The first part of the Escape Rooms! This one will focus on the students going into the Room of Knowledge, and their puzzles. I'll be switching between them as they go through the rooms.
As for the Best Girl nominations, still going strong. Anyone else left to add?
Currently Nominated: Sango, Cynthia, Elaina, Kate, Dakota, Ayame, Marion, Kitty, Serefina
Rosealine gold: Well, I think she'll be able to do a few things.
Pokemonking0924: No probably about it, this is basically like rats going through Sylvia's hand-crafted little maze.
Just a Bad Writer for Fun: I've done quite a few, hopefully that will help make this feel authentic.
Hellraiserphoenix: Sylvia's certainly got some tricks in store.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 189
When the two groups passed through the doors, they arrived in empty rooms with large TV screens set up, and a door in the far wall.
"This seems pretty… drab," Blake said, looking around. "How are we supposed to get out of here? Is the puzzle already started?"
"No, this is the prep room," Nikita explained. "Sort of like a rundown of the scenario."
"Hello?" Sylvia's voice crackled out of the walkie-talkie in Cynthia's hands. "Hello! This is your gamemaster speaking!"
"What is it?" Cynthia asked. "Hello? Is this thing on?"
"You have to hold the button," Blake informed her.
"Oh," Cynthia giggled sheepishly, pushing the button on the side of the walkie-talkie. "Sylvia, this is Cynthia, what's up?"
"I'm here to explain the rules of the game in a little bit more detail," Sylvia explained. "Particularly this section. Both teams will be watching a specially prepared video, explaining the deeper details of this escape room. Then when the video concludes, please go through that door behind it! When everyone's through, I'll lock the doors, and you all have to escape! Sounds good? Good! Then play!"
Sylvia went radio silent, and the TV switched on, drawing the attention of all the kids in the room. The video began to play.
Onscreen, the words "Hospital of Demons" appeared. The words faded off the screen, replaced with a black and white cartoon drawing of a small boy. The boy was sitting under a tree with a big smile on his face.
"Once upon a time, in a small village in the Kalos Region, there lived a boy named Jake." Sylvia's voice came out of the player, in a tone that was sickeningly sweet, like she was reading a nursery rhyme. "Jake was a normal boy once upon a time. Then one day… the demon came to talk to him."
Blake's eye twitched.
"There was something wrong with Jake's brain, you see! And the voices in his head told him to strike back at the world! He went through the town, causing havoc and chaos the Joker would be proud of! But then… the big, bad Pokemon Rangers showed up and put an end to the party! Jake was taken into custody, and locked up in a hospital for the rest of his life, where the voices would no longer make him do bad things! But the voices of the demons kept working on him as he grew up… and the havoc resumed! He seized control of the mental hospital, and is subjecting the patients and to unspeakable acts… the lunatics are running the asylum now, and that's where you come in! You're playing the roles of doctors trying to escape from here before Jake and his cronies. But Jake hasn't made it easy for you! He's set up wicked traps and puzzles to try and keep you in this hospital… will you be able to escape before Jake can track you down? Welcome… to the Hospital of Demons."
Sylvia was observing everything that went on through a series of monitors. She was seated at a desk in the security lounge of the building, which she had appropriated with her position as a member of the Eight Leaders. As the video ended, Sylvia watched the reactions on the faces of the group of six attempting the Room of Knowledge. Particularly, she focused on one person in particular.
If what Valon told me is true, then this scenario I've devised should be ringing more than a few bells. His face is already chalk-white…
Sylvia leaned in closer to one of the monitors, picking a donut slathered in peanut butter and peppermint sprinkles, chewing it thoughtfully. As a consolation for her "hard work" in trying to take the Newspaper Club, and a congratulations for becoming a member of the Eight Leaders, the Phantom had provided her with a crucial piece to solving the puzzle that had been plaguing her for years, the mystery that had reignited her passion and find her place in the world.
