DOUBLE BLIND

[vivariummods]

Shortly after the conversation with Zero ends, Zero opens the doors of the Garden and allows everyone to leave. However, the rest of the warehouse isn't better than the Garden: The lights are still off, leaving everyone surrounded in darkness. The temperature just keeps on dropping, reaching near freezing point. The air feels more and more polluted, making it difficult to breathe without coughing, and nothing seems to be working as they should be. The electronic doors refuse to open without any power source, cutting off access to the cafeteria and dorms. At the very least, Zero has managed to open all the doors leading to puzzle rooms and has informed the group that new areas are now accessible to them, but they're on their own should they want to enter any other rooms. Before the screens in the Garden turn off, Zero finally informs them that a new feature has been unlocked on their bracelets: any test subject wearing a bracelet may communicate with one another with the bracelet acting as a communication device. Holding onto the left button will enable the line to open just like a walkie-talkie. As long as test subjects are in the warehouse, they will have no troubles speaking with one another. What if they wish to talk to Zero? Zero's time is not be riffled, but they were generous enough to appear whenever anyone found a screen and pressed the on button a total of three quick successions. And with that, Zero disappears from the grids and finally leaves everyone in complete darkness, leaving only one last piece: "Best of luck, Test Subjects." BASIC INFO ✖ MISSIONS ✖ MINGLE

Comments

[skyentificmethod]

...That was simple.

[of course the room seemed extra echoey and cavernous now that it was empty and unlit. ema unconsciously drops her voice, since nothing about this seemed ominous at all]

Now, there should be an extra supply room in the back, right?

[fairsfair]

[ Oh, well, that was anticlimactic. He was kind of hoping for more, since he likes a challenge and all. He takes a quick look around then approaches what appears to be the door. ]

Looks like this is it.

[ He examines it (hmm, maybe he'll be able to hulk this open), then notices the panel. He points at it. ]

Want to give this a try? Before I take a crack at it.

[skyentificmethod]

[touches the panel gingerly?

...though nothing happens so perhaps it was just way too gingerly. so she touches it again, with considerably less ginger and more force]

[fairsfair]

[ ... just watching. ummmm ]

Are you trying to break it?

[skyentificmethod]

It seems pretty well broken by itself, it's not doing anything!

[puzzlinglad]

[Hershel just watches this display thoughtfully before moving forward to take a look at the panel. Yeah, he's got nothing, this doesn't look like anything some random teenager would know how to deal with.

He turns to them, about to suggest they ask Zero about it just to see before stopping again. Still not a good idea, probably, at least not until they've exhausted every option.]

Maybe we should just try prying the door open some more. If we can make it budge just a bit at least Ema or I could slip through and pass some food back out, if there is anything in there.

[fairsfair]

Or so you say, but guess it's my turn.

[ Said with a shiteating grin because haha you couldn't figure it out, excuses excuses, but he steps closer to the door. He traces his fingertips over the edge of the door, trying to see if he can get a good enough grip on it. It's tricky and difficult, but he eventually manages to open the door slightly. It's one of those annoying doors that try to close on their own when you pull them apart, so that was definitely going to be a problem. After keeping it open a slight amount, he lets go and the door slams shut. He then looks back at Ema and Hershel. ]

Slip through as quick as you can. I'll follow in after. You can't leave me out of the fun.

[ And if there's some robot nonsense on the other side, he dooooooesn't really trust these two to handle it on their own. ]

[skyentificmethod]

[that is ridiculous, robots don't even eat food]

All of the excitement of a trip to Acme... Okay, I'll go first, hopefully there'll be something we can prop the door with, just in case.

[she's not holding her breath...at least not any more than what's needed to squeeze through. surely this is a great and 100 percent safe endeavor they are embarking upon]

[puzzlinglad]

[Hershel follows quickly after, not entirely convinced of his own suggestion here but seeing little else the can do that wouldn't involve just beating the screen up. Once on the other side he pulls the oversized jacket closer because, shock of all shocks, the refrigerated room is pretty fucking cold.]

Looks safe enough. [helpful comments ahoy] No robots guarding the frozen dinners at least.

[fairsfair]

[ Once those two have passed through, Jake maneuvers getting himself through as well. He pulls away his hands as he does so and the door slams shut with a large clank, echoing throughout the room. He stands up straight and shakes his hands, looking around. ]

Any idea how we're going to carry all this out? [ Turning to Ema. ] Don't suppose you got a shopping cart under that ugly sweater of yours.

[skyentificmethod]

I was kinda hoping the door would stay at least somewhat open. Then we could just roll the stuff out. ...Guess we can put it in my pants.

[she starts shucking off her sweater and the second sweater under that]

[fairsfair]

Put it in your-- what?

[ he doesn't understand you, ema. he'll grab her sweaters if she manages to take them off because ??? ]

Keep your clothes o-- you know there's probably something we can use instead, right?

