GyoukAI

**Day 3: Sunday -gyoukAI-**(3日目: 日曜日 -凝塊-, *3-Nichi-me: Nichiyōbi -gyōkAI-,* lit. **Day 3: Sunday -Clot-** or **-Frozen Mass-**) is a chapter featured in *AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES*.

It is the sixth chapter of the Purple Route. It covers Kaname Date's investigation of Renju Okiura's disappearance.

## Case File Synopsis

The cellphone found at Bloom Park belonged to Shoko, but the caller was unknown. To continue the investigation, Date decided to visit Renju at the hospital, Mama the informant, and Mizuki at home.

Renju, who was in a car accident, escaped the hospital. Looking for him, Date searched Sunfish Pocket, where he met Ota. Ota claimed that he couldn't get in contact with Iris. Date continued to obtain useful information: Mizuki got her voice back, Mizuki's teacher is Hitomi, and Moma is a huge fan of Iris. Eventually, Date discovered that the person who called Shoko was none other than the politician, So Sejima. Date watched So coming out of the cold storage warehouse. Inside, he found the frozen corpse of Iris. Date interrogated So, then began the Psync...

## Story Summary

### ABIS HQ, Boss's Office, Sunday 9:37 AM

Date and Aiba met with Boss to discuss the case. Boss informed him that Renju had been found: he was in the hospital after getting in an accident on the highway. She also said that the phone at the merry-go-round had belonged to Shoko Nadami, but the caller still could not be identified. Aiba deduced that the caller was likely not Shoko's killer, since they called after she was killed. Aiba also traced Mizuki's phone to Date's home, showing she had left the hospital.

### Central Hospital, Sunday - Free Move

   Date spoke to the nurse assigned to Renju about his disappearance. She said that Renju had escaped his hospital room overnight, and his whereabouts were unknown. His surgery was successful, but he was in critical condition and likely putting himself in danger. Aiba determined that Renju might have been trying to make an escape, so Date called Lemniscate to ask about him. The receptionist did not know where he was, but she mentioned that Renju had decided to rent out Sunfish Pocket.

#### Sunfish Pocket, Sunday - Free Move

Date found Ota at Sunfish Pocket. Neither Ota nor the mermaid serving him knew Renju's whereabouts. Ota told Date he was unable to contact Iris, and he was concerned about her because of her stream the previous night. Around 2:00 AM, while Iris was streaming, someone rang the doorbell. Iris cut the stream short and said something came up, and was not heard from since. Date tried calling her, but her number was unavailable. Ota also mentioned that he bought a new phone while visiting Akihabara on Saturday.

### Home, Sunday - Free Move

Date returned home to find that Mizuki was talking again, and Hitomi had stayed the night. She explained that she was Mizuki's homeroom teacher, and Mizuki had sent her a NILE message the previous night, so she came over to the hospital and took her home. Date was finally able to ask Mizuki about the case. She confirmed that the NILE message calling her to Bloom Park was from Renju's phone, and that she was the one to pull out the ice pick. She also confirmed that Shoko's eye socket was already empty when the ice pick was stabbed into it. When Date asked about the ringtone from her Somnium, she realized she might have heard it, but did not know where the sound came from. Mizuki did not know about Renju's accident or where he might have gone, nor did she know Iris's whereabouts.

Hitomi told Date that Mizuki had explained her living situation to her. She was not sure why she was able to get Mizuki talking again, but she explained she was hugging her all night, until Mizuki began to cry. Date asked about her connection to Renju, and she said that Renju really wanted Hitomi to be Mizuki's teacher, to the extent that he moved into the same district five years prior, before his divorce. Hitomi said that Iris was likely at home, but she did not know for sure, since she had not been home. Date used Aiba's x-ray vision to find a metal plate in Hitomi's shoulder. When asked about it, Hitomi explained that she was shot in the shoulder during a break-in six years earlier.

### Marble, Sunday - Free Move

At Marble, Date asked Mama for information about where Renju might be. Mama did not know where he might be, but she mentioned the "watch incident," in which Renju got angry at Date for spilling beer on his watch. When asked about Shoko, Mama mentioned that her company was part of an investment fraud scheme with the Kumakura Gang. Date decided to visit the Kumakura Office for further information.

