In light of the apparent fact that interactive adventures are acceptable here, I've decided to continue Ruby here. For those who already saw the first part back when I had to post it on /r9k/, hopefully you'll just bear with me on this one and not provide any undue spoilers until we're past the end of the last one. A flood of /b/tards migrating from their dying board sort of put a damper on that attempt. So, get out your parser interface and let's see what we can do here.

Time to begin. It is very dark here. Hardly anything can be seen. Please recommend an action.

Unfortunately it's too dark in here it's hard to tell where the lights are.

Feels like something metallic with a rubber grip. But there's no lighter, matches, or flashlight.

As near as you can tell, the little red light is only a foot or so away from your face.

Ah, there we go. Ruby can see now.

Apparently, it's a hand-turned can-opener.

A row of small mesh holes open in the wall, venting in fresh air.

Ruby yells, but there's no response. Her voice echoes in the small room. Sadly, Ruby has no vampiric powers.

Ruby gets the feeling that pressing all the buttons would probably be a bad idea. There are buttons of multiple colors -- which one should she try?

Sweet success! Ruby presses the purple button and the top of the cell suddenly opens up to cool, clean air!

Ruby surveys her surroundings. There are no doors here, except for a portal on the north wall of this room. Unfortunately, there are metal shutters over the door.

Ruby tries her best, but the lid of the barrel refuses to be pulled from its base. It won't open.

Do you mean the metal shutters? They're blocking the portal to the north.

The cell/locker/coffin on the ground has a latch on the outside, but it's sealed with what appears to be a digital lock. There's no obvious way to undo the lock from the locker itself.

The barrel's lid comes up with the can-opener's tenacious efforts! Inside there's a few small lengths of BARE ELECTRICAL WIRE, but nothing else.

Ruby stows a piece of wire in her inventory.

Ruby has no magical or otherwise extraordinary powers. She has no knowledge of where she is or how she got here, and though she is not a specialist and holds no particularly special knowledge she is reasonably competent with things most people would be. Her physical capabilities are varied. She's limber, in good shape, but not particularly strong. She is currently carrying: CAN-OPENER BARE LENGTH OF WIRE

Ruby is above such primitive practices as chewing on wire and cannibalizing her young. If she had any. And besides, that would not be productive right now!

Ruby has slightly bigger concerns at the moment. Slightly. But besides, there could be hidden cameras around!

It would appear these controls are out of order. But even Ruby can tell this looks like an easy fix. Firstly, one of the wires is missing. Splicing it back together would be easy enough with the BARE LENGTH OF WIRE Ruby found. Then, there are connectors at the back of the control panel itself, so it will need to be screwed back into place.

Ruby knocks insistently on the metal locker cell, but there's no audible or visible response.

Unfortunately, it's the other way around! There's some kind of access shaft in the corner of the room, complete with a ladder set into the wall, but it's barred off and Ruby can't fit through!

Ruby tries to shove the big barrel aside, but her physique is just too admirably girlish. It won't budge.

Not only would a saw made of razor-sharp barrel-metal and bare wire be INCREDIBLY dangerous to use in ANY way, it certainly wouldn't have the durability or control to cut through these bars, which appear to be a stronger metal than the barrel anyway. You do get +1 INGENUITY for your idea though.

Ruby sees where you're going with this.

Yes. A quick check verifies she's got her underwear accounted for.

The digital console appears to be waiting for a command.

Ruby doesn't have enough clothing on for anything to really be considered extraneous.

That seemed to do something. A soft click comes from the other locker.

The console doesn't appear to recognize that command.

That got a response, but unfortunately the results weren't what Ruby had hoped for.

I just realized I messed up and the barrel appears closed in all these. Obviously, it should be open.

Ruby takes the two small coins off the top of the locker and pockets them. She opens it up to find... There's no one inside the locker. Instead, all that's inside is a pair of rubber gloves.

Heavy rubber gloves don't make for very enjoyable shlicking!

It's asking for a code.

A brilliant idea, especially since it negates the possibility of electrocution. Ruby sets to work splicing the door panel's wires back together.

The two coins seem to just be ordinary-looking quarters. But the edges make functional screwdrivers for the flathead screws in the panel! Ruby screws the repaired panel back in place, and the UP ARROW button lights up green.

Here goes nothing. Ruby presses the button.

The metal shutters start to lift... ...oh. [ANIMATED!]

...it would appear that Ruby is underwater.

The down arrow still isn't lit, and doesn't respond to being pressed.

Thankfully, there's a big glass window separating Ruby from a horrible drowning death.

Using the number on the plaque outside as a reference, Ruby attempts to try opening the bars to the access shaft via the computer terminal once more.

The water is murky. Ruby can see neither the surface nor any details on the sea life swimming past the glass. After entering the code, the bars on the grate finally slide open with a loud "clank"! The access shaft is accessible!

Ruby descends down the access shaft's ladder. Congratulations! You've escaped the first room! [From here on out the adventure may slow down a bit as I don't have anything at all drawn (e.g. scenery, objects, interface, key shots, etc.) after this point. We're breaking brand new ground here. We're not stopping, though! Keep the commands coming and I'll do my best to keep up with Ruby's story.]

Ruby descends the access hatch and comes upon a new room. There's lots to see here.

Ruby introduces herself and says hi. The prisoner introduces himself as "Tom", and says hi back. He doesn't seem particularly chatty.

Tom won't say how long he's been here. Just that he woke up in the cell and hasn't gotten out since. He seems uninterested with this particular line of questioning and returns to contemplating his little sculpture.

It's just a metal grating.

Unfortunately you are not sleuthy enough to figure out how to do this.

The fish tank seems to contain, along with the fish, a tiny treasure chest for decoration.

Tom explains that this is his Opus, titled "The Room is Boring". It appears to consist of a TIN CAN, a LETTER-OPENER, and a METAL PLATE with screws on its four corners.

The fish are all quite tiny. And as far as Ruby can tell, none of them are sharks.

It appears to be another sort of access hatch, this time with metal shutters over it. It's labelled "Z-HATCH" and just underneath where that's written there's an empty space with four holes. It looks like something used to go there.

Tom explains that the five things on the walls are very functional buttons, but so far he's only tried pressing the middle one.

It's some sort of switch that can be pulled, but it looks like it's out of reach.

The grate is thin, but given that it's a cell the metal is clearly very strong and unlike the barrel, it's not worn. The CAN-OPENER would have no chance against it.

The fishtank is bolted to the pedestal it's on, which in turn is bolted to the floor. But the little treasure chest is coming with Ruby. It gets added to her inventory, a little wet. It's about the size of her hand.

It refuses to open. It must be locked.

Firstly, Tom refuses to hand over the plate with the funny numbers on it, because it's a part of his Opus. Secondly, he couldn't pass it through the small openings in the grate even if he wanted to give it to Ruby. And thirdly, Tom tells Ruby that when he pressed the middle button, he was ELECTROCUTED. He hasn't pressed any of the others and he will refuse to press any of the others until he's confident they won't result in another near-death experience. Lastly, he has no clue what the overhead hatch does. He's never seen it open.

Ruby is carrying TWO COINS, a CAN-OPENER, a pair of RUBBER GLOVES, and now a TINY TREASURE CHEST.

Tom pouts and says that's fine, because he doesn't trust you either.

It's a small portal in the north wall. Ruby might be able to fit through if she crawled. But it's a moot point since it's blocked by a metal shutter.

The gloves won't fit through the grate.

No luck, there's not enough of a gap to pry it.

Tom says he doesn't trust you now and he won't tell you the magic numbers on the plate. Maybe getting him to dislike you was a bad idea; you're probably going to need those numbers.

That seems a little extreme! Ruby's not very eager to just give up her body for some stranger to ravage just so she can get a few numbers, especially if there's an alternative. And anyway, she's shy. There must be a way to win over the cat that's not quite so embarrassing.

Oh no! Unfortunately for all parties involved, Ruby is flat as a board! That probably won't work.

Ruby slips Tom some of the small fish as a gesture of goodwill. He's hungry, so he accepts.

Feeling a bit calmed by your offering of fish, Tom graciously offers to rotate the piece to face you.

Sure enough, Tom's code seems to work, and the system accepts the function.

Climbing back down, Ruby finds that the z-hatch is now open. Just on the other side of the wall is a small room. Ruby tells Tom she'll be right back. Tom nods absently in reply.

Ruby gets on all fours and crawls through the hatch with a rather suggestive series of movements. But since that's boring let's just skip ahead to the part where she emerges in the room on the other side of the wall.

Ruby has no idea what each button seems to do. Perhaps you should interpret.

It looks like there was something behind the diagram.

It's some sort of metal cabinet, but it's locked up with a padlock.

The slot in the door is closed, and appears to be opened only from the other side.

It looks like an eye, actually.

You bring the diagram to Tom. He is already starting to trust you, and with the added incentive that only one "electrocution" symbol is present on the diagram, you manage to convince him the other buttons will not administer shocks. It's time to choose. What button should Tom press?

Moment of truth. Which button does Tom press? Pick one you can agree on.

Tom hesitates, standing close to the grate... then presses button 1, not for a moment considering the diagram could have been coded based on the key sequence listed on the wall panel by the fishtank.

Luckily that doesn't seem to be the case anyway! ...but nothing appears to happen. Except that the button sinks into the wall just like the electro-button did, and for a moment, there seems to be a faint, distant "beep"...

In actuality, the panel seems to be some sort of card reader. It has three lights, all red right now.

On returning to the first room, Ruby notices something's changed.

Ruby presses the DOWN ARROW button, and in the far corner of the room, another hatch opens up. Looking down, Ruby sees that the shaft leads straight into Tom's cell. But there's no ladder.

Ruby calls down the open shaft and tells Tom to press button #2 now.

Tom presses the second button, which causes the metal shutters on the Z-Hatch to shut immediately.

Tom presses the button again and the hatch slides open.

Ruby is carrying five items at the moment.

Using one COIN, the RUBBER GLOVES, the TINY CHEST, and a piece of the BUTTON DIAGRAM, Ruby fashions together the JUNKOTRON MISSILE LAUNCHER! This baby could break through a steel wall!

NO WAIT, THEY DON'T. Too bad, I thought you were really on to something there.

The help and information prompt is markedly unhelpful. The system seems to be local, rather than connected to any external source. Which means no internet.

Unfortunately, the shaft is too far to reach the lever from above.

Look out below.

Tom sets to work opening the can.

SUCCESS! Tom completely mangles the tin can beyond anything useable due to his incompetence in operating a canopener. But from inside the sealed can, he recovers an access card!

Despite Tom's impressive and manly physique, the card has too much air resistance because of its shape, and refuses to be tossed up the shaft.

It's no use. The ACCESS CARD can't be thrown that far without fluttering uselessly out of control. The LETTER OPENER on the other hand, sails through the shaft easily.

Unfortunately, there are STILL no cracks in the treasure chest big enough to pry anything in! It's sealed flush.

No problem for someone with such manly physique.

Sadly, there's not NEARLY enough wire left in the barrel to make a cord down, even less considered they'd have to be twisted together well enough to hold. Even with the cannibalized circuit panel, there wouldn't be enough.

Wisely giving up on this poorly-imagined line of thought, Ruby instead descends back to explore the lower levels more, now armed with a heftier inventory. She waves to Tom, whom she is happy to see is still alive.

All right, so I'm not perfect. Which would you prefer, accuracy or speed? I'm doing my best to keep up with you guys. I'm trying to keep the plot moving forward and I'm doing the best I've can. Lots of solutions so far haven't been what I've planned and numerous things weren't even decided on until you guys made the decision. I'm doing my best here, if you don't like it, fuck off. Your plan is stupid, and my choices are either to respond to EVERY COMMAND someone enters and explain why it doesn't work or isn't being used, or I can just continue on with the ideas that DO move the story along or at least provide some sort of interesting narrative. Now let's move on.

Ruby decides to replace the nameplate before exploring the Z-Room again. Despite the fact there are no visible mechanisms, however, once the plate is replaced, an access card emerges from a hidden slot on the fishtank's pedestal.

The card-reader eats the card. It's gone. In response, one of the lights turns from red to green.

Ruby re-enters the Z-Room. Something seems different.

Ruby's attempts at conversation are futile. The eyes stare coldly and silently from behind the slot in the door.

The only interesting thing about the couch is how unremarkable it is. It doesn't even have distinct cushions to rifle through.

Ruby fiddles with the letter opener, and in doing so finds out that it fits perfectly into the empty pupil of the eyeball painting. It locks into position! How about that? A soft "click" comes from the door.

The door makes a soft "click" as Ruby fits the LETTER OPENER in the pupil of the eye painting. Maybe it's unlocked. She doesn't remember if that handle had been there before or not.

Fair enough.

It's a small closet, not much room inside. It reeks of death, but at this point, what choice does Ruby have?

Ruby flees the room as fast as she can, but the monstrous thing is hot on her heels snaking after her.

As Ruby re-enters the room, she shouts at Tom to press button 2 again, and fast. Tom's already in a confused panic after hearing the unearthly screaming.

Tom presses the button.

