Mi'ihen Highroad Mystery

The Mi'ihen Highroad Mystery is a sidequest in Final Fantasy X-2 that takes place during Chapter 4. Rin asks Yuna, Rikku and Paine to help him investigate two separate incidents that occurred on the Mi'ihen Highroad; a hover crashing on the Oldroad and the sentry machina going haywire.
Participating in this sidequest is necessary to earn an Episode Complete for the Mi'ihen Highroad.
==The mystery==
During the Eternal Calm, Spirans began to accept machina. Rin installed several sentry machina to guard the Mi'ihen Highroad and protect travelers from fiends. Hovers replaced chocobos as a more convenient means of travel, and the presence of machina and hovers meant that chocobos are all but gone on the Highroad.
After the mission "Cuckoo for Chocobos" in Chapter 2, a hover, traveling from the travel agency to the North End, mysteriously falls off the Newroad and crashes in the ravine. The incident closes the northern section of the Mi'ihen Highroad for the remainder of the chapter.
In Chapter 3, the sentry machina malfunction and attack travelers instead of protecting them, prompting the Gullwings to destroy them while the Al Bhed dismantle them. Following this incident, Rin launches an investigation into the hover crash and the machina malfunction.
During Chapter 3, Shinra installs a CommSphere outside the travel agency. In Chapter 4, when the Gullwings connect to the CommSphere, Rin asks the party to help him in his investigation by connecting to the CommSpheres he has placed around the Highroad and alert him if they find or see anything suspicious.
The results of Rin's investigation are revealed when the party visits the Mi'ihen Highroad in Chapter 5.
==Suspects==
Five suspects can be blamed for causing the incidents on the Mi'ihen Highroad: the Chocobo Eater, Rikku, Calli, Prophet or Rin himself. Blaming the Chocobo Eater, Rikku or Calli will award the player Episode Complete for the area, and allows them to ride chocobos on the Highroad. Pinning the blame on Rikku will also award the player the Ragnarok accessory, which reduces the MP cost of all abilities to zero.
If Prophet or Rin is blamed, or if no suspect is found, the player receives an Episode Concluded (meaning that obtaining the Mascot dressphere on that playthrough is impossible, unless playing the International or HD Remaster version), and chocobos cannot be ridden on the Highroad if Prophet is blamed. Pinning Rin as the culprit rewards the player Gippal's Sphere and allows chocobos to be ridden on the Highroad free of charge.
==The investigation==
In Chapter 4, Rin asks the Gullwings for their help in his investigation on the Mi'ihen Mystery, but only if the player started the "Machina Mayhem" mission in Chapter 3, which allowed Shinra to install a CommSphere outside the Mi'ihen Travel Agency.
To allow the Gullwings to help him in his investigation, Rin installs six more CommSpheres covering the Mi'ihen Highroad. Rin asks Yuna, Rikku and Paine to connect to each CommSphere, and to call him if they see anything suspicious.
The CommSpheres are numbered one through eight and can scan the following areas:
#Outside the front of the travel agency.
#Behind the travel agency, where the sphere monitor controlling the sentry machina is located.
#The ruins at the South End of the highroad.
#The Newroad
#The Oldroad, where the hover crashed.
#The Oldroad, dead end
#The cliff between the Newroad and Oldroad (if the player returns to Mi'ihen Highroad - Newroad in Chapter 3 after "Machina Mayhem", Shinra places the CommSphere here).
#The North End
Whenever the player sees anything suspicious, they should call Rin, and he will arrive to investigate adding blame to a suspect. When enough evidence points to a suspect, a jingle will play indicating the next stage of the investigation has begun. After the third stage ends, Rin's investigation is complete.
The following tables indicate what events the player should look out for. Depending on the player's actions some scenes will not play. For example, if the player picks up Calli after the events of Chapter Two, she will not appear in any event.