The Village of Demons… the sole survivor's name has been removed from every report I can access for the child's privacy. But Valon says it's him? Blake Harker? It does make sense. He's approximately the same age as the survivor would be, and he is from the Kalos Region, which is where this whole mess occurred. Furthermore, he was privately adopted by the Harker family, but I can't find any previous records about him on any database. Sylvia moved onto the next donut, a strawberry jam filling with a honey glaze and chunks of mango. The individual named "Blake Harker" appears to have shown up less than a week after the "Village of Demons" incident. If it isn't him, then this is a coincidence beyond comprehension. I don't know how the Phantom discovered this information… but I'd be a fool not to act on it!
Sylvia's cheeks flushed as she licked the honey from her fingers, her eyes shining with perverse glee.
I want to see it! I can't remember when I wanted something more! Show me, Blake! Let me see every last glimpse of you! Are you really a demon child? Are you innocent? Are you even human?! Oh, I want to see it so badly I can barely keep contained! My curiosity is so aroused I can barely think, how exciting!
They had all entered the next room. Sylvia pressed the button. The door locked behind them.
"It's certainly a hospital ward, alright," Blake said, looking around the room. The Escape Room had been set up to resemble the interior of a medical office, although a rather sparse one. The light was rather dim as well, lit by four rectangular ceiling lights that were flickering off and on.
"Nikita, you're the one who's done these before, right?" Julia asked, turning to Nikita. "Where do we start?"
"Before we tackle any of the puzzles, we should first focus on two things," Nikita said. "Route of escape, first. Where are we trying to get out of?"
"Isn't it that door?" Cynthia asked, pointing at the door they came out of.
"It might be," Nikita agreed. "But that door is operated by the game master. It's more likely there will be another door, hidden somewhere, that we might need to trigger a certain puzzle to open. Or…"
Nikita glanced at the elephant in the room. On the far wall, on the other side of the entrance, was a caged gate.
"Indeed, that's probably the exit," Julia agreed. "Then what's the next step? How do we get it open?"
Blake had already taken the initiative to walk to the cage and try to open it, but it was fastened shut.
"Not opening," Blake replied.
"Lemme do it," Cynthia said, rolling up her sleeves.
"It's not gonna brute force open," Nikita said. "You need to solve the puzzle! This is the Knowledge Room, remember?"
Cynthia grumbled.
"In the meantime, we need to find as many clues as possible. Luckily, there's not a lot of clutter here, so it should be fairly rudimentary. Let's look for things that are movable. If it moves, it's probably essential to move for one of the puzzles," Nikita reasoned. "There's six of us, so let's split the room up this way. Four of us will go to four corners, and search for whatever they can find. Everyone move to the left, and when you reach the next corner, come back to the center. In the meantime, two of us will work to find things in the center, and coordinate with the others. I'll take the center, along with Blake. Everyone else, go to the closest corner. Remember, don't be reckless. Be thorough, and efficient. If one of you overlooks something, you'll set us all back. Sound like a plan?"
"Wait." Everyone turned to see Caelia.
"What is it?" Nikita asked, confused.
"Objection," Caelia replied. "Why are you working with Blake?"
"What?" Nikita asked. "I just thought it would be good since I have the most experience. Do you want to work in the center?"
"Yes."
"Uh… sure," Nikita said, a little confused. Blake and Caelia moved to the center of the room while the other four girls went to the four corners of the room and began looking.
The center didn't have much, just a desk, a chair, and a box bolted to the ground with a 4-digit combination lock. On the top of the box were emblazoned the words "To Open, Find the Proper Combination of Notes".
"What do you want me to do?" Caelia asked.
"Help me look through the desk?" Blake suggested. "That would-"
"Blake!" Cynthia called. "I found something!"
Blake turned to see Cynthia, holding a slip of paper in her hand.
"Caelia, you start on the desk, I'll go check this out." Blake walked over to Cynthia and took the note. There were two numbers scrawled on it, 34-63.
"What does it mean?" Cynthia asked. "Think it goes to that box?"
