TerrorFest 2018 - Zero Escape

Pass, Fail, Fail

Alecia searched under shelves and beneath a cluttered assortment of medical equipment crammed onto them. A white slip caught her eye, and she yanked out an envelope, scraping her hand in the process.

Wincing, she held up the envelope and squinted at the name. Jacke's.

Hurrying over to the glass, she called his name, just as he triumphantly pulled out an envelope of his own. She ushered him over to the glass, which he wades to through waist-deep water, and tore open his envelope.

"Sorry about this," she murmured. It seemed an invasion of privacy, but this was hardly the time to balk at formalities. Unfolding the paper, she noted the GUILTY on the page before flipping it over to find a +2. Alecia pressed the paper to the glass to give him a look.

"Jacke has a +2," she announced once he nodded.

Jacke held up the paper he'd opened, which belonged to Kenny. They both looked at the page, but all it held was the same GUILTY. No number or other markings.

"Kenny, Jacke found yours," Alecia called out. "But it doesn't have anything."

Kenny hurried over, his sneakers squishing from water with every step, and peered at it. "What does it mean?"

Alecia shook her head. "I don't know. But..." She looked around at the others holding up envelopes. "There should only be two left. We need to start working on what PRAY is supposed to mean."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yu zi found the word “LACK” above the keypad on the door leading out of the room. Turning his attention to the clue he found, he, Luna, and Morgan all opened the envelopes - all addressed to them.

The word GUILTY is branded in the center of the page.

On the back, they each have a different number. Luna's is +2. Yu zi's is +1. Morgan's, like Kenny's, had an entirely blank back. No number, no markings..

(Note: You guys need to share your information before it becomes public, ie usable, knowledge.)

================================================


Clues:

1) The answer has something to do with the order in which everyone arrived
2) There are ten clues, each an envelope with an individual's name on it.
3) A lever can stop the flow of water into the drowning room by redirecting it into the main room.

Rules:

1) Each turn you will search for a clue. Roll a D6 dice on he discord and put your result at the top of your post. If you succeed, you will obtain a clue. You can make it the one with your name, or it can be someone else's if you prefer. You can open it yourself first, or give it to them unopened.
         1-3 Fail
         4-6 Success
2) On any turn, you can use the lever to stop the flow of water into the drowning room by redirecting it into the puzzle room. Doing so will stop the death counter each turn the flow is redirected. However, every turn it's redirected will require a D6 roll from the person who activated the lever. On a success, everything remains fine. On a failure, a clue will be lost. You will be forced to then solve the puzzle without that clue.
3) You only have three chances to enter the 4-digit passcode. Failure will automatically set off the death trap in both rooms and kill everyone.
4) Answers and clues can only be communicated IC. Keep it realistic.
5) In seven master posts, the drowning room will fill, killing its occupant.[/quote]

Discovered Information:

1) The order of arrival thus recalled:
1st- Kenny
2nd - Alecia
3rd - Yu Zi
4th - Jacke
5th - Remy
6th - Morgan
8th - Pierce
10th - Cyrus

2) The passcode is PRAY

3) Kenny's clue has no number
Alecia’s clue has a -1
Jacke's clue has a +2
Remy's clue has a +1
Cyrus' clue has a -1

Clues Discovered: 8/10

Death Counter: 3/7

Remy - Result: 1d6 (3)

As more envelopes turned up, Remy began to lose track of all the information. She pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket and began jotting down their names and the corresponding numbers.

"So what do you think the word means?" she asked Alecia.

At this point she'd given up looking for clues. It looked like the others were taking care of that with much better success. And at the speed the water level was rising, they needed to figure the passcode out quickly.

"Is it like a cipher?" she rambled out her thoughts. "And how does the word GUILTY figure into this?" she mused. "It's too long to be a simple number cipher. We only need four digits. But punching in the corresponding numbers for PRAY sounds like it's too simply…"

She looked down at her list, wondering how the plus and minus numbers figured into it.

Morgan - Result: (4)

Morgan glanced over in Remy's direction intrigued by the comments she was making, as he began to consider the cipher as well. 'PRAY'... well oddly enough they did have a name for each of the letters.... 'P, R, A, Y'.. Pierce, Remy, Alecia, and Yu Zi. And with what Remy said earlier... was it that simple?

"What was that?" Morgan mumbled in surprise within earshot of Remy and Alecia so that she could make out what he was saying clearly, as he continued on to say in confusion "Simple.... Connected..... Pierce? Yu Zi? These two? What do you mean by that?"

