Let's go meet Durrkin.
Oh, it's you. So. What can I do for you?
So, any progress on Jeremy?
Look, you helped us out on the ID, but don't push it. You know about as much as I do.
So why are you looking into Jamie's death? Her teacher said it was natural.
WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT STARTING SENTENCES WITH 'SO'
Well, she was right. It looked that way, surely enough.
And?
And her body was found in a dumpster off of Amsterdam. Natural or not, how did it get there?
Amsterdam, capital of Denmark?
A dumpster? So it was murder?
I didn't say that. It was three blocks away from some nightclub. We learned she was a regular, so we went there. She bought it in the upstairs room. Some kind of VIP area. One minute, dancing the night away. The next, light's out. Nobody saw how she died, just that she was dead. Anyway, the bouncer saw it and freaked, so he snuck her out and dumped her. Like I said, cut and dry. Case closed.
How are you sure she wasn't murdered?
We have this thing called 'a coroner's report'.
Right. What did it say?
I don't know the medical term, but some kind of brain vessel burst? It happens. One thing's for sure. It wasn't murder. Just rotten luck.
What else did the coroner's report say?
Nothing too important, why?
I don't know. Could I see it? You do owe me.
I don't know about that, but you certainly do get around. Look, I can't give you the actual report, but I can give you the gist. You might be nuts, but for some reason, I think you are all right.
Thanks?
Don't thank me. You owe me now. You got a phone?
No, officer, all the time I was calling you from Skype
Yeah.
When we finish here, I'll send you a message.
How did Jeremy die? What was the cause of death, I mean?
Small caliber bullet to the back of the head. He never saw it coming.
That's horrible.
Yeah, well. What you gonna do?
That's all we needed from Durrkin.
Also, we happened to get some new hatemail.
Yeah, let's get ourselves a creepy painting. We have nothing better to do after all, amirite.
We leave the cafe, and...
Uh-huh.
Ick.
We should now proceed to the nightclub. However! There's one thing that needs to be done first.
You might remember that Jamie said she doesn't want to dance 'cause the music sucks. Well, there's a poster in her dorm...
I've heard of these guys. I'm not sure if they play anymore, though.
Time to tip the scales.
Oh, what?
Care to dance?
Why not? I love this song.
Booya. Joey's the king of the dance floor, floating around with his hands in his pockets
So, tell me about yourself.
You got a question, ask it.
What are you studying?
Nothing important. How about you? What did you study back in the dark ages?
Pff!
This is a cleverly hidden puzzle inside the dialogue. You gotta pick answers that interest her. We pick 'history'
History.
Really? What kind of history?
She was obsessed with Middle East, right?
Something about Middle-Eastern history always fascinated me.
You know, I used to be the same way. Everyone has their own opinion about what goes on there, but it's so ancient. But you can never truly understand anything unless you know where it came from.
I know what you mean. Things move so fast nowadays.
I know, right? Nobody else gets it.
And you do?
I thought I did. Once.
Maybe we can talk some more about it sometime?
I'd like that
So what's the deal with this place anyway?
What do you mean?
It's loud. It's got zero class. Why come here?
To be FREE of course. To be really alive, you need to let yourself go. I used to be scared of places like this. But they are so liberating, don't you think? I could die tomorrow, life's too short.
Hurr.
So you think you are... liberated?
Yes. I... I feel so free now. I always felt something was missing. I needed to get out of my stuffy room and LIVE.
And you do that by coming here?
I have FUN. I've never had so much fun before.
And I'm happy, dammit.
So much happier.
So, what do you do when you're not lighting up the dance floor?
Nothing much, how about you?
She used to like reading, didn't she?
This usually isn't my scene. You'd find me at home with a book, most nights.
Really? I used to read all the time.
Not anymore?
Nah. So what do you like to read?
Errrrrr... Blackwell?
There's this Blackwell dame...
Is she good?
Depends on who you ask.
Right.
ERROR 404: DATA NOT SUFFICIENT.
You were scared of this place?
Places like it. I didn't think it was me. I never would have thought about going to a place like this a year ago. But now... I can't think of anything else.
You said you could die tomorrow. Do you ever think about that?
Smoooooooooooooooooth
Jeez, what's with the doom and gloom?
You brought it up, not me.
I can't think about that. If and when I go, I wanna say I enjoyed my life.
And have you?
What kind of question is this? Of course I have!
