Part 19: Chimera Lab
As you head through the Murasaki Forest to reach the Chimera Lab, there are some exceptionally strange Chimeras outside, such as Pigtunias and Ostrelephants.
The single most disturbing Chimera in the game can be found here: The Horsantula. Unlike most Chimeras, this one doesn’t have a clever name or design – it’s just plain freaky.
When you visit the Chimera Lab, the Pigmask guarding the entrance recognizes Lucas from the factory and conveniently tells him to keep watch for him, adding that he needs to look for some escaped monkeys inside. When you inevitably don’t do that and follow the Pigmask inside, the camera pans up to reveal the head of some nightmarish combination on top of the door, posted like a deer. As the game continues, the Chimeras we encounter get increasingly more twisted.
When you go inside, everyone just assumes that you’re there to volunteer, and you are instructed to put on a pig mask and look for the monkeys who are hiding somewhere in the laboratory. This is the game’s excuse to let you look around and see how Chimeras are made. This portion of the game is highly visual; the game wants you to see everything for yourself.
In a few rooms, you can find various surgical equipment, machines, and scientific literature. Some notes describe the “Ultimate Chimera,” and how dangerous it is. “’Should the Ultimate Chimera escape from its cage, seal all entrances and exits immediately. In the unlikely event that it gets outside, use full force – to feign ignorance and pretend nothing happened. In the event that the Ultimate Chimera is seen by civilians,’ …The rest has been erased and is unreadable.”
In one room, there is a collection of skeletons of previous Chimeras you’ve encountered. There is a sign next to one skeleton that says “Runner-up,” which implies there was a Chimera design contest at one point; they’re treating this all like a game!
In another room, you can find various specimens preserved in glass tubes. Another room has specimens preserved in ice, including a live Drago.
The most disturbing room is the operating room. The game describes, “There are so many huge machines lined up here that it almost seems like more of a construction site than an operating room.” There are straps on the operating table, as well as very painful-looking equipment like buzzsaws. It looks more like a torture chamber than anything else!
One room has a few live Chimeras on display for sale at extremely high prices. They go as followed:
- Parental Kangashark: 10,000,000 DP
- Ostrelephant: 8,000,000 DP
- Einswine: 12,500,000 DP
- PORKY 08: SOLD OUT
In the same room, there is a memo on the wall that says,
“A Memo about the Kind of Chimeras I Want:
- Ones that don’t eat much!
- Ones as nice and loving as they are cool!
- Ones with a decent flavor and scent!
- Ones that won’t cry at night!
- Ones that make a good bodyguard!
- Ones with a great coat of fur!
- Ones that don’t chew with their mouth open!
- Ones with poop that doesn’t stink much!
- Ones that are warmhearted!
- Ones that aren’t oversensitive!”
This is a ridiculously long and specific list! This is the description of a dog that doesn’t have any of the problems that you get with a dog, such as not eating much or smelling bad. Whoever is asking for these Chimeras can’t settle for anything but perfection, and anything “defective” cannot be tolerated! This person just wants more and more and will never be content with what already exists.
When you enter a room where brains and nervous systems are being preserved in chemicals, you can also find Salsa and his girlfriend hiding! They bolt out of the room to hide somewhere else.
When you leave that room, you are attacked by a rouge Chimera! This one is especially unnatural, as it’s almost completely made of metal.
Even if it defeats you, you can still progress the story, as Claymen tackle it, saving your life. Apparently, this is one of two Chimeras on the loose. The other one has a huge mouth and strikes fear into every Pigmask. They tell you that if you encounter it, the only thing you can do is “GET. THE HECK. OUT OF THERE!”
The music comes to an end, and the only background noises are pig squeals and roars. As you search for Salsa, there is a chance to encounter the Ultimate Chimera in any room you enter. If it catches you, you instantly die and are taken back to the last save frog you talked to.
In one of the hallways, you can find a man hiding inside a trashcan; his name is Dr. Andonuts. Dr. Andonuts was the brilliant scientist who helped develop the time travel technology for Ness and his team in EarthBound to defeat Giygas. Now, he says he is being forced to conduct research for a “certain man.”
When you enter the basement, a scientist will note that the monkeys opened the Ultimate Chimera’s cage – it was probably their strategy to escape. When you find them again, they run away again. When you find them one last time, this happens:
Salsa and his girlfriend are cornered by Lucas and Boney, who are cornered by the Ultimate Chimera. Dr. Andonuts remembers the Ultimate Chimera’s only weakness: the off switch on its back. Despite being in the right position to turn it off himself, he runs away and lets Lucas figure out how to do it. The Chimera lunges toward Lucas and Boney, just barely missing them and taking their masks instead. As Lucas and Boney run for their lives, Salsa remembers who it was that was trying to find him, and owes him a favor. Just when the Chimera is about to tackle Lucas, Salsa flips the off switch, saving his life. Salsa, his girlfriend, and Dr. Andonuts take the opportunity to free themselves from the laboratory while all the Pigmasks are hiding. Even though the Ultimate Chimera can be turned off, it can turn itself back on with the bird on its head, and it comes back to life…
With Salsa on your side, you head over to the location of the second Needle, which is conveniently located right beside the Chimera Lab. To get to the Needle, there is a wall with an odd dance depicted on it, just like in Osohe Castle. Salsa performs the sacred ritual for Lucas, and the wall goes into the ground.
Behind the wall are two holes in the ground – one is full of water, and the other is full of air. There is also a Magypsy house next to them. Inside, you find Kumatora talking to Doria. Kumatora mentions that Doria rescued her as she fell from the airship; she safely landed in the water. Doria explains that the Needle is located underneath the pond, and the water needs to be transported to the other hole to pull it. He says that the Chimera Lab might have something that can empty the pond.
When you go back to Dr. Andonuts for help, he gives you three different Chimeras that could potentially solve your problem. First, there’s Dryguy, a Chimera that uses the latest drying technology to dry up even the thickest of hair. The second option is the Bucket Bros, two guys with buckets who are exceptionally hard workers. Lastly, is Mr. Pump, a Chimera that is pretty useless unless you want to empty a pond and fill up an adjacent hole with water. You can watch all three of them in action if you’d like:
Once Mr. Pump gets the job done, Lucas is ready to pull his first Needle.
The earth quakes, the sky changes color, and smoke bursts out from the ground. Something awakens inside Lucas, and he learns a stronger version of PK Love. As you saw, the animation that takes place when the Needle is pulled is quite long. Each time one is pulled, you have to watch the earth shaking and sky flashing for its full duration. This is done to portray the immensity of what just happened.
Doria fades away, noting that he had many fond memories in his lifetime. Kumatora joins Lucas’s party, but before they depart from Salsa and his girlfriend, Salsa gifts Kumatora a small nut just for her as thanks for everything she’s done.
This concludes part 19 of the analysis.