===Stage one===
CommSphere	Event 	Suspect
7 	Rin talking to an Al Bhed woman (Rin doesn't know a CommSphere has been installed here).	Rin
2 	The Chocobo Eater approaches the sphere monitor. 	Chocobo Eater
8 	The Chocobo Eater listens to Prophet. 	Chocobo Eater
3 	A machina appears. 	Rikku
6 	Calli appears. 	Calli
5 	A chocobo feather falls to the ground. 	Calli
8 	Prophet's assistant talking to one of the Al Bhed. 	Prophet
4 	Prophet and his assistant talking. 	Prophet
4 	Skid marks leading to the ravine below. 	All
===Stage two===
CommSphere	Event 	Suspect
1 	Chocobo Eater chases after a bird. 	Chocobo Eater
4 	Chocobo Eater chases after a hover. 	Chocobo Eater
7 	Footprints 	Rikku
1 	Calli appears to the left of the travel agency. 	Calli
2 	Prophet's assistant examines the sphere monitor. 	Prophet (call Rin)Calli (Don't call Rin)
2 	If Rin was not called when Prophet's assistant examined the sphere monitor, Prophet's assistant leaves, then Calli approaches the sphere monitor. 	Calli
2 	If Rin was called when Prophet's assistant examined the sphere monitor, an Al Bhed examines the sphere monitor (Do not call Rin and wait for at least 15 seconds after this event before connecting elsewhere).	Prophet
3 	An Al Bhed runs toward Prophet. 	Prophet
5 	Three machina run to the hover and drag out the driver. 	All
6 	Prophet talking to two people. 	Prophet
===Stage three===
CommSphere	Event 	Suspect
1 	Rin talking to the hover driver. 	All except Rin
2 	Somebody hammering the roof of the travel agency. 	Rikku
3 	Somebody standing near the ruin. 	Calli
4 	Calli running off. 	Calli
6 	Rin talking to the two men. 	Prophet
7 	Prophet and his assistant talking. 	Prophet
5 	Large dent in the crashed hover. 	Chocobo Eater, Rin
5 	After a while, CommSphere suddenly breaks. 	Rin
4 	Rin doing something in the ravine (call Rin after Yuna wonders what he is doing).	Rin
==Results==
===Chocobo Eater===
The Chocobo Eater is the easiest suspect to blame, as it requires minimal effort on the player's part prior to the investigation in Chapter 4; to make the Chocobo Eater a potential suspect, one must start the "Machina Mayhem" mission in Chapter 3 allowing Shinra to place the CommSphere in front of the travel agency.
As there are no more chocobos on the Mi'ihen Highroad, the Chocobo Eater was on the brink of starvation. It correctly surmised that machina are to blame and if it destroys the machina, Rin would have no choice but to bring chocobos back to the Highroad.
The Chocobo Eater first attacks a hover on the Newroad, knocking it down into the ravine below. Once it discovers the control panel behind the travel agency, the Chocobo Eater sabotages it to cause all the sentry machina to go haywire.
Rin is impressed with the Chocobo Eater's tenacity, and grants its wish to return chocobos to the Highroad. However, the Al Bhed haul the Chocobo Eater away, most likely to be killed.
===Rikku===
For Rikku to become a potential suspect, the player must complete the mission "Cuckoo for Chocobos" in Chapter 2. During the mission, the Gullwings must capture the chocobo at the South End of the Mi'ihen Highroad. Rikku will drop down from the ruin and land on a sentry machina. As the machina were being synchronized, this would later cause the machina to malfunction. Capturing the chocobo before reaching the South End will prevent this event from taking place, meaning Rikku cannot be held responsible.
In the same mission, if the player reaches the Chocobo Eater before the allotted time is up, Rikku will run across the bridge on the Newroad after the battle. A hover moving in the opposite direction tries to avoid her but falls into the ravine.
The player can place Rikku into blame further during the Chapter 3 mission "Machina Mayhem". If the player jumps down the cliffside from the Newroad to battle the rogue machina, Rikku will leave her footprints behind, which will later be matched with the footprint imprinted on the machina's head back at the ruins. Jumping up from the Oldroad to battle the machina will not leave footprints.
After Rin concludes Rikku is responsible he decides her punishment is to pick up litter on the Highroad. Rin later purchases chocobos for travelers to ride on, which leaves a trail of feathers much to Rikku's exasperation.
===Calli===
For Calli to become a suspect, the player must complete the "Cuckoos for Chocobos" mission in Chapter 2, but must fail to reach the Chocobo Eater within the allotted time. This would mean Calli will not get a chocobo. The player must not allow Calli to board the Celsius after the mission, or otherwise she cannot be responsible for the incidents.
Due to the failure of getting a chocobo, Calli pushes a hover into the ravine and causes the machina to malfunction in the hope of getting her wish to ride on chocobos on the Highroad again.
