Act 6

## SUMMARY

### Section 1. A Trip to the Lake

Following the DAY 2 screen we exit the well. The weather is dark and cloudy. Trying to interact with it again... "You can't go back to the hideout."

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Moving to the bottom we can see the shell case is missing, and interacting with the bottom of the screen where the woods stretch further... "Not yet..."

Moving near the Handy Pal Cabin we see faint splatters on the floor where Number 8 was torn apart, and no Handy Pals are outside yet.

Interacting with the door... "The door is locked. The Handy Pals might still be asleep."

Going further the Cursor passes the arches near the walkway where the flowers are. Suddenly Gardener Skye drops down behind us, presumably having hid in some foliage. She smiles and welcomes us back...

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Gardener Skye: "Welcome back, partner!" "Did you miss me? 'Cause I sure did start to miss ya'!" "..." "Sorry, just trying to stay positive..." "Haha..."

Note that this line comes before any rain that can stop her gardening plans, or anything of the sort. What happened yesterday she seems genuinely distressed and upset by.

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We know two very big things happened. First of all is the murder of Number 8, one of her oldest Handy Pals, by her own hands. Next, which happened because of this, is Ben's attack. This just as much if not more seems to have set her off on going totally nuts. Though later we see she seems to have stalked their family, besides that, she's had a relatively positive connection to Ben. I don't see any particular motivation for her to act malicious towards them unprovoked. Later on, we learn that despite clearly having the power to do so, Gardener Skye doesn't kill Ben instead throwing him in the basement. While cruel, if all she cared about was getting rid of a threat she wouldn't have showed any mercy, but she did. She even falsely believes that it was Nelson who sent Ben to spy on her. In her mind it seems he couldn't be guilty of deciding to hunt her down himself. This is despite how protective of a father Nelson seems to be, and how unreasonable it is to assume he'd put his son in danger like that before going out himself.

Suddenly a raindrop falls and the clouds start pouring.

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Gardener Skye: "Oh, it's raining!" "Don't worry though! We can still do some gardening today!" "I think?" "Bah! …who am I kiddin'..." "I can't plant with this rain..."

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Suddenly, Gardener Skye's taken aback by a thought.

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Gardener Skye: "WAIT!" "I have an idea!"

Gardener Skye then takes the Cursor to the cabin, where she excitedly prepares a red whistle to wake the Handy Pals up. As we find out later, this whistle seems to disrupt the Handy Pals so much, if it's blown for too long they just explode. This explains the serious discomfort they seem to have as they remain stunned, writing, and shaking.

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Gardener Skye: "Watch this." "HANDY PALS!" "I have some excitin' news for ya'll!" "We're takin' a trip to the lake!" (pausing for a moment as Handy Pals are still shaking) "Man, you guys are no fun..."

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This then kicks off a travel montage where the Cursor is followed by three other Handy Pals. Gardener Skye makes sure to bring fishing gear with her.

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On the way a Mutated Handy Pal attacks and kills the last Handy Pal following, but the others don't notice.

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As Gardener Skye approaches Nelson's House, she announces their near arrival, realizing all her Handy Pals have gone missing. Here in the middle of the woods, the Cursor must look for the two that remain.

Gardener Skye: "Looks like we're almost there, Handy Pals!" "..." "Where are the other three?" (expression of frustration) "Ugh... they probably got lost again." (smiling again) "Can you go and look for 'em, please?"

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Afterwards, Gardener Skye just keeps smiling and waiting for you to get the rest of them together.

Interacting with the path further up... "You can't leave this place yet."

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Moving a little further down and to the left, we can find some shotgun shells (another clue)… "A shotgun shell." "But why is it here?"

This and the matching environment lets us know this is where Ben confronted Gardener Skye at the end of DAY 1.

As the Cursor moves further down, one of the Handy Pals evades them. It seems like they purposefully were avoiding Gardener Skye, and trying to leave the group.

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At the very bottom hidden in a bush is C's 16th note. It talks about them seeing a giant fish and deciding it's best to leave the garden "for good."

Moving closer to the Handy Pal avoiding us we manage to lead them to the open, where they get surprised and are considered found... "Two more Handy Pals left!"

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This message comes despite the fact one of the Handy Pals went missing during the journey, visible to the player, but seemingly not the Cursor. This supports the idea of the narrator being third person limited not to the player's perspective, but the current protagonist.

