of, and eventually forgotten.
And Uuji will become mine alone.
It has a few gaps, but it's a nearly perfect plan.
The largest hurdle is building enough of a relationship to travel with them.
At the same time, winning the right to control the travel plans.
Little by little, I'll fill the distance between us.
I'm bad with this kind of thing, though. I hate it.
It's fine, I can do it if it's for Uuji's sake.
-------------
Exams.
Library.
Opposite me, those three are laughing.
About not knowing anything for tomorrow's ethics test, or something.
I make an effort to modestly address them.
uUm...v
The three of them stop their conversation and look over with puzzled expressions.
This moment of being stared at is unbearable.
Although an unpleasant feeling sticks in my chest,
It's fine, I can do it if it's for Uuji's sake.
I'll fill the distance between us.
Little by little.
uI was absent for the lecture.
If it's fine with you, can I copy your notes?v
This time, I certainly went down the rabbit hole.
---------------
It's mad, isn't it?
Yes, it's mad.
While soaking in the tub, I reread my notes.
This is too ridiculous.
A perfect crime?
First of all, I was being strange at the time when I wrote the plan down.
Erase the evidence?
Stupid. Like I could do something like that.
The finely torn notes form a narrow, round, miniature tower on top of the drain.
I stare fixedly as if to light a fire which would slowly spread into a blaze.
Goodbye to the confused me of the past.
Nevertheless, to go so far as to organize that strange surprise party,
It may be better to evaluate myself.
How dare I deceive everyone.
Also, my weapon choice was good sense.
A blackjack in the form of a durable stocking amply stuffed with rocks and soil.
Not bad for a beautiful, compact weapon I can easily make anywhere.
Breaking open a packet of medicine, I smoothly pour the white granules into my mouth.
I sense the cool sensation inside my mouth spreading until it reaches my brain.
I felt myself breathing a bit easier.
The reason I couldn't go through with it,
Was just because of my feelings.
I intently destroy odd things in the cold, inhuman reality of the strange world on the back of my eyelids.
It's a game I've played my entire life, ever since my lonely childhood.
As I play this game and calm my heart,
my feelings of insecurity have somehow disappeared.
Now I want to thank such fickleness of mine from the bottom of my heart.
I almost crossed the point where I could no longer undo my mistakes.
At that time I was utterly strange.
Firstly, there's no need to lure my loved one to the scene.
And that stupid guy. He's an idiot, but harmless, so there's no need to do anything to him.
The target is that cat. Her alone is good enough.
Breaking open a packet of cough medicine, I smoothly pour the white granules into my mouth.
This makes 30 packets.
Ephedrine and codeine fly about my medulla oblongata and sympathetic nerves.
In my hazy, drunken brain, thoughts spin and turn.
Last time, I was too interested in looking to entertain myself.
This time, my feelings will not waver.
This time, I'll cut emotion out of the equation.
I will doggedly attempt to construct a flawless plan.
And if I succeed... alone with Uuji, our backs to the sunset, we'll admire those beautiful drawings together.
…Well. That. Explains a few things. It also explains why we’re playing this in the first place: Irisu keeps herself calm by playing a game in her head. So when the player does poorly… the bad ending is the result.
Now for the actual game itself!
♫A Cat and a Rabbit and an Old Story
Here is our game screen. Looks a lot different, right? Well, it’s not really. Blocks continue to fall from the top, and hitting the same colored ones into each other will make them disappear regardless if they hit others that match in color at the bottom. Blocks that hit the bottom without matching any colors will stick, and can be removed by knocking like colored ones into them. Every so often you’ll get a flashing circle that will remove any blocks (or circles) that match the color of whatever you hit into it.
The meter on the left is your life, much like how it was in the original. It continues to drop as you play, so you need to score to keep it up. Your score is recorded vertically on the right. As for those circles that are coming up from the bottom…
By hitting the blocks into them, they will light up and eventually disappear.
I say eventually because every time you get a circle to glow, you can get others to do the same by simply touching them together. However, if you aren’t careful you’ll just end up with a bunch of white blocks around the circles, so you have to be wary when trying to knock them around.
New game, new game over screen. Where is she going?
Scored high enough! There is now a note on the menu. Let’s see what all those images from before were about.
Apparently this game continues to be about cats and rabbits. Who would have thought?
There was a cat kept at the school.
That cat was cute and friendly. It was truly everyone’s favorite.
…
One day, a rabbit came to live at the school.
Somebody had picked it up in the schoolyard, and they decided to keep it in a cage at school.
The rabbit looked miserable, it was wounded and ragged.
It was missing an ear on one side, and for some reason, tended to avoid people.
The rabbit wasn’t well liked by the students, and so it was always alone.
Well that’s a nice story—wait a minute. Missing an ear?
Oh. Okay.
Another round. Because the circles are constantly floating up, things can get very clustered very quickly. Sometimes you just need to click on a few that are super floaty so you can knock them back down again, that way you have more space to maneuver the falling blocks in.
♫USAGI Note
On the other hand, not many students seemed to care about the rabbit. That’s how it was treated.
Well, children have a tendency to be cruel.
But I came to feel sorry for the rabbit.
Being careful that nobody would see me, I sometimes went to visit it.
I was really relieved every time I saw that the rabbit was alive and well.
…
The cat and the rabbit would play with each other through the fence. I saw it many times.
Although the favorite and the unpopular one were different, their relationship was good, right?
At least, that’s how I saw it.
Not too much to go on here besides an anti-social rabbit. Let’s have another round.
♫I Thought I’d Like To Be _____ed By Her
She was a girl, about the same age as me.
The girl talked to the rabbit, and she gave it food.
My, it was a pleasant scene.
The girl was playing with the rabbit.
She played with it for what seemed like forever.
I watched it all from afar.
…
From here are things I learned later.
That girl was from a different class than me.
That girl was allergic to cats.
That girl was always alone.
…Okay then. So clearly this is some kind of origin story as told by a boy who knew Irisu when she was little. But… what happened? And what was with that blood spatter?
…
Either way… This little flashback probably will not end well.
Next: Part 4
no subject
;^;