Qncuar Ertergf Nfxvat Sbe Uryc Gb Fbyir Na ZZ Zlfgrel (Naq Znggvr Vf Urer, Gbb!)

N oevrs abgr:

Sbetvir gur inthrarff gbjneqf gur raq, sbe V nz gelvat gb cerfreir gur gjvfg. Nyfb, vg’f n qnex shpxva’ gjvfg abg arprffnevyl sbe gur snvag bs urneg. Guvf vf abg n gevttre jneavat. Vg’f n fgngrzrag bs snpg. Xrrc lbhe cnagvrf bhg bs n ohapu, Znepvr.

Daphne

“Wheeeeeee!!!!!!!!!”

Daphne loves her water slides. She’s designed dozens of them. The one she is in the middle of sliding down has both barrel and aileron rolls! She splashes down like a very awkward shark falling through a shoot. She giggles and swims her way to Mattie, lazing about with a virgin frozen fruity cocktail on a pool floatie.

“Hey, Mattie! We have unfinished business!”

Mattie stares at the mermaid over the top of her sunglasses. “No, I believe we don’t. We pulled a prank against those nerds, we got punished for it, I ‘punished’ Airika for snitching, and I think that’s it.”

“But… the mystery! We gotta solve it!”

Mattie rolls her eyes, “I think we already did. Teeth.”

The mermaid pleads, “Okay, we may have seen a rather big, disturbing revelation, but that can’t be it. We might know WHAT, but we don’t know HOW or WHY. We gotta find the true ending!”

“I suppose, as Royal Spymaster, I should help you solve the mystery. It could include actionable intelligence that Sarge may need to exploit. So, I guess we are going to see Ben and Rina head to the pool?”

Daphne does her little wiggle dance around Mattie’s floatie. It is still quite cute underwater. Then the two begin to read.

FVAXVAT VAGB QNEXARFF

“So, reminders for the audience, we have Rina, a psychopath, who got an app that lets her take complete body control over people, which she used on Ben, her little brother. She makes him wear her clothes, sans pants, and takes him outside. Last time, we followed the ‘Zoo’ route. This time, based on the story map, we are going down the ‘Pool’ route, ‘cause that’s where the true ending looks to lie. We will still explore the whole route, but I am pretty sure I got enough info from the ‘Zoo’ to solve this thing when we get there.”

Daphne splashes up and starts floating on her back, her egg sacs exposed like a proper mermaid, “Oh, and our notes from last time.”

Daphne summarizes their complaints in convenient bullets:

• So many typos (many of them weird)
• Rina is an irredeemable monster
• Angelica is a monster
• Embarrassing a boy is not sexy
• Fetishes too **** a/o gross
• Another “kick the woobie” story

“Alright, Teeth, Rina and her victim get to the pool. We got a die roll array of options to pick from. Roll high, get to wear something normal, roll low, get something super embarrassing. Where we starting?”

“Well, since clothes are dumb, let’s start with one. Maybe Rina will get naked, too?”

“Well, the ‘one’ roll led to Ben naked in a hot springs and Rina wearing his Speedo over her bikini. How are they the same hip size?”

“This is a sign that Gambio has bad taste. You want the girl to get naked, not to wear MORE clothes.” Daphne interrupts.

“And we have another choice. Does Ben accept hugging his sister in public while naked or demands to get the speedo back?”

“**** adjacent action or clothing? Which is least offensive to your silly human sensibilities?” Daphne makes a thinking noise, then tentatively answers, “Clothes?”

“Whoo boy, Teeth, this chapter reads real weird after the last review. One of the ciphers is further confirmation about a conclusion I drew last time. And the universe seems to have broken due to public nudity laws? Weird flex, but okay.”

“Choosing the hug leads to a predictable **** hugging scene. Then they get kicked out ‘cause Ben is naked.”

Mattie slurps on her drink, then notes, “Okay, Ora starts the next chapter with a guide. All of the options converge here. Canonically, Ben rolls a ‘two,’ so we can briefly scan the other numbers, then move on from there.”

“Six is normal blue trucks and they get kicked out for a hug tackle from the 10 meter diving platform. Five is a black speedo and they get kicked out for insulting a proto-Carol? Four is his Spider-man underwear as a swimsuit and they get kicked out for gay kissing after a Boys vs Girls land water polo game? Or is it for passing out after gay kissing? Anyways, three is a Japanese schoolgirl swimming outfit and they get kicked out for holding a photo shoot.”