Tom opens the hatch just to make sure the monstrous thing is dealt with. No signs of movement come from it or the room beyond, and there is only silence. Ruby knows that with Tom behind the grate, if she doesn't do this no one will.

Inside the small closet is a ball of string. Ruby takes it with her.

It appears to be a teeny-tiny key.

It clicks open softly. There's an access card inside.

Ruby heads back into the room with the cell...

Ruby calls down the instructions, then lowers the string. Tom ties the card to the end, and Ruby pulls it back up.

Tom asks Ruby to let him out.

Tom really wants to come out. Tom says he's scared and he's trapped. Tom asks Ruby to please let him out now.

Tom asks Ruby to please let him out. Tom asks Ruby to please not leave him here.

Ruby uses the two remaining access cards, and the reader promptly turns green for all three lights.

~To Be Continued~ Thank you all for your patience, encouragement, and participation. This is not the end of the story by any means. There is still more to come. But for now, we must close the book on this story. And resume another time.

Oh come on, I've been doing this for over ten hours (eleven if you count initial prep time), starting just before midnight. It's now 10:30 AM. I haven't slept. And besides, I figured this was a great stopping point. You achieved your biggest goal yet, it's not right in the middle of the action or a big decision... Come on, admit it. Of all the places in the story I could have stopped, this has the most closure so far.

Really? It was my birthday just a few days ago.

Well I didn't want to give TOO MUCH closure.

Tom is free from his cell, but both he and Ruby are still stuck in an unfamiliar place. Please recommend an action. [For those just joining us, you can catch up on the past 4 threads here: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=19ryypjy ]

Tom and Ruby both go back up to the room Ruby woke up in.

Ruby is far too shy to do something like that with a stranger, especially in this situation, especially with the fact there could be hidden cameras watching. It's not the kind of thing she'd want to have someone get on tape. Besides, there are more pressing matters right now!

Tom is carrying the canopener Ruby found, as well as a tap and one unopened condom.

There are no cameras visible here, but Ruby is still too self-conscious to ignore the possibility they might just be hidden. Also, there's no alcohol around!

A few large fish-shaped shadows move through the murky water beyond the large porthole. It's hard to see much of anything through it.

Tom already explained he woke up in his cell downstairs, and doesn't know what this place is.

No problem for a strong man like Tom!

The small recess in the wall doesn't lead anywhere. However, there is yet another ACCESS CARD inside. Tom pockets it.

Tom says he doesn't know. He just woke up with it in his pockets. He doesn't remember carrying it.

Tom and Ruby head back down the access hatch. The lever is rather high. It's possible that even the two of them together won't be able to reach it.

Look out below.

The barrel got a little crushed from the impact.

Tom flips over the barrel. But Ruby realizes that with her girlish figure she'd never be able to lift Tom.

Tom obligingly lifts Ruby up with some effort, and they balance precariously on the dented barrel. Ruby reaches for the pullswitch.

Ruby yanks the pullswitch down with determined force. Something upstairs gives a low, ominous rumble that echoes through the walls.

The pullswitch cord suddenly snaps up into the ceiling. The noise has stopped.

Upon climbing back up the access hatch, the change seems immediately obvious. [whoops]

Ruby decides they should both simultaneously step blindly into the darkness beyond the doorway.

As they enter the room, the lights suddenly turn on. Luckily for them, there appears to be no danger here. There is a sealed door to the west, with a padlock.

Tom slips the card into the slot, where it disappears with a click. However, there's no response from the console whatsoever. It's not even turning on.

No, but there's a rectangular imprint here, as if something used to be here.

Yes.

There's some sort of raised rectangle on the wall which prominently features some strange marking. At the bottom of the marking, where the lines meet, there's a cross-shaped indentation.

The box doesn't appear locked, but around the latch it's been sealed shut with what looks like glue or calk.

Some kind of disc lies on top of the locker. It features an image of an eye and has a single protrusion.

Tom gives Ruby a strange look as she pokes the eye. It feels like wood, and doesn't react in any way.

Ruby grabs and pockets the wooden disc.

The tiny key (from the TREASURE BOX) has already been used up.

FROM NOW ON, commands should be specific. Because Ruby is the protagonist, your actions are through her. It is assumed any action will be directed at Ruby. FROM NOW ON, actions will not assume to be shared, so "go downstairs" will result in only Ruby going downstairs. Alternately you could "Tell Tom to go downstairs" or "Go downstairs with Tom". Ruby heads back to the room beyond the Z-hatch.

Dark red stains have trailed down from the eye. The letter opener is gone. The eyes are similar in that they are both eyes, but they're not particularly distinctive and they're obviously not the same size.

Upon close inspection, the pipe running from the ceiling to the east wall is painted with a blue stripe, probably for identification purposes.

Nothing's changed. It's still a rather bare and bloody closet.

Nothing new there either. Still locked, the cabinet refuses to budge.

There doesn't appear to be any way the disc can work on the safe. Further, the circular symbol on the safe is not a recess, it's simply painted on. Ruby returns upstairs to get Tom to come down with her.

Ruby and Tom return to the room. Tom doesn't look so well. Ruby realizes Tom hasn't seen this room yet.

Ruby politely asks Tom to move the couch. With his MANLY PHYSIQUE, the task is no problem, and the wide couch slides away from the wall, revealing a small access hatch even smaller than the Z-Hatch used to enter this room. It appears to open into a lit room on the other side.

Ruby kneels down to see that the room beyond has bare metal walls and exposed pipes and circuitry, and is probably some sort of maintenance area. There don't appear to be any immediate dangers like people, fire, or big, obvious traps. Due to the size of the hatch, however, only Ruby, with her GIRLISH FIGURE would be able to squeeze through. Tom would have to stay behind somewhere.

Ruby requests the canopener back from Tom, who returns it.

Tom agrees to wait where you found him, rather than in the bloody room. Ruby crawls through. Ruby emerges in the new room, which does indeed appear to be a maintenance room. Piping is everywhere. A glass tube runs to the ceiling, and the east wall features a vent and a circuitboard. The blue pipe runs through here.

There's no one in the room but Ruby.

There's a circuitboard on the east wall. It appears to be missing a square component, but no wires are damaged. Above it is a closed vent. There's a device containing purple liquid, with a sort of pluglike hole set it in, and beneath that, drips of purple. There's no visible faucet to remove the liquid. There's what appears to be a pneumatic tube running through the ceiling with a small compartment here. There's a metal transfer compartment in the wall, like a bank deposit drawer. There's a strange device near the west wall with an LED readout that says "sample", but has no obvious buttons, controls, or instructions beyond that.

Ruby is carrying two coins, rubber gloves, a button diagram, a ball of string, and a canopener.

There are no cups here, and even if there were, there's no faucet on the front of the liquid's container, just a socket.

Continued: >>3222564

Ruby is in the maintenance room.

There appears to be something inside.

At this angle Ruby can't see much in the small adjacent room, save for three things: 1. Some sort of dummy on a post. 2. A large red stain on the opposite wall. 3. A round device on the wall -- looks like a clock.

Ruby uses her gloves to pick up the icky hand, but there's only stains underneath it. She can't tell how it was severed, but it looks fairly fresh.

Ruby calls to Tom, who tosses his tap through the hatch for her.

Ruby attaches the tap to the container of purple liquid, which now seems ready to dispense.

The gloves are too thick and sturdy to just tie off with the thin string. They certainly wouldn't keep the liquid in.

Ruby puts the disembodied hand into the pneumatic chute.

As soon as the chute's door closes, the sound of loud pneumatic pressure comes from the tube. The hand quickly and messily travels up the tube and out of sight.

Ruby calls Tom to the hatch and explains that she needs his condom. Tom gets an odd look on his face.

Tom's expression changes, but passes the condom through the hatch nonetheless.

Ruby unwraps the condom and fills it with the purple liquid, which smells unpleasantly plastic.

In a somewhat unpleasant move, Ruby tips the condom upside down and pours out the purple liquid into the funnel. The LED display changes after a moment.

Ruby uses the gloves to drip a quantity of blood into the funnel, which prompts a new LED display.

Ruby flecks some of the spilt blood into the sampler, which displays yet another new prompt.

Ruby crawls out of the hatch to get a sample from the head itself.

That's odd.

Tom insists he was just in the other room and the head was still there. He definitely didn't see it come through here. Tom speculates that if it went anywhere there would be a blood trail. He suggests perhaps it simply dissolved like the rest of the body.

Tom's looking a little uneasy again.

Ruby and Tom move back into the prison room for fresher air.

Ruby contemplates kissing Tom, and wonders if he might get the wrong idea.

Tom begins vomiting.

Tom says he is having excruciating, sharp stomach pains. He says he wasn't feeling this before. It's very sudden.

Ruby dabs some blood up on one of the fingers of the glove and excuses herself. She promises to be right back.

Back at the sampler, Ruby inserts a sample of Tom's blood and the LED triggers a familiar message. Maybe the machine isn't made to analyze blood.

Ruby considers her options carefully. Tom's suddenly sick and there are no doctors around. This could be serious.

...it's just a mirror.

The action taken on is generally either the fastest or the most agreed-upon. If there's a lot of strong opposition to an idea, it's put on hold. Such as now.

Thinking of no other way to do it, Ruby pours a little of the purple stuff from the tap to the floor, then flecks blood onto it from the glove. It hisses and smokes violently. It smells caustic, like burnt plastic.

Ruby goes back to the other room, retrieves the last two fish from the tank, and touches one of them to the purple puddle. It sizzles and smokes visibly, and the scales start to dissolve slightly.

No. The disc is thick and circular. The missing spot on the circuitboard is small and square.

Ruby, feeling a bit disgusted, mashes up the fish as best she can to get it to fit in the funnel.

Continued: >>3223168

Moments after Ruby inserts the fish-paste into the funnel, a new message appears on the LED display.

A few seconds later, a new display comes up.

A third message pops up with a loud buzzing sound. Evidently something is not receiving power.

Ruby fills the condom with purple fluid, ties it off for safety, and heads back out. Tom's looking unhealthy.

Ruby fumbles with the condom, rather unfamiliar with these things, and finally tears it open a bit harder than she intended to. Thankfully she avoids contact with the purple stuff and it spills all over the glue. It doesn't damage the box, but the glue dissolves rapidly.

Inside the box, Ruby finds a small electronic chip and a Longshoreman’s hook. She takes both.

Ruby heads downstairs on her way to the circuitboard. She explains to Tom that he has arsenic poisoning and she's going to get a cure for him. Also, to lighten the mood, Ruby does her best pirate impersonation, complete with the voice. Tom smiles weakly.

Ruby plugs the chip into the circuitboard, and the frame glows a bright green as the air around her hums warmly. Power must be back on.

Something mechanical in the walls moves and a filled vial suddenly pops up with a pneumatic whoosh from the analyzer.

Unfortunately, returning the power grid to full functionality seems to have triggered another effect as well. The room is bathed in red light.

A loud hissing sound comes from above the circuitboard as the blinds on the duct open and start venting something into the room.

The circuitboard is protected by the green field -- even with the rubber gloves on, it's too painful for Ruby to touch!

The pneumatic tube only works when it's closed!

Summoning all her strength, Ruby bashes open the pneumatic tube with the door still closed! An impressive vaccuum force begins drawing in the noxious smoke... but it's a temporary solution. The gas is still pouring in, and the room is still sealed!

The pressure from the tube quickly dies out, and the gas is still coming. Ruby considers whether or not breaking the mirror would lift the lockdown. Remember, she couldn't fit through the hole even when the mirror wasn't there.

Ruby decides she has no other choice -- the mirror has to go! Maybe, just maybe, it'll provoke a good reaction!

Ruby rears back, then smashes at the barrier before her, and the mirror shatters with an echoing cacaphony of breaking glass!

Continued: >>3223688

Ruby has broken the mirror.

...the alarm seems to have stopped.

>>3224307 Continued (last time for the night, I promise)

The hatch door is open again.

Ruby feels like she is about to black out.

The world is closing in around Ruby.

Everything goes black

Thanks for bearing with me, folks. It's been a fun TEN STRAIGHT HOURS I've been doing this (+2 hours prep beforehand for room design/drawing). I'm sure you've already noticed I'm not particularly artistic, nor a particularly quick-draw. Today's portion of the adventure was fun, I learned some things about my limits (e.g. avoid action scenes like the monster fight, that took up a whole goddamn thread, even though most of it was the 40+ responses per image), and we made some progress. I've been trying to give people more freedom with their actions since a lot of people were accusing me of railroading early on, so I hope that was a bit more fun as well. Don't worry, Ruby's story isn't over yet. There's still more to come, soon enough. Thanks for your support, /tg/.

Ruby wakes up.

Ruby appears to be in a bed. She feels mostly unhurt, but disoriented. She appears to be in one piece.

Ruby is wearing pajamas. She is not carrying any items.

The curtain is already open.

Morning sunlight streams in through the window. It's too bright to see much with her eyes adjusted to the darkness.

Ruby can't remember a coffin. Ruby knows something: This is her bedroom.