At the top right is a boulder that can't be moved until two of the Handy Pals are found... "This boulder is blocking the path." "If only there were a way to remove it..."

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Down and to the left is the last actually remaining Handy Pal.

After finding the two of them they gesture you to help push the boulder... "One more Handy P- …huh?" "Oh!" "Looks like the Handy Pals need your help!" "Maybe they found something important..."

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Moving up to help them you get prompted to help push the boulder aside.

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After pushing the boulder, the other Handy Pals are gone, and the Cursor can move further along the path, ignoring Gardener Skye. Walking further up, the Cursor runs into a Mutated Handy Pal standing over the corpse of a normal Handy Pal. Turning around after noticing their presence, it starts to walk to them. However, it's interrupted by Gardener Skye.

Gardener Skye: "HANDY PALS!" "Could ya'll hurry up please?" "I ain't got all day, ya' know?"

after this, the Mutated Handy Pal backs away. We know from their behavior and their website description that the Mutated Handy Pals are afraid of Gardener Skye, which makes sense, as she's more than capable of taking them out.

The screen then fades to black and it transitions to when Gardener Skye, the Cursor, and the two Handy Pals arrive at Nelson's House.

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Gardener Skye: "Alrighty pals!" "Before we start, I need to talk to..." "...an old friend of mine." "So, I'm gonna need ya'll to wait here for a bit." "It'll be quick, I promise!"

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Here she takes pause, and is visibly upset about her visit. Whatever she plans to get out of visiting here she knows it's not gonna be easy. She's trying to wear a smile on her face but it's clear she doesn't want to confront Nelson after what's happened. By the way she talks about it, Nelson posing a genuine threat, and her attitude, it seems like she was planning to do a little more than just talk. Especially with how the act ends, she appears to have decided she needs to get rid of him. He's become too much of a threat.

After this the door is opened and the Cursor can't do much besides follow behind. Trying to leave through the path above... "It's too dangerous to go back there."

Interacting with the open door... "Go inside the cabin?"

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With this, the Cursor is given a YES or NO choice, though they must choose YES to progress. This starts a cutscene when Gardener Skye enters.

Gardener Skye: "Hmm..." "Where is he?" "Anyone home?"

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We then see Nelson looking down from the ceiling, shotgun ready.

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Hearing a knock from the ceiling, Gardener Skye looks up surprised, as Nelson drops down immediately holding her at gunpoint.

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Gardener Skye: "Oh, there you are!" "How ya' doin' Nelson?" Nelson: "Where's Ben?" Gardener Skye: "Ben? What happened to him?" Nelson: (pressing the gun to her head further, threateningly) "Don't play dumb with me, ya' stupid rabbit." (text shaking) "Last night, he went to the woods lookin' for you..." (text shaking) "...and he's still not here!" (text shaking) Gardener Skye: "Nelson, don't worry..." "I'm sure he's probably huntin' right now... or somethin'" "Look, you trained him for this, didn't you?" "I think we both know he's already old enough to take care of himself, right?"

After this, the two exchange glares, but eventually Nelson folds, and brings down the shotgun, somewhat convinced by Gardener Skye's words and attitude.

Nelson: "I'm sorry, Skye." Gardener Skye: "Don't worry, I know it's hard to be a parent..." "But Ben's a great kid, I'm sure he's doing fine." "Look, how 'bout we forget about all this and go fishin' for a bit? For old times' sake?" Nelson: "..." "'Ight.'" "But if he ain't back home after this... I'll go look for him myself." Gardener Skye: "He'll be back, Nelson." "I'm sure of it."

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Once this conversation finishes, Nelson notices and starts talking to the Cursor.

Nelson: "Oh, hey." "Sorry 'bout all that, been a while since I've seen that rabbit around here, ya' know?" "But yeah, enough about that... you're one of em' Handy Pals, right?" "You look kinda' different though." "Not even a number on your back, huh?" "Weird." "Guess I'll just call you lil' guy from now on." "Well, uh... in the meantime, you can check out the house if you want." "Or we could just... leave."

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After Nelson is done talking to us, we're given the option to explore the house, except for the top floor.

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Interacting with the couch... Nelson: "So, that's my chair." "...which I guess also counts as my bed." "Look, I need to stay alert at all times ya' know?" "If I get myself a comfy ol' bed, I'm never getting up!" "My son Ben has an actual bed in the attic, but I ain't letting you go there."