Do you know anyone named Gavin?
Shhh. Shut up and dance.
Uh-huh.
Is this the only place you go?
For now. I'll move on eventually, but now? This is where I want to be.
So I heard this terrible story the other day.
Really.
It was about a girl who died in a place like this, and was thrown into the dumpster.
... Jesus, what the hell is wrong with you?
Best. Pickup. Line. Ever.
Look, forget it.
You say the weirdest things.
Where are you from?
Nowhere special. Where are you from?
Now you gotta pick her home location.
Out west.
Really? Whereabouts?
Illinois.
No way! So am I! Where in Illinois?
Mattoon.
No. Way. I grew up twenty minutes from there!
Really.
Really! Mattoon. That's even a smaller town than mine.
Yeah, well. That's why I left.
I know the feeling. Although, I miss it in a way. We should talk about the old place sometime.
I'd like that very much.
Only thing remaining is her favourite book/author. But for that we need more info.
I've gotta scram, but don't you go anywhere.
I make no promises.
According to Jamie's email, her ex Seb is still going to the club everyday in butthurt over her loss. Wonder if he's still around?
Hi. I'm looking for someone named Seb? They are ignoring me.
The funny look in his eyes says no.
I said, are you Seb?
Yeah, I heard. Do I know you?
No, but we have a... mutual friend.
Really? Who?
Jamie? Jamie Graham?
Sorry, don't know her.
Nigga, you lyin'
I read the email you wrote to Jamie.
That was private.
Sorry, I know. It couldn't be helped.
*sigh* so what do you want?
I'm trying to learn about her.
I'll save you the trouble. She was a drug addict, a dropout and a tease. Then she spun out of control.
Oh my.
Do you want to go somewhere more quiet? It's kinda loud in here.
I don't want to talk anyway, so I'll stay right here.
You here alone?
Yeah, and I like it that way.
She was a drug addict?
Yeah, big time. She kept trying to get me on the stuff. Called me boring. Boring. Right. At least I'm not dead.
She dropped out of school?
Not yet. But she stopped going to class. She was going to drop out or get kicked. One or the other.
Why was Jamie a tease?
No reason. Forget it.
Why do you come here? It doesn't seem like your kind of place.
You're one to talk.
I'm here on business. Kind of. So why are you here?
I don't know. Does it matter. I just am.
Were you dating Jamie long?
Does it matter?
I guess not. I read Jamie's autopsy report.
What's it say? Is she still dead?
It confirms what everyone says. She died of cerebral hemorrhage.
No surprise. All the drugs she used had to mess up her brain somehow.
So Jamie was a drug addict?
Not that it's any of your business, but yeah. Always bragging about getting high on E every night, like she was proud of it. She tried to get me on that stuff. Said I needed to loosen up. Look where it got her.
Right. I'll see you later.
Something doesn't add up, though. The coroner's report said she was clean.
Connecting the clues...
Hm. Now this is interesting. Seb said that Jamie was a drug addict, but her bloodwork came back clean.
Something's not right here.
Seb, you told me that Jamie was on drugs a lot. But Jamie never used drugs.
What do you mean?
I spoke to a cop. He saw the autopsy report. She was completely clean.
That's impossible. She was always talking about Ecstacy. Tried to get me on it.
Unpossible!
If she took anything, it wasn't stronger than cough medicine.
I don't believe this.
I've got the report right here. Sort of. Do you want the cop's number?
No, I don't want his number! Why would she lie about something like that? That's crazy!
You know her better than I do.
Yeah, maybe I do. She wanted to be interesting. She thought she was boring. But she wasn't. She was fantastic. She read Robert Ashbless, for God's sake, how many girls read Ashbless?
I've read Ashbless..
She wanted to live, she said. Feel alive. She was kidding herself. Told everyone she was taking drugs. Not having the guts to really do it. Stupid, stupid girl! I honestly thought that she and I... God, look at me! What the hell am I doing here? Is this me now? Following her ghost around like some lovesick puppy. You're sick, Jamie. You were SICK.
He leaves the club, butthurt turned to rage.
RPGCodex has seen a new member register.
Well, now we know about Jamie's fav author.
Hey, you.
Robert Ashbless was always a favourite of mine.
Really? I used to read him all the time! Which is your favourite?
Uh...
Oh, I like all of them.
Really? No favourites?
Not particularly.
Right...
Curses! Foiled again!
Right, that's one title at least.