[I'd just like to make one request: these are much easier to manage when threads are kept to only what's needed, so to avoid having to make 8+ threads per adventure, try to keep comments relevant. If you have something to speculate, post it along with your suggestion of action, or otherwise try to keep from overposting. 30 posts per action is a bit much, especially when not many options are available. Basically, all I'm asking is that everyone tries to avoid flooding these threads unnecessarily.]

There's a COPPER KEY inside. Ruby pockets the COPPER KEY.

[All I'm saying is that with so many replies it can be a bit difficult to keep up, let alone keep things orderly. Just try to avoid useless comments that consist only of reactions (e.g. OH SHIT, or WAT.), or things like just seconding a suggestion that's already been made (e.g. "This.") In the long run, it'll make things easier on me. I'm not asking you to shut up, just don't post for the sake of posting and try to keep the thread trimmed as best you can. Thanks!]

TOM is here.

Ruby says hi to Tom. She wonders why Tom is in her bedroom. Tom does not respond.

Ruby gently turns Tom around to look at his face.

That isn't Tom and this isn't Ruby's room.

The odd door is set into the wall, flush with its edges. It is also locked.

Some of Ruby's items are missing. She is also holding a COPPER KEY.

[I'm REALLY having trouble keeping up at this point. Could you guys try to trim it down the pointless comments just a bit? I wouldn't really ask but it's just harder to manage this.]

There's a strange circular thing on the wall opposite the broken window/mirror, which looks almost like a clock. There are no hands, but there is a circular peg in the center. There are no numbers, only four odd symbols.

There's no sound coming from inside that Ruby can make out.

The door has a small copper lock.

The window is still too small for Ruby to fit through, and even if she could, it's lined with sharp broken plate glass.

It looks almost like a filing cabinet. There's only one drawer, but it won't open. It seems jammed, rather than locked, since there's no keyhole.

There's a small depression on the surface, just beside the sink's basin. Otherwise the sink is unremarkable, if a bit bare.

Ruby turns the knobs, but no water comes out. Maybe it's broken.

A large tarpaulin is stretched tightly over the wall above the window.

[This is getting out of hand. We're going to end up with 50 threads tonight at this rate. Try refreshing before you post, to make sure the exact same thing hasn't been posted. Try to stay on subject. Maybe don't bother repeating a suggestion already posted 10 times. Delete your post if it's just a repeat. Anything. This flood of responses is too much to deal with and maintain any semblance of pacing, and as a result I have to cram as much action as possible into every panel and sacrifice detail and illustration of these actions just to keep up. PLEASE trim things down. Stop flooding the thread or I won't be able to continue.]

The box does not respond to Ruby's provocation.

The crate is closed tightly. Ruby will never be able to open it with her bare hands.

The post dummy is too sturdy to tear apart bare-handed.

The blue tarpaulin is firmly nailed to the wall, too tightly to just pull down even if Ruby COULD reach it at a comfortable angle. It's also too tight to peek under.

It's some sort of digital screen, but it's blank. Immediately underneath it is what appears to be a high-tech palm scanner.

The door unlocks and the key becomes predictably stuck. The door can be opened now.

[You don't need to go THAT far, it's just that everyone reading seems to want to post the next action, even when it's something obvious like "go through door" that everyone else is bound to post, so we get 20 at the same time saying the same thing. I guess it's just that everyone thinks if they don't say it, no one will. That's fine for obscure actions or clever uses, but for things like "use key on lock", it's been said like 20+ times already.]

Ruby's palm doesn't work. The machine beeps once with a very incorrect-sounding beep, and a tiny red light blinks a few times.

Ouch! The glass is too dangerously sharp to use as a tool, and the dummy's exterior is thick and padded. Ruby's skin gives way before the dummy's and she accidentally cuts her palm with the glass.

[RUBY DISCUSSION: I've actually already made a room to discuss Ruby, but I guess no one saw it. Fire up an IRC client and hop onto irc.rizon.net , then /join #RubyQuest . It should be easy enough. You can keep a running discussion of the game there, plus speculate, react, and whatever else, while keeping the actions (and relevant, reasonably-sized discussion of them as suggested) in this thread. Should provide a better medium for discussion while simultaneously freeing up this thread for space.]

The nails aren't in all the way, so they can't be pried with the coins, but despite her strongest efforts, they still refuse to be pulled out of the wall with Ruby's bare hands.

It appears to be. Ruby fusses with it but can't get it untied.

Yes.

Ruby ALREADY unlocked the door with the key.

It's bloody, but empty.

It's the maintenance room that Ruby was trapped in, fought something in, and was nearly poisoned with a flood of gas in. It looks the same as before.

Ruby opens the door...

...this place looks familiar. The door seems to have been set into the wall in such a way as to appear hidden when closed.

Ruby is back in the room with the lockers.

Nothing new has appeared on the console.

The buttons are all unlit and gray now. Pressing them yields no result. However, there's a familiar-looking vial inside the locker labeled "Succimer". Ruby pockets the ARSENIC ANTIDOTE.

Ruby finds her BALL OF STRING, and pockets it.

Ruby returns to the lower room, and notices that the lever on the ceiling has descended again.

Ruby doesn't have the key, it got stuck in the lock. It showed up in her inventory because SOMEONE was too careless to delete it from the display after it got used up. She certainly can't reach it like this, even standing on the heavy barrel.

>>3252231 New thread

Ruby enters the back room through the Z-Hatch.

Ruby cautiously says hello and introduces herself. The man greets Ruby and introduces himself as "Red".

Ruby asks Red a number of questions. He responds very calmly and briefly to each one. He doesn't know how he got here. He doesn't know how long he's been here. He doesn't know what this place is. He hasn't seen anyone by Tom's description.

Red shakes his head. Red tells Ruby there's nothing to escape from. He's not trapped anywhere.

Red is very uninterested in all of Ruby's questions.

Ruby asks Red to help pull the lever. Red smiles and agrees to go with Ruby.

Red obligingly follows Ruby to the other room, and offers to pull the lever himself. He stands on his toes on the barrel and uses his cane to latch the lever.

Red smiles, his action successful. The lever again snaps back into the ceiling and a loud shifting sound comes from upstairs.

Ruby never picked that up.

Red says he is getting very tired of Ruby's questions. Red tells Ruby that if she doesn't stop asking questions he might have to bite her throat out.

Red smiles at Ruby's reaction. He says he is just kidding.

There are no more fish, Ruby used the last ones to test the sample. All that remains is the painted fish on the back wall of the aquarium tank.

Ruby decides maybe it's best not to ask Red anything more right now.

Ruby returns upstairs.

Ruby enters the other room. The screens have changed. Perhaps restoring power brought this system back online. The eye-marked disc is on the floor where Ruby knocked it after opening the chest earlier.

There is no "monocol" here!

There's text on the monitors.

Ruby pockets the wooden disc with the eye on it and the triangle on one end. Several small, difficult to see images appear on the secondary monitors. Ruby presses Y. A larger, clearer image appears on the main monitor.

Ruby presses "C". A new image comes up.

Tom.

The system doesn't seem to show any more cameras.

Ruby heads to the maintenance room. Red isn't in the cell room anymore.

Ruby returns to the maintenance room.

There's no answer. The tube must not work that way.

The thick paper of the diagram curves around the pipe and suddenly gets stuck over the hole as the suction is restored. The hole is sealed with the makeshift patch, but it might not last very long. Ruby ties it in place with string just to be safe.

Ruby puts the ARSENIC ANTIDOTE in the pneumatic tube, and on closing the door, it shoots up and out of sight.

Ruby returns to the room with the monitors.

Tom drinks the ARSENIC ANTIDOTE.

The bottom of the door is warped and rusted, as if from water damage. Neither the symbol on the wall nor its inset cross-shaped socket have changed. The panel in the lower-right features five familiarly-labeled buttons.

>>3252815 New thread

Red appears in the doorway.

Red reminds Ruby that he doesn't want her to keep asking questions. Red smiles.

Red says he doesn't think so.

Red smiles. Red says he is JUST KIDDING again. Red moves aside for Ruby and says ladies first.

Red follows Ruby downstairs.

Red asks Ruby if he can have the coins she's carrying.

[You guys REALLY need to trim it back again. There have been like 50 replies, most of which have been near-identical copies of GIVE HIM THE COINS since the last story panel.] Ruby hands Red her two coins.

Ruby enters the Dummy room. Red follows Ruby in.

The dummy's bolted base appears to be on a swivel, so if pushed, it can rotate.

Ruby requests Red's help taking the tarp down. Red smiles and decides to oblige.

Red snags the tarp with his cane and prepares to hop to the ground in order to tear the whole thing down.

Red jumps, tearing the nails from the walls and ripping the fabric into useless pieces. The tarp comes down. Red begins to laugh.

Ruby stares at the horrible sight before her. Red's laughter echoes through the small room.

Red stopped laughing.

Ruby's not going to attack another innocent survivor! Besides, Red's been helpful so far.

A drawing of one, yes.

No. There are grisly surgical scars all across the corpse's face and exposed flesh. He seems to be holding something.

Red says he is bored. Red leaves the room.

Ruby can't make out any of the scrawled red writing by the body, or any of the strange diagrams marked around it.

Ruby grabs the CROSS PEG.

The body on the wall grabs Ruby's arm.

"Ruby."

New thread >>3253307

Ruby is somewhere

TOM is here

Ruby says hello. Tom says hello back. Tom says his eye hurts.

RED is here.

Red is holding a wooden disc.

Red says he is very, very tired of you asking. Red cuts ??? with the WOODEN DISC

Red is TWO COINS fishtank Gas is seeping into the room Vial ??? TOM Ruby tries RUBBER GLOVES access ??? doorway button

This isn't real.

Ruby is in the dummy room.

Ruby's inventory feels lighter.

Ruby doesn't have the eye disc. Ruby picks up the CROSS PEG from where she was just standing.

Ruby exits the dummy room. TOM is here.

And that's it for tonight, folks. I know this session was shorter than the others, and lighter on puzzles, but next time there will be more than enough to make up for the recent lack. It's almost 8 AM and I'm exhausted, thanks for bearing with me and I hope you've enjoyed the ride so far. Until next time.

Ruby re-emerges into the room with the cell. TOM is here. [For those just joining the story, the archives are here: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Ruby It is highly recommended you read the old threads to know what's going on. Further, I've picked up a trip change due to potential leak.]

Tom says his stomach is feeling much better, but his eye is in severe pain. He doesn't know who "Red" is... but he does say that if you mean that person who keeps smiling, yes, he saw him. Red let Tom out of the room he was trapped in, just a few minutes ago. Tom came out to look for Ruby. Tom is glad to see Ruby. He says he thought she might be dead.

Tom hesitantly agrees to let Ruby take a look at his eye.

Tom shakes Ruby gently by the shoulder. He asks if she is okay -- she just sort of blanked on him for a moment there.

Tom tells Ruby there's no way he's walking across the room, as he doesn't want to fall into the gap. Tom tells Ruby she must not have noticed it. He says it's understandable, since she obviously hasn't been here for a while.

[Again, try to keep discussion, comments on suggestions, and repeats to a minimum. The IRC channel can be used for running discussion. Doing good so far!]

Tom explains he's not sick anymore. He took an antidote three days ago. He hasn't seen much, since he's been locked in a room, but he says that he's been hearing loud creaking and cracking noises echoing from other rooms.

Tom agrees, and leads Ruby up the access hatch.

...that's funny. Tom says this doorway was just open.

There's a utilitarian metal hamper here. Something is inside. Ruby decides to get it. One moment. There's a pit in the center of the room, spattered with dried blood. Sitting in the center is a scrap of paper. Ruby will pick that up in just a second, too. The hatch in the southeast corner has a ladder, and looking down, it appears to lead into the cell room below. Something about that fact seems odd. The corner has some sort of strange, smooth organic growth latched onto two walls and the floor. It looks almost like skin.

Ruby picks up a SCRAP OF PAPER from the shallow pit. Ruby finds a FOOTY SOCK PAJAMA FOOT in the hamper, evidently torn from a full set of pajama bottoms and tied off at about the ankle. It's slightly heavy.

Inside the FOOTY SOCK PAJAMA FOOT, there is a BLACK AND WHITE key. Ruby throws away the FOOTY SOCK PAJAMA FOOT. Her genre instinct tells her she won't need it.

It's smooth and fleshy. It's like skin.

The second hatch now has a ladder leading down. That wasn't there before.

Ruby descends the access hatch and enters the room below.

[Okay, we're really getting a bit too many responses again] Ruby tries to pull the lever, but something's locking it from moving. It looks like part of the mechanism is missing, like a thin metal rod. About the size of a toothpick.

Ruby ties a small bit of string to the lever, then climbs back up to the room where she first awoke. Tom is still here, looking the door over in confusion.

Tom says his eye still hurts. Or rather, it hurts where it's supposed to be.

Tom explains that he lost his eye while he was being dragged off to the room he spent the last few days in. The thing that brought him there did it. Ruby must just not have noticed, between her flashes and distractions.

I said more puzzles.

Unfortunately, Tom says he didn't get a good look at whatever dragged him away. He was already sick. He says most of the pain of his eye has gone away by now. Poor Tom's lost his eye. Ruby hugs him for comfort.

