Rainer

Rainer is a character in the Petscop universe, and the creator of the game Petscop. During the series, he only communicates with players through dialogue boxes and notes in-game. He is also mentioned a few times in some channel descriptions and once by Paul.

In-game, he sometimes refers to himself with the title of Newmaker.

## History

### Direct mentions

Petscop 9 is the first time Rainer is mentioned by name in the series. The note in Lina's room in the Child Library is signed by Rainer:

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> Your friend never returned with you, and the windmill was gone. I went to see it myself. Where is it? What did you do?
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> - Rainer, Newmaker
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This signature additionally correlates Rainer with "Newmaker", a title otherwise found in reference to the Newmaker Plane and a title that the red tool extends to the player.

In Petscop 11, Care A's description is seen, which is signed by Rainer:

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> When the emergency began, you were all looking for Care A.
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> I told you all, we would never find Care A. When Care A goes missing, she goes missing forever.
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> My brother didn’t want us to find him, because he knew we were all looking for Michael A.
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> I’m back. This is my present for you.
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> I started it in 1996, for Marvin.
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> If you think they’re worth any effort, see if you can save Care B, or Care NLM. Care B is in the school, of course.
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> Fuck you all, and fuck me as well. Merry Christmas. Check your bathroom now.
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> - Rainer
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After reading this, Paul mentions that he had once seen Rainer at a party:

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> I saw him at a birthday party once. All the older kids were down in the basement playing video games, to hide from everyone. He was down there too. He was older than the rest of them, though.
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In recordings shown in Petscop 20, Rainer addresses directly to Marvin about Care's disappearance:

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> Hi Marvin. Rainer here.
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> You have to be careful this time.
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> If you start running out there without a sense of purpose, you'll get lost.
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> I'm writing this on July 10th, 1997, and Care is still missing.
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> We are searching. Last weekend, we almost got lost ourselves.
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> Your search is harder. Beyond here, there are no landmarks.
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> But this model of a brick building, though crude, should still be familiar to you.
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> Where is this building?
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> From here, I want you to find a grave.
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> You know the grave I'm talking about. It's definitely out there somewhere.
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> It's unmarked, of course. That's the trouble. You're the only person who can find it.
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> I increased your speed, so you can search faster.
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### Implied references

With Rainer being the creator of the Petscop game, many notes and passages inside of and related to the game can also be presumed to be written by Rainer.

In Petscop 1, Paul reads a note that came with the game, referring to an unknown "You":

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> June 13, 1997
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> For you: Please go to my website on the sticker and also go to roneth's room and press start and press down down down down down right start
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In Petscop 3, a note in Care's room in the Child Library again refers to a "You", though this time is more clearly implied to be for Marvin:

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> Your wife says, "Care isn't growing eyebrows."
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> You say, "That's a puzzle."
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> You're secretly very excited to hear this news.
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> You're in the bathtub thinking about her.
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> I have a guess at which child you'll pick next.
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> ...
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In Petscop 14, the recording shown at the beginning of the video is of Marvin playing. Marvin reads a message addressed to him by interacting with the windmill:

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> This windmill vanished off the face of the earth.
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> Here’s a similar puzzle. For you, Marvin:
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> There are two pictures of a door.
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> In the first picture, the door is closed.
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> In the second picture, taken later, the door is open.
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> Nobody opened the door.
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> The door did not open itself.
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> The door, in fact, did not open at all.
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> What happened?
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Considering Rainer's note to Marvin in Lina's Child Library room, this implies Rainer believes that Marvin knows what happened with the windmill's disappearance.

With the initial message in Marvin's recordings shown in Petscop 20 being directly from Rainer, most other messages in recordings of Marvin addressed to Marvin can also be implied and assumed to be from Rainer. In Casket 3's description, Rainer discusses how he helped Anna paint the house walls black. In Casket 2's description, he describes that while painting, he was watching Care dance in the house, and was disgusted by her spinning.

### Channel and video descriptions

The channel description, from June 24th to December 24th, 2017, read as follows:

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> "Rainer" gave this gift to us on Christmas 1997 and 2000. It was the single longest day of our lives. We were all certain he was dead at the time. He had been missing since June 1997 and 2000.
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> We're not as concerned about these things now.
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> Please enjoy the recordings! We do. :)
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The video description of the Petscop Soundtrack links a Bandcamp page to purchase the soundtrack, which credits the artist as "Rainer".

## Theories

Rainer is implied to be able to contact Marvin with the Petscop game and depict various events of Care's disappearance within it. With Rainer searching for Care with the family after her disappearance, it suggests that Rainer had an idea of where Care was, but did not disclose it to the family.

### Name

"Rainer" being in quotations in the channel descriptions implies Rainer may be a nickname or pseudonym. It is speculated that Daniel may be Rainer's actual name and identity, as the "mike2" recording played in Petscop 19 appears to refer to Petscop as "Daniel's game":

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> What? One of the eggs... was in Daniel's game??
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> What a unfair trick!
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### Rebirthing and Tiara

Tiara's captor (as seen in recordings shown in Petscop 12) may be Rainer; however, this may be contradictory to Rainer's opinions on rebirthing. In prior occasions, Rainer has implied disapproval or disgust with rebirthing.

In Petscop 3, in a note in Care's room in the Child Library, a note reads the following, regarding a different adult Tiara that Rainer is implied to personally know:

> Tiara says young people can be psychologically damaged "beyond rebirthing".
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As shown in Petscop 20, Casket 1's description is as follows:

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> This one is called “Casket 1”.
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> You showed Care her red, blurry reflection in a vase.
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> You said, “Do you see that? Look at how ugly you are now.”
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> Care squinted her eyes.
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> The reflection wasn’t clear at all, but as you began to describe her grisly deformities, she began to “see” them.
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> “Nobody wants to see you like this,” you said.
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> But she soon escaped, and bravely returned home.
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> In her bathroom mirror, she saw a clear picture.
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If Tiara's captor were to be Rainer, it would imply that his opinions on rebirthing have changed since Care's return in 1997.

### Bathroom

In Petscop 11, Paul enters the house stage, which is arranged like a Christmas party. Examining the green calendar on the wall seemingly confirms this, as December 25th is circled. Interacting with a ‘person’ in the scene results in a box of blue text, asking where "they" had been for so long and who the present they have is for. The only response given is “Can I use your bathroom?” Upon entering the bathroom, a ramp leads up and into the tub, but once in the tub, there is no way to exit it. Later, a letter written by Rainer ends with him writing, "Merry Christmas. Check your bathroom now."

In Petscop Soundtrack, the bathroom’s background music is named *bathroom-tomb*. While this is a form of unused content, it may imply additional information about the bathroom.

This, coupled with the fact that the channel description mentions Rainer having previously disappeared and giving Petscop as a gift on Christmas 1997 (and 2000), it is speculated that Rainer may have committed suicide in Marvin's bathtub, after suddenly reappearing at his family Christmas party, and giving the family Petscop with his attached note.