Morgan had a clearly 'perplexed' face, as he glanced up at Remy who he 'happened' to notice was now near him as he put on a rather embarrassed expression. He glanced around, mumbling a few more phrases but after a few seconds of waiting shut his mouth with an annoyed look with his face looking at the ground.

"My apologies Remy, the spirits here are... as I said before rather dark and disturbed and love interrupting... each other I asked them about the puzzle, I don't suppose their words helped?" Morgan curiously said as his eye rose to meet her gaze. However, Morgan's eyes soon shifted over to the closet that no one had looked in yet, as he began slowly walking over in that direction with his slight mumbles returning.

Morgan opened the closet door to see an odd ragged and damaged coat hanging on a hook on the inner side of the door that Morgan opened that looked like someone died in it recently. Morgan reached up and pulled the coat off the hook, as he reached in and checked almost every pocket and cranny on the coat. There was nothing, he sighed and was about to put the coat back up when he noticed there was a letter pierced by the coat hook with slight blood marks around the puncture zone that was addressed to...

"Really..." Morgan stated in annoyance as he covered his face with his hands in embarrassment, as he pulled the letter off of the hook with his free hand sliding it out of the hook without ripping the letter, and walked over to Pierce and handed the letter to him.

"Well, the bloody goatman apparently has a 'great' sense of humor still despite the situation he put us in..." Morgan mumbled furious, as he walked over to sit down in one of the chairs, no longer interested in looking for more clues.

Spoiler:

Yù zǐ shuǐjīng

Yù zǐ’s ears shot up as he heard Morgan utter his name along with Pierce, apparently, he was doing his spirit thing. From what he could hear, Yù zǐ only understood something about some connection between their names or the persons themselves.

The intrigued man left his place at the exit he had found and walked over to Morgan.

“Hey, Morgan, the- man, of the witching hour. I heard you call out my name. Did your spirit buddies spill the goat’s beans?” he asked with an enthused nod of his head.

“Look what I found. My clue says Plus One (+1) and like I said earlier, I was the Third to enter this place. Does this mean that I get to bring a Plus One to a party of Four next door? Speaking of which, I found the other exit and the code mentioned on it is L- A- C- K… I guess I’m lacking some spirit action. Why don’t you bring your spirit buddies along and help me cRACK it open?” Yù zǐ nudged his head towards the dim lit area of the room where he found the exit door. “At the very least if we get it open in the right amount of tries and still need time to unlock the water-filled room, all the water that could fall from pulling the lever could rush out and spread into the area which we were able to open up.”

Yù zǐ then looked at the others and said out loud that anyone who hasn’t revealed their number linked to them of entering the mansion and the clues they got should really do it now so that we can all have the same information. “Sharing is caring you know.”

“You want to check the other door now while the others look for clues or rack their brains on breaking the water trap room’s code?” he asked Morgan as he began to move towards the exit with the LACK Code.

Jacke - Result (2) - fail

Jacke moves over to the glass to exchange information with Alecia.

"Guilty... and +2? What does that mean?" Jacke was struggling to piece together any meaning from the clues. The rising water level certainly wasn't helping - it was already up to his waist with no sign of stopping. If they couldn't solve the puzzle soon, the entire room would be filled!

Jacke's clothes are getting heavy, having absorbed the water. He shivers, the temperature of the water being quite cold.

"So, uh, anyone have any idea what these clues mean? It looks like each one so far has 'guilty' on it, and a number... if all the clues have 'guilty', then is it really a part of the clue?"

- Luna -

"Uhh... Thanks." Luna responded, but the audacious figure was already making his way back across the room. If she wasn't so freaked out right now, she might have drawn a mental picture of him dancing amidst a pack of flamingos. Shaking her head to prevent just that mental image from forming, she peeled open the envelope.

GUILTY

A chill ran up her spine at the word, but she flipped it over to check the other side. Around her, all of the others were calling out their order of arrival. Luna tried to remember who all had been in the room when she arrived, but she'd been so focused on the contract...

Pierce had been the next to arrive after her though! So, if he had been the 8th... "I arrived 7th, and my card has a +2." Luna said, holding up her card for the others to see.

Everyone else seemed to be talking about numbers and ciphers, but it was all over her head. Why did it have to be math? Why couldn't the problem have involved drawing something?

Join still looking in the same general spot, quickly discovered a loose tile, as he quickly pulled out a envelope it had his name, he found a clue. With his luck he thought he would have never found it. Quickly turning he showed the group what he found and also telling them when he arrived.