Tom looks like he feels better. Ruby tells Tom what's happened. Tom explains he's been weak and despondent lately, and unfortunately can't help her with many details, except that the western door in the room with the big console (the one that the fishtank-door leads to) is the way into the room he was trapped in. They both agree that the only thing to do now is go forward.

Tom and Ruby both go back down the access hatch to check the z-hatch. Also, there is a hook on the ground here -- but it is not sharp, and it is riveted firmly to the ground. It's essentially just a heavy-duty eyehook.

Ruby has a feeling she's seen this before somewhere.

It's some sort of movable wall panel, but it won't budge. It must be remotely-controlled. Ruby and Tom both head through the Z-Hatch.

Ruby and Tom emerge in the back room. In the small closet to the east, on a shelf, there is a large metal safe. Instead of a combination lock, it has a spherical indentation about as big as Ruby's fist, like a socket. The room is also quite clean.

The shelves are bare. The lightbulb is on, looking unremarkable and harsh. The lock is simply a spherical indentation -- there's nothing more significant about the socket to speak of. That's all there is to it.

Ruby uses the BLACK AND WHITE KEY on the WALL CABINET.

Inside the wall cabinet, Ruby finds another PAPER SCRAP. She also recovers an old-fashioned, black leather MEDICINE BAG.

Ruby can't open the MEDICINE BAG. There's a TINY PADLOCK of surprising strength keeping it closed.

Ruby heads WEST (remember, the view was reversed on entering the back room) and -- now that the hatch is much larger -- she is able to take Tom with her into the side room behind the couch.

Considering it's a GIANT BLENDER, Ruby decides not to ask Tom to put his hand inside. The window between the rooms is now sealed with a heavy plastic, perhaps to avoid breaking. The electrical panel has been covered up by a protective plate and marked with the symbol for electricity. There is an electrical outlet visible here.

The mail-slot style drawer between the rooms, which Ruby has used before, is now empty. It's also clean.

Ruby heard you the first time, but there's nothing it yielded worth noting. So, no. Nothing.

The symbol looks familiar. Ruby remembers seeing that one, too.

Ruby and Tom head back to the now-bisected room, and then the Dummy room.

As soon as Ruby re-enters the bisected room, the Z-Hatch inexplicably slams shut. Tom is sealed on the opposite side of the wall from Ruby.

Ruby returns upstairs...

The person behind the door tosses a small, thin metal rod onto the floor. The door closes suddenly. Ruby recovers the THIN METAL ROD.

Ruby can't check on Tom! He's sealed behind the Z-Hatch... and the terminal isn't working! It won't even light up!

Ruby climbs down... ...and replaces the metal rod into the lever.

Ruby pulls the lever up... ...only to find it has far more slack than she realized! Something in the room moves in response to the pulling of the lever, but Ruby can't really see it from here.

Ruby releases the lever, and it snaps back up (down?) into place. Something in the room moves, again.

The thick cord easily snaps the flimsy string.

Ruby attempts to press the second button from the top... but it's been mashed in and broken! It looks like someone struck it hard with something. Or else they don't know their finger strength.

Ruby heads upstairs... There sure is a lot of slack here.

Ruby hooks the lever's handle onto the eyehook.

>>3282869 New thread

Ruby retrieves the CROWBAR. [previous thread here: >>3282166 ]

The thick metal shutters on the Z-Hatch are WAY too strong for Ruby to pry open!

The lock is surprisingly resilient, but Ruby knew this already. Maybe it's not so surprising.

Ruby RAPIDLY returns to the boarded-up hole, but she's not strong enough to pry the boards free! Her GIRLISH FIGURE is just not up to the task. She very rapidly returns to the other side -- how considerate of her!

Ruby heads west!

Ruby enters the Dummy room.

Ruby tried before. She just can't manage it.

There is some sort of large black-and-white painting on the wall. Beneath it, there is a plaque in a language Ruby cannot understand.

[Yikes, slow down with all the commands! You're flooding it!]

It appears to be a BUTTON DIAGRAM, similar to the one that was upstairs in the control room. It seems to have a different layout... perhaps it coincides with the one in the other room somehow?

Luckily, the cabinet is not jammed very hard, and the crowbar makes short work of it! Inside, Ruby finds a TINY KEY!

The MEDICINE BAG doesn't have anything that would help Tom inside anyway... Ruby unlocks it with the TINY KEY and recovers a PAPER SCRAP and a VERY SHARP SCALPEL.

The deposit box is still empty.

Nothing has changed.

The faucet still doesn't work. There's no water at all.

Ruby returns to the locker room.

Ruby does her best to carve away at the fleshy growth, and uncovers the cubbyhole behind it.

The eyeball, though strangely oversized, is not nearly as big as Ruby's fist. It won't fit in the spherical safe-lock. Uncomfortably, Ruby picks up the eye and stores it away.

Ruby cleverly CONDENSES HER INVENTORY.

It's a 4-digit password panel. Above it is a diagram of a happy fish. It appears to be powered down at the moment. Attached to it is an EXTENDABLE POWER CORD.

Ruby pulls the cord to the furthest location she can walk to. Looks like there's plenty of slack.

TOM arrives on the other side of the thick window.

That would never work! The mail slot is specifically designed to only open to one side of the wall at a time!

That's terrible! Even if the eye was his, it's past the point where it could be reattached even if there WERE proper medical facilities available. Ruby is not so cruel as to do that to Tom for no reason.

The thick window is made of some sort of very resilient plexiglass. It refuses to give.

This box is sealed tight! Ruby's GIRLISH FIGURE isn't enough to force the DO NOT OPEN box open.

Sadly, this time Tom is carrying nothing. No tap, no canopener, no condoms.

Ruby sends the CROWBAR to Tom through the drop slot.

Tom receives the CROWBAR! With this weapon of potential destruction, Tom feels his MANLINESS surging back! His MANLY PHYSIQUE is at its peak! He poses triumphantly to celebrate. Tom feels like he could do some serious bashing here, at least, to most things that aren't SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED TO STAND UP TO BASHING.

It's just a painting. Tom doesn't see anything particularly destroyable about it.

Tom would rather not be electrocuted by prying off the panel on the HIGH VOLTAGE panel in the other room!

It's the only thing that allows Tom and Ruby to pass items! They may need it!

What are you talking about? It's obviously closed. Stop getting Tom's hopes up.

Fuck yeah! Tom goes to work smashing up the shelves for no good reason, and carefully avoids breaking the lightbulb. Then he decides what the heck and smashes the lightbulb anyway. It's very satisfying.

Tom's anti-inanimate-object bloodlust has subsided. Besides, the couch is so utilitarian nothing about smashing it would probably be any fun.

The Z-HATCH is so strong it severed that monster in half earlier. Tom's efforts would be wasted against its thick steel shutters.

You guys are really reaching! The painting won't come off. It's inset INTO the wall.

NO AND YOU DON'T NEED TO THIRD AN IDEA, YOU ARE ONLY FLOODING THE THREAD WITH POINTLESS COMMENTS I'M SURE TOM HEARD YOU THE FIRST TIME GOSH YOU GUYS I MEAN GEEZE

This is stupid.

Your comment was already passed up, which means it was not used for a reason!

THIS IS ALSO STUPID

HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY NO

WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT WASTING POSTS TO POINTLESSLY SECOND THAT WAS ALREADY INTENTIONALLY PASSED OVER IT'S NOT LIKE I DIDN'T SEE IT THE FIRST TIME

I ALREADY SAID LIKE TEN TIMES THAT- i give up

RUBY DECIDES TO GET OFF HER FLUFFY WHITE BUTT AND GOES TO THE BUTTONS AGAIN

Which button should Ruby press? Think carefully -- pressing random buttons may not be wise. Ruby is pretty sure she remembers seeing a DIAGRAM earlier.

Are you SURE? Okay... but don't say you weren't warned. Ruby presses the TOP BUTTON.

Ruby hears soft, distant sounds of running water. Nothing else seems to happen.

Ruby taps button 4. There's a loud rumbling sound from somewhere in another room, but otherwise, no visible change.

Ruby decides to return to check on Tom. He's okay, but there's a weird clanking sound nearby, like something moving around in metal.

>>3283419 new thread

Ruby tells Tom she's pressed some buttons. Tom says a minute or two ago, something started making noises from the pipe overhead. Every 30 seconds or so, a clanking, clattering sound echoes in the pipes, like something's passing through there.

The pipes here are all shielded with thick metal plates. Tom wisely moves to the back room, where the pipe is exposed.

Tom lets fly with the crowbar and assaults the old pipe!

For better or for worse, the pipe is smashed wide open. Just in time... the rumbling sound is coming this way again.

A perfect glass sphere comes tumbling down the shaft and lands softly, unharmed, on the soft yet utilitarian couch.

Tom doesn't know quite what you're trying to say. Do you want him to UNLOCK THE SAFE WITH THE GLASS SPHERE? Well gee, why didn't you just come out and say that? Tom unlocks the safe using the GLASS SPHERE and the SAFE LOCK SOCKET.

Inside the safe, Tom finds... some sort of peculiar wooden disc.

Tom passes the strange disc to Ruby, who looks a bit startled to see it.

Ruby sets the wooden disc onto the peg in the clock-like device. It fits perfectly. To which symbol should Ruby point the disc?

Ruby points the dial disc to the top symbol. The sound of sliding metal comes from nearby.

Just as Ruby had hoped, the symbol must have opened the Z-Hatch! TOM enters the room, looking pleased to see Ruby. He carries the EXTENDABLE POWER CORD Ruby forgot in the other room.

Ruby hugs Tom. Tom goes a step further.

...Ruby returns to the clock. She turns the dial away from the top symbol, and she can hear the Z-Hatch slam down again.

Ruby turns the dial to the bottom symbol. A faint sound of sliding metal can be heard through the plexiglass.

Nice try, SATAN.

Ruby uses the dial to open the Z-Hatch and heads towards the room on the other side of the glass.

Ruby's head is killing her.

Ruby wipes the blood off her forehead.

Tom didn't see.

no tom can't know

Ruby gets Tom's attention, then gets him to switch the dial to the bottom long enough for her to open the small slot in the wall and retrieve the fourth PAPER SCRAP. She signals Tom, and he switches it back again, opening the Z-Hatch.

Ruby returns to the Dummy room. Tom begins to apologize for his earlier rash action. Ruby quickly dismisses it. It's fine. Don't worry about it.

[artistic error in the previous panel, Tom didn't magically regrow his eye, I'm just tired and hurrying] Ruby re-opens the Z-Hatch. Tom returns through it to the other side and plugs in the EXTENDABLE POWER CORD from the digital lock upstairs.

Ruby and Tom return to the top level and enter the code into the powered-up terminal. This is IT!

...not quite as planned.

Tom and Ruby make a boring excursion back downstairs, through the Z-Hatch, unplug the cord, pull it back to the proper side, change the dial to the symbol in the water, then climb back upstairs. But it's very boring so let's just skip all that and get to the good part. It's what Ruby would want. She doesn't mess around.

Tom and Ruby prepare themselves... but there's no one on the other side. The monitor system appears to have been destroyed.

Ruby finally inserts the CROSS PEG into the cross-shaped recess in the wall.

The panel on the wall transforms before Ruby's eyes, folding open and revealing a small ladder of broad pegs, leading up to a newly-opened hatch in the ceiling.

New thread: >>3284047

Ruby and Tom climb the ladder up the new hatch in the ceiling. It is no mystery whose home this is.

There's a CEREAL BOX under Red's tent. On the wall, among endless scrawls of illegible, fevered writings, there's some sort of crude, arcane circular diagram, and in the center, a relatively-fresh bloodstain, probably from some time in the last few days. Looks like someone hit their head here. Very hard.

There is a very sugary cereal inside, but there's very little left. Something rattles inside the box, which promises a PRIZE INSIDE.

Something falls to the floor, amid Red's fevered writings, from the CEREAL BOX.

They're teeth, all right. Ruby pockets the HANDFUL OF TEETH.

Tom explains he was trapped behind this door. Red let him out, so Red must be in there now. The door is locked, but Red is on the other side. He might let them in, Tom suggests. After all, he let Tom out.

Tom knocks. RED'S voice comes from the other side, raspy and strangely excited. "HOLD ON NOW, FRIENDS. RED CAN'T LET JUST ANYONE THROUGH THIS DOOR. YOU HAVE TO PROVE YOU'RE FAMILY. PART OF RED'S SPECIAL FAMILY."

"IF YOU WANT TO PROVE YOU'RE PART OF RED'S VERY SPECIAL FAMILY YOU'LL HAVE TO SOLVE THIS RIDDLE FOR ME: 'I WATCH, I TEAR I DEVOUR, AND BLEED ALL THESE FALL, AS LIQUID, TO FEED.' NOW, WHY DON'T YOU GO BRING GOOD OLD RED THE ANSWER? AND PROVE YOU'RE PART OF RED'S SPECIAL FAMILY."

"WRONG! NOW SCRAM!"

Tom decides it's time to get down to business. Warning labels are for chumps. Stand aside, ladies. It's time for MANLY PHYSIQUE to prove its worth, and damn the consequences!