"That, or someone's been spending too much time on the internet," Blake smirked. Cynthia cackled.
"Blake." Caelia called Blake back, and Cynthia resumed her search, digging through a medicine cabinet next.
"What's up?" Blake asked. Caelia pointed at the top drawer of the desk, which contained a single sheet of paper and a small red button.
"Everything else is empty," Caelia reported. Blake picked up the paper. It was a newspaper clipping, detailing the events of what had occurred. There was a small, grainy black and white picture of an old cottage along with the words. At the top of the article, circled with a black marker, was the date, June 3, 2005.
As Blake contemplated this, Nikita returned to the middle, having finished her search of the room. "I found something important," Blake said, handing her the article.
"What? How odd," Nikita said, holding up a piece of paper of her own. "I have the same thing."
Nikita held up an article of her own. There were some differences. Instead of a picture of the cottage, there was instead a picture of a tall skyscraper, and the date that was circled was August 30, 2004.
"Same article, but a different photograph, and a different date," Nikita mused. "What do you think it means?"
"Also, note that the article doesn't say where this takes place," Blake replied. "It just details the events themselves."
"Should we try these numbers on that lock, then?" Nikita suggested.
"I can do that," Caelia interjected.
Blake glanced at her. "Are you sure? It requires dexterity, and-"
Caelia narrowed her eye.
"I will."
Caelia held her hands out for the newspaper clippings. Blake handed her the code Cynthia had found, as well. She went over to the box, and began working on them.
A few minutes later, everyone had gathered together, including Caelia. None of the codes she'd tried had worked. She'd enter 0830, 2004, 0603, 2005, and 3463. She's also tried 3008, and 0306, the reverse of the month-day pattern. Nothing had worked.
"What did everyone find?" Nikita asked.
"I found a button," Julia said, pointing towards one of the cabinets. "It's inside the cabinet. I also found this newspaper clipping on top of the cabinet. I also found this code."
Blake took the newspaper clipping. It was identical to the previous ones, except for the picture, which was a large palace, and the date, which said March 19, 2008. The code Julia gave him was a set of numbers, 1-1-6-4
"I found this," Maddi said, holding up a book. "It was on the bookshelf. Every other book couldn't be removed, but this one could. Plus…"
Maddi opened the book. It had a hollow center, and in the center was a thin, rectangluar block about the length of a finger.
"Wonder what this is for," Cynthia mused.
"Also, there was a red button in the space behind the book," Maddi reported.
"I found a code, and I gave it to Blake," Cynthia said. "I checked the clock, too, but it's weird. There aren't any numbers on it that could be a code. Also, I found this piece of paper in the wastebasket by the entrance. Which doesn't make any sense."
Cynthia showed a laminated piece of paper to the crowd. There was a large circle, and below it were four rectangles in a 2x2 grid, with an arrow pointing from the top left one, curving around the top right one and going down.
"What does this mean?" Julia wondered. Cynthia shrugged.
"There wasn't a button, though," Cynthia added. "I checked. But I did find this in the medicine cabinet."
Cynthia held up a pill bottle, and unscrewed it, a block about the same size as the one Maddi had found, but it was cylindrical rather than rectangular.
"Two blocks, huh?" Blake said. "I wonder what these are for…"
"I found a newspaper clipping too," Nikita said, nodding to the paper she'd handed Blake. "I also found this."
She presented another paper for the group to look at. On it were six circles, along with the words "You've almost got me red-handed! Escape is almost in reach, I'm sure you can feel it! If you all work together to get the cage open, I'll have to switch things up!"
"…This is just nonsense," Cynthia sighed.
"It was next to that," Nikita said, pointing to the gate. Beside the gate was a small box, with a red button on it.
"That makes four buttons," Blake frowned.
"Oh! The note said to work together to get the cage open," Cynthia noted. "Maybe if we press all the buttons, then we can get it to work!"
"Good idea," Julia nodded. "I'm really good with my fingers, so I'll work on entering these combinations. The rest of you press those buttons."
