Suda51 Wiki
Advertisement
FeaturedArticle
Catherine

Sumio Mondo uses Catherine to Jack-In to Peter Bocchwinkur.

Catherine (キャサリン, Kyasarin; "Katharine") is a device in Flower, Sun, and Rain. "She" is an Ultimate Computerized Unlocking Device, a high-powered computer designed in the shell of a silver briefcase, and is used to solve all numerical puzzles in the game. She also appears in the 2017 update of The Silver Case in report*6:YAMI, in a very different way.

Use[]

In addition to serviceable data storage capabilities, Catherine is more significantly equipped with nine different serial buses that allow her to electronically connect with everything from security systems to human minds, a process her carrier, Sumio Mondo, refers to as "jacking in" to a target; he asserts that Catherine can jack into almost anything. After jacking in, Catherine can interact with the target in various ways by inputting the correct numerical codes on a dial. For example, she can unlock doors or transmit a burst of information into someone's brain. As a briefcase, Catherine also holds conventional items such as Mondo's memo pad and the guidebook he receives upon arrival at the Flower, Sun, and Rain hotel.

Story[]

Origins[]

According to Suda in a Famitsu interview, Catherine is "a technological product that exceeds modern science. A certain person discovered relics of a prehistoric super civilization, and it was entrusted to Mondo". It is also noted that Catherine's core has a Silver Eye within it; however, Mondo does not know about this.

Catherine Nano

However, The 25th Ward: The Silver Case offers a broader and somewhat contradictory explanation for Catherine's existence, implying that it is a line of codebreaking machines developed by the government. This seems to indicate that there are several Catherines, but only Mondo's Catherine has mystical properties, likely due to its Silver Eye. During the course of The 25th Ward, the Regional Adjustment Bureau uses a newer edition of Catherine, the Catherine Nano.

Flower, Sun, and Rain[]

Catherine plays an integral part in Mondo's stay on Lospass Island, so much that Yayoi Hanayama takes notice of this and remarks that Catherine is a finer woman than she, to which Mondo has no trouble agreeing.

After Mondo is assassinated by Sundance Shot on the roof of the Flower, Sun and Rain hotel, Step Sding apparently confiscates Catherine from the murder scene and makes off to the Spice Shop. When private investigators Yoshimitsu Koshimizu and Remy Fawzil arrive on the island by its Business Tower they spot Sding and his loot, and while Koshimizu wants to chase the obvious thief, Fawzil does not recognize the significance of the stolen briefcase and instead opts to press on to the hotel. At the murder scene, Flower, Sun, and Rain manager Edo Macalister admits to Koshimizu that Mondo had always carried the case, leading Koshimizu to understand its importance and seek out Sding. Tracking the boy down at the Spice Shop, Sding reveals that he is actually a replica of the original Step Sding, as well as a living bomb. The clone then proceeds to detonate, destroying the building as an airplane overhead also explodes from the bomb it too had been carrying. Koshimizu barely escapes, while Catherine is sent flying into the distance.

During Koshimizu and Fawzil's investigation, a high school student named Toriko Kusabi confronts Sundance Shot to avenge the death of the island's "savior." Instead, the two strike a deal resulting in Mondo's resurrection. After his life is restored, Mondo goes on the hunt for the lost briefcase, tracking down her last known location at the remains of the Spice Shop, where Koshimizu tells him that he may be able to find her if he continues down the road. Eventually, and with some unwanted help from middle-aged cosplayer Gunzi Takaoka, Mondo finds Catherine lying in the middle of the road en route to Randelman Garden.

Mondo manages to keep a firm grip on Catherine for the remainder of the game. In fact, when he witnesses a number of clones of himself outside the airport's flight gate, each one seems to carry a briefcase just like Catherine.

Connection with Sumio Mondo[]

Despite Catherine's lack of artificial intelligence, Mondo treats her like his own familiar. He refers to her with the utmost respect and admiration, although he explains to Peter Bocchwinkur early in his stay on Lospass that the choice to name her as such is that "working with a Catherine is always better than working with a Bob." Catherine is Mondo's constant companion and he holds her in his left hand at all times. When he temporarily loses possession of her due to his death and her subsequent theft, he feels terrible about it and profusely apologizes to her when she is eventually recovered. When he makes use of her for the final time on Lospass, in place of his usual recitation he declares his feelings for her and those he feels from her with the line "Thank you, Catherine! Thank you for your love!"

Signature phrases[]

Whenever Sumio Mondo is about to use Catherine, he recites one of his so-called "signature phrases." His first recitation is used from the beginning of the game, presumably even as long as he has been a searcher. Initially Mondo chants, "A mystery is concealed here! An endless journey, the prey protects their soul while the hunter hunts the truth. A requiem solely sung for the search! Truth is singular. It's time to go to work, Catherine! The search culminates here!"

