Ruby Quest: Chapters 30-31

1. Ruby Quest: Chapters 30-31

2. 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.

3. "Run upstairs. Close the hatch before he gets through."

4. ">Run upstairs. Close the hatch before he gets through." • 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.

5. “Attack!”

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

7. 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.

8. “Crowbar to the mouth!”

9. ">Crowbar to the mouth!" • Tom attacks Filbert's GAPING MOUTH with the CROWBAR!

10. Filbert bites the CROWBAR in half.

11. "Stop thinking, go to berserker rage, attack anything and everything, don't give him time to act."

12. ">Stop thinking, go to berserker rage, attack anything and everything, don't give him time to act." • Filbert and Tom really get into it now. There will be no quarter given by either party. • Someone's going to die!

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

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

17. "Restrain the body as securely as possible"

18. ">Restrain the body as securely as possible" • 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.

19. "Hey, Tom fixed his crowbar!"

20. ">Hey, Tom fixed his crowbar!" • WHOOPS • YOU JUST HAD TO RUIN IT FOR HIM DIDN'T YOU

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

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

23. 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.

24. 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.

25. "examine those little teeth-like things on the floor just in front of the console" • "cautiously open electrical maintenance hatch with BLUDGEONY SHOVELCANE -- The wooden end, just in case there's a current."

26. ">examine those little teeth-like things on the floor just in front of the console" • 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. • ">cautiously open electrical maintenance hatch with BLUDGEONY SHOVELCANE -- The wooden end, just in case there's a current." • Tom tries the hatch, but it's stuck tight. A small LED readout below it reads "OVERRIDE ACTIVE, ACCESS DENIED"

27. "try the intercom by the door"

28. ">try the intercom by the door" • 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.

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

30. Tom attempts to make contact with whoever's on the other end. • A strangely familiar voice fires off a string of incredibly foul (and very unprovoked) profanities directed at Tom. • Tom pauses momentarily, stunned by the response. Just as he attempts to explain his situation, a strange crunching sound -- like something being eaten -- comes from the other end, followed by static. • It would appear the line is now dead.

31. Ruby and Tom attempt to operate the console, but nothing seems to work. Someone's locked them out.

32. The door to the lobby is already open.

33. Tom peeks through the door... • [Animated!]

34. Tom has entered the LOBBY a bit excitedly. Freedom seems so close.

35. The unhealthy-looking figure hooked up to the wall introduces herself as "Bella". She says she is very sorry, but she can't let you leave. She goes on to say she has top priority control of every security system in the facility and she has instituted a lockdown.

36. Ruby joins Tom and attempts to convince Bella to let them out. Bella explains that she is not in charge here. She is merely acting on orders her superiors issued before they abandoned the facility. She simply cannot open the surface hatch for them. Those are her orders. Tom menaces for a moment, and Bella responds that she will not fight him.

37. "IMPORTANT. ask if she saw what happened to ace." "Ask what happened to lead to the lockdown" "ask her what the fuck ace actually IS?" "Explain to her that if things continue as they are there isn't going to be a facility left to salvage even IF her superiors return."

38. ">IMPORTANT. ask if she saw what happened to ace." Bella says she's been focused on watching you two, but if he isn't walking the halls looking for patients, he might be in COLD STORAGE. It's where he keeps the things he's been collecting. ">Ask what happened to lead to the lockdown" Her superiors ordered it after this facility was abandoned following an outbreak of violence by both patients and staff in the wake of the events on November 1st, namely the suicide of Chief Diagnostician Red. ">ask her what the fuck ace actually IS?" Ace is a very loyal orderly. But lately he seems to be ignoring her. ">Explain to her that if things continue as they are there isn't going to be a facility left to salvage even IF her superiors return." She knows. But these are her orders.

39. "Ask Bella what she's doing plugged up to the wall."

40. ">Ask Bella what she's doing plugged up to the wall." Bella is kept on life support. Those things don't attack her. Her mind must be intact for her to continue operating. She suspects they don't want to taint it with her running the facility's systems. A very angry-sounding thumping noise shakes the ground in frustrated peals and an echoing, eerie voice comes from the lower levels. ＬＵＣＹ! ＬＵＣＹ?! ＬＵＣＩＬＬＥ!

41. "Ask Bella why she has apparently been helping us if she's not allowed to let us out of the facility." "Ask Bella if there are circumstances under which the lockdown can be lifted and the door to the surface opened." "the date! what is today's date?"

42. Bella says Cold Storage is on Level 2. ">Ask Bella why she has apparently been helping us if she's not allowed to let us out of the facility." She was ordered to stop you from leaving. She was never ordered to avoid keeping you alive. ">Ask Bella if there are circumstances under which the lockdown can be lifted and the door to the surface opened." As long as she is holding manual lockdown in place, surface access cannot be obtained. ">the date! what is today's date?" Today is October 31st.

43. "Ask Bella how many times this situation has played out before."

44. ">Ask Bella how many times this situation has played out before." Dozens of times. But she says you've only made it so far as to see her three times before. She says that this is as far as you've ever gotten. As long as she's alive, she will maintain the lockdown.

45. "Ask for scissors or at least where they could find a pair."

46. ">Ask for scissors or at least where they could find a pair." Bella says that all scissors have been confiscated and hidden after the last time the patient in Lab B got hold of a pair.

47. "Is she trying to say that if she was killed, the lockdown would lift and they would be able to escape?"

48. ">Is she trying to say that if she was killed, the lockdown would lift and they would be able to escape?" Bella wants to show you something. A panel on the wall opens, revealing a glass window. Beyond the glass, there is water. Orange light filters through the shimmering waters. It would appear this room is very near to the surface.

49. Every day for over a year now, Bella has had to watch the sun rise and set, from just barely below the surface. Strapped to this wall, right next to the exit, able to watch the outside world, but never touch it. Yes, she answers. If you kill her, the lockdown will end.

50. "Ask her if she wishes to die."