Pesterquest: Volume 2

Pesterquest: Volume 2, entitled 'Something Beyond The Sky', is the second installment of Pesterquest, a Homestuck spinoff visual novel. The befriendable character in the second installment is Rose Lalonde. Volume 2 was released on the same date as Volume 1, which was September 4th, 2019.

Plot
Taking John's advice, you decide to pop on over to Rose's place despite the fact that she lives on the other side of the country. Even so, you make use of your new powers and show up at her home  in no time flat. Undeterred by the pouring rain, you happily introduce yourself to the young lady.

Rose is naturally suspicious of your claim of being a mailman, and you find yourself unable to fabricate a lie on the spot. You implore that she keep your actual identity a secret from John, though she scoffs at your request. After all, you did show up uninvited and unannounced at her door like a creep, and you're basically asking her to lie to her best friend.


 * If you choose to rescind your request, admitting that you have been rather rude popping over all of a sudden, Rose tells you not to be too hard on yourself. Deciding to leave all the same, you teleport to another portion of the woods, only to reappear in a lab of some sorts. After taking a look at the various equipment in the lab, you wander down the hall and attempt to work some of the machines. Everything is locked down, and before you can get too philosophical about your fuzzy memories, you hear a cat meowing. You turn to find Mom Lalonde behind you with a kitten in her arms, and quickly apologize for tresspassing in her lab. Momentarily distracted, you dub the kitten Cryptid McWhiskers while Mom appearifies a pumpkin. Unhappy with the result, she makes the offending fruit disappear and instead appearifies a tiger. Unfortunately, the tiger overcomes its initial shock and charges for you. Caught between the tiger and Mom Lalonde, you decide to teleport away. You turn up inside Rose's house, startling the teen in the process. Rose isn't impressed with how you'd let yourself in uninvited, and reprimands you for making her think she was losing her mind. She then insists that you do a demonstration of the powers John said you'd had, and she is stunned with the display. She then leaves the room for a bit after warning you to stay inside (what follows next is identical to the route detailed below).


 * If you choose to go through with the request, Rose decides that your proposition is an interesting one, though she is quick to point out that she does not consider you a friend just yet. Determined to be her friend, you accept her offer to come inside. She proceeds to inform you that John had mentioned your time travel and teleportation powers, adding that she would like to see a demonstration. You oblige and teleport into her room with her in tow, surprising her immensely. Rose suddenly needs to leave, warning you to stay inside in the meantime. During her absence, you take a better look at her messy room. After scanning through the items, you note that Rose had been gone for quite some time and are getting a little worried about her general well-being.


 * Should you choose to stay put, Rose returns with a towel for you and talks about her interest in magic. A few sentences into the discussion, Rose tells you that she finds wizards utterly reprehensible and denies ever liking them. However, she pulls out a notebook full of her writing, saying that she'd only ever let Strider have a look. She then retrieves another journal from her sylladex, and you are stunned with her creative writing abilities. You take a look at a page in random, then spend some time talking about her characters before reading another section of the story. Rose takes your flattery modestly, though she hopes that you would refrain from mentioning the bit about her fair drawing skills. When you question whether she actually likes wizards, however, Rose gets offended with what you're implying and snaps that she doesn't need to justify her fictional predilections to anyone. You apologize to her, but she decides that you've outstayed your welcome and pointedly asks you to leave. GO ZAP YOURSELF!


 * Should you choose to go look for her, you rush out into the hallway right as the power goes out. Lightning briefly illuminates the corridor, and you see someone's silhouette in one of the windows. You are understandably freaked out by what you just saw, and Rose's sudden appearance behind you gives you another fright. Rose doesn't seem unsettled by the situation, only expressing mild annoyance at the prospect of explaining who you are to her mother if the latter isn't too drunk. Agreeing that you could dry up, Rose leads you to the laundry room. While you remove your soaked hoodie, Rose asks whether the symbol on it has any meaning attached to it. Unable to recall anything specific, you tell her that it's just an abstract design. Rose seemingly forgot that the lack of power meant that the dryer wouldn't work, only grouchily remarking that nothing of hers would fit you at all. After leading you to another room filled with liquor of every sort, Rose offers you a long silk robe to wear in the meantime. When you're done changing, you are horrified to see Rose taking a sip of the alcoholic beverage despite clearly being underage. She gags on the beverage, and you immediately take the bottle away from her. Rose tells you that being polite isn't going to change the fact that her mother's an alcoholic, sourly interpreting the blatant display of vice as a passive-aggressive act. She goes on to mention that while she doesn't expect lavishly prepared meals every time she seats herself at the dinner table, she is tired of eating oatmeal all the time and envies John for having an attentive and caring father. Hearing about her sad situation motivates you to help improve her home situation, and you begin by removing all the liquor bottles from the household. Rose is initially skeptical of your manner of solving things--after all, it doesn't make her mother's alcoholism disappear--but you go about it until all the bottles are deposited in a clearing in the nearby woods. Halfway through, Rose begins texting someone while giving you glances every now and then. Curious, you teleport behind her so you can see who and what she's texting. Rose asks Jade about you and for some prophetic advice from her fabled oracle clouds. Jade isn't able to offer anything, and Rose snippily lets you know that she was fully aware of you spying on her. You apologize for all the tomfoolery, rather relieved that Rose found your antics funny to a certain extent. She decides to pitch in the prank, though she mentions that it would definitely affect the relationship between her and her mother. Even though you aren't exactly able to solve her problems, you decide that being a sort-of friend to Rose is good enough for you. VICTORY!

Trivia

 * The bottle of liquor Rose inspects is Grey Goose, a brand of vodka manufactured in France.


 * When putting on Mom Lalonde's bathrobe, the MSPA Reader has a vague memory of doing something similar once, though they can't quite recall when. This is a subtle nod to the time they borrowed Tagora's bathrobe in Hiveswap Friendsim: Vol. 4.


 * After Rose takes a sample of one of the vodkas in her mom's collection, she splutters with a BLUH, though her in-game sprite depicted it in a more dignified manner.


 * When the MSPA Reader appears in the laboratory, the main Sburb session terminaland the Appearifier/Ectobiology device combo can be seen in the background.


 * Right before Mom Lalonde makes the pumpkin disappear, she makes a reference to the ongoing gag of saying 'what pumpkin?'


 * The first page(s) of The Complacency of the Learned that the MSPA Reader looked through are similarly seen here.