I got up, my head pounding. Xavier was shouting something.

"Stay away from him."

Addison was there as well. "Get back or I'll hit you."

"He's just slowing us down. We need to listen to the tapes and work our way through this." Said Amanda.

My head was pounding. I could feel the lines of knowledge arrange themselves in my head. How to hunt, how to kill, how to spot predators, how to build countless devices for survival. I could still feel the terror of being hunted by something larger than any earthly creature.

My brain had been getting better at dealing with the wisdom and int upgrades. I already had a solid base to build on. Small modifications were doing less. This skill though. Damn. Had a hell of a kick.

I checked the toxin timer. It was pretty useful having an inbuilt clock. Only a minute had passed.

"Guys- I think I just built this too fast. We need to get more cures. Or more of us might get this. My mask-"

It was down to 1 durability from the fall.

"We have enough activated charcoal to make one more." I glanced around the room. Addison was standing with me! She had picked up my knife. Obi was in between, not sure who to side with. Jonas was with me! Daniel was a bit confused, as was Gus. Amanda was glaring daggers at me. If I hadn't had Xavier there, I bet she'd have tried something.

"Sad you didn't get to off me. We know your game." I said, at Amanda.

"Jigsaw's game is the only game. We need to play it to get out of here." I waved my hand, grabbing components.

"Yeah yeah, let's go upstairs. Jonas, you get the next one." He was definitely in my inner circle. Xavier, Addison, and Jonas were my core trusted confidants. Daniel, Gus, and Obi were uncertain, and Amanda was the enemy.

Obi's reputation counter had gone down with me. What gives? Ugh.

I got up, a little unsteady. Xavier offered me a hand, and I came up. "You ok?" I nodded. "As much as I can be here. We need to find more cures. Let's head upstairs."

The skill upgrade did come with some nice benefits.

Survival. Rare advanced apprentice skill. Your will to survive knows no bounds. You can see, craft, and find whatever you need, and make crude implements out of the most impossible of tools. Once a day, you can force an additional use out of a found or created object. More benefits may come with increasing levels. Level 1 0/100 exp.

I wasn't sure what rare skills were, but it sounded good. I was able to craft a second and a third mask much faster, in just thirty seconds each. The movements were fluid and routine, like I had done them a thousand times. Jonas and Daniel got them. As we headed upstairs- oh yeah, the group was going. My head was still fuzzy- we were checking each door, and I went to Daniel and started on my next creation.

Using the screwdriver from the toolbox we found, I started to unscrew the camera.

"You see this at the back? This is the circuitboard that handles all the inputs and outputs to the camera. Handles sending the video signal to the main hub, through this cable." I tugged a black cable.

I pointed at a part of the mother board. "This part here handles passwords and security. But see the pathway- it's not actually necessary for the functioning of the circuitboard.

I scratched it out with my screwdriver.

"That seems risky."

"It's fine."

This was my other big computer task in my ten minutes. I had found a circuit drawing online for the camera model here.

"Now inside, see, we can yank this off, and unscrew this-" We got upstairs. "And there's a second brain, the motherboard for the camera. It connects to these two motors, see-" I pointed with my screwdriver to the two black motors. "Which allow it to go back and forth. This here." I pointed on the circuitboard. "Links up with the camera. There's a zoom function there, to allow you to get in closer."

"This is interesting." Daniel said, not finding it that interesting. "But why are you telling me this?"

"Because I am going to make us a scout robot."

"Oh, that is cool. What will it do?"

"Stab things. He's called megatron."

"Like that transforming robot?"

I nodded. "Yeah, he'll transform like him."

We checked the doors one by one. We found the needle trap room.

"I think I can force it." Said Xavier, putting his shoulder in. There was a lot of resistance.

"If it's like that it's a trap." Said Amanda.

I sighed. "For once I agree. I'm preparing a solution. Let's try the other doors."