There is a dessicated corpse inside the box. Its skin has become paper-thin and yellowed, half-transparent, clinging to its thin skeleton. It looks... strangely familiar.

Tom finds something in the box. Tom retrieves the BOWL OF CLAWED FINGERS.

The faucet pours red liquid. Actually, Tom's not that surprised.

Tom retrieves the BOWL OF BLOOD.

Tom says a bowl of severed fingers is certainly disgusting, but no worse than some other things they've both seen.

Tom and Ruby head to the maintenance area and after a gruesome blending, they whip up the GODAWFUL SMOOTHIE.

The door is already open. Perhaps he knew Ruby and Tom were coming.

~To be continued~ Thanks again for your patience, everyone. I'll see you all again for the next installment.

Black intentionally, more for stylistic purposes.

He's got two long, sharp wooden poles going through his head. I don't think he needs the help.

[Sorry about that, folks. Let's try this again. Maybe if I post faster there will be fewer comments in between. Again, I'd like to ask everyone to keep their posts to a minimum, self-moderate as possible, avoid repeats, and don't spam for other people to trim their posts (since that only adds MORE posts), and that sort of thing. Please, just do your best, it's all I can ask.] Ruby and Tom enter the room Tom was trapped in earlier. The walls are covered with graffiti. There are numerous items here, including a SHOVEL HEAD, EMPTY RED SPRAYCAN, Red's CANE, and the remnants of another implement broken to create one of the two stakes. There is a METAL BOX here. The pneumatic tube here is empty. There are doors to the north and to the south. RED is here.

Red face is grotesquely deformed, with an impossibly huge grin. Red is impaled through the back of his neck and through the right side of his skull by large stakes. Red is covered in blood and not moving. Red's dead, baby. Ruby doesn't particularly want to disturb Red's body, let alone pull out thick wooden stakes jammed through his gray matter. TOM examines the METAL BOX Red left. It appears unlocked, so he opens it.

The screen is just static. Ruby examines the items. There is a METAL TOOL HEAD that looks like it broke off one of the two stakes, but it does not appear useful in its current broken state.

Tom opens the BOX. There is a NOTE. Tom also notices a COIN in the pile of stuff under the note.

Ruby takes the CANE and SHOVEL HEAD, but leaves the EMPTY SPRAYCAN and the METAL TOOL HEAD, as both appear unhelpful in their current state.

The door to the north opens. A very large figure appears in the doorway. Ruby gets the very distinct impression that this individual is not friendly.

Tom is distracted by the NOTE. He reads it...

Tom discards the NOTE as he finishes reading. There is something under the NOTE.

Suddenly, a flash of memory returns to Ruby. The figure does not seem friendly. She remembers the figure... The figure is the one who put her in the locker.

Ruby doesn't see the BOMB. Tom reacts quickly and runs from the room. He grabs Ruby and quickly carries her along.

Tom runs as fast as his tired legs will carry him. [CUTSCENE!]

[cutscene! don't submit any actions for the time being.] Tom leaps from the room just as a huge, poorly-rendered explosion erupts from behind them.

The explosion blasts through the air above them, filling the room with heat.

[cutscene over] Ruby and Tom appear unharmed. The building around them still shudders from the explosion, but it appears the imminent danger is gone. The room to the north appears to have been filled with debris. It is now inaccessible.

The explosions seems quite localized -- the door to the north is inaccessible, and most likely, the room the explosion took place in is all but obliterated, but it seems most of the other rooms are unaffected. The area as a whole does not seem to have had a particularly strong reaction.

Ruby thanks Tom for saving her life again. Tom blushes slightly. He says it's what anyone would have done in that situation.

It would appear Red used the TWO COINS as some kind of makeshift contacts for his homemade bomb.

Scratch that. The lights in the room suddenly go out.

There seems to be a doorway hidden in the wall. A light comes through a crack from the other side. Perhaps the door was jarred loose in the explosion.

The air is deathly silent after the near-deafening explosion. Ruby and Tom draw their SCALPEL and CROWBAR, respectively.

Ruby is drawing a blank, beyond the image of being put into the metal cell by the figure. Tom says he recognizes them. It is the same figure that dragged him away to that room when he was suffering from arsenic poisoning.

A preliminary examination of the room below suggests there has been no extraneous damage, but the lights seem to be off in most of the rooms.

There doesn't appear to be any damage here either.

[okay, okay, I heard you the first time, you don't all need to say it] Tom examines the glowing eyes on the dummy. He can't tell what's causing the light. Ruby gets scared and backs away from the dummy.

Ruby can't resist... she looks in the box. The box is empty.

Tom uses the sharp end of the crowbar instead, and jabs one of the eyes. It makes a squishy sound.

Tom and Ruby decide to quickly vacate the room. They head back upstairs.

Tom grabs his CROWBAR and sets to work opening the door. It's stuck fast, but nothing a little MANLY PHYSIQUE can't handle...

The door unceremoniously falls off its hinges and reveals a bright room beyond.

Ruby and Tom check the room for obvious dangers, take a moment to let their eyes adjust, and then enter... There is a door to the west. The door to the north seems to lead to the room where Red's body was just found. It is inaccessible due to debris.

[C-C-C-C-C-COMBO Okay, calm down, post a little slower, you know I'm getting to it.] Tom and Ruby inspect the room. There is a bottle of CHAMPAGNE on the table. Tom takes it. There is a NOTE on the other table. Ruby will inspect that in just a moment. On the north wall is the doorway to the room the bomb went off in. The heavy door has been blown to pieces but seemed to protect this room rather well from the blast. The doorway is marked "Holding" by a sign above it. There is a WATER COOLER here. Beside the cooler, there is a set of METAL SHUTTERS, which are wrapped shut at the base with barbed wire.

Strangely, neither Tom nor Ruby is very thirsty.

There appears to be something in the back of the hole, but it's wedged in there good! Ruby can't get it out with her bare hands, she'd need some kind of precise implement to grab it.

Ruby examines the NOTE. It appears to be some kind of official document. Much of the text has been blotted out with a marker. [cutscene!]

This note... ...it's about Ruby!

The note is mostly illegible. Something has been attached to the main note, however.

Tom can't see this. Ruby hides the note in her pocket.

It won't work, the hole narrows at the end, and whatever's in there is wedged. It would need to be pulled out, and neither the cane nor the crowbar can GRAB. Tom offers to open the bottle of CHAMPAGNE with Ruby.

Tom agrees. He was just trying to be upbeat. The champagne will taste all the better when they're out of here. Ruby inspects the objects on the wall. She finds, on the shelf, two WALKIE-TALKIES. Both Tom and Ruby take one. YOU CAN NOW DIRECTLY CONTROL TOM. FROM NOW ON, SPECIFY WHICH CHARACTER YOU ARE DIRECTING YOUR ACTION TO. YOU CAN STILL HAVE ONE CHARACTER TELL THE OTHER TO DO SOMETHING, OR YOU CAN SIMPLY COMMAND THAT CHARACTER DIRECTLY.

The metal shutters are bound tight with the coiled barbed wire. No amount of force from the crowbar will rip them free, and they can't be untied or unwound -- not with bare hands, at least. The door to the north, leading to the bombed-out room, is completely blocked with debris. Even Tom's manly physique wouldn't be able to clear a path. The stained wooden door to the west is locked. It appears to have a lock which is linked to the adjacent card reader.

New thread: >>3327479

The card-key-locked wooden door is no match for Tom and his crowbar! Take THAT, logical progression of puzzles! The door turns to splinters.

There is no bulletin board here. Perhaps you are retarded.

A spiral staircase leads upwards.

Actually, she's pretty impressed. Ruby compliments Tom for his harsh actions. Tom seems pleased.

There's light coming from upstairs, but after Ruby calls, there's no response. Tom shivers warmly, as an after-effect of his RUSH OF MANLINESS.

What other entrance?

Pay attention! Ruby and Tom just now picked up the WALKIE TALKIES from the shelf. You could have read that.

A clever idea! Tom and Ruby set a new frequency together to avoid being listened in on.

The room with Red's hideout and the monitors is blocked by a collapse of debris! Both that room and the room with the bomb are inaccessible, at least for now! The consensus seems to be either to go upstairs or go to the boarded-up hole in the other room. Who should go where? Remember, now that they have walkie-talkies they can split up and work faster while staying in touch! WHAT SHOULD THEY DO?

With their WALKIE TALKIES in hand, the two split up. While Tom goes off to pry up the boards, Ruby heads upstairs. Because the staircase curved around, this new room is directly above the room Ruby and Tom were just in.

There is a fancy glass display case here. Inside is a strange STATUE of polished, smooth green stone. It resembles some kind of almost fetal creature. It is very unsettling. Inside the glass display case, there is also what appears to be a SEVERED FINGER.

Ruby reports her findings to Tom, who acknowledges them with concern. He tells Ruby to be careful. Ruby promises.

At the time I made the decision, split up had two votes, stay together had one. You're welcome to say fuck it and stop reading at any time if you're not 100% satisfied, but I really am doing the best I can especially under pressure and with such time limits.

Ruby examines the room: There is a ladder leading up, with a sealed metal hatch at the top and on visible means of opening it. There are two doors to the north, both with a symbol above them. There is a FRAMED PICTURE on the wall, with some sort of illegible, archaic writing on it. To the east, there is a heavily-reinforced metal door with an inset card reader. There are two PLAQUES on the display case. The top one is illegible due to blood and rust. The second appears to be a request and/or warning label. A key card slot is set just underneath this second plaque.

The door on the right is unlocked. It opens into a small closet. On the north wall is a large glass-front installment, like a vending machine, filled with all manner of pills and medicinal vials. There are two shelves here. On one shelf is a HIGH-TECH FIRST AID KIT. On the shelf above it is a PRESSURIZED OXYGEN TANK with an oxygen mask attached.

Tom is making his way to the boards. This room is very strange.

Ruby takes both items and adds them to her growing inventory. The first aid kit has a FINGERPRINT LOCK on it! How high-tech!

Tom begins breaking off the planks. He tosses one into the pit. It doesn't come back.

The glass on the vending-machine device is too sturdy to be broken like that! Apparently whoever designed it expected that to happen.

There IS a small hole in the wall of the closet.

Tom finishes opening the hole down. There is a distant light from the other end.

Have you really never used a vending machine before? That won't work!

Great. It's stuck.

Tom arrives at the other end of the hatch. Tom feels strangely turned around.

Tom radios Ruby. Ruby hears his transmission, but there's some sort of strange echo. ...perhaps he's nearby.

There is a MEDICAL DIAGRAM on the wall above a stained MEDICAL EXAMINATION TABLE. On a small surface next to it is an ANATOMICAL EYE MODEL. Some sort of diagram is on the west wall. To the south, there is a locked door. There are some papers on the EXAM TABLE. There is also a SET OF MEDICAL TOOLS lying on the table.

It appears to be a camera.

It hurts.

PLEASE stop posting "SECOND!"-style posts. I saw it the first time. This takes longer than you might think and I'm already rushing. Ruby and Tom, realizing they're somehow on opposite sides of the same wall, work together to free the cane.

Tom inspects the ANATOMICAL EYE MODEL, it's just a plastic standee model of an eyeball, like the kind they have in medical schools. HOWEVER! When Tom picks it up, he finds a single COIN underneath the base, which he then pockets. The DIAGRAM in the back is that of an eye with some sort of strange script annotating it. It seems very archaic. Tom picks up the PAPERS on the exam table... [CUTSCENE moment, give me a minute to draw the papers and such]

...Tom is not sure what to make of this letter.

There's an attached photograph at the end of the letter.

This is too much to take in right now. Tom hastily pockets the letter and the photo. There will be time to sort this out later. Tom shakily passes the coin to Ruby through the wall, thankful she can't see him like this.

Ruby uses the vending machine and the coin to retrieve the GOLD KEY someone stashed there. Ruby noticed the door from the room outside to the medical room Tom's in now was locked -- perhaps this is that key.

new thread: >>3328222

Ruby can't open the door from here, even if this IS the correct key. The doorknob and lock on this side are stuffed and tightly wrapped with what appears to be... hair.

Ruby slips the key through the hole in the wall. It promptly falls down the shaft.

Ruby hears footsteps coming from outside the closet.

Tom goes down the shaft to fetch the key. The footsteps are still coming from just outside the closet.

A figure appears in the doorway.

RUBY IS SO CONFUSED.

Ruby demands to know who the figure is. Her voice is shaking, but she tries to sound confident. She recognizes that face. She's seen it twice before. She just didn't realize it was the same one, until now.

"S--STITCHES" Stitches recoils slightly. His sewn-up headwound head begins to bleed. He staggers uneasily backwards, glancing at Ruby, confused. "H-h-h-how do I kn-kn-know you?!" he shrieks in a hoarse, rattling pitch.

Ruby's papers don't mention Stitches at all. She's never heard the name "Stitches" before this creature shrieked it at her.

Tom receives two bursts of static as he picks up the key. ...something very strange is happening in this room.

Stitches pauses momentarily. His expression changes and his eyes widen as he stares at his own hand.