"I believe I was 2nd to last, but don't quote me on that."

He said as he ripped open the envelope, making sure the content inside wasn't damaged.

Cyrus Winter - fail

Seeing as everyone had found their corresponding envelopes, Cyrus finally abandoned his search and walked over to join the crowd with measured steps. He crossed his arms across his chest, sinking into thought on how to crack the code.

"...Perhaps we have to add or subtract the numbers from our number of arrival as shown?"

Alecia folded her arms an stared at the door code. "A cipher..."

Morgan wandered over and rambled some incoherent things, apparently as a result of spirits. But one thing stuck with her.

"Pierce... Yu zi..." she mused. "Remy, do you-"

She stopped, her eyes widening. Wait... She glanced at the door again.

"Pierce, Remy, Yu zi," she slapped a hand to her chest. "Alecia!"

Pierce raised an eyebrow. "Yes. Now that we've got everyone's names clear..."

"No." Alecia shook her head, smiling. "PRAY. It's the first letter of our names."

"Then what about..." Pierce nodded his head in Remy's direction.

"GUILTY?" Alecia sighed. "I don't know. Maybe it has nothing to do with this puzzle. Maybe..."

She stared through the glass at Jacke as he tried to keep calm, even as the water in the room lapped halfway up his chest.

"Maybe it has to do with why we're here. Why this is happening." She glanced at Pierce, pursing her lips.

"Something you want to confess?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

Alecia shook her head and looked away. "No, just..."

"For what it's worth," Pierce said, holding up the envelope Morgan had given him. "Mine had no number."

"Are you sure?"

Pierce glared back. "Yes."

Kenny walked over and pointed in Join's direction. "Join found his letter. It was a -2."

"No one care," Pierce said, waving a dismissive hand. "As usual, he's useless to the solution here."

"That's not nice," Kenny said, frowning.

"Doesn't make it any less true." Pierce turned his attention from Kenny to Alecia. "So it's our initials. Now what?"

Cyrus piped in before Alecia could respond, suggesting they had to add or subtract their numbers from the order of their arrival.

"Yes, that must be it. The... Goatman said the key was the order of our arrival. It makes sense," Alecia replied.

As Luna and Join added in their information, Alecia rubbed her temples and tried to sort through it all. "Okay, so let's put it all together."

================================================


Clues:

1) The answer has something to do with the order in which everyone arrived
2) There are ten clues, each an envelope with an individual's name on it.
3) A lever can stop the flow of water into the drowning room by redirecting it into the main room.

Rules:

1) Each turn you will search for a clue. Roll a D6 dice on he discord and put your result at the top of your post. If you succeed, you will obtain a clue. You can make it the one with your name, or it can be someone else's if you prefer. You can open it yourself first, or give it to them unopened.
         1-3 Fail
         4-6 Success
2) On any turn, you can use the lever to stop the flow of water into the drowning room by redirecting it into the puzzle room. Doing so will stop the death counter each turn the flow is redirected. However, every turn it's redirected will require a D6 roll from the person who activated the lever. On a success, everything remains fine. On a failure, a clue will be lost. You will be forced to then solve the puzzle without that clue.
3) You only have three chances to enter the 4-digit passcode. Failure will automatically set off the death trap in both rooms and kill everyone.
4) Answers and clues can only be communicated IC. Keep it realistic.
5) In seven master posts, the drowning room will fill, killing its occupant.

Discovered Information:

1) The order of arrival thus recalled:
1st- Kenny
2nd - Alecia
3rd - Yu Zi
4th - Jacke
5th - Remy
6th - Morgan
7th - Luna
8th - Pierce
9th - Join
10th - Cyrus

2) The passcode is PRAY

3) Kenny's clue has no number
Alecia’s clue has a -1
Jacke's clue has a +2
Yu zi's clue has a +1
Jacke's clue has a +2
Remy's clue has a +1
Morgan's clue has no number
Luna's clue has a +2
Pierce's clue has no number (supposedly)
Join's clue has a -2
Cyrus' clue has a -1

Clues Discovered: 10/10

Death Counter: 4/7

Cyrus Winter

Cyrus nodded his head at Alecia's deduction, unfastening his arms from around his chest. "I suppose we can't be entirely sure until we try." He said as he gave a vacant stare at the number pad. Whether they did nothing or they were wrong, the result would be the same. He felt doing something would be better than doing nothing. They had a couple tries, at the very least, so he felt less pressure from the decision at the moment.

