The Longest Journey[]
- "You're obsessing, April. They're just dreams! Sometimes a banana is just a banana."
"Cigar."
"Cigar? What do you mean, cigar?"
"Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Not a banana." - ―Emma de Vrijer and April Ryan[src]
Emma is April's best friend. Like April, Emma lives at the Border House and has been a student at VAVA for about a year, but instead of traditional media she specialises in holosculpture. Her final project was a sculpture that actually bears a strong resemblance to the Maerum Queen.
Emma is an upbeat, bubbly character who loves to socialise and gossip with April. She spends most of her time at VAVA or at the Fringe Cafe. She teases April about Cortez's interest in her, and shares April's dislike of Zack Lee. Besides April and Charlie, Emma is also friends with Isabel and Marcus, who took the photograph of April's friends that she keeps in her room. When April starts acting strangely, including going to Metro Circle by herself and being secretive about what she's doing, Emma goes with Charlie to ask April what's going on, but whichever scenario is chosen, April won't tell them the full story.
Fiona expresses worry about Emma's sometimes wild flirting, but all of her friends agree that she's smart enough to look after herself. Indeed, Fiona guesses that Emma might have been a model, if she weren't so intelligent and creative.
In the later chapters, April returns to the Border House to find Emma and Fiona in the front room. Emma urges April to leave because the Vanguard are there, but Gordon Halloway appears and orders one of the Vanguard goons to shoot Emma as an example to April. At first April thinks Emma was killed and is distraught, but Lady Alvane tells her Emma went to the hospital and that she will be all right. However, she's angry at April for not confiding in her.
Dreamfall[]
- "She could be trying to get in touch with us, Charlie. Maybe she needs our help."
- ―Emma de Vrijer[src]
Now a successful holosculptor (she is also described as a 'performance sculptor'), Emma - whose surname is revealed to be de Vrijer (Dutch for 'the lover') - has been away from Newport for ten years, possibly now living in Europolis. At Charlie's call she returns to the Fringe at once when Zoë Castillo brings possible news of April.
When Emma was released from hospital, like the other inhabitants of Stark she had to deal with the aftermath of the Collapse, but as soon as she could, she started looking for April. According to Emma, before April vanished, she actually told Emma and Charlie about Arcadia and the Balance. Emma claims Charlie didn't believe April, but she did. She was also present for Gordon Halloway's confrontation with April, when he described many of the events in Arcadia; Gordon being who he is, Emma no doubt found him very convincing.
Emma began doing some research, using the money from her career as an artist, and confirmed what April had told her. Emma tells Zoë that April's not the only one: "there have been others who've travelled and seen Arcadia."
Emma is willing to help Zoë, but she has to leave for a show in Moscow while Zoë is hooked to the Dreamer Console brought by the Twins. Charlie promises that he'll keep her updated.
Dreamfall Chapters[]
Although Emma does not appear in Dreamfall Chapters, Zoë comments during the game that the two have remained in touch since the events of the previous game. We also learn that Emma's career has continued to prosper, and we see one of her holo-sculptures adorning the center of Sonnenschein Plaza.
Because the "A Richer World" goal was met during the game's Kickstarter fundraising campaign, an in-game art gallery run by Emma was slated to be made available for the player to explore. However, when it was decided that Zoë would not be returning to Propast in the game's final chapter, this feature was scuttled. While it is unknown how close to completion the feature was, or if any programming work related to it was even begun, concept art for Emma was completed and included in the Tome of the Balance.