Ruby tells Stitches her name. Stitches freezes. Again, he stutters. "H-HOW DO I KNOW Y--Y-Y-YOU?" He appears to prepare an attack, then suddenly turns and flees from the closet, wailing a rattling moan. "STAY AWAY FROM ME," he shrieks. "I--I-I'LL ONLY HURT YOU!" With that, Stitches is gone.

Tom hears the screaming and rushes back, key in hand.

Ruby nearly had a heart attack. She's not sure she could go after Stitches right now even if she wanted to. And she's not sure she wants to. Tom unlocks the door.

Tom examines the diagram on the wall.

Unfortunately, it's soaked into the old print, rather than simply hanging around on the outside of it. Tom unlocks the door. Tom and Ruby meet up again in the hall. Tom makes sure Ruby is okay. He reassures her things will be all right. Ruby and Tom speak briefly. Tom explains the growing rift in the lower level. Ruby tells Tom about Stitches. Tom reacts strangely to the name. When pressed, he explains he read it in a medical document. "Stitches" was officially recorded as dead.

The reinforced door is locked with a magnetic keycard strip. ...something is beeping inside the FIRST AID KIT. The closer Ruby gets to the keycard slot, the louder it gets.

This is it. After that encounter with Stitches, Ruby knows she and Tom have to be 100% on the level. She can't keep it a secret anymore. She and Tom sit down by the door and she tells him everything. The documents about her own involvement in the study, labeling her "deceased", the visions of her own corpse, the injury she sustained from the abomination in the maintenance room, her encounters with Red... Even her third eye. She spills it all. She tells him everything.

New thread: >>3328813

Tom says as long as they're sharing secrets, there's something Ruby should know about, too.

As unsettling as it is to realize each other's bizarre mutations, Ruby and Tom find a strange comfort in knowing they're both in this together now. If nothing else, they no longer have to fear each other, or hide secrets.

The FIRST AID KIT beeps louder whenever Ruby gets closer to the keycard-slot for the fitted on the big reinforced door. But the FIRST AID KIT is locked with a fingerprint scanner!

[Guys, slow it down a little. If you're just going to post FFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUCK or whatever, you can do it on the IRC room. Please try to keep posts relevant, we're at a ratio of one picture : 25 replies here. PLEASE trim it down, it's getting out of hand again.]

None of their 28 combined fingers and thumbs work.

It is capped with a sealed metal hatch and no visible means of opening. It is covered in bolts (not buttons).

It's a framed painting mounted on the wall.

Tom and Ruby return downstairs and compare inventories.

I said stop doing these stupid "SECOND!" posts. I saw it the first time. You don't need to quote it. Thread is getting incredibly cluttered.

I FUCKING HEARD YOU. STOP SAYING IT.

Tom uses some forceps to reach deep into the hole in the wall, and retrieves yet another ACCESS CARD!

Ruby wedges the cane into the shovel head to create a BLUDGEONY CANESHOVEL!

Tom sees something behind the water cooler.

Tom retrieves RED'S HAND. It must have been blown here after the explosion.

So which will it be? Do they go together to the handscanner downstairs with Red's hand? Or do they go together to the display case upstairs? Or do they split up and do both at the same time?

Consensus is on the handscanner. [feel free to delete some of the MASSIVE INFLUX OF VOTES to shore the thread size down a bit]. Ruby and Tom descend to the lower levels, to find that power and lighting have returned. Tom gives Ruby RED'S HAND, and she presses it to the scanner. It beeps lightly, and a small light turns green. [CUTSCENE!]

The machine boots up slowly, and provides a short prompt.

Some kind of video feed begins playing.

The video ends.

Tears will have to wait.

~End of part 5~ More to come. Thanks as always for sticking with me. Hope you enjoyed it. See you next time, my dear Patients.

Just one thing I wanted to add. I don't think I'm spoiling anything by saying the keycard from the hole in the wall does indeed work on the display case, as you all expected. For the record, however: Smashing open the case would have sprung a lethal security system. Yes, it would have killed Tom. Luckily a few smarter posters got the tool idea in first, but if they hadn't, I was ready to have him die.

♠

The large figure stands in the doorway, blocking Tom and Ruby's exit. [Archives and past installments are here: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Ruby IRC discussion at irc.rizon.net , /join #rubyquest . Reactions, chatter, and theories can go here. To keep the thread free of clutter, please try to self-moderate. As always, try not to fill the thread with unnecessary or meaningless "me too" posts, seconds, or simply reactions. If you suggest something that others have already suggested multiple times, consider deleting your posts. However, mass-deletion of posts is not necessary and posting repeatedly for others to do this is unproductive. Please, just try to keep clutter down. The more comments there are, the slower the threads will go, and the less action there will be. Sorry these intros have gotten so long. Above all else, I hope you enjoy the thread.]

[whoa that's a lot of posts]

The figure enters the room, squeezing through the doorway. Ruby attempts to greet the figure, asking about its intentions, its identity. The figure does not speak.

[Seriously, trim down the posts, people. This is way, way too many. Have some patience.]

The dummy is bolted down on a pivot.

Ruby offers the dismembered hand. The figure doesn't seem to want it. The figure approaches and reaches for Ruby.

[Jesus Christ please cut down on posts, this is ridiculous.]

Ruby and Tom are not going without a fight.

The figure lunges at Ruby, who ducks out of the way of its massive arms. Tom dodges around.

[Last time I'm going to say this: STOP POSTING SO DAMN MUCH. This thread is rapidly flooding out of control and I can barely keep up as it is. We've got about 10 posts just saying RUN, for example.]

Ruby bolts from the room while Tom drives the sharp end of the crowbar into the figure's leg.

Tom runs. The giant figure seems unphased.

Tom follows Ruby to the Z-Hatch. The figure is right behind him.

Ruby helps Tom as he dives through the hatch.

There is a horrible sound of wrenching metal. Large white hands are tearing the Z-Hatch open.

Ruby easily clambers up the pipe with her GIRLISH FIGURE. Tom follows behind her.

TOM and RUBY ascend the narrow pipe, desperately clinging to the rusty walls. [Take a pause break here and stop suggesting actions for a few minutes, I have to draw up a new area -- I wasn't expecting people to go this route and it'll take me a couple to finish the new place]

[thanks for the patience] TOM and RUBY emerge from the pipe after a long and winding climb. They feel very turned around. They emerge in a new place they have never seen before.

A large, shadowy face stares back.

Ruby asks the face who it is. The screen goes to static. Ruby and Tom move on to explore the room. This room is full of broken science equipment, including shattered beakers and tubes, a broken table in the southeast corner, and lots of spilled liquid. The room spells of chemical vapors. Tom can see something vaguely through the steel vent, but it's too sturdy to bash down by brute force. There are scraps and tatters of cloth at Tom's feet. They look like the remnants of a labcoat. By a very LARGE CABINET (which is locked with a chain and padlock), Ruby finds a SEVERED FOOT on the ground, with minimal blood. The door has no visible lock, but is wired to the MONITOR. Ruby pockets the HEAVY GLOVES she finds on the floor. Also of obvious note in this room is the ACCESS HATCH leading down, which is secured in place with some sort of STAFF.

Ruby takes the ODD STAFF. It's made of some kind of green-stained wood.

Tom climbs up and takes the EMPTY SYRINGE.

Don't be silly! Neither Tom nor Ruby is CRAFTY enough to know how to pick locks!

Tom removes the MEDICAL POSTER on the wall and discovers a small recess with a SHEAF OF PAPERS inside. He takes the papers and prepares to read them [automatic action upcoming]. Ruby examines the vent. There are tiny warnings that indicate it is used to channel gaseous chemicals and that gas masks should be used when operating the chemical pump, which is nowhere to be found.

While Tom prepares to read the note, Ruby looks through the hatch to the familiar lower level.

Tom begins to read the sheaf of papers. [cutscene]

Tom continues reading, sharing his findings with Ruby. [cutscene]

Tom is almost out of pages. [cutscene]

Tom reaches the last page in the pile of loose papers.

Ruby grabs a piece of TATTERED CLOTH.

Tom and Ruby uneasily put away the notes, unsure quite what to make of them, especially the last two entries. They head down the hatch into the hallway below. Tom prepares to use the ACCESS CARD he got from the hole in the wall below.

As Tom feeds the access card into the slot, the glass cover on the display stand descends, revealing the STATUETTE and the SEVERED FINGER.

Ruby gives Tom the FIRST AID KIT, which Tom unlocks with the SEVERED FINGER. He empties it for its contents, which turn out to be: A pair of WIRE CUTTERS A ROLL OF GAUZE And a STRANGE DISC of green-dyed wood. It looks like it was broken off of something.

Ruby fits the two pieces of greenish wood together into an ODD STAFF.

Tom re-seals the display case.

Ruby uses the GAUZE and TATTERED CLOTH to bandage Tom's eye.

Tom and Ruby go back downstairs, wary of any potential aggressors. Tom uses the WIRE CUTTERS on the BARBED WIRE which is tangled so tightly around the SHUTTERS.

Behind the metal shutters is some kind of cabinet shelf for cafeteria food. What's inside is not food.

Tom carefully removes the card from the jaws of the severed head. Tom pockets the HIGH-CLEARANCE ACCESS CARD.

The large figure appears in the doorway again. He appears armed.

Ruby and Tom run upstairs. The large figure follows in hot pursuit. Tom runs to use the HIGH CLEARANCE ACCESS CARD on the door. Ruby and Tom take this opportunity to mentally review their respective inventories.

The large figure appears in the doorway. Tom is still opening the door.

Ruby hurls the empty case as Tom finally gets the door open and rushes through.

The empty first aid kit smashes the glass on the security-protected display case.

Ruby rushes through the door after Tom as a lethal trap springs from the mechanical guts of the display case.

[slow down a little, folks, you're going a mile a minute] Ruby and Tom quickly shut the door behind them and observe the new room.

Tom steps over a CHASM in the floor to approach the CLIPBOARD hanging on the wall. Ruby inspects the JAR. Inside, some sort of very strange, fleshy growth is suspended in some kind of solution. It is covered in what looks like veins and knotted muscle.

...it would appear to be the room Ruby started in, when she first climbed out of her locker.

Tom grabs the CLIPBOARD and reads for yet another expository cutscene.

There are only two pages. Tom gets the feeling there was some inter-departmental feuding going on here.

Tom tries Locker #5, but the lock, while busted, is jammed. It'll take a bit of force to rip open. Ruby, meanwhile, examines the clipboard after Tom.

Tom and Ruby consult each other on the wiring, but given the construction of the massive piece of machinery, they assume the wires and tubes are for normal operation. It does not APPEAR booby-trapped, as far as they can tell.

Ruby lends Tom her BLUDGEONY CANESHOVEL. Tom promises to give it right back.

Ruby retreats a safe distance from the hole.

Tom springs the door open with a loud metallic rattle. Locker #5 is empty. However, something is scrawled onto the door. In Tom's handwriting.

Tom closes the locker quickly. Ruby asks if Tom found anything useful inside. She also wants to try opening locker #6 with the cane device.

Ruby opens Cell #6 by setting the ODD STAFF into the carved recess on the front of it. Inside there is a large electrical switch labeled "2".

Ruby flips the switch, but nothing seems to happen. Meanwhile, Tom examines the BUTTON on the wall. SHOULD TOM PUSH THE SHINY BUTTON? I WONDER WHAT THE PLAYERS WILL HAVE TO SAY

Tom waits for Ruby to step away from the cells before pressing the BUTTON. A panel opens up in the wall, revealing a PNEUMATIC TUBE. A SEVERED HAND falls out of the pneumatic tube.

Tom grabs the SEVERED HAND. Might as well get going.

...this could be bad.

So far so good.

Tom and Ruby return to the room with the handscanner.

TOM scans the SEVERED HAND and begins the CUTSCENE as video playback initializes.

[cutscene]

[cutscene.]

[cutscene]

[cutscene.]

[cutscene]

[cutscene.]

It appears there is more than one video queued up. [cutscene.]

[cutscene.]

[cutscene]

[cutscene.]

The video playback continues on the monitor.

[cutscene]

[cutscene.]

The video finally ends.

Tom backs away, clutching the caneshovel he forgot to return. He seems angry. He also seems very scared.

That's the end for tonight, folks. Sorry it was something of a short session. I wasn't working as fast as I usually do, and I apologize for that. You guys kind of threw me for a loop with some of your actions, but all in all I'm interested with where they went. Hope you enjoyed it. More to come, as always.

Tom is scared and angry. Ruby fumbles for an explanation, an apology -- anything. She assures Tom she would never hurt him. There's nothing wrong with her, and if there was, she's better now. She doesn't want to hurt him. [archives here: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Ruby IRC chatroom for ongoing discussion at irc.rizon.net , /join #rubyquest . As per usual, I'd like to request people not spam suggestions or make unnecessary "seconding this" posts, avoid overposting, and generally try to self-moderate. Remember, the more the thread gets flooded, the harder it is to keep up, and the slower things will go. Thanks for your help. Hope you enjoy.]

Ruby places the SCALPEL on the ground as a show of good faith. She nervously continues to try to explain, but her voice is shaking.