"Going by what we have so far, that would make it
P- 8
R- 5+1 = 6
A- 2-1 = 1
Y- 3+1 = 4
so, 8614 then?" Cyrus turned to the gathered crowd for their arguments on the matter, giving an expectant look in hopes they could finally be done with this deathtrap. There may be more, but the sooner they were done with any of them the better.

Morgan Church

Morgan was glad the lawyer got the gist of what he was trying to say, as he sighed in relief.  Relief?  Wasn't this whole think rigged?  Morgan's arms began to shake slightly at the thought of this being real, but still he'd rather die then be exposed as a fraud.

Suddenly, the energetic Yu Zi came barreling in from the corner of his eye, as Morgan jumped slightly at the site of him.  Though, his 'man of the witching hour' comment did cheer him up a bit, as he unintentionally gave off a slight grin.

"Hold on, let me think for a second." Morgan quickly said to Yu Zi in attempt to stall some time.

Morgan wanted to help Yu Zi, but he didn't want to babble out the answer too quick otherwise it would make his medium prowess look less convincing.  He would need to wait for someone else to figure out the PRAY code....  So, he just put his hand under his chin to give off the image of him thinking.

And so Cyrus solved the riddle.... There's my cue!

"Yes! that sounds correct, Cyrus! That must be what the spirits were talking about!  The names they mentioned linked to the letters!"  Morgan uttered in awe like he had reached some sort of revelation, as he glanced over and nodded at Aleica as if he was impressed she interpreted the words of the spirits.

"By that logic, the code for the LACK door is... 9191!" Morgan turned and stated quickly to Yu Zi, as he bolted out of his chair and swiftly walked after Yu Zi.

- Remy -

"Mhh…?" she turned around when Morgan began rambling random names. Her skin was crawling when he said he was hearing spirits. Could this really be true?

She didn't doubt that there might be spirits about, she was still questioning Morgan's ability to communicate with them. It seemed all a bit too convenient.

While her mind was thus occupied, Cyrus presented an idea of what the code could be. It did make a lot of sense.

"Sounds like you're pretty sure. So what are we waiting for?" she asked and stepped up to the keypad that would unlock the room Jacke was in. It was still filling up with water.

Her hand hovered over the keypad, trembling slightly. On the other side of the room, she could see Morgan and Yu Zi looking at the other keypad. Sure, they could try to open the door to the foyer. But her gut told her that the consequences could be dramatic and that they should focus on saving Jacke first.

"I'll do it, if no one else dares to," she said. "What were the numbers again?" she added, looking at Cyrus.

Spoiler:

Yù zǐ shuǐjīng

He had just taken a few steps when the last of the clues and player information was shared. The First Lady that Yù zǐ had seen upon his entry to the waiting room was quick to start putting the pieces together for everyone and soon a few others shared their own input and before anyone could shout eureka they were all getting ready to head for the keypad. Yù zǐ thought that this was just fine. He didn’t have to explain the same conclusion that he had earlier come up with when thinking about cracking the exit he had found. Morgan too cleared all doubt when he spoke the code out loud.


Both Yù zǐ and Morgan had reached the keypad that the rest of the players had mostly ignored. The musician glanced towards his fellow trapped companions and noticed that the lady with the short brown hair had reached the keypad that would open the door of the water-filled room. Their eyes met and Yù zǐ gave an understanding nod.

“Hey, whenever you are ready!!” he shouted across the room to her. “We’ll input our codes at the same time. We’ll have an easier time if we can get all that excess water flow out and spread into the other side of this door.” Yù zǐ nudged his head towards the exit beside him. “Wouldn’t want to get this room flooded next with all of us trapped in.”


The Band member of Shītǐ zhī xīn braced himself to finally give everyone a fighting chance of escape, because who knew what would happen if all the water flooded into their current room and somehow their only exit door got jammed under the water’s pressure. It was only best to have this door open before the water reached it.


Yù zǐ kept his eyes and ears in constant check towards the input at the other keypad as he himself began to input the code of his door.

“let’s go Morgan. Spirits crossed.” he nervously joked.
*BEEP* BEEP *BEEP* 9 1 9

and then waited to enter the last digit at the precise moment as the last digit of the water room keypad would be pressed.

It didn’t matter if there was a slight delay as it would take a few moments for the water inside the room to rush out and reach the exit door and by that time if the code entry was correct, then there would be ample time to push the door open and have the water flow through without it having applied any force on the closed door.

- Luna -

As the others seemed to figure out the riddle and moved towards the keypads, Luna glanced at the water filling up the other room. Another shiver ran up her spine at the thought of being surrounded by all that cold water. If they were about to open up the door...

