THE FINALE - 【 ZERO 】 ESCAPE

[vivariummods]

It's been ten days since the so-called "anniversary" on Day 90. Every single trace of a makeshift casino has been cleared out, leaving this suspiciously identical second warehouse empty (and the doors within that lobby locked), and Calhoun has mysteriously stopped dropping by as often as he should have. In the rare times he did drop by, he hemmed and hawed about what was happening and outright avoided answering any questions, shrieking that he's a busy mouse and he shouldn't be harassed by test subjects. Thus, for nine whole days, not a single particular event has occurred. No Calhoun Hours, Ambidex Games, or even a little announcement. It's not until the morning of the tenth day that something finally transpired. A loud siren goes off and the sound of a heavy door being slid open echoes from the second warehouse's lobby. Within seconds, however, both nuances cease and silence returns...

Comments

[detectiveofthewest]

Heiji was already dipping a toe into the water(???), and if nothing in there came up to get him, he'd simply see if he could wade/swim across.

Carefully, though. Who knew what was in that goop. Probably ghosts. Or lake monsters.

[vivariummods]

[ Asides from some really disgusting seaweed and some trash, there doesn't seem to be any lake monsters or ghosts. It's just really gross and deep. ]

[detectiveofthewest]

Well, Heiji could deal with gross. Once he was reasonably sure it was safe, he'd return to the elevator. "Trash and seaweed," he said. He turned to Snake first. "Want a ride? I can take you over on my shoulders."

Since Snake's arm posed the biggest problem. He might be persuaded to give someone else a ride, too.

[babel_hacker]

[After a certain game, Atsuro thinks he could go into the gross looking water. Especially when it looks like Heiji isn't being attacked or getting sick.

He carefully step into the water, mentally going "ew..." and take a few steps to test the water resistance. How easily he can move through it at this depth and water weight. He looks back at the group, looking at the other members.]

Yeah, there's trash and seaweeds in here. [It's mostly said to back up Heiji's answer. He can feel them, even as he tenses up when he felt what seems like seaweed brushing against his skin.] It's not too bad so far.

[Although, only those in the second group would probably understand what he means. He glances over at Rio.]

... Hey, Rio. Mind if I carry you?

[blind_badass]

Well, if you're sure, Heiji. *In reality, Snake didn't want to have his clothes mucked over with God knew what.* Will this be a fireman's carry?

[detectiveofthewest]

"Nah. Get up on my shoulders so you stay out of the muck as much as you can." No sense getting any dirtier than necessary. Heiji backed up to the entrance of the elevator, reaching back with both hands to help Snake along.

"Kinda like that elevator at the beginning, huh?"

[blind_badass]

Except a little backward. *Snake did his best to climb onto Heiji's shoulders. It was true, though. That in the beginning, they'd just been two strangers who quickly cooperated to solve a puzzle. Who had any idea what they would end up meaning to each other?*

[detectiveofthewest]

Heiji made his way across the pool to deposit Snake carefully at the other end. "Hey, anyone else need a ride? Sasuke?"

He was pretty tiny, after all.

[toybombs]

[She perks up when Atsuro makes his offer.]

You would do that? For me?

[Aww, what a sweetheart!

And even if he had some... untoward plan, she's confident she can survive it.]

Should I  sit on your shoulders, too? [At least they'll make a much more ordinary looking pair, given Rio is short as opposed to tall and gangly.]

[not_that_sasuke]

I'll be fine. Take Skye.

[True to his word, he slides into the water, frowning slightly. It's deep, cold, and altogether unpleasant... but not really the worst thing he's encountered so far. He has to tread water a little at the deeper parts, but he makes it across in one piece.]

[detectiveofthewest]

Nah. He looked over in Ellie and Maria's direction, though, just in case. Otherwise it was out of the pool and off to examine the room.

[1st_response_is_anger]

*Maria wasn't about to let anyone carry her across. She wasn't as tall as Heiji but not as short as Sasuke. She kept her jacket above her head while she walked and squished around the platform.*

All I see are posts and gas masks. What else is around here?

[fushuuu]

[Maria may have been an independent lady who didn't need no man, but Kaidou watches to make sure she and Ellie get through the gross water without incident anyway, trying to ignore how his shorts will likely never be pure white again.

[and indeed there are a lot of posts and gas masks. but also...]

...Elevators?

[skyentificmethod]

Ambidex Rooms? ...What are those doing here?

[frowning, she goes closer to examine them, not going inside, though...the betrayer...huh.]

Anything special about those posts and masks?

