No. 00X - The Fourth Wall

[reminded]

[There sure is a lot of excitement this morning. After getting a vague grip on the situation by talking to some of the wingless newcomers, Layton decides to take a stroll around the village, trunk in hand, and observe. Something very unusual is happening, and there's no point in missing it by staying indoors.

Occasionally, he takes a seat on a bench or at a table and scribbles notes into his journal. Or puzzles into his puzzle index. Because no matter how much hubbub there is, you can never stop the puzzles.]

Comments

edgeworth no

[reminded]

I assure you, I'm doing nothing of the sort. Did you not find our wings to be strange? We certainly weren't born with them.

[nitrogenius]

[Layton gets a nod in return.]

Suruvalu Tattoi. What do you do here?

[Pretty direct. Anyway, by the ragged, patchwork look of this fellow, it certainly looks like whatever he does is high-impact.]

[reminded]

[He's a mean-looking fellow, but anyone willing to indulge in Layton's puzzles starts off on the right foot with him.]

At the moment, I teach at the school. Otherwise, I spend much of my time with some book or another. Why do you ask?

[nitrogenius]

Curiosity.

[Maybe if he was actually going to be here more than a few hours, this would matter. But he isn't, so it doesn't.]

A bakery's near here. Will you have a puzzle when I get back from there?

[reminded]

Consider it done. I'll be here until you return.

[He lifts his puzzle index, indicating what he'll be doing in the meantime.]

[thebluepawn]

Huh?

What... wings? Of course people wouldn't have wings.

[trainwrecking]

[ It must seem so strange, but Otonashi has to pause to think about the question. He remembers his surname, at least... ]

Otonashi... ah. I... s-still can't remember m-my given name.

[nitrogenius]

[...and here he comes back with a bag of pastries. Cookies, donuts, all that. He'll take a couple for himself then offer the bag to Layton.]

Have a snack. What puzzle do you have for me?

[reminded]

[... Well, that explains that.]

Have a look here, Mr. Wright. [He turns so that Phoenix can see the small white wings coming out of his coat.] I and many others had these attached to us when we first arrived.

[thebluepawn]

[He thinks of the first thing that comes to his mind.]

I though Halloween was already over. Or maybe this is Halloween Town?

[He peers at the wings closely, then turns to Layton again.]

Or are these... actually real?

[reminded]

[That is strange. He's never heard of anyone who only forgot one part of his name before.]

You have some sort of amnesia?

[brushworkmother]

[yessss all the pettings for her

she will now claim Layton's lap so that he can pet her better]

[reminded]

[Mr. Skellington is thataway, Mr. Wright.]

As entertaining as I find the notion of 300 people unwittingly showing up with the same angel costume on Halloween day, these are no props. Whether by science or by magic, things wings are a part of me.

[He gives his wings a full stretch to demonstrate.]

[trainwrecking]

Y-yeah. T-they said my memory would... c-come back to me eventually. [ He sniffles and rubs at his arms, very slowly warming up. He's still off-color, but the threat of literally freezing is gone. Which begs the next line of questions: ]

You... s-said something a-about catching a cold. S-so we... we c-can get sick in this place?

[reminded]

Most kind of you. [He takes a sugar cookie and shuts his puzzle index, setting it on the bench beside him.]

Here's one I quite like. You find yourself convicted of a crime in a land with strange customs. They present two jars to you: one contains 25 white balls, and the other contains 25 black balls. You are to be blindfolded and made to draw a ball from one of the jars. A white ball means you will be set free and a black ball means death.

Before you are blindfolded, however, you are given a chance to redistribute the balls between the two jars. This is merely a tradition, as it is thought to make no difference, but you know better. How should you redistribute the balls so as to maximize your chance of drawing a white ball?

nppp

[reminded]

[Very strange. Oh well, Layton isn't one to pry without reason. He begins to walk further into the store to free up the entrance.]

Well, yes. We have a number of skilled doctors in the village--or healers, if you're so inclined. However, death here is impermanent. You'll be revived in about a week, though given a penalty for the trouble.

[reminded]

[What a sweet animal. Layton gives her a couple scratches behind the ear before going on to give her side a rub.]

Curious. You're remarkably well-mannered, yet you don't appear to be a pet. Is that right?

\o/

[trainwrecking]

A week for revival? That isn't s-so different from home... [ Of course things had to start getting weirder. The idea of a penalty is a new concept, however. ]

Uh― w-what kind of penalties? [ As an aside, he eyes the clothing racks. This stuff is all free for the taking...? ]

[reminded]

[Though Otonashi (or anyone, really) won't be able to see it, Layton's eyebrows rise underneath his hat. A world other than this one where people are revived from death?]

Typically, a loss of some kind. Sight, voice, or memory, for instance. Penalties can be removed, but only with the consultation of an individual from the Malnosso named John.

You say revival happens in your home as well? Where do you hail from?

[trainwrecking]

Mal... nosso? [ So he has to be much more careful about death here. That sits just fine with him, because he never adjusted to the idea of death not sticking. And it should not be hard...

... Unless Noda is here, but he won't linger on that. ]

Ahh... yeah. It's... nn. Y-you seem level-headed, so you might not panic the way I did... haha... I came from... sort of an afterlife.

[reminded]

[Well, that does make him pause.]

The afterlife, you say? Fascinating... We have our fair share of the deceased arriving, but I have yet to hear about an afterlife. Would it be all right if I asked more about it?

As for the Malnosso, remember that they are the ones who experiment on us. In some cases, they'll perform services for us as well.

[trainwrecking]

Right... You said that already, huh. [ Now that he's warming up, he's slowly regaining those crazy motor and brain skills. He's paying attention, honest! And with more focus now that he almost has feeling in his limbs. ]

S-sorry... But, ahh―

Of course you can ask. I've been asking you about this place, so... I-I'll tell you anything you want to know as best as I can.

[reminded]

[Being frozen to death can be pretty distracting.]

Thank you. By the way, there's a chance you'll find your original set of clothes among the racks. I'll help you look for them, if you'll describe them for me. [It's a bit awkward to be standing around in a clothing store without browsing the wares, after all.]

Now then, I suppose the most pressing question is: what is it like? One hears so many beliefs about the afterlife that meeting someone who has experienced it is quite the opportunity, if you'll pardon me for saying so.

[trainwrecking]

My original clothes..? [ Why would those be here..? Maybe Layton means the afterlife's default school uniform, not the customized ones he and his friends wore.

Fair enough, he would describe the original uniform. ]

I-it's just a black high school uniform with a red...ish... necktie. It's p-pretty― [ He sniffles. ] ―nondescript. And a white dress shirt goes u-under... underneath the jacket. [ But he can also look for it himself! ... Once he gets over the whole oh gosh this won't be considered stealing, right? ]

I don't know if... my s-story of the afterlife is a good indication. Everyone there was high-school aged... It was like a― a section?― for young people who had... passed on. It was as if... the world was designed for us.

[nitrogenius]

[A puzzle with deadly consequences? Now we're talking! This one should be easy, he thinks as he bites into a donut.]

Put one white ball in one jar and all the others in the other jar. Roughly 75% chance of freedom.

[Of course, if it was him, he'd be solving it rather more violently. Good thing it's only a hypothetical scenario.]