A little walking onwards got us to the razor trap room. Books filled the corners, and in the center was a glass trap. Two holes were under it, and a syringe was suspended underneath it. A letter addressed to Gus with a tape in it hung on some string.

I walked over to a book, and picked it up. "Summon elemental please?" I glanced at it. No pop up appeared to grant me magic skills. It appeared to be a book on local herb life. I skimmed through it. Some were pretty toxic. Useless. I glanced back at the center and- oh fuck. Gus saw it, and was hungry.

"A cure. He doesn't care about us! I'm gonna get it! It's mine." He ran forward, and stuck a hand inside. As he did, razor blades lifted up with his hand.

"Stop Gus. Razors." He paused and looked up, a look of shock on his face. "God, you're an idiot." "I can still get it!" He said, and stuck his other hand into the hole.

"Why would you think that's a good idea- Xavier, hold him still. Xavier came up to him, and held his arms still, easily overpowering him.

"What are you doing!" Asked Gus, still trying to reach the syringe.

I responded. "You'll knock it over. Stop moving or they'll slice you. You idiot."

I went and pointed. "Lesson time, any other children who think they should rush ahead. Daniel, you have the stepladder." He nodded, and brought his bag forward. I pulled it out, and climbed up to the top.

Addison had been trapped by this, but she had been dying so that was fair.

"Addison, you're smart. Do you think you can solve this puzzle?"

I played the tape.

"Hello Gus. I want to play a game. You exploited your business and your people, taking out your rage on those around you, stripping the flesh bare off your employees. Now it's you who has to strip your flesh bare. There's no one to take your anger out about this if you fail but yourself. Will you reach for the cookie in the cookie jar? And remember, there's always an upside to things."

She looked over the trap. "Upside- there's a key on top!"

You gain +1 wisdom for a follower noticing the hidden opening!

She unscrewed it, yanked out the syringe, and held it up." "Mine now." I nodded. "Yep, you won it fair and square. Decide who deserves it. Does gus deserve it?" She shook her head. Gus spoke. "Come on, it's my syringe!" She spat at him. "You puta. He's trying to keep us safe, and you just ignore him? Screw you."

She came down, and offered it to me. "Take it for yourself." I smiled, and injected myself. I breathed in deep, as the magical cure healed me.

Nerve toxic cured. Poison resistance levels up! Poison resistance levels up!

I took off the gas mask, tearing away the duct tape and some beard hair, and breathed in clear air.

"That feels amazing." I said. I offered the gas mask to Amanda. "Here, do you want it? This toxin could kill you."

She shook her head. "Why would I take something from you? I doubt they even work."

I smiled. "You are looking very well. I haven't seen you cough up any blood."

"I prefer not to be watched. Fuck off." She shot back.

Xavier and Obi and Addison were looking on knowingly, and Jonas was looking disturbed, and scared. Daniel was unsure. Like, Amanda was clearly not being poisoned. I didn't want to say it, but they had to see it. Gus was getting increasingly agitated. Oh, Gus.

"Daniel, my man, score me some rags? I promise I'll pay our quartermaster later." He tossed me some rags and said something behind his mask. I'm not sure what.

I wrapped the cloth around my hands, and carefully forced the blades open, getting Gus's hands out one by one. This wasn't a hard trap. None of the traps in this house were. You could tell Jigsaw had made them, not Amanda.

"You have to be careful, Gus."

He shouted at me. "You're just trying to fuck us over. You promised me a cure."

I shook my head. "You were on the list. You would have been next, I'd have let you try this trap- but you rushed ahead. There's more cures in the house, there has to be. And, you get a gas mask."

I handed him my old one. He looked at it, a bit disgusted. "You can use some new tape. No need to get my beard hair on you." I patted his shoulder, and continued on.

Jonas came to me over. "Amanda isn't getting sick." He said, as we continued on upstairs, and I fiddled with megatron. This used survival a bit, but it used computers a lot and my computers skill was pretty low.