As Remy began punching buttons, Luna hopped up onto one of the tables in the middle of the room, folding her legs up beneath her. At least this way, she would avoid the worst of the flooding as the water rushed through the room.

Jacke

Jacke watches on helplessly as the rest of the group attempt to solve the puzzle. They reach an answer and head to the keypads to try them. Meanwhile, Jacke notices he's beginning to float, now there's so much water.

"Okay, guys, please hurry. I kinda need to get out of here soon..."

He looks up at the ceiling, trying to gauge how much time he has left before the water completely fills the room...

Discovered Information:

1) The order of arrival thus recalled:
1st- Kenny
2nd - Alecia
3rd - Yu Zi
4th - Jacke
5th - Remy
6th - Morgan
7th - Luna
8th - Pierce
9th - Join
10th - Cyrus

2) The passcode is PRAY

3) Kenny's clue has no number
Alecia’s clue has a -1
Jacke's clue has a +2
Yu zi's clue has a +1
Jacke's clue has a +2
Remy's clue has a +1
Morgan's clue has no number
Luna's clue has a +2
Pierce's clue has no number (supposedly)
Join's clue has a -2
Cyrus' clue has a -1

Clues Discovered: 10/10

Death Counter: 5/7

Door 1 code: 8614

Door 2 code: 9191

Puzzle: SOLVED!

================================================


"8614." Pierce nodded at Cyrus and folded his arms over his chest. "I got the same value."

"I'll trust you two," Alecia sighed, rubbing at her temples. "I can't think straight enough to do math right now."

Remy stepped up to the pad and began to input the numbers. As she did, Kenny backed over to the table where Luna sat huddled and smiled at her.

"Probably not a bad idea," he said, ruffling his hair. "That's a whole lot of water in there..."

Pierce glanced at him, then at Jacke, who had to climb onto one of the surgical tables to keep his head above the water. He backed away slowly, obviously now having second thoughts about letting that much water surge out.

Too late, however. Remy input the last number, and the door panel suddenly flashed from red to green with a pleasant little chime - dreadfully unsuited to the current environment. Then, a rumbling shook their feet before a sound like a massive toilet being flushed forced them to clap their hands to their ears. From some kind of drain in the drowning room, all the water began to drop rapidly so that Jacke had to clutch the table to keep from being dragged to the floor. In a matter of moments, all the water in the room had vanished, save for a wet covering over everything.

Hands surged forward, and everyone by the door yanked it open to allow Jacke out.

"Are you all right?" Alecia asked, helping him out.

Pierce stepped away from the proceedings and ran a hand over his hairless scalp, muttering to himself. After a moment, he glared around the room, baring his teeth. "All right, Goatman. You had your fun. Now let's talk business. I'm insured against kidnapping, so this should be straightforward enough. Let us out, I'll grab my phone, and the money can be wired-"

The terrible warbling of the speakers rang out before the Goatman's voice tore through the sound system, horribly distorted.

"YOUR MONEY MEANS NOTHING HERE, MR. ELLISON."

Pierce clenched his fists, gritting his teeth as the voice went silent for a few moments. Then, it spoke again, significantly more composed.

"Congratulations on surviving the Drowning Room. But the night is still young, and there's still plenty left to experience at Escape Mansion. Please, proceed ahead."

Everyone turned to the other door, which Yu zi and Morgan had opened while everyone else was focused on rescuing Jacke.

"Were you guys planning to leave without rescuing Jacke?" Kenny asked, biting his lip. "That's not cool..."

Alecia stepped forward and folded her arms, looking between Morgan and Yu zi. "We can't afford to all be doing our own thing. We need to work together to get out of here."

"Do we?"

Everyone turned to look at Pierce, who looked more irritable than usual after his altercation with Goatman.

"Did you forget what Goatman said? We have to work in twos from now on. Team unity isn't going to count for much from now on," he said.

"That's not true." Alecia turned to address everyone, her face stern. "Look, before we take a step outside this room, we need to establish something. Even if we have to split up for the puzzle rooms, we wait for everyone to reconvene in the foyers before moving on to the next set of puzzle rooms. No one gets left behind."

"And if someone can't figure out their puzzle?" Pierce glanced at his watch. "We don't have the luxury of waiting all night for everyone to finish their puzzles. We don't even have any way of knowing if a pair failed their puzzle and got themselves killed. We could spend hours waiting for a couple of corpses who are never going to show up."

