My name is Robert “Bobby” Miller 1.2
You’re absolutely right for finding it strange… and that feeling is completely intentional.
You were spot on about the “2 years” calculation. Robert was far too young when Renee left. He doesn’t have any real memories of her. And from Renee’s side, she probably only remembered him as “that snot-nosed little kid.”
For 8 years, all he ever heard from his mother was that Renee was an ungrateful, reckless daughter who ran away from home after getting pregnant just to get attention.
You could say:
“But that’s not true.”
And I know that.
But honestly… do you really think her mother would ever say:
“This was my fault. I ruined everything. I was stupid and I deserve the consequences”?
She definitely doesn’t strike me as that kind of person.
When Robert was around 10 years old, Connie — the sister he truly adored — started developing kidney problems.
He wasn’t a compatible donor.
It was devastating.
But then a possibility appeared:
the sister he had never even met might be compatible.
So they called Renee.
And her response was:
“I don’t care if that fat pig dies. Don’t call me again.”
When he turns 15, his father dies.
Robert tries calling Renee behind his mother’s back… and she never answers.
So he ends up taking care of his mother completely alone.
A boy forced to grow up way too early.
At 23, his mother dies too.
Now he has nobody left.
And on top of the grief, there are still legal issues involving the inheritance, meaning he NEEDS to find this sister:
the woman who ran away from home,
refused to help Connie,
ignored their father’s death,
ignored their mother’s death,
and who now stands as the final obstacle between him and some kind of peace — at least legally.
So when he finally goes to see her…
He doesn’t hate Renee.
But he definitely doesn’t see her in a positive light either.
In my mind, there are two possible scenarios:
1 — Renee acts indifferent, but shows interest in “getting something out of it.”
2 — Renee completely rejects anything that came from “that bitch she calls a mother.”
And it’s specifically in the second scenario that Robert’s personality becomes most obvious.
Because he would insist that she take something.
And he wouldn’t leave until she accepted it.
He may not love Renee…
but he also couldn’t stand the feeling of “taking more than he deserves.”
Robert has an almost frustrating obsession with what he considers fair.
But the true breaking point…
the moment resentment turns into hatred…
is exactly where the game’s story begins:
THE QUARANTINE.
Because at that point, for him, there are no doubts left anymore.
She literally abandons her own children.
Abandons her nephews.
Abandons him.
And in that moment, every story his mother ever told him about Renee stops sounding exaggerated.
In his mind, everything was confirmed.
A woman capable of abandoning her own children…
is exactly the kind of person he was always told Renee was.