Tears of Themis – Vyn Episode 1 & 2

Vyn’s character story can be read through the Visit section of the game and they are fully voiced like the main stories. Each scene is unlocked as you increase your affection level with him either through daily visits and interactions or by reading his card stories. As you can imagine visits are probably the surest way to increase his affection while cards are dependent on the luck of the pull. The game launched with episodes 1 and 2 available and you can unlock all available scenes once you achieve affection level 18 with him.

Vyn’s story has a total of 18 story scenes and 6 debate battles (recommended power 2639 – 14178). You can only use Vyn’s cards for these debate battles so you do need to level his cards up to a certain level whether you like him or not in order to read his story and gain the corresponding rewards like S-chips.

In episode 1 and 2, you partner Vyn to investigate a Pickup Artist (PUA) syndicate and learn the telltale signs of these men who go around manipulating the emotions of innocent young women looking for love. Spoilers alert!

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After working with Vyn to resolve the murder of Estelle Marino, you felt the need to improve on your knowledge and application of criminal psychology. While browsing through some books at a bookstore one day, you bumped into Vyn. When he learnt of your intent, he invited you to join him for an elective that he was giving as a guest lecturer at Stellis University. You took him up on the opportunity, gleefully happy to be back in your alma mater and also being able to finally observe Vyn in action as a professor.

During a break in the class, you noticed a student named Vera who looked slightly depressed and suicidal. Vyn had also observed this and called her to stay back after class. However she was unwilling to open up to him, displaying distrust towards men. You offered to speak to her instead though it got no further as well. You only learnt that the scrapes on her wrist was due to a scuffle she had with her boyfriend. Vyn immediately suspects that she could be a PUA victim. You later learnt that PUA refers to pickup artists, a movement by men seeking sexual success with women.

Meanwhile Vyn compliments you on your keen sense of observation in his daily voice diary. He looks forward to seeing your development. However he was slightly concerned as you were recruited by Artem who seemed overly protective of you, and also does not share his same suspicions towards Professor Neil Hume.

The next morning Vyn contacts you to confirm his suspicion. While conducting a sandplay therapy on Vera, she displays signs of trauma which is likely caused by her boyfriend. You meet up with Vyn to understand more about this topic. Vyn explains that PUA was originally developed as a motivational way for men to better present themselves to have a better chance to attract women. Over time it has however degraded into something that is used to fulfill a man’s sexual conquest of women.

As Vyn continues to illustrate the different personas PUAs use to attract women, you commented that women are not naive and was not convinced that they would easily fall prey to such tactics. Vyn then demonstrates a typical PUA tactic on you which you fell for. He went on to explain that after a PUA wins over the sympathy of the woman, the next step would be attack her confidence and make her question her own value so that she will do whatever it takes to win the PUA’s approval. At this point, he would have successfully created a puppet who is a slave to his vanity and sexual pleasures.

After hearing this, you resolved to hear Vera by exposing her boyfriend for who he really is. Vyn agrees to help you and suggests that both of you pretend to be a couple in order to lure the PUA out. Through Vera, he had obtained information on the workplace of her boyfriend, a Stephon Jacobs who works as a confectioner at nearby confectionery. You agree to the plan and soon set it in motion by staging a dramatic breakup with Vyn at the confectionery.

True enough, Stephon miraculously appears at your side to console and comfort you. You pretend to be touched by his gestures. You managed to exchange numbers with him and spent the week chatting. A week later, Stephon asked you out on a date. Vyn tells you to agree to it and promises to be nearby to protect you. Prior to meeting Stephon, both of you decided to speak with Vera first.

When faced with the truth, Vera was originally in vehement denial and blamed you for the change in Stephon’s attitude towards her. However after Vyn surmises that Stephon had promised to marry her after graduation, she broke down and cried. She shared that she had given her everything to him, including loaning a lot of money from those around her to help him set up his shop. Now she has no recourse and no money and doesn’t know how to explain it to her parents. You told Vera that as a lawyer, you will do you best to put Stephon in jail for his actions.

That weekend the date went on as planned. Stephon treats you to a specially made Mont Blanc, a French dessert usually meant for royalty. He continues to flirt with you with sweet words and you try your best to keep up the front though you were inwardly rotting. You saw that Vyn had taken up a temporary employment as an assistant confectioner and this gave you additional moral support to keep going. Meanwhile we see Vyn lose momentary control of his cool, shedding his warm demeanour, when he saw Stephon coming on too strongly onto you. He muses philosophically that your sweetness had attracted corpse flies instead of butterflies, and how easy it is for an innocent soul to be deceived by a mirage of lies.

Since you have successfully managed to make Stephon let down his guard, you asked to leave the confectionery with him to go on an ‘adventure’. Stephon takes you up on your suggestion and you led him towards where Vyn was waiting for you with some students from the university. They corner Stephon and threaten him for stealing the professor’s girlfriend. When Stephon claims that he had nothing to do with you, you asked him about his relationship with Vera. He originally feigned knowing her until she appeared before him and slapped him. He told you to butt out of their relationship but became afraid when he learnt that you are a lawyer and he could be jailed for his actions.