Julia gathered up all the possible codes they had and knelt next to the box, while the other students went to the different buttons. There were five of them and four buttons, so Caelia followed after Blake as she always did. Blake pushed the button next to the door, and the other three pushed their buttons as well.
Nothing happened.
"Well, that didn't work," Blake sighed.
"Can I?" Caelia asked. Blake shrugged, stepping out of the way. Caelia pushed the button in his place. Nothing happened. She kept pushing. Still nothing. She pushed so hard Blake thought she might break the button, but still nothing.
"It's not working," Cynthia declared. Maddi rolled her eyes.
"Thank you, captain obvious," she sighed. "Why don't we just call Sylvia?"
"What?" Cynthia asked. "Why?"
"She said she'd give us hints, right?" Maddi asked, lowering her hand from the button on the bookshelf and walking over to Cynthia, who was at the desk.
"We don't need no hints," Cynthia asserted. "We can handle this ourselves! I think I know what the issue is!"
"Oh?" Maddi asked.
"There's six circles here, right? That means that since there's 6 of us, maybe we need to press 6 buttons."
"But we've torn this place apart," Nikita reminded them. "There aren't anymore buttons to find."
"I'll go check the back wall," Maddi said, pointing at the wall Cynthia had searched.
"What, you don't think I did a thorough enough job?" Cynthia asked.
"No."
"Damn it!" Julia cursed, everyone's attention changing to the center of the room. "None of these are a match. I've tried every code I can work with here, all the number combinations, and none of them are working."
"Maybe the last two buttons are in there," Nikita suggested.
"Well then we're still back to square one, because we can't find the right combination," Julia reminded them, standing up. "It says to open it, we need the right combination of notes. But we've tried every combination we have, and it isn't working."
"Maybe we should get a hint," Blake said.
Sylvia watched on as the group discussed whether or not to get help, swirling her coffee with a cinnamon stick.
That code is quite elaborate, Sylvia smirked, relishing in their struggle. The answer is in front of them, but none of them noticed. And even if they did… I wonder if they're really capable of finding the final button?
Her smirk widened.
It might be cheating, but I never once said all the buttons were inside the room, after all. Please don't be so predictable, Blake.
They had reached a stalemate. The stubbornness of Julia, Cynthia, and Nikita made them refuse to swallow their pride and ask for help. Blake had agreed with Maddi on getting a hint, and Caelia agreed with Blake on whatever he wanted to do. It was three on three, with the deadlock not looking to resolve any time soon. Maddi sighed, and looked up at the ceiling, sitting down in the doctor's chair. She didn't really care that much about winning. This was interesting at first, but she was getting bored fast. Maybe if she just waited out the clock, that would be better than getting invested in all this.
To kill time while the others discussed, Maddi decided to stare at the lights and begin counting the seconds between when they would flicker. It was more engaging than the debate, anyway.
The light flickered again, and Maddi reset her count. Another 4 seconds. Then another 4…
Maddi's eyes widened. Could it…
She began tapping her toe as she watched the light.
"That's it," Maddi whispered, standing up.
"Hm?" Cynthia glanced at her. "What? You say something?"
"…No, nothing," Maddi sighed, sitting back down.
"No, come on!" Cynthia said, walking over to her, staring earnestly at her. "If you have an idea, then share it?"
"Well, I mean, I was just thinking, when the box said 'notes' what if it didn't mean, like, paper notes? What if it meant music notes?"
"Music notes?" Nikita asked, intrigued.
"Yeah, like… a beat, or a rhythm, you know? That's what I think of when I think about a combination of notes, so I just thought…"
"That sounds really smart," Cynthia nodded encouragingly. "But the room is super silent."
"Yeah, but…" Maddi pointed at the lights.
"The lights?" Blake asked. "They're flickering, so what? It adds to the ambiance."
"It's a pattern," Maddi said. "I just counted. The left light closest to the desk, every 4 seconds it flickers. Watch." Everyone stared at the light. Maddi tapped her foot every four seconds, the sound moving in time to the light dimming.