I nodded. "Yeah, no blood." Something was eating away at me. I wasn't quite sure what it was. Something about the toxins here. I couldn't put it together. Something was wrong. I wasn't sure what. I got flashes from Laura. Of vials and pills. I wasn't sure what it meant. Why were her memories leaking in?

I glanced at one of the empty syringes.

A cure to the poison. Will stop you from being sick. Provided by your friendly neighborhood puppet. 0/1 uses.

And I had checked. My survival power didn't let me multiply the cure, sadly.

"So she's really… Jigsaw's apprentice."

"Yeah. Shouldn't we take her out? Try to force her to get us out? Or something..." He trailed off.

I shook my head. "I don't wanna spook her. It wouldn't surprise me if she had some traps ready. We go in too early, she'll run off and start fucking with us." I checked. Amanda was pretty far off, half assedly pulling off wallpaper. 2/10 for effort.

"I'm glad you're in here with us." He said. I smiled at him.

"I'm glad to be in with you too. After this is over, you are gonna have to pay me back for this with a lot of pizza. You owe me."

He laughed. "I do. I'll do that. When we get out."

There was another unlocked door on the other side of upstairs. Right of the stairs was the razor trap and the needle trap. Left, they'd ignored in the film because they was silly. There were lots of locked doors we could try, but I wanted cures soon. Jonas and Daniel and Gus were getting worse.

I stood outside the door. "Ok. My disciple, Xavier. How do we test new doors?"

He grinned. "With a ten foot pole." He got well out of the way, and started to push the door open. There was a little give-"

"Wait! There's a tripwire."

Xavier paused.

"Addison, would you hand me the knife please? And two something heavies, with holes in them."

"Sure." She handed me a pair of kettles, and the knife. "What are you doing with them?"

I gestured at the wire. "There was a wire like this in the oven, which Amanda so kindly helped us with. He puts quite a lot of give in them. I'm gonna cut it, and you two." I gestured at Jonas and Addison. "Are gonna hold each end of the wire. I'll tie the kettle on, and that will keep them snapping back. Then we open, and slowly move inside. Got it?"

She nodded, and got in close to me. Jonas knelt on the other side of me. I was very squished.

"Ok. Now. I'm gonna cut on three. You both have a grip on the wire? Hold onto it tight. In fact-" I took out the tape, and taped both of their hands to the wire. "Don't let go. Don't do what Rose did in Titanic. Don't kill Jack. I used the knife, and cut the tripwire. Both of them held onto it well.

Then, I pushed the kettles into the door, and one by one tied off the wire ends onto the heavy metal kettles. "Now, I'm gonna slowly open the door. Keep a grip on the wire as we open. Don't rely on the kettles to keep up the tension. Xavier?" I asked. He slowly pushed the door open, and I crept in. It was dark.

"Daniel, flashlight?" "Sure."

He handed it to me. I shined it around the room and-

A dog started barking. A brown haired, mangy looking dog started barking loudly at us. And on it's neck- another vial! It was chained to the wall. I glanced back at the pair.

Jonas had almost lost his grip, but the kettle kept the weight on. Thank Tzeentch. I looked left and right, to see where the tripwires went. Addison, on my left, her side was just clipped to the wall, Jonas' side- ah yeah. Mechanical slider, would have activated a platform. Like the venus fly trap I'd been in before.

Jigsaw loved his tripwires. Very old school. I looked around, and saw a light, and flicked it on.

"Addison, get free. Jonas, we're gonna move the kettle over there. There's some… bed. Yeah. And a wardrobe. I think the wardrobe is in reach. Wedge the kettle in there. That will stop it." I gestured at the side, ignoring the dog for now.

Addison spoke. "What's with the dog- oh, it has a syringe!"