[detectiveofthewest]

Time to recap for the visually-impaired. "Specifically, there're nine posts numbered one to nine, and they've each got a nail to hang something on. The labels are in text and not numeric, and bracketed, if that matters. There're a bunch of gas masks around the room, each with what looks like a name or word engraved on the back.

ALESSA, CL-9, ROBIN, LEE, CHERYL, JANE, JOHAN, BLUE. And there're three Ambidex rooms here. They're labeled THE BETRAYER, THE ENDURING, and THE INNOCENT.

That's three rooms, eight masks, and nine posts. It seems like the masks should be hung on the posts, but if so, we're missing one. Unless that's part of the puzzle? Either way, I don't see any clue sheets like there usually are."

He thought for a second. "Alessa and Cheryl were the names of people we encountered in some of the experiments earlier. I ran into them in the twelfth round, though since we were split into groups, it would've been different for each group. There was a reference to CL-9 in the theater back in round 7, too, but back then it was a clue based on a simple code. You know, A=1, B-2?"

He wasn't sure how helpful any of that was, though. "Another thing Zero really likes is digital roots. But a lot of the inscriptions have the same root. Alessa, Jane, and Johan would both be 3. Robin, Lee, and Blue are all 4. Plus the digital roots of the numbered posts don't match, either."

Hmm. Hmm.

"...I'm gonna dredge around in the pool and see if there's a ninth gas mask or anything else that might help. It might be that the water's not just gross just to be obnoxious. It might also be to hide somethin'."

#poolparty

[vivariummods]

[ Sadly for Heiji, all he finds is disappointment in the pool of water. Disappointment and that he will be covered in the disgusting water of trash and god knows what else... At least you tried. ]

[detectiveofthewest]

No one likes you Zero

[elliexir]

[ Ellie absolutely needed someone to carry her through the mess that is the gross seaweed and trash filled pool, since she did not know how to swim at all... So when she gets out, she just kind of stands there trying to shake off all this filth and whatnot, instead of actually listening to Heiji's tl;dr or anything else... ]

Ugh, gross...

[ Well, that takes up some time but anyway... ]

But uh, do you guys often find rooms like these? The most we got was the Greenhouse and like two rooms we kiiiind of broke into. [ Not kind of, they totally broke into... ] Because that one dude totally just jumped in to look for something without even thinking twice.

[ Referring to Heiji like dude, no... no...... ]

[babel_hacker]

Sure, I don't mind.

[Whenever Rio get onto his shoulders, Atsuro would take a moment to get used to her weight before he carry her across to join everyone else.

Fortunately, he gets there in time to hear Heiji's recap and explanation.]

[detectiveofthewest]

"It's Heiji," he said, climbing out of the water.

"Also, pretty much. There's one room where we had to shovel medical waste to get out. Plus there was the snails, the --" Wait. Probably not a good time to bring up the arm.

"...Anyhow, a lot of times the puzzles are trapped."

[blind_badass]

Oh yes. Mood altering gasses, dolls that spat fire and knives...Zero is nothing if not thorough in his delight at our misfortune. Although he did give us a piano eventually. Also, certain numbers of people managed to steal couches and bring them back to where we slept.

*He would kiss Heiji for being so kind to take him across but...gross trash water.* It seems a bit strange to have the Ambidex rooms right where the puzzle is, but if this seems like the end of the line, maybe we'll find an answer.

[toybombs]

[Whee, what a nice ride across! She hops down to the ground, still more or less muck-free and in high spirits for it. She isn't going to fuss too much over the puzzle requirements - it's not like the rest of this situation made any more sense.]

What were Alessa and Cheryl like? Maybe that's part of the clue!

[not_that_sasuke]

[Sasuke's expression goes dark at the mere mention of those names.]

...Alessa tricked us.

[And then stabbed them. He didn't like any of the rooms in particular, but that one was one of the worst.]

[babel_hacker]

[You're welcomed, Rio. Atsuro glances over at Sasuke after hearing his response.]

... What happened?

[It sounds pretty bad, but he wants to know.]

[not_that_sasuke]

It was one of the past rooms. They're all puzzles like this.

Alessa was in a room with a camera in the corner for us to see her. We could only communicate with her through pre-written messages to tell her how to get out. We couldn't see what was under the camera, but she told us it was a man in a gas mask.

She was lying. There was another girl there, too scared to do anything. We helped her escape the room to try to keep that other girl safe, and she rewarded us by stabbing us.

[Does he sound unhappy about this? He still is.]