[OKAY, I GET IT] Ruby backs away slowly. Tom seems somewhat placated, but he is still in a panic. He orders Ruby to leave the room. Ruby offers that if anything should happen, she will still have her walkie-talkie.

Ruby exits the room, leaving Tom alone for the time being. Perhaps some space will help calm things down. She doesn't know what to do next. Ruby is shaking. These recent events have unnerved her greatly. She has a pounding headache.

Not knowing where else to go, Ruby heads to the cafeteria.

Ruby tries to collect herself and surmises her situation in the most manly manner she can muster.

Ruby is carrying a BALL OF TWINE, an OXYGEN TANK WITH MASK, and HEAVY RUBBER GLOVES.

Ruby tries to gather her thoughts and calm down. It won't do to go running around willy-nilly. Where should she go next? She still has to do something. She can't just give up!

There's no hiding it anymore. Ruby can feel the third eye throbbing in her head, eager to make itself known.

If Ruby's on her own, she's going to need some defense. Ruby wraps the incredibly thick gloves with barbed wire to create the PRICKLY FIST.

It was just a severed vertebrae. Ruby heads upstairs. There may still be things to examine downstairs, but this is a good point, Tom does probably want his space.

Ruby can't tell if there are any traps remaining on the pedestal. Ruby opens her THIRD EYE and closes her others, surveying the room...

This must be what she saw. There's some strange, archaic-looking text on the painting, but Ruby can't decipher it.

The text is still incomprehensible. But Ruby sees that there's something out of place behind it. Something tied to her.

There's nothing behind the painting... but Ruby's sure something's here.

Ruby tears back the parchment on the front of the frame. There appears to be a large group portrait hidden under it.

The fist was not needed to tear the parchment. Ruby is not THAT weak.

Ruby rolls up the GROUP PORTRAIT and moves on to the next room.

it hurts it hurts it hurts something from the back wall it hurts

Ruby's third eye hurts very badly. Her head is throbbing. Perhaps overusing it is a bad idea.

Ruby radios Tom. Tom says he's okay. He's exploring. He'll keep in touch. Ruby assures him she is fine too. Tom makes it clear he is still not in a very talkative mood. At least he was polite.

Ruby checks the various lockers. Most of them are jammed shut, and locker #5 is wedged on its hinges. It looks like it was shut too tightly -- Ruby can't pull it open with her GIRLISH FIGURE. There is fresh blood on locker 2, however, and the locking mechanism seems to be open. Ruby considers whether to investigate.

Ruby punches the locker to show it who's boss. Then she stands to one side and opens it... ...but it's empty, save for a small padlock key taped to the back wall. It looks very purposeful.

Ruby peers down into the room below, where she first woke up. Tom's bloodied CROWBAR is there -- she must have missed it on her way to the cafeteria, because it's lying in the pit in the center of the room. Obviously, it's no longer stuck in Ace's leg.

Ruby contemplates keeping the crowbar should she need it, but instead radios Tom and lets him know where to find his crowbar. Ruby heads back towards the upstairs room she emerged from the pipe in.

Soft sobbing sounds are coming from the dark corner of the room. Crying.

The figure continues to cry softly in the corner.

Ruby gets the distinct feeling that there is something terribly wrong here, and carefully, quietly, leaves the figure be.

Ruby continues upstairs and opens the TALL LOCKER with the PADLOCK KEY. ...it would appear the back of the locker has been removed, in a clever disguise of a hidden door located behind it. The door appears unlocked...

Ruby enters the hidden room. This room is divided into two main sections by a partition wall with no door, leaving both sections separated but accessible. It appears to be similar to the examination room downstairs, in some ways. An ACCESS HATCH leading up is sealed with a rather large mechanism, which is linked to a wall panel. On the west portion of the room, there is a MEDICINE CABINET.

Ruby's third eye is still in pain.

Are you perhaps referring to the BROKEN LAB EQUIPMENT in the room to the south?

Ruby tries to open the cabinet, but it refuses to budge. The tiny lock on the side must be holding it closed.

Someone's here.

The haggard-looking man comes around the corner. Ruby keeps her weapon at the ready. The man holds his hands up in a gesture of surrender. He looks oddly relieved, and sighs deeply. "Ruby?... Oh, thank God!"

continued: >>3430122

The one-handed man introduces himself as Filbert.

[Okay, WHOA. You guys really have to slow down, what with repeating actions a dozen or so times. Have some patience here, don't just post again if the next image doesn't show up fast enough. You're going to flood the thread out of existence if you keep this up.] Ruby quickly gets over her initial surprise and makes the connection between Filbert's name and the "-F" signed on numerous reports, as well as the severed hand she found earlier. She assaults Filbert with questions. Filbert begins to explain what he can. He says he is the chief doctor here.

Ruby was a patient of his.

Filbert calmly explains he severed his hand by slamming it shut in the security transfer chute down in Level 3. He had to, in order to stop the spread of infection.

Filbert nods. He explains that he was attacked, and his hand was injured. He says he believes the infection is like any other localized spread -- in order to stop it from contaminating his entire body, he had to perform an emergency amputation.

"Why you can't remember anything? Isn't it obvious?" Filbert asks. "You're dead."

Filbert says he's afraid you did. He bled out after the attack you must have seen on the video.

"You're infected. Most everyone here has succumbed to the infection. Except for me."

"It's not important now."

Filbert explains that Ace is tasked with duties as an orderly and a security guard. Filbert was his commanding superior. Filbert says he knows of Red's death. "He finally did it," Filbert nods.

"Oh, I doubt it."

"My dear, you ARE the cure." Filbert asks if you've found a PASSCODE yet. He needs to get to the TOP LEVEL. The only option now is ESCAPE. He plans to escape the entire facility. He wants to get out.

Filbert turns, suddenly angry, and lays it all out. Ruby already HAS the cure. So does everyone else in this facility. It brought her SIGHT. It made her WELL. She didn't even need to EAT or DRINK. But when she died, she fucked it up. The cure was strong. It brought her BACK. And when she came back she brought something with her. Filbert is the only one left untouched. He has to escape. He demands the PASSCODE.

Ruby is all but in shambles. She denies the accusations and tells Filbert she has no idea what the code to the surface is. Filbert says Ruby has to stay here now. She can't go to the surface. She can't ESCAPE. She is INFECTED. She is BAD. Filbert says to stay here while he gets his TOOLS from the medicine cabinet. He says he is going to cut Ruby's badness OUT.

[OKAY I GET IT JESUS CHRIST SHUT THE FUCK UP] Ruby slams Filbert in the face with her SPINY FIST, sending him staggering backwards! Ruby takes this opportunity to make her escape!

Ruby runs to the next room. Filbert shouts after her -- "Wait!"

"I said WAIT!"

Ruby slams the door behind her, holding it closed. But it won't lock.

Ruby re-locks the padlocked door. Filbert appears on the monitor. He shouts angrily at Ruby. He says he is the only one CLEAN. He is the only one who can ESCAPE. The others have damned themselves. He says ACE will get her. Ace won't listen to his orders anymore -- he won't even listen to HER. But he is still obedient. Filbert doesn't know who, but he knows he is still listening to SOMEONE. He says Ace will GET Ruby.

Ruby shoots the monitor the bird and it goes back to static. She radios Tom, and tells him everything that just happened. Filbert, the "infection" on which even Filbert's account contradicts itself, Ace's obedience, and whoever SHE is. Tom tells Ruby to go on ahead. There's something he needs to check first, but he'll meet up with her again shortly. It sounds as though Tom is ready to try working together again.

A different figure appears on the monitor.

The face on the monitor nods, and the east door, which is wired to the monitor, suddenly unlocks and swings open.

The figure stares blankly.

The figure shudders once, as if involuntarily, then, unexpectedly, begins to speak in a rattling, hoarse voice, its pitch fluctuating unsteadily. "I can't," it says. "I'm sorry."

The feed cuts out again.

Ruby enters the newly-opened door, into a new room. STITCHES is here.

Ruby makes polite conversation, pleased to see Stitches looking so well. He smiles at Ruby and waves back, glad to see she's okay.

Ruby shoves Stitches over the railing.

Stitches falls into the giant fans.

...what... what just happened? That isn't what Ruby meant to do! That isn't what Ruby meant to do at all!

Ruby remembers now. It was horrible. She... ...she didn't mean to.

Ruby's hands are shaking. She picks up the dog-eared NOTE from the PAPER FOLDER on the left side of the door and reads it.

Ruby reads the CLIPBOARD by the door, as well.

Ruby goes to examine the plant. TOM enters the room and greets Ruby.

Ruby explains the situation to Tom. She even tells him about her flashbacks. Tom doesn't seem as fazed as she'd thought.

Tom explains he found this note while digging through the rubble near Red's room.

Ruby discreetly presses the button on her walkie-talkie. Tom's radio crackers.

The door is locked with a massive, very distinctive padlock.

There's nothing behind the plant, and nothing in the pot but the plant and some soil. It seems to just be... an ordinary plant.

Tom doesn't see anything through the glass. It's too dark in there.

Ruby looks into Lab B.

Ruby staggers backwards. Whatever is in there seems very distinctly unfriendly.

continued: >>3431265

The figure in the corner sobs quietly, weeping.

Ruby's attempts at conversation go unheeded. The figure does not respond.

"It's dark."

Ruby asks Tom for confirmation. He confirms that he sees the same figure. It shudders in the corner, making a pained sound.

The figure turns suddenly, and the room is engulfed in blackness. "IT'S SO DARK!"

That's it for tonight folks. As always, thank you for bearing with me. Sort of a short session today. More to come.

Mistake. Horizontal mirroring, saved time, didn't work out so good I guess. Hurr.

The light fades from the room and darkness envelops Ruby and Tom. It is a familiar and horrible kind of darkness. The unrelenting sound of moving water deafens their ears. You can suggest actions for both Ruby and Tom, though neither is sure exactly where the other is. [As always, please try to self-moderate and avoid flooding the thread with repeat comments. The faster you fill up a thread, the sooner a new one will have to be started, so please be considerate of others. For running discussion, visit the IRC room at irc.rizon.net and /join #rubyquest .]

Ruby and Tom grope blindly in the choking blackness to try and find each other. The sound of water is all about them, drowning out their cries.

Ruby opens her third eye, and a guiding vision appears. Through the sounds of water, she hears a faint voice whispering, calling her onward.

The area is dry. They don't FEEL any water.

Ruby begins to follow the arrow. Tom continues searching for Ruby, and finds the rail, following it.

Ruby feels a set of stairs in the direction the arrow was pointing.

Tom swings his fist. Ruby feels something hit her foot.

The sound of water is too loud to use the radios!

Ruby freezes. The sound of water begins to subside.

The light suddenly returns in a crackling flash.

Tom helps Ruby down from the railing quickly. The darkness seems to have past, and the distant voice is gone.

Ruby closes her third eye and again the two of them consider the door to Lab B. Ruby has a very strong feeling that before all this is over, she'll have to go in there.

Tom politely explains he doesn't feel like hugging Ruby right now, given the footage they watched together a short while ago. That hug didn't end particularly well. Maybe they just need some time to trust each other again. The blood on the fan is most likely a spot the cleaners missed after the "accident" Ruby made Stitches have in the fan.

The lock is massive and sturdy. No way even Tom's MANLY PHYSIQUE could tear it down!

Ruby checks the plant, but it doesn't appear to be anything but a plant and some soil.

Ruby and Tom return to the previous room. However, something seems to have changed.

It's that same severed foot from before. And Tom is gross for stepping on it.

Tom brings out the BLUDGEONY CANESHOVEL and the two of them enter the room. ...but it appears empty.

There is a patient's stool in the southwest corner. It doesn't open. Against the north wall in what appears to be the examination portion of the room, there is some sort of metal footlocker overgrown with fleshy protuberances. It resists Tom's attempts to open it, and two long, fleshy growths seem to converge where the lock would normally be, reaching towards each other with a gap in between. The entire thing seems like an amalgamation of skin, muscle, and vein.

The EYE EXAM chart is bolted to the wall. It appears to be a permanent fixture. Ruby and Tom check their respective inventories.

The keypad linked to the access hatch in the ceiling is a strange one. It has a digit-lock AND a swipe-card slot, and it appears to be lacking power. Strangely, it is connected to the hatch with both an electric and apparently-organic cord. The fleshy cord reaches from one terminal to the hatch, as does an electrical wire. Crossing the electrical wire is a thing flap of burnt flesh and ash, which appears to be leading to the a set of contacts on the access card reader. It seems rather complex. Whatever the case, the burnt flesh appears to be evidence that the two cords have trouble working well together.

Tom explains that he has added the SCALPEL to his leather pouch of MEDICAL IMPLEMENTS.

One of the doctors probably had a TINY KEY to go with this lock. Tom's no doctor, but he's got the prescription for this medicine cabinet! After bashing the cabinet open, Tom finds a large jar of TRANQUILIZER inside.

Tom fills his SYRINGE with LIQUID TRANQUILIZER. He's got several doses worth in there now! Still, he considers how much good it would do against a behemoth like Ace, should he show up again. There appear to be three schools of thought on the fleshy locker. Should Tom: Cut the growths sealing the locker with the scalpel? Retrieve the fleshy growth from the jar downstairs and use it with the locker? Inject the growths with tranquilizer?