"I think they might all be like that," Maddi suggested. "…Maybe?"
"Ah! The paper!" Cynthia gasped. She ran over to the pile of papers gathered beside the lockbox, and began digging through it. "The one in the trash can!"
Cynthia showed the laminated paper to the others.
"Look, so, what if these four rectangles are the lights?" Cynthia said. "And that big circle is the clock at the back of the room?"
Nikita took the paper from Cynthia, moving to step in front of the desk, staring at the clock hanging above the entrance door.
"So assuming we look at things the way this crude map suggests, then we start with that light over there." Nikita pointed at the far left light. "And then we move around like that… heh. Like a clock. We go clockwise, and from there..."
"I'll start counting," Maddi said, counting the beats of each flickering light, starting with the far left, then the far right, the close right, then the close left. "First… 2. Then 7… then 9… then 4."
As Maddi rattled off the numbers, Julia input them into the lock. It clicked open.
"Yes! We did it!" Cynthia cheered. Julia opened the box, checking the contents. At the bottom of the box was a button. Inside was another block, this one a long pyramid, a flashlight, and another newspaper clipping. Blake checked out the clipping. The date said February 12, 2007, and the picture included depicted a worn-down and desolated hotel.
"Okay, so that's 5 buttons, but where's the sixth?" Cynthia wondered. "And what's this note mean?"
On a piece of paper, nestled in the bottom of the box, was a note that read "Almost there! The exit is just around the corner! You need to think outside of the box!"
"How cheeky," Julia smirked. "A note in a box telling us to think outside the box."
Caelia watched everyone in silence. She turned to Blake.
"Blake. What should I do?" Caelia asked.
"I don't know," Blake said, setting the newspaper clipping down with the others.
"I think we've solved all the puzzles in the room," Nikita said, frowning. "We just need to find the last button, and I think that will get us out."
"Then we just have to search the room again!" Cynthia declared. Blake figured that was a waste of time. He read over the note they'd found in the box again. Think outside the box…
Blake turned the flashlight over in his hand, but there was nothing special about it.
"I'm assuming these blocks will be used in a later puzzle," Nikita said. "But still… where's the sixth button?"
While the smarter group of Blake, Julia, and Nikita worked out what their next moves were, and the stoic duo of Maddi and Caelia watched on, Cynthia was tearing the room apart to find that sixth button.
"It's gotta be a trick of some sort," Julia theorized. "Sylvia's the kind of scumbag who would pull a move like "there really is only 5 buttons".
"How rude!" Sylvia gasped. …She's not wrong, though.
"Maybe we should ask for a clue, then," Nikita suggested. But Julia wasn't interested in bowing her head to Sylvia and asking her for help.
"Just around the corner…" While Julia and Nikita were discussing the merits of asking for help, Blake was working out the wording of the note.
Blake blinked.
"Where's the paper with the buttons?" Blake walked over and picked up the other paper, looking over it. "'In reach… feel it…'"
Good, good, you're on the right track, Blake, Sylvia smiled, sipping her coffee. Her eyes twinkled in admiration. I was surprised Maddi to figure out my light code, but this… I really want you to move onto the next room. I gave you as clear a hint as I could. Just think outside the box, and you should be able to find it.
"Guys," Blake said, Julia and Nikita glancing at him. "We might be thinking about this the wrong way."
"Huh?" Julia asked.
"Explain," Nikita asked, pushing her glasses up her nose.
"We're working off the assumption that all the buttons are in the room," Blake said, "but we can't find the last one."
"Right, so?" Julia asked.
"Well, the note said that we need to think outside the box," Blake said. "Plus… Julia, I think you were on the right track when you were talking about Sylvia's nature."
"Oh?"
"I don't know Sylvia very well… but from what I can gather from her, and what I've heard, it she seems like a pretty sneaky person," Blake said. "So it might be… that she's trying to trap us into thinking that all the buttons are here, but they really aren't."