[puzzlinglad]

[when the door shuts hershel goes to examine it, looking around to see if there was some other panel or anything that might give them a break here. didn't look like it from what he could see, and sighs when he turns back to-]

What are you two doing... [whatever if was the adults of this room were doing. yeah, he had nothing.]

[skyentificmethod]

I nabbed a jumpsuit from the room with the maze. I assume it could carry a decent amount, I just have to take it off first. But if you have other ideas, I'm happy to hear them. Preferably before I turn into a giant ice cube.

[puzzlinglad]

[...] Well, I can't say that I do at the moment, are you sure you won't be too cold without that though? We may be stuck in here for a while.

[fairsfair]

[ if only Jake had an icon like Hershel had right there because that is what I would be using in response to Wonder Woman Ema... He looks around though to find something then. ]

There's a door over there, probably a supply closet so you want to check that first before stripping?

[skyentificmethod]

[the flattest of looks (it'd be superman for the random stripping, doesn't Wonder Woman just spin around a lot?]

…You realize I have another layer on underneath this, right? Stop dreaming, it's like 2 Kelvin in here.

[she checks out the closet anyway; if there are useful supplies that don't involve sacrificing clothing that is a definite bonus]

[puzzlinglad]

[there's probably buttloads of trays, plastic plates, bowls and utensils, but in the corner there may be one of those wheeled buckets and mop for janitors. probably useful? maybe?]

[of course hershel doesn't see that because he's not going to crowd the closet like an asshole, and just sigh softly to himself before turning to get a better look at the actual food. he picks up a pair of cans that don't seem to have any marking on them, turning back to jake.] It's a bit like what's it called, russian roulette? Who knows what you'll get. [and he pauses.] I suppose it's not like russian roulette at all, really. I hope these aren't just filled with gruel.

[skyentificmethod]

Who knows how old this stuff is. Might end up as Russian roulette after all.

[she seems in good spirits though, emerging from the closet rolling a mop in a bucket with a handful of utensils and stuff in it. She looks over another shelf of...TV dinners??? Well, something frosted over in a flat foil package]

What is all this stuff?

[fairsfair]

[ He waves Ema off on her previous comment while she heads to the closet, while he checks out a different shelf that's full of clear jars, with some... questionable looking frozen liquids inside. Uhhhhhh. ]

Gotta say, I'd get a kick from a round of Russian roulette. Just like home.

[ After uhhhhh-ing the jars enough, he picks two up and walks over to Ema's new mop-bucket. He places them gently in, as best as he can with all the other nonsense in there. ]

Probably what they call "high quality food" at 36 BP, so hope you're just as excited as I am.

[puzzlinglad]

It may not be all that bad, whatever it is. [baseless, blind optimism was a good plan. he shakes the cans, making a face at whatever the sound was before deciding to not play nostalgic russian roulette and put them away.]

There must be other food stores somewhere else, hopefully with a better selection than this. I wonder just how big this place is if this is only the tip of the iceberg.

[skyentificmethod]

I'm not complaining about jumping the line. [36 BP was a magical, far-off land it was hard to imagine ever arriving at... she picks up another few flat packs for the bucket; they probably were less useful than the cans and jars since they were frozen, but with all this crap going on they may as well have one decent meal at the end of it ]

What'd he say, something like we've only seen an eighth of this place or something? I can't--have we gotten any evidence at all this place is that big? [she continues to idly pull stuff from the back of the freezer shelves as she muses aloud] I mean, where would you even be able to have a complex that big? Think of the power and water consumption this place must need, how would that not be a red flag? And wouldn't somebody augh!!!

[along with the sudden yelp comes a sudden tossing of a freezer bag into the middle of the room; it looks an awful lot like a head]

[fairsfair]

[ Jake sharply turns and gets ready to fight something, fists partially raised up, but then he lowers them when he sees the source of Ema's yelp. ]

[ Unsurprisingly(?), he doesn't seem too bothered by the head. Sure, he frowns and there's slight disgust, but he does the opposite of what you should do when you see a human head: he walks up to it and bends down to examine it (and maybe try to block the view). ]

Gotta say, this does not help the rep that this "food" has.

[puzzlinglad]

What? What's wrong? [Hershel hurries over, stopping at this discovery.]

... there's no way. [Yup, denial is the best way to deal with this.] It must be a prank, he wouldn't keep something like that here.

[skyentificmethod]

Yeah, it's obviously just an accident, he meant to keep it as a housewarming present for when you get dorm access, that-- [a deep breath] That's just unsanitary! Cadavers should be in their own separate freezer, honestly.

There's a bunch more bags back here...looks like they're all different, though.

[there are several bags, someone's been a bit of a hoarder, but between the darkness and the freezer burn it's not 100 percent certain what's in any of the bags tucked at the back of the icebox without actually opening. for example, there's something that could be part of a human limb, or maybe just an unfortunately unappealing meatloaf. there's something that could be a dinosaur arm, or maybe just part of a UFO catcher. there's something labeled "fruitcake 943". there's even what looks like a bunch of double A batteries; guess those keep longer in the fridge after all.]

...Should we take some of this stuff?