Gus came, and knocked me over, trying to get to the dog. My face planted to the ground, and I breathed out a sharp breath. "Mine!" He said. I heard a loud hit. I looked up. Xavier had grabbed him, and slammed him to the ground. "Stop running ahead!" He pointed the spiked club at him. "Stay there" Xavier kicked Gus in the crotch for good measure." Gus lay there, groaning in pain.

"You're all assholes." He said.

I got up. "Thanks Xavier. That dog looks scared as fuck. It might have smashed the vial.

I looked at the dog.

Sick, poisoned, homeless hybrid terrier. Current emotional state. Confused, hungry, in pain. 4/5 HP

It was brown, with tattered fur, one eye damaged, and looking sad. Now that there were several of us in the room, it was looking pretty scared, and backing into a corner.

Amanda spoke up, leaning in. "Pitbulls are really aggressive. You'll have to put it down to get out." I don't ride anyone's railroads, and especially not hers. What was this meant to be- a hard choice? Kill the dog, get the cure? Do you value life enough to murder for it? Nope.

"Fuck you."I said. "Pitbulls, which this isn't really, aren't aggressive. Dogs that haven't been neutered are. Fuck you, dog hater. Xavier, you still got any of that honey."

He scowled. "We're gonna waste it on a dog?"

Yes. I was definitely a dog person. "No, we're gonna waste it on a cure." He groaned and sighed and made noises, but tossed me the half eaten jar of honey. I took out some on one of our pilfered kitchen spoons, and went to the dog, looking to the side, crouching low so I wouldn't project aggression.

"Hey buddy. Here boy. Boy." I stood a little way away. The dog looked down, fearful, then sniffed. He smelt the honey. Nervously, expecting abuse, he came towards me.

Oooh, there was a note for Jonas on the bed. This was his trap? Weird. What had he been up to.

I shook my head, and focused on the dog again. I gave it the honey.

It looked left and right, and then went to eat it, hurriedly, expecting it to be taken away.

I took several more spoonfuls of honey, and put it on the floor. Seeing nothing wrong, the dog went to eating it. I got a bit closer, and held out my hand.

The dog sniffed it, learning my scent, and then nuzzled my hand. It went to eating the honey. I got closer to it, and circled a finger around it's wounds. Several parasites, several infections. This dog had been on the down and out even before Jigsaw had come to it. Now, it was doing really badly.

I quickly purchased the perk to cure diseases, gently touched the dog- he flinched, and then leaned into my hand, starved of touch- and pushed out my power.

I crushed diseases, worms, viruses, everything wrong inside. I couldn't touch the poison, but I could stop everything else fucking up.

And the dog healed, under my touch. As the pains soothed, the dog continued to eat, and leaned into me more and more, till we were hugging.

I sighed, and leaned into them, my stamina exhausted. Best vacation ever.

Now he has a dog. Time to transition into John Wick in 3... 2... 1...

The pitbull was a trap. It was meant to be in the basement for Obi, with his tape in it. We're short a few traps, so I repurposed it as Jonas' trap. The group wasn't meant to get access to the kitchen, and feeding him honey was not the intended solution.

Gus's tape is also invented, based on some stuff in the commentary on the DVD. They really should have shown more traps.

Arkyong. Glad you enjoy it!

Watermelonninja. This would be a super fun anime. And yeah, Bozak's games in dying light would be fun. My SI doesn't know parkour so he would not do well at first. He's mega strong, he could leap well, but the falls might be harder.

DG2. He wants to kill Amanda. But she has perk armor. Perk armor he is slowly eroding.

Thorison1080. The survival skill made him collapse because he got too much knowledge, which made Amanda happy as it was a chance to potentially take out Macgyver. And nah, writing this story is fun. Plus I have canon to help, so it's not super hard.

Mistersnx. Almost, but for the power of friendship and spiked clubs. I haven't played zero escape, I should, it looks fun.

Next chapter, we can see what hijinks he and his doggie get up to. Any name suggestions for the dog?