Interacting with the picture in front of the window... Nelson: "Ah yes, I remember that ol' photo." "Ben and I got lost in the woods one day, and that rabbit found us." "She has a beautiful house in the woods, actually, have you seen it?" "Apparently she and her Handy Pals built it together, but I wonder... why there?" "That land where her garden's at looks pretty good to live in." "I don't understand why she decided to live so far away from... well, everyone."

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The photo depicts a cheerful Gardener Skye holding an equally cheerful Ben, and a more cautious looking Nelson.

There's a cabinet with a giant broken slot, its glass shattered all over the floor. Interacting with it... Nelson: "Well, that's where I used to keep my grandpa's ol' shotgun." "I need to clean that up."

Interacting with the photo on the right side of the cabinet...

Nelson: "Those are photos of all of our family members." "They're my brothers, Joseph, Sophia, John, Tina, Frederick, William, Oliver, Noah..." "...And uh... what was his name..." "Oh right, Raphael, the little one." "And that's me on the front." "It's been a while since we last saw each other, hopefully we'll reunite again in the future." "Ben loves hangin' out with them."

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In the background of the photo we can see black bunny ears. This seems to imply Gardener Skye was stalking the family. It technically could be Boxers in this photo, but I highly, highly doubt it.

Interacting with the ladder to the right, Nelson lets us know we're not allowed to go there...

Nelson: "Yeah, you can't go there, pal."

Interacting with the door at the bottom the Cursor gets a YES or NO choice to leave..

Nelson: "Wanna get out of here?" (YES or NO)

Selecting NO will let the Cursor further explore the house. Selecting YES the both of them leave, starting a cutscene outside of Nelson's House. Here, Nelson prepares to get on a boat with the Cursor as Gardener Skye's already on her boat with the two remaining Handy Pals…

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Gardener Skye: "Alright, Handy Pals!" "It's time to go fishing!" "As always, I'll go with my Handy Pals." "Nelson you go with the curs-"

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Here, Gardener Skye quickly glosses over her slip up, and seems very keen on her choice of words to avoid referring to the Cursor as "the Cursor". Her dialog even continues automatically that line. After this she makes a very awkward face while correcting her slip-up...

Gardener Skye: "I- I MEAN, the white glove, yeah! You go with the white glove! Silly me!" (text shaking) ???: (the Cursor) "..." Gardener Skye: "..." (text shaking) Nelson: "..." "Sure." Gardener Skye: "OK, let's go!"

Continuing the screen fades to black as section 2 begins.

### Section 2. Fishing: Round 1

We see Nelson on his boat in the middle of the lake, where it's still raining. The Cursor is at the end of his fishing rod...

Nelson: "So..." "What are the rules, rabbit?"

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(the camera pans to Gardener Skye)

Gardener Skye: "Simple!" "Whoever catches the most fish before time runs out, wins!" "Oh! And uh... watch out for piranhas!" "'Ight, let's do this lil' guy."

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As fishing begins, Nelson tosses us in the water to start catching some fish. Judging by the lack of reaction on his end to this strange way of fishing, Gardener Skye and him have probably done this with the Handy Pals before.

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Underwater the Cursor can dash with the action key and catch fish with the interact key. They stay connected to the fishing line. After the tutorial, the real minigame starts. A timer wheel is at the top, with both Nelson and Gardener Skye's scores on either side.

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Whenever one collects a fish, their portrait smiles and the other gives a mean look.

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At this point in the lake there's nothing much of note, just some rocks sand and plants. The water is also pretty clear. Here there isn't any real danger yet.

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### Section 2. Fishing: Round 2

Finishing having collected more fish than Gardener Skye, the both of them continue further down the lake. Gardener Skye just lays back as her Handy Pals do the work rowing for her.

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Nelson struggles to keep up and is concerned why they're going so far away...

Nelson: "HEY!" "Can you explain to me where the hell are we goin' right now?" Gardener Skye: "Oh silly me, I forgot to tell ya'!" "Everytime we finish a round, we'll go deeper into the lake!" Nelson: "Why, exactly?" Gardener Skye: "I just wanna increase the difficulty, that's all!" Nelson: "Whatever you say, rabbit..."

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Eventually, the two arrive at the next part of the lake, which is a lot rockier with Lilly pads.