Kenny winced at his words. "Don't say that..."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pierce and Alecia both make good points. It'll be demoralizing to everyone if any sense of group unity falls apart, but it isn't the most practical approach. You -

A) Agree with Alecia.

B) Agree with Pierce.

Morgan Church (B: agree with Pierce)

"It worked!" Morgan said in an excited tone as he clenched his fist in front of him, and he turned around to see the other door opened as well!  Yes!  They did it!  They might be able to get out of this crazed hell house after all!  They just needed to work together and...

"Excuse me?" Morgan responded aggravated at the accusations that Kenny and Alecia, as he face warped into a horrible scowl with his face turning a light red in rage.

He didn't like being accused of something he didn't do.  There's a lot he could be accused about, but THIS is certainly not one of those things.  He expected this from the lawyer, she was full of these annoying games, but Kenny?  He had enough of this!

Still Morgan silently waited for the conversation to finish with his cold piercing gaze deadlocked with Alecia.  After the conversation was over, he slowly walked up to the lawyer with his robe hiding the fact that his arms were shaking in rage.

"SURE!  We were planning on bailing on Jacke after wasting MY energy communing with all the ANGRY spirits here, right after Cryus solved the cipher right in front of me!  Do you even understand how hard it is to commune with souls that have been MURDERED!" Morgan began to shout and point right in the lawyer's face completely ignoring everyone else in the room, as all the pent up fear that had been gnawing away at him exploded for everyone to see.

"I'm siding with Pierce here, it's better to work with the few I trust over some lawyer who's probably only putting up an act to stab us in the back later." Morgan said back in a normal but still irritated voice, as he slowly backed off from Aleica with his eyes still shooting daggers at hers.  

Morgan then turned around and gave a quick nod at Yu Zi to indicate that he was one of the people he trusted, as he quickly walked through the door half expecting the lawyer to actually stab him in the back after that spiel.

Spoiler:

Yù zǐ shuǐjīng

Upon entering the code and the hearing the chime of a correct input code, Yù zǐ’s excitement turned to surprise when the other door opened and there was no sight of people surfing on top of furniture. It didn’t take long for him to realize how dumb he had been, of course, there was a drain installed in the room and their captor had remotely blocked it to give everyone the impression that his volunteer was trapped and doomed to drown.

Now that that was over, everyone finally made it to the door that Yù zǐ and Morgan had opened for them all. He was about to call “Ladies first.” with a bow and a relieved smile but he stopped in his tracks the moment the kid and the business lady opened their mouths and then before he could retort back in their defence, Morgan said his piece and he couldn’t agree more.

Yù zǐ returned Morgan’s nod and then went about to once again put up an annoyed and surprised face upon turning his attention back to the Lawyer.

“Huh!! Wha… Wait a sec… Hey what gives! Are you two deaf or what? I know for a fact that I got great vocals and I shouted my intentions over to you all about helping you all, loud and clear. My throat wasn’t damaged at all and it’s not that far of a distance from the two doors, so you definitely heard me.” Yù zǐ then turned his body towards the young lady from before. “Isn’t that right, you with the short hair that opened the lock? I told you that we would open the door at the same time to let all the water flow out from the room and into here, making it easier for us to not get trapped.”

The performer shook his head in disgust, “Sneaking off without helping? Really? Right after Morgan here was the first and main person who cracked the code for you all. You guys need to rethink how you treat other people who are genuinely trying to help, because if this is how you are going to be, then you leave me no choice but to fend for myself and my partner from now on, even though I may not fully agree with Mr. Pierce, but time is of the essence, we need to get out here as soon as possible, even if this is just a game.”

Yù zǐ gave a nod towards Pierce but then looked at the lady who he still thought looks quite attractive, but he no longer feels inclined to side with her anymore. “My main purpose here and I believe it is for everyone too is to get out of here alive as soon as possible. These puzzles seem dangerous enough and no one now would like to be caught up in these if the ones ahead are similar in kind, if they can help it. So, what I think we should do is get out of this mansion at the first chance we get and call for help from the authorities to rescue anyone still inside. But first, as Mr. Pierce pointed out, we would need to establish a system that will let us know when to proceed.”

Yù zǐ dug into his coat’s pocket and fished out his time piece. Part of the steel chain slipped through his fingers and dangled a few centimetres below. Like all his items, the black metal cased timepiece was adorned with glowing jewels. With a click of a button, the protective front panel swung open to reveal the dial underneath a strong glass.