Going by the first 5 responses, the majority is in favor of using the JAR GROWTH on the LOCKER GROWTHS. Tom and Ruby warily head back downstairs.

Ruby removes the BARBED WIRE from her RUBBER GLOVES and carefully removes the growth from the jar.

Tom and Ruby return to the hall. STITCHES is here.

Ruby's hands are full, and she has nowhere to put the large fleshy growth. She says hi. Stitches groans hoarsely and growls in response.

Stitches lunges forward. His intentions are clearly hostile. He lets loose a pained moan as he staggers at Ruby, claws held high. UHAAAHH KILLLLL ME

Tom and Ruby prepare for an elaborate maneuver!

Ruby trips Stitches with her UNATTRACTIVELY LONG FOOT. As soon as he falls, Tom pins him down using the strength of his MANLY PHYSIQUE and injects a healthy dose of LIQUID TRANQUILIZER into his neck. Tom keeps Stitches pinned until, after a very nerve-wracking minute or so, he finally goes unconscious.

Stitches is carrying a TINY KEY labelled "medicine cabinet" in tiny letters. ...Tom decides to leave it with him. Tom shoves Stitches into Locker #5 and slams the door close hard enough to jam it on the hinges. It's not much, but it'll do for now. It should keep him safe, and he should be out for a while with all the tranq Tom used.

Ruby slips the GROUP PORTRAIT into a paper-thin gap in the locker's edge, at the top. Stitches may appreciate it, perhaps?

That would be the locker Tom just re-jammed to seal Stitches in. There was nothing inside when Tom checked. Tom and Ruby resume their original course of action and head back to the upstairs room.

Ruby places the fleshy growth from the jar into the gap between the other fleshy growths.

Before Ruby's eyes, the fleshy growths grow together and coil into one another. The large fleshy mass Ruby placed onto the chest, now connected, begins to beat rhythmically, expanding and contracting with a soft, wet sound. A moment later, the lid of the locker opens up -- not from the edge, but from the center, peeling itself open. From inside, Ruby retrieves a FLESHY PROTOTUBE, a bizarre organic item that somehow features an electrical contact panel on one end.

IT TASTES BAD.

Tom cuts away the burnt flesh and Ruby plugs the FLESHY PROTOTUBE into the keypad's contact panel. It doesn't seem to do much by itself.

Connecting the FLESHY PROTOTUBE in that way would lay it over the charged electrical wire! That's probably how the last connection got burnt!

Genius! Ruby wraps the cord in her RUBBER GLOVES and connects the FLESHY PROTOTUBE, leaving both cords intact and connected! The key panel lights up, awaiting a 4-digit number.

Ruby punches in the code 0645, and the access card reader lights up.

Tom swipes the HIGH-ACCESS card. That seems to have done the trick. The HIGH SECURITY HATCH on the ceiling recedes. The path upwards is open.

Ruby and Tom ascend to the floor above.

Tom tries the security room door, but it is locked with a SECURITY KEYCARD READER. Even Tom's HIGH ACCESS CARD does no good here. Ruby and Tom head to Ace's quarters. Tom politely goes first.

Ace's quarters appear rather starkly furnished.

Something is very disorienting about this room. The bed appears much larger than Tom originally thought.

Tom finds a SPADE KEY tucked safely under Ace's pillow.

Ruby and Tom return to the hall. Filbert's room is securely locked, and the Security room needs a SECURITY CARD. Even Tom's HIGH ACCESS CARD doesn't work here.

Ruby opens the door to the other wings...

Ruby closes the door. Ruby decides not to go that way.

Tom says that if you saw a huge door lined with teeth leading into some sort of horrible abyss then yes, he saw the same thing. Filbert's door is too sturdy to be bashed or pried open. Further, there is no answer from inside.

Ruby peels back the bandage on Tom's eye for a moment...

Tom's wound seems to be doing well. It doesn't appear to be infected and the earlier bleeding has stopped. He looks like he'll be fine.

Ruby and Tom head down one level.

Tom tops off the SYRINGE with LIQUID TRANQUILIZER. Ruby and Tom decide to begin the long trek all the way back to the DUMMY ROOM.

Ruby and Tom continue their trek.

Still going! They head through the room Ruby woke up in.

Now into the dissipating brig...

Ruby and Tom finally arrive in the DUMMY ROOM, though the DUMMY is still absent.

Ruby examines the room with her THIRD EYE. Something painful emanates from the PAINTING. But it's hollow, distant. Like an echo of something, memories of before.

A second echo suddenly comes through, piercingly. It's small, and it's just an echo, but it's still incredibly focused, overpoweringly potent.

It hurts so badly, and yet... ...and yet it feels strangely good. It's like a feeling that deep down, Ruby wants to feel forever.

Ruby recovers a little and wipes the blood from her third eye. Tom examines the CLOCKLIKE DEVICE. ...it would appear the EYE DIAL is missing.

Tom grabs the DO NOT OPEN sticker for no apparent reason. Ruby and Tom take a long trek back to the catwalk outside Lab B, but those frames were lost on their way overseas, so we'll just skip to their arrival.

Done.

Continued here: >>3494380

Ruby and Tom use the SPADE KEY on the lock to Lab B. The double-doors slide open. [Animated]

SUBJECT 6 rises from the pool of light. [Animated]

SUBJECT 6's legs appear to have been amputated. His arms are long, thin, and end at bony points instead of hands. He lies in the center of the room, staring with empty eye sockets towards the door. His ears twitch slightly, listening. IS SOMEONE THERE?

Ruby begins to speak, but the figure interrupts. I CAN'T HEAR YOU, CHILD. COME CLOSER.

Ruby speaks louder instead of entering the room. Subject 6 appears disappointed, a look of sadness crossing his face. He sits up, facing the door.

The look of sadness disappears for a moment. His brow uncreases and he smiles thinly. DON'T YOU RECOGNIZE ME? IT'S ME, TOM. THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE.

Tom appears as confused as Ruby.

Subject 6 turns a bit, suddenly perking up his ears. LUCY? LUCY IS THAT YOU? I KNEW YOU'D COME BACK TO ME.

Ruby's third eye is in too much pain to open right now!

LUCY, I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE HERE. I HAVE SOMETHING FOR YOU.

Approaching the door, Tom realizes the room smells INCREDIBLY FOUL. Ruby agrees -- it's SO noxious, he can't even breathe it.

I CAN'T MOVE, LUCY. PLEASE, COME TO ME. I'M SO LONELY HERE.

Tom starts to move in. Subject 6 does not react well. NO! I SAID LUCY!

Ruby slowly approaches, holding the oxygen mask to her mouth to breathe safely. Subject 6 smiles again. THANK YOU.

Ruby approaches Subject 6, who stares up at her with empty eyes. Ruby asks for the key.

Tom begins blindly groping just inside the door for a light switch, holding his breath. Subject 6 holds up the GOLD KEY. THIS WILL GET YOU INTO HIS OFFICE. HE HAS TOOLS IN HIS DESK.

Tom frantically searches for the light switch. Ruby is not responding to his calls -- it's like she can't hear him. Tom places the GOLD KEY in Ruby's palm. DO ME A FAVOR WHILE YOU'RE THERE. CAN YOU BRING ME BACK SCISSORS? THANK YOU.

Tom finds the light switch.

As Subject 6 begins to rise off the ground, Ruby beats a hasty retreat.

Ruby exits the room, closes it, bars it, and locks it. Tom tries to comfort Ruby.

Tom tries to hug Ruby, but she bolts in the opposite direction of the lab. She clearly wants to put some distance between herself and Subject 6.

Tom chases after Ruby, where he finds her unlocking the door to Filbert's office.

Ruby opens the door and peers into Filbert's office.

Ruby picks up the FLATHEAD SCREWDRIVER. On the wall, Filbert has mounted a framed copy of the Hippocratic Oath.

Ruby finds a few small scraps of paper in the drawer and decides to read them. [cutscene]

[cutscene]

[cutscene.]

This is the last scrap of paper in the desk. There don't appear to be any other tools here either.

There are many bits of severed flesh in this drawer. It appears they have all been cut from something very cleanly, with great precision.

Tom totally wrecks the shit out of Filbert's stuff. The bad news is it doesn't reveal any clues Tom can find. The good news is he felt pretty good doing it.

The scraps of paper and tiny splinters of wood are hardly worth carrying. The room appears pretty thoroughly searched. Tom and Ruby consider their next move. [I'm thinking about wrapping up the thread but I know people have been complaining the threads lately haven't been long or exciting enough. How do you all feel about the length (and quality?) of this session?]

[okay then, we'll continue to the next good stopping point] Where to now?

Not even close.

One is an actual key, one is a magnetic card reader.

Ruby heads downstairs with Tom. Ruby begins to unscrew the eye chart.

...boy, this facility is just FULL of secret cubbyholes. Inside the hiding place, there is a SHARD OF GREEN WOOD.

Ruby thinks back to the recess on Locker #3. ...There's no way she has the complete key yet!

Ruby and Tom exit and walk to the adjacent room. Ruby begins unscrewing the vent.

UH OH

A now-familiar face shows up on the monitor.

...and a moment later, the alarm suddenly clears.

There's something inside the vent... Ruby grabs it.

Tom says this anyway, to the blank monitor. Ruby retrieves the SECURITY ACCESS CARD from the vent!

FILBERT arrives. Filbert announces, in a rough and gravelly voice, that he is going to cut the bad out of both of you. Until you are as clean as he is.

That's it for tonight folks. Thanks, as always, for sticking with me. Not much further now. I can feel we're getting pretty close to our ultimate destination. Good luck for next time!

Filbert emerges from the large tube, wielding a BONESAW. He demands that Ruby and Tom, being so clearly infected, must be operated on immediately. He says he will cut them until they are clean. It would appear Filbert is rather adamant about this. It would also appear he's gone completely off his head. [As always, try to keep most running discussion to the IRC room at irc.rizon.net , /join #rubyquest , so as to avoid cluttering the threads too much. Just practice a little self-moderation and try not to flood things.]

Filbert is obviously fully-mobile and you have absolutely no head start. Climbing a ladder right next to him probably wouldn't result in a getaway. If Ruby and Tom are determined to flee, they should find a better method.

Filbert rushes at the two of them with his bonesaw. It's clear he isn't in any mood for discussion!

Tom springs into action with his weapons at the ready. He will end this non-lethally, if he can. Filbert may be mutating rapidly, but Tom's MANLY PHYSIQUE is still more impressive than that of the good doctor.

Filbert is too focused on his murderous rage to listen to reason. It's also apparent that unlike Tom, he has no intention of ending this non-lethally. His mouth suddenly snaps open into a ferocious, gaping maw as he bellows out a shuddering roar.

Tom attacks Filbert's GAPING MOUTH with the CROWBAR!

Filbert bites the CROWBAR in half.

[You guys are REALLY going to have to cut down on your posts, you're going to flood the thread out and the faster you do that, the more threads this is going to take up. Try to avoid making multiple duplicate suggestions or "this!" / "seconding this" posts and the like. Remember that the more bloated the thread gets, the longer it takes me to catch up.]

Filbert and Tom really get into it now. There will be no quarter given by either party. Someone's going to die!

Tom uses his MANLY PHYSIQUE to stave off Filbert's attacks and his TINY ARMS to slice him open with the SCALPEL.

Filbert is down. Tom injects Filbert with a hefty does of the TRANQUILIZER in case he decides to get back up.

Neither Tom nor Ruby has any rope, and the only locker that would open is already jammed shut with Stitches inside. Ruby and Tom loot the BONESAW, but that's all Filbert seems to be carrying. Tom tells Ruby she should carry it, since she's lacking in weapons. They both check their inventories, then head back upstairs to the security room.

WHOOPS YOU JUST HAD TO RUIN IT FOR HIM DIDN'T YOU

Ruby and Tom run back downstairs first, to grab another syringeful of tranquilizer. This is the last of it!

Tom and Ruby return to the upstairs hall and use the SECURITY KEYCARD to open the SECURITY ROOM DOOR.

Tom peers into the room ahead cautiously. There is a HUGE CONSOLE on the north wall. There's also a door beside it, a maintenance hatch on the east wall beside which are scattered MANY NOTES. There is also a piece of strange GREEN WOOD lying against the HUGE CONSOLE. Finally, there appears to be an INTERCOM inset in the array of security monitoring equipment.

Ruby adds the piece of GREEN WOOD to the shard she is already carrying. Like the other staff, it resembles a pattern she's seen somewhere else, but it's still missing a piece. Tom picks up the MANY NOTES and flips through a couple of them.

They appear to be marks on where the operator should stand. They're right in front of an alphanumeric keypad, the only set of controls on the entire console Ruby would know how to use.

Tom tries the hatch, but it's stuck tight. A small LED readout below it reads "OVERRIDE ACTIVE, ACCESS DENIED"

The intercom is marked as an EMERGENCY SURFACE LINE. It should connect directly to the outside world. Tom presses the button to make contact, but he's not holding his breath for a response.

Suddenly the intercom radio crackles to life. Tom can hear someone on the other side.