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Gardener Skye: "We're here!" Nelson: "Alright lil' guy..." "Let's show this rabbit what we got."

Starting off this round there's some things that immediately stand out. For one, there's very noticeable ruins of stone buildings, very geometric looking. The water is greener and more swampy looking than before. There's currents that push the Cursor in their direction.

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There's also what looks like giant bones, which to be on the surface of the water, must be of a relatively recently deceased creature, a kind of creature that's still around unless recently extinct.

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As Gardener Skye learned before piranhas now stalk the water, and will chase the Cursor when near. If they touch the cursor a jumpscare plays where the Cursor is chomped to death.

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### Section 2. Fishing: Round 3

After completing round 2, Nelson follows Gardener Skye further still into the lake.

Nelson: "Hey, looks like the rain stopped."

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Gardener Skye: "But still one more round left!" "Trust me, you're gonna LOVE this one!"

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Nelson: "Hmm..."

After this travel scene, a fade to black transition takes us to the next scene of the lake. The scenery looks about the same as before.

Nelson: "Is this it, rabbit?" "...rabbit?"

On Gardener Skye's end we see her lean to the side of her boat. She vomits a strange black substance into the water, and turns back to face forward from the boat. A shadow covers her face as she frowns.

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Gardener Skye: "Oh, Nelson." "You're such a fool..." Nelson: "Huh?" Gardener Skye: "You know, I truly believed that your species was more intelligent." "Yet, here we are." Nelson: "Alright, I ain't plain' this game anymore, let's go lil' guy."

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Suddenly, several black claws rush up from the water surrounding Nelson's boat, leaving him with a shocked expression. These claws seem to have appeared from the substance she threw up into the water.

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Gardener Skye: "Not so fast." "Don't you want to see your son again?"

As she says that last line, she laughs and smiles as her eyes turn a glowing purple.

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We see a close up shot of Nelson turning to her, looking with dread in his eyes.

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Gardener Skye: "Don't worry, my friend." "He's alive, for now." Nelson: "..." "Y- you better not lay a single finger on my Ben, y- you bastard." Gardener Skye: "It's okay, just follow my rules and I'll take you to him." Nelson: "R- rules?" Gardener Skye: "Your little friends simply needs to SURVIVE until time runs out." "If you win, you get to see your son." "If you lose, you're dead!" "Got it?" Nelson: "..." "Lil' guy..." "I know this is all my fault, I should've never brought you into all this." "But I really need your help right now." "...so p- please, don't die on me..." "...please..."

Delving into the water one last time for round 3, we have no score, just the timer at the top. There are no normal fish to catch, just dangerous ones to avoid. Of course there's the larger piranhas from before, but also smaller ones that you can break free from. Most notably however is a giant fish with multiple sets of sharp teeth inside its mouth. This seems to be the same fish as described in C's 16th note. There are also eyeballs under this part of the water, which stare directly at the Cursor at all times.

Getting bitten by the giant fish also has its own jumpscare.

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After surviving round 3 it transitions back to Nelson having reeled the Cursor back up.

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Nelson: "I knew I could count on you, lil' guy." "So, what now rabbit?" "We won your stupid game, happy now?" "...rabbit?" Gardener Skye: "..." (clutching to the boat with visible frustration) "........" "............"

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As she shakes around in frustration, everything goes dark around her, and with a flash of purple she seems processed by whatever monstrous thing is inside of her letting out an unnatural scream, terrifying the Handy Pals on the boat. Gardener Skye's eyes are glowing and rolling all the way up. In this process she appears to be slowly rising. Her face looks full of agony, and the whole process seems like it feels awful for her. However, as the screams end, her eyes roll back down and she bares a large grin on her face. She falls back down onto the boat, now with a crazed cross-eyed look, and her mouth wide agape.

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Gardener Skye: (Now with text shaking and part purple) "I SEE HOW IT IS!" "YOU JUST THINK YOU'RE BETTER THAN ME!" "THAT'S WHY YOU SENT YOUR PATHETIC SON TO SPY ON ME, RIGHT?" "YOU JUST WANT TO GET RID OF ME." "WELL TO BAD, YOU STUPID FROG!" "IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE FAIR!" "THEN I CAN'T PROMISE TO BE FAIR EITHER!"

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We cut back to the Cursor and a terrified Nelson on the boat, as suddenly the giant fish attacks the both of them. Biting at their boat.

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