Daphne takes a breath, then continues, “Two, the canonical option, has Ben in a pink bikini. Rina has to command him to be comfortable in it; Ben asks Rina to keep him in this state of shamelessness. She, of course, says no and returns embarrassment to him while they were still in the park. He screams like a siren in a wood chipper; that is against pool guidelines, so they get kicked out.”

Mattie nods, “Good job, Teeth. So, they have fast food lunch in the car, then go home. Ben has clearly lost his singular marble, because he asks Rina to train him to not be so easily embarrassed. He agrees to Rina taking total control of him for a month. Moron!”

“And Rina is totally going to perv out, isn’t she?”

“If her squeeing like a Tina at a cotton candy burrito is any indication, yes. So, Rina plans on taking Ben to a school costume party. Ben is dressed up in a sexy Harley Quinn costume and Rina is the Joker. She sets some rules, with a play on that Embarrass-o-meter from Clothes for Likes to boot, and off Ben goes. Ben ends up agreeing to be the personal cheerleader for the school volleyball team and cums from Katy touching his clothed crotch.”

“I wonder if that’s the same Katy from Clothes for Likes?”

“Maybe? Anyways, Ben is mortified and demands Rina remove his ability to feel embarrassed ever again. We got a choice. Yea or Nay?”

“The dork was happier as a shameless weirdo? Try that first.”

“It’s a happy but not good end. Ben embraces life as a confident volleyball cheerleader. Going to refusing to change Ben, we get…”

“An angry, suicidal Ben. Choice, Mattie. Hug the woobie or slap him?”

“Slap looks to loop back to the intro. That one first. Then hugs.”

“Okay, slap leads to Rina assuming complete bodily control for the rest of Ben’s life. And Ora didn’t even have the decency to label that as a Bad End. Boo.”

Daphne chirps, then gets less cheerful as she goes, “Hugs are better anyways. I like hugs! Ben…does not take to hugs very well. Uhm… another choice? Leave like Ben asks or ahh...?”

“Unfortunately, Teeth, that is the answer that leads to the true ending, so let’s leave first. Get the pleasant option over with.”

Daphne sounds unsure, “Leaving results in Rina realizing she’s a monster. Then Ora asks us politely to not go with the other option until we find all the other endings?”

“Sorry, Teeth, but fuck that. I’m not doing a part 3. That scene cuts out before it gets too fucking nightmarish, then we have Ora trying to talk us out of continuing. A cipher in the title. A cipher in the question section of the chapter. Both cracked easily enough, now that I figured it out. You mind if I hop to the correct answer?”

Daphne is dissociating from the review process right now, “Go ahead. This review isn’t fun any more.”

“Okay. That is both hellish and pretty much what I was expecting. Another choice: plunge deeper or empty one’s mind, if I am interpreting the second choice correctly. Daph, still with me?”

Daphne squeaks, “Plunge, I guess?”

“Plunging leads to an infinite loop, assuming we ignore the Remin alternative branch point. Clever. Ready for the other option?”

Daphne nods, “I guess?”

“The ‘ah…’ option was embracing the delusion, not emptying the mind. That is the true ending. A dying person clinging to a dream where **** didn’t happen. Bu, naq crezvffvba gb nqq cnguf yvxr Erzva qvq. Final thoughts?”

“We gonna go check out a wrong answer or two, just for completion?”

“Might as well… Okay, these three wrong answers: Znepvr, Natryvpn, Xngl?” Mattie asks, selecting the ones Daphne approves, “We get one liner notes from Ora. Then it loops back to the question chapter. Any other thoughts?”

“How did you know the answer? Or the question?”

“I solved the cipher, Teeth. Then I applied it to a word after seeing how a different word translated in it. I mentioned that in the review last time.”

“We telling our Beloved?”

“We should. It does have implications over there.”

“Can I have a hug?”

“Sure, Daph. This was a rough one.”

Mattie slips off the floatie and wraps her arms around the saddened mermaid. Daphne flaps her tail to keep Mattie’s head above the water and cries on the astral elf’s shoulder. They tread water for quite a long time.