Stephon told you that he had learnt to be a PUA through some online courses he had bought and insisted that you go should for the real perpetrators instead of a small player like him. Vera’s friends then hauled him off to the police station. You couldn’t understand how Vera could have fallen for a jerk like him. Vyn explained that Vera’s parents had held a tight rein on her relationships with male students and also on her finances. These constraints backfired in the face of a promise of a marriage with a supposed upper class elite like Stephon.

Having obtained new leads about a syndicate training men to be PUAs, Vyn told you that this matter had become more dangerous and you would need a more concrete plan to expose the mastermind behind these courses. He tells you to rest for the day while he conducts more investigation on his end. That evening you received a package delivery of a Mont Blanc. You found out that it was made by Vyn while he was apprenticing at the confectionery and thanked him for the sweet gesture. As you enjoyed the dessert, you suddenly recalled Vyn’s words that true love should uplift you.

Back at Vyn’s residence, he is doing his daily diary recording. He realised that he was not himself today and wonders if he had indeed fallen in love with you at first sight. However he promises himself that he would not walk down the same path as the other person.

After recovering from her traumatic experience with Stephon, Vera set up a support group for other victims of PUA through a chat group. While scouring through the chats, you discovered a potential lead to the mastermind of the PUA through another victim named Sunny Rain. The leads that Stephon had provided through the interrogation with the police had dried up after the syndicate became aware that they were being investigated. Thus when chance provided you the a new lead, you hurriedly informed Vyn of it and rushed to find him at his research center.

Meanwhile Vyn was discussing the concept of love at first sight with a student. He shared that love at first sight is a reaction that is triggered by both the halo effect (positive light shed on certain personas) and primacy effect (first positive impression that left a deep impact). Though it can be said that love at first sight is illusory, feelings can never be measured or quantified in the first place. Thus rather than jump into it, it may be wiser to take time to observe the other party and whether their actions and behaviours continue to be congruent with your original assessment. As he recalls his first impression of you which had deeply moved him, he wonders if you were indeed different and hopes that you will not disappoint him.

When you met up with Vyn, you commented that Sunny Rain’s appearance seemed too fortuitous and was concerned whether she was a genuine victim. Vyn asked you for your thoughts on how you intended to proceed and you told him that given the current situation, the only way forward is to meet with Sunny Rain to assess that her authenticity. Vyn smiles at your decision and agrees to follow through it with you. You jumped suddenly at a message received on your phone and exclaimed at the content and quickly hides it. Though you tried to hide it, Vyn eyes you coldly.

While waiting for Vera and Sunny Rain at a cafeteria, Vyn offers you a cup of coffee to calm your nerves. You told him that you resolve to bring the PUA players to justice as soon as possible as they were getting more arrogant. Vyn was puzzled by your choice of words and asked if something had happened to you. You quickly sidestep the question and Vyn did not attempt to pursue it. As Vera walks into the cafe with another girl, Vyn stands up to leave, assuring you that he would be observing from a distance.

The girl’s name is Rin and she told you her side of her story about how she became a classic victim of a PUA named Wayne. After obtaining key clues from her on how to access the PUA streams and her chats with her PUA boyfriend, Rin asked you if you have solid leads that can incriminate the organisation. You told her that you had lost your lead but with her help, you will now be able to proceed forward. After she left, Vyn approaches you and both of you said at the same time that Rin was lying.

Combining your analysis of the contradictions in Rin’s statement and Vyn’s psychoanalysis of Rin’s state of mind, you concluded that Rin is an employee of the PUA organisation who had approached you simply to find out what leads you may already have about them. Vyn suggested that since this lead has been compromised, the better way forward would be to target Wayne directly. However he told you that he didn’t want you to continue with the investigation.

Through his questioning, you finally confess that you have been harassed by PUAs since Vera’s support group started to gain traction. It has affected your sleep as you keep receiving messages from unknown persons all night and have been unsuccessful in making them stop or go away. Vyn’s expression darkened and reprimanded you for keeping this from him. He then categorically explains why he refuses to let you pursue the investigation as it has become even more dangerous. He also challenged your objective of bringing the PUAs to justice and whether it was too idealistic to solve everyone’s problems.

You rebutted Vyn’s line of argument and told him that you were not so naïve to think that you can solve everyone’s problem but rather that you cannot see an unjust act being committed and not do anything about it. You added that there are more than one way to protect others from harm and Vera’s group support had shed light on PUA and helped many victims to come forth. If you had not pursued the case with Vera, then this positive outcome wouldn’t have happened. What’s more, when you chose to become a lawyer, you were already prepared to be harassed. As long as you didn’t give up the fight, then surely you justice will find its way.