Anubis at the Gate was always a favourite.
Oh, yeah, if you want to go with the popular one
You don't like it?
Oh, sure, it's great, but that's the first one people always pick. He wrote other stuff, you know.
Like what?
Oh, 'Dark Drawings' and 'Drawing the Last'. If you liked Anubis, you'd like those too.
Really. I'd have to look em up sometime.
I've got a bunch in storage. Maybe I could let you borrow one sometime...?
I'd like that.
How... how about right now? Not sometime. Right now.
God, I hate this place. Why do I come here every night? To have fun? I just feel more miserable. Let's get out of here.
Sounds good to me, gorgeous. Where to? We could go anywhere.
Well, my dorm isn't far...
Your... dorm?
Yes. The John-Jay Dormitory. Room 402.
Well, I...
She throws herself at Joey and lands a kiss.
He isn't one to resist.
Ah.
I get the feeling we're going to be good for each other.
She leaves the VIP area.
This... just got a lot more interesting.
Joey is ambushed again when leaving.
There. I want that to be my last memory of this place. Let's go. I'll be back in my dorm. Don't keep me waiting long, okay?
I haven't done it yet.
Are you sure she's even legal?
Legal? She's dead.
This is disgusting.
Are you seriously going in there to...
I mean, CAN you even... you know?
I dunno, it's never come up before.
That's disgusting.
Look, believe it or not, I have a small modicum of class. I'll do what I gotta do. No more, no less.
If you say so, Joey. But don't think I won't go in there. I won't want to. But I will.
Joey enters the room.
You came
I told you I would.
It's so cold in here. I don't think I've ever been so cold. Look at me, I'm freezing. Come warm me up?
:rapeface:
Of course, darling. If you are absolutely sure.
Of course I am. I've never been so sure of anything. I feel so good when I'm around you. I don't want that feeling to go away. I feel like myself again. Does that make any sense? It's like I remember who I'm supposed to be. Not what Gavin told me to be.
Gavin?
He's full of crap. I was just... a bit lost. And he took advantage.
Just what did he do?
Look at you, so chivalrous. He... he told me I was dying. That I was wasting my life. Maybe he was right. Nose in a book or the computer. That was me. He said I had to stop studying and start living. Have a full life. Have FUN. But... after meeting you, I remember. My life wasn't so bad, was it?
Only you can judge that.
I had my family. I had a few friends. I liked my classes. I even had a sort of boyfriend. Things were good. Why didn't I see that? I didn't have to be so miserable. Stupid, huh?
You're far from home. It messes with your head. People get confused. It happens.
Sure, that's obvious now, isn't it? It's like I couldn't think straight. Even right up until the end I...
The end of what?
...
Please, darling, the end of what?
It's so... cold in here.
She starts flickering. We know what that means.
Is this... really happening?
It's already happened.
I died. In the club. I died. I remember it perfectly. It was like being ripped apart.
I know. It happened to me once, too.
But it's over now?
Yes, dear. It's over.
So what now?
Red? I know you're listening. That's your cue.
What? No Bioware sex scene?
Jamie?
Yeah. It's just so... much to take in.
I know.
So what now? Just float into the light and I'm gone?
I don't know what happens after, but yes. Just head toward the light.
So this is it. I'm really dead. Gavin told me to live life to the fullest. Ironic, huh?
I don't know. I'm sorry.
If I had only taken a minute to think about what I was doing... But it's too late for that, isn't it?
Yes.
Gavin. He's going to do this to someone else. I know. I feel it. He's already done it countless times.
Do you know where we can find him?
We'd meet on Campus. I don't know where he lives. Funny... it didn't seem suspicious at the time. It's fading. Everything is just... fading.
We'll get him. We'll stop him. It's what we do.
Promise?
It's time to go, Jamie.
I know. Tell Joey I said bye?
Sure.
And if he needs a cold shower or anything, um, tell him I'm sorry.
She goes into the light.
Ew.
Yeah, she's gone.
Good.
Something wrong?
No.
I just want to meet this Gavin guy so I can sock him in the jaw.
Joey?
Who has this kind of power anyway? He brainwashed that poor kid. And that sob story Tiffany. Don't get me wrong, I've seen some pretty out-there stuff. But this? Well, it just rubs me the wrong way.
I think we should talk to Lisa again.
Her? She keeps more clam than a seafood buffet, but yeah, why not?
I should memorise that line.