#### Kumakura Office, Sunday - Free Move

Date got in a fight with two of the yakuza members at the Kumakura Office. After incapacitating them both, he began asking Moma Kumakura for information. Date mistakenly assumed that Rohan Kumakura was the chairman of the Kumakuras, but Aiba informed him that Rohan committed suicide one year prior, and Moma had been the chairman for six years. Moma denied any connections to Shoko.

Date used Aiba's x-ray vision to discover an A-set figure hidden in the safe. He realized that Moma was an A-set fan, and used that to blackmail him for further information. Moma explained that Rohan had been hit in the head with a bat about 20 years ago, causing him to suffer from hemispatial neglect, preventing him from seeing out of his right eye. Rohan became cruel and violent, and eventually rose through the ranks to become the head of the gang. Six years ago, Rohan tried to handle an undisclosed threat to the Kumakuras. Soon after, however, he was arrested for shooting someone at their house, and tried for murder. However, he was determined to be insane, and housed in a mental hospital. Moma admitted to having connections to Shoko, but denied any involvement with her murder. He explained that the Kumakuras were at a golf tournament during Shoko's murder and thus could not have killed her, which Aiba was able to verify. He also admitted he knew Renju, but did not know where he might be. Date promised to let Moma meet A-set in exchange for information on Renju.

### Driving, Sunday

Date discussed the case with Aiba. While bickering with her, Aiba threatened to self-destruct. Date asked if she could really do that, and Aiba explained that she had the function in case she fell into the wrong hands and needed to prevent confidential information from leaking. She could not activate the self-destruct herself, however, since she obeyed Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics. A person with administrative authority, such as Date, needed to initiate it. They agreed on a two-part command to activate the self-destruct if necessary: the first command was "41205," and the second was Date telling a lie. Aiba assured Date that she would not "die," since her data would be backed up to the cloud.

Date asked Aiba if she could contact Iris, but her number was still unavailable. While reminiscing about his past, Date remembered that Boss was the one who found him after he lost his memories, while wandering around Golden Yokocho. After discussing their remaining leads, Aiba confirmed that the number from the burner phone's contacts was available to call. Date asked Aiba to call from Shoko's phone and imitate her voice to get information. By accusing him of being an imposter, Aiba was able to get the person on the other end to identify himself as So Sejima.

Date received a call about a message left to the police by Inmate #89 after Shoko's murder. #89 claimed to know who killed her, and asked to be released in exchange for telling the police the killer's identity. Date thought it might be a prank, but asked Aiba to look into him. He then headed for So Sejima's residence.

### Sejima Residence, Sunday 7:54 PM

So came out to meet Date, accompanied by two bodyguards. The bodyguards would not provide any information, and So denied having any connection to Shoko or her murder. Date asked Aiba to call him from Shoko's phone, proving that he called her on the night of the murder. So admitted to calling her, but would not answer further questions, and left. While questioning the bodyguards, Aiba traced So's phone's GPS and found that he was on the move. Date left to drive after him.

### Harbor Warehouse District, Sunday 8:51 PM

Outside the warehouses, Date watched So leave the Okiura Fishery Cold Storage Warehouse, get in his car, and drive away. Before Date could enter the warehouse, Aiba informed him that she was running out of battery and could not accompany him further. With Aiba powered off, Date entered the warehouse.

#### Cold Storage Warehouse, Sunday

    In the center of the warehouse, something was sitting on a workbench, covered by a white sheet. Date approached the bench and removed the sheet to discover a body—Iris's body, just as it appeared in Mizuki's Somnium, with stab wounds to the back and her right eye missing.

### Driving, Sunday

Date placed Aiba in the steering wheel to charge and hurried to ABIS. While driving, he asked Aiba to make a call to Boss. He reported the body at the cold storage warehouse and asked for So Sejima to be brought in for questioning. Boss agreed. As Date continued driving, he remembered Iris telling him she was going to die soon.