“I purpose that whoever gets through their puzzle wait for the next team to come out for a maximum of Ten Minutes. It will be like a relay, the first team gets to their exit and waits for ten minutes for the next team to come through and if the next team makes it out within the ten minutes then the first team moves forward with their next round and the second team that had arrived would wait for their ten minute counter for the third. Upon the third’s arrival within the time frame, the second team would inform them of the arrival of the first team before them and then move on to enter their next round while the third team waits on for the fourth and if they make it out, then they are informed of the previous two teams’ emergence, so on and so forth. If for whatever reason a team doesn’t make it out during the ten minute time frame then that team is free to move on to their next puzzle room, if they wish to wait longer then that is up to them but remember we can’t be too patient as our main objective is to get out of here and alert the authorities so that we can get an army out here to get anyone left behind.”


Yù zǐ snapped the lid back and returned the pocket-watch then proceeded to walk through the door. “If you don’t agree with my plan then that is up to you. It’s all the same to me if we go with what Mr. Pierce said, because the sooner a team gets out, the better for us all.” The man concluded and walked out of their first shared trap room.

B) Agree with Pierce.

Choice A: Agree with Alecia

Remy looked at Yu zi and they entered the numbers. She braced herself when she entered the last number, expecting the door to open and the water to flow out. Nothing happened. The room with Jacke drained and the door opened. She sighed with relief.

Suddenly a new problem arose. Alecia and Pierce started arguing.

"Hey, my hair isn't short and my name is Remy," she said to Yu zi, pulling off her cap, revealing a long ponytail. "In case you can pull your eyes away from yourself."

Remy took a deep breath.

"Anyways," she said. "I agree with Alecia. We need to work together. That's the only way we solved that puzzle."

"Imagine if one person had to find all those clues or figure the code out on their own."

Remy crossed her arms. "Also, we don't know what kind of information we get from the following rooms. We still haven't figured out what "GUILTY" means. I think it's in our best interest to wait for everyone in the foyer...just to make sure."

A : Agree with Alecia

Jacke picks himself off the table he was holding on to, shivering due to his now soaking clothes. He gives an appreciative expression to Alecia as she helps him.

He listens to the various people arguing about what to do next without comment. He waits for a lull in the conversation before saying his piece.

"G-guys... we shouldn't be fighting. We're all trapped here b-by this.. crazy guy," he says, stuttering as he shivers.

"I'm on Alecia's side here... if we hadn't worked t-together there, I'd be dead... the person behind this really isn't messing around..."

A: Agree with Alecia

- Luna -

Luna had to fight the urge to roll her eyes at her conversationally challenged compatriot, but only a moment later, she closed her eyes tight, along with covering her ears to try and ignore the loud grating sound that filled the room. Why did it have to be so loud?

Just when it had finally died down, another commotion rose up. Luna groaned as Morgan, Alecia, and Pierce got into it. Loudly.

This time, she did roll her eyes. She also pictured them all in her mind as a bunch of seagulls with their heads stuck through plastic soda rings and all trying to fly in different directions. Luna giggled at the image. Okay, so maybe she was still capable of rational thought after all. Too bad no one else seemed to be.

It was Jacke, of all people, who seemd the most rational. "He's right." She cut in, pointing a thumb at Jacke. "We've already got an enemy here. No sense in picking fights amongst ourselves too."

"While I can appreciate the efficiency of simply moving on after each room, most escape games are time-boxed. So, maybe we just wait for the amount of time our own room would have allowed before moving on?"

"Besides, who's to say that some of the earlier rooms won't contain information about later ones? It might be worth sharing some information when we see each other again."

Cyrus Winter - Agree with Alecia

Once the code was accepted, Cyrus quickly pulled the door open to allow Jacke out, helping the shivering man out of what was almost his early grave and turning him to Alecia, who took over from there. As everyone finally began calming down with the immediate situation having been resolved, Pierce, in what Cyrus knew well was absolutely the usual "Pierce style", tried to negotiate with their crazy little... "friend" in the goat suit.

After he was predictably shot down, Cyrus observed as everyones gathered tensions collided and exploded, especially that of Morgan, whom he felt was actually the most on-edge, with the man refusing to even truly acknowledge the truth of the situation, Cyrus decided to watch how thing would play out. He knew well trying to stop the momentum would essentially be the same as trying to put out a wildfire with a bucket.

"I'll have to agree with Alecia here. As miss Luna has pointed out, there's likely a reason for gathering us every few rooms. It's better we wait than miss a clue. Missing information could very well get all of us killed with one false move." Cyrus spoke, his arms crossed before his chest. He internally chuckled as he recalled the many times he'd heard the whole "stay calm especially in danger" speech from his superiors. Of course, they were far more reproachful and long-winded.