After hearing her confession, Rin punishes Calli by making her work at his travel agency. Some of her work involves looking after the chocobos that Rin has purchased, leading Paine to question whether or not this is a punishment.
===Prophet===
Prophet is often found talking to passers-by promoting the use of chocobos instead of hovers. Pinning the blame on Prophet is easier by talking to him in every chapter. Taking the hover from the North End to the travel agency will show a cutscene where another hover going the other way will fall down the ravine trying to take evasive action, which adds to Prophet's guilt. Prophet's guilt will increase further if the player initiates the mission "Machina Mayhem" from the North End, as the player will see Prophet running in the direction of Mushroom Rock Road.
In an attempt to get chocobos back to the Highroad, Prophet pushes a hover into the ravine, then tricks the machina operator into telling him how the machina works, allowing him to sabotage them.
Rin punishes Prophet by forcing him and his assistant to publicize the use of hovers and machina, making him an Ex-Prophet. While pinning Prophet as the culprit results in a humorous cutscene, the player will only receive Episode Concluded and misses the chance to ride chocobos.
===Rin===
Rin is the hardest of suspects to pin the blame on as the player must undergo a lot of work with no margin for error. There are five tasks the player must do before Rin's investigation, and missing any will mean Rin cannot be held responsible:
*In Chapter 1, the player must visit the Mi'ihen Highroad - Central Area (Not the Travel Agency). In one of the inlets to the right of the Highroad there is an Al Bhed attempting to synchronize sentry machina. The player must talk to this Al Bhed.
*In Chapter 2, after the "Cuckoo for Chocobos" mission, the player must visit the travel agency. Rin will be seen leaving it as the party enters.
*In Chapter 3, during the mission "Machina Mayhem", the player must destroy seven or more machina and successfully complete the mission.
*Once the "Machina Mayhem" mission is complete and the prize for completing the mission is given out, the player must wait until they see Rin walking into the frame before confirming.
*After the "Machina Mayhem" mission, the player must walk on the Newroad and talk to Shinra, who will tell the party he has dropped a CommSphere down the cliffside.
During Rin's investigation the player must allocate blame against the Chocobo Eater in stages one and two, but they must ensure they catch Rin on CommSphere No.7 in the first stage.
In stage three, Rin must not be called whenever the player connects to CommSphere No.1, or the Chocobo Eater will be the culprit. Instead, the player should connect to CommSphere No.5 and call Rin, who will notice the dent in the hover. Next the player should connect to CommSphere No.1, then immediately reconnect to CommSphere No.5 and wait. After a while, the CommSphere will break. One should then connect to CommSphere No.4 where Yuna will spot the culprit Rin in the ravine. Once Yuna questions what Rin is doing, the player should call him and he will run up to the CommSphere to apologize, stating he has business to attend to.
Finally the player should connect to CommSphere No.7 and wait for about ten seconds before calling Rin even though no event has happened. The player should then connect to CommSphere No.1, then immediately reconnect to CommSphere No. 7, wait for around 10 seconds and call Rin again. The player should repeat this cycle several times until it comes to a point where Rin will no longer answer Yuna's call. Once this happens, the player should disconnect from the CommSpheres.
In Chapter 5, it is revealed Rin is to blame for the incidents. While attempting to synchronize the machina a rogue machina went haywire and attacked the hover, knocking it into the ravine. As the machina were synchronized, all sentry machina became rogue and attacked travelers. Rin, knowing his guilt, dismantled as many machina as possible while the Gullwings were destroying them and attempted to slip away from the scene without anyone seeing him.
Rin enlisted the Gullwings for help in his investigation, knowing they were amateurs and hoping they would mess up the case. He tried to conceal evidence from the hover by breaking CommSphere No.5, hoping he wouldn't be caught, but was instead seen when the Gullwings connected to another CommSphere. The Gullwings kept calling Rin even though they didn't have any leads, but as Rin did not object to any of the interruptions Yuna deduced he was not intending to solve the case.
Rin argued that machina would soon be an integral part of Spira, and that he intends to cover up any further incidents involving them. He gives Yuna Gippal's Sphere before leaving, and the player will be allowed to ride chocobos free of charge. However, the player will get Episode Concluded instead.
Category:Sidequests in Final Fantasy X-2