Melissa Boike

**Melissa Boike** is a side character in The Smoke Room. She is a student at Echo School and the best friend of Blithe Washington.

## Appearance

Melissa is a teenage rabbit with prominent ears. She has amber eyes and curly brown fur that ranges to a lighter cream color on her inner ears, hands, eyebrows, muzzle, and front, as well on both cheeks in a freckle-like pattern. She wears a fuchsia gingham dress over a dark long-sleeved shirt with lace cuffs.

## Personality

Melissa is a sensitive and emotionally intelligent girl who has great empathy for others. She struggles somewhat academically, though on occasion she inadvertently brings up poignant ideas when in conversation with others. Melissa enjoys writing poetry and exploring the "tromping grounds" with Blithe, and though she lacks confidence in her academic abilities she is dedicated and brave even in the face of danger.

### Before The Smoke Room

Melissa lives with her parents in Echo, where she attends Echo's school as a junior in Holly Byrnes' class. At some point, she met Blithe and the two became close friends. Eventually, Blithe showed her a passage near her house that led down to the tunnels of Echo's mines, allowing one to travel all throughout the town so long as they know the right paths to take. The two designated this area as "The Tromping Grounds," and it became a special area to them. Though not as well-versed in the passages as Blithe, Melissa helped her map the tunnels and grew to learn the layout of the area better than most.

### Murdoch's Route

Melissa first appears when Sam arrives at the school to assist in picture day, discussing the recent death of a large group of birds with Blithe and some of her other classmates. She expresses concern over this event, feeling as though it is a bad omen of things to come. Unfortunately, these fears soon come to pass.

After school that day, Melissa and Blithe discuss their classmate Mary Applegate moving away under mysterious circumstances, with Melissa expressing belief that Mary is fine and will return her correspondence soon. After parting ways with Blithe, Melissa returns home to find a letter from "Mary" explaining that she is trapped in the mines and begging for help. Melissa quickly rushes to the tromping grounds after leaving a note for Blithe, where she finds a series of notes leading her deeper into the mine.

Eventually, Melissa realizes that the notes are not likely to be the work of Mary, only to be pursued by a mysterious man who seems to have been lying in wait for her before she can make her escape. Melissa manages to lose him in the passages only to find Mary's corpse deeper in the mine, much to her horror. Melissa promises Mary's remains to bring justice to her killer before climbing out of the room, overhearing a conversation between her pursuer and a "spirit" of some kind as she does so. Before Melissa can escape the mines however, she is seemingly attacked by a large spiderlike creature.

Fortunately for Melissa, she is able to escape the spider by ducking into a thin crevasse that it is unable to traverse and hiding in the cavern beyond. Fearful of the creature or the man that pursued her still being in the mine outside of the cavern, Melissa chooses to stay in her hiding spot. While trapped in the cavern, Melissa is discovered by James Hendricks III who begins communicating with her from a hole at the top of the cave. Worrying about the bad publicity that could ensue should people hear that a girl was trapped in his mine in the midst of the miners' strike, James convinces Melissa to stay put until the situation is smoothed over. Over the following five days, Melissa is fed by James and survives her ordeal despite growing somewhat weaker from the less than ideal conditions.

After having a dream from Melissa's point of view showing exactly what had happened to her up until the spider appearing, Blithe ventures into the mine in hopes of rescuing her friend. After two days of searching, Blithe eventually finds Melissa in her hiding spot and the two share a joyous reunion. Melissa is shocked to see Blithe and questions if she is real, then shares her knowledge of Mary's death. Though Blithe attempts to convince Melissa to leave the mine immediately, she remains reluctant to do so in fear of the dangers beyond the cavern. The pair are soon interrupted by the arrival of James, who Blithe tries to reason with in hopes of having him lower a rope for the two to escape through the roof.

Just before Blithe can make any headway in convincing James, he makes an exclamation of horror and apologizes to the girls before covering the hole and running off. Melissa is terrified by once again being plunged into darkness and is finally spurred into following Blithe back into the mines in an attempt to escape themselves. Melissa is notably nervous as the two navigate the tunnels, particularly when the pair hear a man yelling as he approaches their location. After being reassured by Blithe that the voice of the man does not match that of the one who pursued her, Melissa is able to translate the man's cries of "podpalacz" as "arsonist" due to her father being friends with a Lach. The girls eventually cross paths with a burly miner, who is shocked to see them and tells them that they need to flee immediately.

## Relationships

### Blithe

Blithe is Melissa's best friend, and the two frequently spend their time exploring the "tromping grounds," a series of tunnels from the mines that lead all throughout Echo. Melissa respects Blithe for her bravery and ability to shrug off hardships, though she is occasionally frustrated and flustered by her blunt (and often rude) comments. Melissa's emotional perspective tends to pair well with Blithe's more worldly and straightforward outlook on life, as the two are able to expand one another's views even when in disagreement. The two seem to share almost everything with one another, whether through talking or passing notes. Before Melissa goes in search of Mary, her last action is to leave behind a note for Blithe in case anything should happen to her.

Upon being reunited in the mines, Melissa is overjoyed to see Blithe, though she is initially unsure of whether or not her friend is truly there or if it is a trick of the mines. As a result of her experiences, Melissa is reluctant to brave the dangers of the mines and relies on Blithe's reassurance to bolster her through their escape attempt.

### Mary Applegate

Melissa and Mary were classmates and occasionally spent time together outside of school, though the two did not seem to get along. Melissa found Mary to be snobbish and vapid, even writing a poem about her oblivious nature despite her good looks. Despite this, Melissa is very disturbed to learn that Mary is potentially in danger and goes to rescue her immediately, even suggesting that she could stay with the Boikes if necessary. Upon discovering Mary's body, Melissa is devastated that someone would end a life so gruesomely and vows revenge on her killer on Mary's behalf.

### James Hendricks III

Melissa meets James while trapped in a cave in the mines, communicating with him through a hole in the cavern's roof leading to the surface. James convinces her to stay put and provides her with "food from his own table," making Melissa grateful for his assistance and reluctant to go against him in spite of James ostensibly leaving her trapped for his own benefit while having ample opportunity to help her.

## Trivia

* Before her sprites were added in Build 28, Melissa made her first visual appearance in a CG.
* During the events of Flynn's route in Echo, Chase stumbles across a poem titled *Embrace of These Lands* written by an author named Boike. Given Melissa's habit of writing poems and the subject matter seemingly reflecting her experience in the mines, it is likely she is the author of this piece.

## Gallery

DefaultTalkingEyes closedHappySadAfraidHorrifiedLooking to the sideMelissa's first visual appearance.The poem from Echo written by Boike