### ABIS HQ, Sunday

#### Interrogation Room, Sunday 9:48 PM

    Date began questioning So about Iris's murder. He denied knowing Iris or having seen her corpse. Date asked Aiba to play back the video she recorded of So leaving the warehouse. So admitted to being at the warehouse, but still denied that he saw the body, and would not elaborate further on why he was there. Boss urged Date not to keep So for too long, so Date moved on to asking for his alibi at the time of the crime. From the state of the body, her death would have been between 2:00 and 3:00 AM. So insisted that he was playing Mahjong at a private parlor at the time, and he did not know the other players. Aiba and Date reasoned that there would were little to no potential witnesses, and the shopkeeper could be in So's pocket, making his alibi unreliable. When Date confronted So about his alibi, So slipped up and mentioned that the victim had been stabbed, a detail Date never mentioned to him. He continued to refuse to answer any questions, so Date asked Boss for permission to Psync with him.

#### Psync Room, Sunday

    Just before the Psync, Pewter reminded Date of the six minute time limit.

## Trivia

### Etymology

* The name gyoukAI (凝塊) directly translates to "**Clot**." While the word by itself has no special meaning to this chapter, the individual kanji can be read as "**Frozen Mass**" (凝 - Freeze or Congeal, 塊 - Mass or Lump). This second meaning is in reference to the body of Iris Sagan, found frozen and dead inside the Okiura Fishery Cold Storage Warehouse.

### General

* During the investigation segment inside Date's Car (before arriving at the Sejima Residence), when speaking with Aiba on the topic "About Shoko Nadami's murder...", Date and Aiba attempt to call the rental phone that called Shoko Nadami on the night of the murder, later revealed to be So Sejima's phone. When given the selection "What line should we use?", the player can choose "Say you're from the cabaret club!" and have Aiba call from *the cabaret club*. Doing so will reveal that the rental phone has the cabaret club number blocked, to which Date concludes that the owner of the phone must be a regular there. The cabaret club that Date and Aiba used to call the phone was most likely Tiefblau, as it is the club that Date constantly refers to throughout the entire game. This implies that So Sejima is a frequent customer at Tiefblau.

### References to Media and Pop Culture

* During the 9:37 AM investigation segment in Boss's Office, if you examine the "Mask (Left)," Boss will state that putting on the mask will cause spikes to come out and drink your blood, which Date comments that it sounds familiar. This is a reference to *JoJo's Bizarre Adventure*, specifically the first part of the story, *Phantom Blood*, in which a character discovers a mask that is capable of turning humans into vampires by extending spikes on the sides and sucking on their blood.
* During the Free Time segment in the Kumakura Office, if you examine the "Dragon," Date will ask Aiba that, if he makes a wish, will it come true, to which she responds with "That is not Shenron..." Shenron is a character from the *Dragon Ball* series, a magical dragon capable of fulfilling any wish that his summoner desires.
	+ If you examine the "Dragon" a second time, Date will say "I wish... for panties!" before Aiba reminds him that it's not Shenron. Date's wish is a reference to the first ever wish performed in the original *Dragon Ball* by Oolong, one of the main characters in the story. Date's voice in Japanese even mimics the original Japanese line by Oolong in the anime.
* During the investigation segment inside Date's Car (before arriving at the Sejima Residence):
	+ If you examine the "Rearview Mirror," Date will jokingly scream out that a giant dog with a human face is chasing after them. This is most likely a reference to a Penghou, a Chinese mythological spirit known as a Hōkō in Japan, who bears the body of a dog but the face of a man.
	+ When speaking with Aiba on the topic "About Shoko Nadami's murder...", Date and Aiba attempt to call the rental phone that called Shoko Nadami on the night of the murder, later revealed to be So Sejima's phone. When Date asks Aiba if she's sure she can handle the task of mimicking Shoko's voice, Aiba states that, as an artificial intelligence, she's not prone to human error and nervousness, to which Date responds with "All right, HAL, let's see what you can do." This is a reference to the artificial intelligence named HAL 9000 from the *Space Odyssey* book series, but also most commonly known from the movie adaption *2001: A Space Odyssey.*

## Navigation

Hitomi Sagan • Mayumi Matsushita • Renju Okiura • Mama • Shoko Nadami • So Sejima • Moma Kumakura • Rohan Kumakura • Cyclops Serial Killer

## References

1. ↑ JoJo Wiki page for the Stone Mask
2. ↑ Dragon Ball Wiki page for Shenron
3. ↑ YouTube video of Oolong wishing for panties in Dragon Ball
4. ↑ Wikipedia page for Penghou
5. ↑ Wikipedia page for HAL 9000 and Space Odyssey