"That's just what I was saying," Julia said, crossing her fingers in front of her chest. "It's all a big trick. There's no way out of here at all! She just wants to see us squirm."
"Is that what you think, Blake?" Nikita asked.
"Not at all," Blake said, shaking his head. "I think the sixth button is here. But it's not in the room."
"…Maybe it's just Cynthia rubbing off on me, but that doesn't make sense," Julia frowned.
"Hey!" Cynthia cried.
"What if the button wasn't in the room, but it was still somewhere we could press it?" Blake asked. "Somewhere we could reach, but not somewhere we could see?"
Nikita's eyes widened. She realized what Blake was insinuating.
"Because it's the exit, we dismissed the idea that we needed to pay any attention to it until we got through," Blake said, nodding to the gate behind them. "We're locked in this room, so we thought about only using what we found in this room. But honestly… shouldn't we consider 'this room' to include anything we can reach, even outside of this room?"
"I think I get it," Cynthia said, catching on. "So what you're saying is that the sixth button isn't in the room! It's outside, past the gate!"
Blake nodded. They were on the same page.
"Probably somewhere we can just barely reach it if we stick our arm through the slats, and fumble around for it," Blake said. "That's Sylvia's trap to keep us in here. Make us focus on the room, and not what's outside of it."
"Literally thinking outside the box, huh?" Julia smirked. "Tricky, tricky."
"This note says the exit is 'just around the corner' so I'm willing to bet the button is, too," Blake said, walking over to the door. "You guys, go press the other four buttons."
Maddi, already sitting at the desk, held her finger over the button in the drawer. Meanwhile, Julia knelt down next to lockbox to press her button as well. Nikita went over to the bookshelf, while Cynthia found the button in the cabinet. Caelia remained at Blake's side, as usual.
"I can push the button around the corner," Caelia suggested. Blake raised an eyebrow and stepped out of the way. She placed her hand on her shoulder and pressed down, until her shoulder made a popping sound. The rest of the students felt a little sick.
Caelia's arm dangled limply next to her.
"Did… did you just dislocate your shoulder?" Blake asked.
"Didn't hurt," Caelia reminded him. She stepped past him and reached through the cage with her loose arm, reaching for the button.
"…Ah."
"Did you find it?"
"No idea," Caelia whispered. "I can't feel anything, remember?"
Blake blinked. He had completely forgotten that Caelia's body was… unique, and her nervous system meant she possessed no sense of touch.
Caelia stumbled back, reaching and popping her shoulder back in place. She moved it a few times to see if it was working.
"…Just let me handle it, okay?" Blake asked. "You press this one."
Caelia nodded and limped over to the button beside the door, holding her finger over it. Blake stood beside her, and leaned forward, fumbling for the button. Caelia blinked as she stared at him. Blake was rather close. Unfortunately, he wasn't making her heart race the way he had before. She just felt empty, as usual.
Blake's eyes widened. "I think I got it."
"Okay, on three, guys!" Cynthia cheered. "1… 2… 3!"
At the count of three, all six of them pushed their buttons. The gate let out a ding, and Blake moved his hand out of the way as it unlocked. He slid the gate to the side, officially opening up the first room.
"Okay, guys, we did it!" Cynthia said. "Let's grab everything out of here, and head to the next section!"
Julia and Nikita gathered the blocks, papers, and newspaper clippings, while Blake held onto the flashlight, and the six of them entered the hallway to the next section of the Hospital of Demons.
Sylvia smiled.
So you managed to think on the same wavelength for a moment, eh? But that's something even an ordinary person could do… the real test, to see if you are who I think you are… it's soon to come, Blake, and I can't wait to see it.
Blake's group was progressing at much the same rate as Misato's group was. They had also just gotten through the first room's puzzles. Sylvia smiled. The competition was really heating up, and everything was going quite well, she felt.
Next chapter, we switch to the other six in the Room of Courage! What puzzles do they have to solve over there?