Vyn was won over by your conviction and agrees to let you continue with the investigation. He adds that you are really different, continues to surprise him, and that he is really thankful that he had gotten to know you. Vyn proposes his next course of action to you – while you try to get to know Wayne and lure him in by pretending to be a silly rich girl, he will attempt to infiltrate into the PUA organisation by applying to be a mentor. Before you part ways, Vyn also helps you to get rid of the harassers as he fiddles with your phone. Till date, you have no idea he managed to stop the messages from coming back.

That evening in his personal diary, Vyn is ever more confident that it wasn’t love at first sight. Whatever qualities that you exhibited when he first met you that attracted him, had surfaced again in your discussion with him. He is sure that you are who you say you are and unique in your own ways.

Over the next few days, you began your operation to bait Wayne. With Vyn’s guidance on how to respond to Wayne, you managed to turn the tides on him and fished out information from him about the student victim he had dated. During the dates with Wayne, you were constantly assured as Vyn secretly tailed both of you. One afternoon, you paid a visit to Vyn at the university to discuss your next course of action with Wayne.

While waiting for Vyn to finish his lecture, your ex-psychology tutor, Wesley Dunn, caught up with you in the hallway. When you mentioned you were having difficulties with a particular case, he told you sometimes it was good to just let go. When the bell rang and Vyn started to walk towards you, Professor Dunn bade you farewell and left. Vyn questioned your association with Professor Dunn and when you gave a positive assessment of your previous tutor, Vyn uncharacteristically asked you how he would fare in comparison. You were slightly taken aback by the question but replied that Vyn is an outstanding psychiatrist so Prof Dunn could not compare to him. Vyn was visibly happy with response.

Vyn updated that his attempts at infiltrating the PUA organisation had met with a hiccup so instead of prolonging the relationship with Wayne, he suggested confronting Wayne directly so that he would give himself up. His plan is to pretend to be your extremely wealthy suitor whom you have snubbing as you had fallen in love with Wayne. You agreed to go along with his plan. The next day during your date with Wayne, you told him that you were troubled as the blind date that your parents had set up for you refused to give up on you. You pleaded with Wayne to speak with him so that he would finally leave you alone.

Before Wayne could reply, Vyn had entered the cafe. Vyn plays his part as the rich arrogant suitor well and managed to provoke Wayne into a battle of wits. It didn’t take long for you to confirm your suspicion that Wayne is not who made himself out to be. Knowing that his cover as a university graduate is about to be blown, he proclaims that what is important is the love between the two of you and tries to make a hasty exit with you in toll. His actions angered Vyn visibly as he grabbed Wayne’s wrist preventing him from touching you. Then he whittles away at Wayne’s cheap love with his own profound understanding of you. You were shocked to hear Vyn’s own declaration, wondering if these were his true thoughts or part of his role playing.

When Wayne’s PUA victim enters the scene, he knew he was defeated. You revealed your identity as a lawyer and your intent to charge him in court for his criminal actions. Wayne quickly proposes to provide you with key information about the PUA organisation in exchange for a lighter sentence. He added that his mentor had warned him about you earlier. You learnt that the organisation was founded by a mysterious mentor who had passed down his PUA skills then left a group of them to run the organisation. Though he was careful to hide his real identity, Wayne shared a key piece of information that may shed light on the founder’s identity.

With the investigation all wrapped up, you offered to treat Vyn to dinner for all the help he had offered. While waiting for the food to be served, you shared that over the last few weeks, though Vyn had always seemed calm and composed, you have had the opportunity to witness his anger, sadness and cluelessness and wondered if he only expressed those emotions to you. Vyn unabashedly replies that you are indeed special to him and thus these raw emotions of his were only reserved for you. You quickly changed the topic to talk about what he told Wayne earlier about his opinion of you. Vyn added that whatever he had shared about his feelings about you were real and not made up. As you stared into his earnest eyes, you were thankful that the awkwardness in the atmosphere was broken up by the arrival of your food. That evening in his personal diary, Vyn pines for the day when you will finally understand his true feelings.

A few days later you were awoken early in the morning by a call from Vera. Apparently something has gone wrong….

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This ends Vyn’s character story to date. I hope it has given you some understanding of his personality. What strikes me about Vyn is that despite his attempt to portray himself as a mature, wise and philosophical person, he is actually a very emotional person. He easily caves into his anger when you are accosted by other men and almost scarily displays possessive behaviours around you. Though he tries to be rational about his feelings towards you, it is obvious that he is hopelessly in love with you and eagerly wants you to have a very good impression of him and for you to come to depend on him.

Though it hasn’t been said much about his past, it seems like Vyn has suffered from a failed relationship or witnessed one so he places his hopes in you being someone unique – strong, compassionate and resilient, so that he can have faith in love again. It would be quite ironical if we learn that Vyn himself was once a victim of a PUA himself, thus his in depth knowledge about the tactics used by these people.

I do appreciate the awareness that his story brings to me personally about how people in reality do manipulate other people’s emotions, calling to question their self-worth, so as to create a toxic master-slave dynamic. You may be surprised that even in marriages, such power plays are used by spouses. As an advice, remember that love is meant to uplift you and not tear you down. If your relationship is damaging your self-esteem, it is time to rethink it altogether.