Join grateful that they survived the first room now they "I agree with Aleica we should stick together! Because, none of this goatman's traps will be able to defeat us me especially, with these muscles of my I can protect all of us." Join yelled as he lean back with his hand in the air and the other in front of his face.

Alecia and Pierce locked eyes, neither willing to budge from their stances when Morgan stalked over and unloaded on her. Alecia's lips parted, her eyes wide, at the venom and vitriol hurled at her. She backed away from his pointed finger, the shock giving way to anger.

"How dare you," she snapped, her nails digging into her arm. "I would never stab anyone in the back."

Yu zi then began to gang up on her, and Kenny quickly waved his hands to diffuse the situation.

"Hey, it's not Alecia's fault," he interjected. "I didn't hear. I was too caught up and distracted. I'm sorry."

There was an awkward pause before Remy, Jacke, Luna, and Cyrus came to Alecia's defense, siding with her idea of everyone remaining together as much as possible. Pierce scanned the group, realizing that only Morgan and Yu zi had sided with his argument, and they were already too close to each other for him to have a chance of working with them. He'd have to pivot stance.

But before he could open his mouth, Join shoved his way into the middle of the group and declared his support for Alecia's idea. "I agree with Alecia we should stick together!  Because, none of this Goatman's traps will be able to defeat us me especially, with these muscles of my I can protect all of us."

Pierce folded his arms and stared at the other man. "Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I feel safer already," he replied, his voice drier than the Sahara.

Not that Join seemed to notice. He flashed Pierce a thumb's up, making Pierce purse his lips like he'd swallowed a whole lemon.

"Anyway, you might have a point," he said, turning to Alecia. "Maybe reconvening as a group has its benefits. But I think we'll need to compromise to some degree. We can't wait forever if we want to make it out before the time limit."

"What do you suggest?" Alecia asked, her voice slightly shaky as she tried to hold her composure.

"Fifteen minutes," Pierce said. "Every time a new pair shows up, we reset the timer."

Alecia sighed. It wasn't the best outcome, but she had to admit that it had some sense to it. "All right."

Pierce nodded. For a moment, his eyes drifted toward the drowning room, and his jaw tightened. Then he turned and led the way out the door to the foyer. Everyone, now in agreement, filed out after him.

Spoiler:

Emerging from the dark hallway, the group found themselves in a foyer similar to the one they'd entered before going into the library. Lit by the red light from the monitors in the four corners, the room held a stale, clammy atmosphere, like a submarine pod abandoned at the bottom of the ocean.

"Five doors," Alecia murmured, scanning the metal doors ahead of them. "I guess we'll have to decide how to split up."

Everyone exchanged looks, sizing each other up. But before anyone could speak, the monitors crackled, and the red static image gave way to what looked like news articles.

"Isn't that...?" Kenny murmured, eyes wide.

A picture of Yu zi filled the top corner of the screen with a tabloid-esque article about the famous pop singer having an illicit affair with the mother and daughter of a prominent government official. The other monitor held a news report about a government official murdering his wife and daughter before committing suicide, which grainy photos of a bloody crime scene.

"Well, well," Pierce murmured, shooting Yu zi a look.

"There's more over here," Alecia said, pointing to the monitors on either side of her. One was a report about Cyrus using a chair leg to beat another student to a bloody pulp. The report had words highlighted in blood red about anger issues and violence. The other was an assault record for Join after breaking another guy's arm. "He made fun of my name" it said, as if to highlight the absurdity of such an overreaction.

Kenny shifted uncomfortably, backing away in what he probably thought was a discreet movement from the two potentially violent sociopaths.

Cyrus Winter

With the situation calming down and Pierce eating his pride once he realize he was essentially alone, things moved to the next room with Pierce in the lead. Cyrus followed quietly behind him, remaining unsurprised when the five different doors appeared. The Goatman had told them they'd need to split up, so it made good sense. He pondered on who to go with until Alecia directed their attention to the monitors showing old news recordings.

Cyrus let out a light chuckle when he saw his own. The Goatman's game here was plainly obvious to him here; making them less appealing to partner up with, as well as sowing discord among the group. "I see you like digging up old history, Goatman. My respect." he called out loud. Attempting to explain himself would merely incriminate him further. He'd explain if someone else asked, but he'd otherwise not bother, as they'd merely hear excuses then either way. He looked to the rest inquisitively instead, to see their reactions, mentally filing away Kenny's, as it was about what was expected of the boy.