During the climax of the fifth chapter, Mr. Pirate convinces Mondo to use a more passionate speech, leading him to amend it to, "A mystery is concealed within this [object]! When hurtling into mystery, mysteries call up more mystery. What is a mystery without mystery when mystery proceeds? Hurtle on towards the ideal of solving all mystery! Open! Catherine! Take care of this [object]!"

Using Catherine one last time, Mondo chants, "A mystery is concealed within me! When hurtling into mystery, mysteries call up more mystery. What is mystery without mystery when mystery proceeds? Don't think. Think, and there is no mystery. Solve it, and you'll understand. Hurtle on toward the ideal of solving all mystery! Thank you, Catherine! Thank you for your love!'"

Additionally, in the Nintendo DS reissue, Flower, Sun, and Rain: Murder and Mystery in Paradise, Mondo can optionally search for three Lost and Found items each day. Upon discovering one, he says whichever recitation is currently in use, prefaced with "I'm getting that DS feeling..." This is an obvious reference to the fact that Lost and Found puzzles are present only in the Nintendo DS port.

YAMI[]

In report*6:YAMI of The Silver Case, while on the plane to Lospass Island, Tokio Morishima meets a young girl who calls herself Catherine. She asks him questions about his life but seems to already be knowledgeable about it; when asked if she is even real or just one of the apparitions that Tokio sees, she answers inconclusively. As the plane approaches Lospass, Catherine puts him back to sleep. This has been the only instance in the series thus far to indicate that Catherine truly has a sentience, as opposed to just being a device that Mondo is overly attached to.

Trivia[]

  • キャサリン is romanized as Katharine in the UI of the Japanese version of Flower, Sun, and Rain. Katharine is also the name of Emir Parkreiner's mother in killer7, as revealed by Holbert's tapes in that game. Parkreiner later becomes the Smith Syndicate persona Garcian Smith, who carries a large briefcase just as Mondo carries Catherine.
  • In the animated cutscene at the beginning of Sunset in killer7, a man in a phone booth is shown manipulating an extravagant plug before being assassinated by Harman Smith. This is somewhat reminiscent of Catherine's plugs, and it is possible that the man in the booth was using a similar device.

The Silver Case characters
Protagonists Akira · Tokio Morishima
Heinous Crimes Unit Sumio Kodai · Tetsugoro Kusabi · Chizuru Hachisuka · Kiyoshi Morikawa · Morichika Nakategawa · Shinji Kotobuki · Sakura Natsume · Kenta Mikoshiba · Riley Kawabata
Other agents Daigo Natsume · Kenichi Sakamoto · Haruhiko Inomata · Ryu Munakata · Mokutaro Shiroyabu
Antagonists Kamui Uehara · Ayame Shimohira · The Bat
Lunatics Ryo Kazan · Kyoko Kazan · Rumi Tohba
Decoyman Yuriko Sonoda
Spectrum Koichi Sugata · Hikaru Kobayashi
Parade Daikichi Sakaguchi · Michiru Kosaka · Hiseki · Fuyuki · Chairman Yukimura · Riru Yukimura
Kamuidrome Tomonori Furuya · Sayaka Baian
Lifecut TRUMP · Nezu
Placebo Red · Erika Yukawa · S. Inohana · Bartender · Slash · Umenosuke Hachisuka · Catherine
Administrators Kaoru Hachisuka · Sundance Shot · Daizaburo Kai · Marionette Mother
Face Minato Sawaguchi · Chinami Otomo · Kana Makino
Flower, Sun, and Rain characters
Main Characters Sumio Mondo · Catherine · Toriko Kusabi · Christina · Remy Fawzil · Yoshimitsu Koshimizu · Sundance Shot
Hotel Staff Edo Macalister · Sue Sding · Mati Sding · Stuart Rock
Hotel Guests Sister Phantom · Yayoi Hanayama · El Crasher · Mr. Pirate · Maria Nicharesuk · Stephan Charbonie · Sonny Balboa · Tabs Balboa · Seiji Fujieda · Yuuri Otowaya · Shoutaro Kai · Daizaburo Kai · Gunzi Takaoka · Natsuko Akai · Tokio Morishima
Others Ken Sakurapee · Step Sding · Sundance Ritz · Hana Kaburagi · Tetsugoro Kusabi · Sundance MIC · Forest Navigators · Fantasistas
Mentioned Dragon · Lumberjack Flowerstar · Alberto Ferrente · David Chapman · Igor Ishizakaski · Sayaka Baian · Kamui Uehara · Red · Sumio Kodai
Advertisement