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

[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.]

[detectiveofthewest]

"But the weirdest part," said Heiji, "Is that three different teams all encountered the same Alessa and Cheryl a few days apart, in the same scenario -- at least, the same as far as we could tell. It didn't seem to matter if Alessa came out of it fine, or if Cheryl turned the tables and took her out."

Yeah, probably didn't have too much to do with the puzzle. But it was still super weird.

[blind_badass]

I think it was some kind of trick to fool the senses and those people weren't really there. *Says the blind man. Hard for him to form empathy for someone through a screen. Except for the stabbing part, but that wasn't an option in their scenario.*

[toybombs]

But... if they weren't there, then how could they have stabbed you?

[Rio, for her part, will begin to wander over to the elevators. The betrayer...

...Why is that the only one in singular?]

[detectiveofthewest]

BECAUSE IT WAS YOU, RIO!

"Alessa -- or someone or something calling herself Alessa -- definitely was solid enough to attack me and Sasuke," said Heiji. "For our group, anyway. But there was definitely something suspicious about her. Like the way she knew where we were, and how strong she was. Her grip was like a vise, and she was fast enough to nab Sasuke, too. We've seen robots around here that looked like they'd been disguised as humans once, so she might have been one of those."

[not_that_sasuke]

"I didn't even have time to get away." Snake in particular should remember just how quick his reflexes are, after that little incident with the knife. If she was able to catch him off guard... well, it was a pretty impressive feat.

[babel_hacker]

Maybe... That might explain why if she can actually stab you.

[It's an almost idle comment, based on what he heard so far.]

Do you think that... entire scenario can be a clue for this puzzle?

[toybombs]

Maybe something would happen if we brought the Alessa mask into the room for the Betrayer? It sounds like she betrayed all of you. And besides, even if they're supposed to go on posts, we're still missing one of the masks. Maybe we need to do something else with them before we can find the last one.

[blind_badass]

Unless of course, there's a mask hidden in one of the rooms. From what I heard of the room description, it doesn't seem as though there's a lot of places to hide, other than the elevator and the Ambidex Rooms.

[detectiveofthewest]

Heiji looked at Rio.

Rio

That room

Didn't it look comfy?

[toybombs]

[She catches the look, staring back suspiciously.]

What's that look for?

[babel_hacker]

[Hearing that, he looks over. He glance at Rio, then at Heiji.]

... You have an idea?

[detectiveofthewest]

Heiji took the Alessa mask and cheerfully handed it to Rio. YOU MADE THE SUGGESTION RIO. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY.

"Well, here ya go! Time to test out that theory of yours!"

[toybombs]

[WHY THIS.]

No way! What if it just closes and locks me in, huh? Are you all going to just abandon me?!

[blind_badass]

No, because we aren't that backstabbing. *Unlike some other people.* Just go in and tell us what you see or if anything happens.

[toybombs]

[She makes a disgruntled sound.]

If anything happens to me, you'll all regret it!

[How intimidating. She does, however, grab the mask and step inside, even if she doesn't look at all happy about it.

Well...?]

[vivariummods]

[ The moment Rio steps inside the elevator marked as 'THE BETRAYER', the doors close shut immediately behind her. ]

[ That's a start? ]

[toybombs]

[GODDAMN IT ZERO.]

[detectiveofthewest]

Heiji rapped on the door of the room. "Hey, Rio! You okay in there?"

He didn't hear the sound of rising water, so...

[toybombs]

Hey, let me out of here!

[She tries banging on the door - for being so small, there's a surprising force behind her fists - but she isn't about to fool herself into thinking it will be enough to get her out.

Shit, shit, shit, she knew it.]

[babel_hacker]

[He looks at everyone, and then scan the room.]

The mask's presence probably triggered it. Or just someone holding it? [It could be either!] Do you think it'll open if we finished this puzzle?