The fourth floor’s lab was as empty as the one on the second floor… or so it seemed. Within the room, there was another person. He wore a lab coat, similar to what the two scientists had on earlier but… he was asleep. The sound of snores can be heard coming from him. He was sitting against the wall and slept just like that.
Beside him was a closed chest… with his hand on it.
Amyr looked down at his phone that he'd pulled out of his pocket. The time was 3 PM. He knew what he had to do. After all, it was in the note.
He got up, took the playing cards, knight, and note all up to the third floor with him. Though he was quite scared of what was awaiting him up there, so he took the chest with him, just in case he needed some sort of weapon. He walked in the bar and casino slowly, looking around at his surroundings.
With the size of the box, it could only be a number of things. What was inside, might have been off the list at first. A body. A dead body, was inside the box. The limps (arms and legs), the head, and the body were all cut and organized into the box, each part gently wrapped lightly with cloth.
The woman wasn’t able to follow Jesse. Not because he was fast, but because she got distracted when she saw the man with metallic claws. They stopped at the sight of each other and went their separate ways, none of them following Jesse down the hall.
Within the bar and the casino, two figures can be seen. Both were male.
One of them, possibly the easier to notice, was the Bartender. The other one was sitting at one of the tables with an empty chair across him.
The man gestured to the empty chair when Amyr entered, wanting him to sit across him.
There was jazz music playing and these two were clearly enjoying themselves.
The Bartender came to Amyr.
”Anything to drink, sir?”
After a bit more running, Jesse had to pause for breath and realized that no one was behind him as his adrenaline faded. With a few breaths and a sigh of relief, he headed for the meeting room, sitting down in a chair to just rest for a moment before working on one of the puzzles. He wondered if Tori had seen his note or not as he continued to clutch the pistol in his right hand.
The door boy came into the meeting room.
”You’ve been through a lot haven’t you?” he asked, pouring him a cup of tea.
”But hard work does deserve its reward. Your afternoon and evening missions were all completed. You can now either rest here or assist the others… if you choose the latter, I have the location as to where they are” the door boy mentioned. He gave Jesse a polite grin.
”Oh, right. Dinner will be served at 5, the menu was randomized but they’re all good” he recalled, eyeing the card that was faced down on the table in front of Jesse.
“Is there a way to know what the others are doing? It wouldn’t be helpful to pop in on someone who’s hiding and someone might need help more than the others,” Jesse replied, weary but also wanting to help. He studied the boy, unsure of anyone in this creepy mansion.
Amyr sat down in the empty chair across from the man as he was gestured to do, though scooted the chair back a few times. Once the bartender had asked him if he wanted anything to drink, he looked the worker in eye sternly and spoke. His voice was sharp and his words were quick. "Poison," he said.
"Oh, nice," Taran said, backing away and wrinkling her nose, dropping the arm she had unwrapped on the floor. The limbs smelled bad, but hadn't started to decay yet. She picked up the limb delicately and threw it back in the box, slamming it. She wasn't delicate or sensitive, but that was just gross. She was about to shut the lid when she had an idea.
What if there was something at the bottom? Making a face, she stuck her metal arm in the box, shoving aside pieces of the corpse, trying not to breathe in the horrible smell.
Tori froze. She had to get that chest. Inching forward towards the sleeping man, she held her breath. When she got close enough to grab it, she carefully reached out for it and closed her hands around it. She didn't dare move it, not yet.
”Amyr is playing at the bar and casino on the third floor, playing Bartender’s and Gambler’s mental game. Taran’s in the library, searching for her weapon. Tori’s in the second building out the backdoor, searching for her weapon in that building while escaping from the five scientists” he answered. Noticing Jesse’s reaction to him and sighed.
”Don’t worry, there are three people who are sane in this facility. Myself being one of them.” he reassured, needing Jesse to trust him at least for a little bit.
“I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m not entirely sure that I trust you on that,” Jesse responded. “Thank you for telling me what they’re doing though.” He gave the boy a slight smile, his face hardening a bit as he gazed at nothing, trying to decide who to help. He wasn’t always the best at mental games or escape rooms, but the as the saying went “two heads is better than one”. If he went to Tori, the scientists might see him and be alerted to their presence, or he might be bailing her out of an unfair fight by making it only slight less bad. Taran sounded safe enough at the moment, but every word that one of those people said felt like a mind game to Jesse.
The Bartender laughed a bit before going to the bar where he should be and brewing Amyr’s drink which was definitely not going to be poison.
”You enjoy riddles?” the man across Amyr asked before the Bartender returned with a nicely decorated glass of blue bubbling liquid.
As Taran thought, there was indeed something inside the box beside the corpse. That thing being… a key. That was it. Just a key.
”Found anything?” the Librarian asked from where he was and not poking his head up.
That sitting scientist started to move a bit, raising his hand which was blocking the small chest to rub his eyes. He was still tired it seemed as he started to move his hand down to where it was.
Taran gingerly picked up the key before slamming the lid of the box shut. She wrinkled her nose and wiped her arm and the key off with the hem of her sleeve. "A box of body parts and a key," she said, holding it up to show the Librarian. She pushed herself to her feet and picked up her book, eager to leave a place smelling so strongly of decay.
Amyr side-eyed the man across from him. "I don't really care about them too much, but why don't you spit out your riddle since I assume you'd give me one anyway," he said, looking back away and watching the Bartender over at the bar.
Tori pulled her hands back and tiptoed to the nearest table, under which she hid.
(does anyone actually want Jesse’s help before i have him decide hahah)
The door boy saw the uncertainty going on in Jesse’s head by instinct.
”Take your time” he added, pouring a cup of tea for himself and sipping.
”Ah, hot…” he muttered, burning his tongue a little.
”A key?” the Librarian asked. He didn’t seem to care about the body so much.
”There is a locker by the entrance of the library. Perhaps that is what that’s for” he guessed, setting down the books.
”Come on, follow me” he walked to Tori and past her, wanting to guide her to the locker.
”Smart boy” the man mentioned.
”I’ll give you five riddles, all ‘who or what am I’ riddles. Get at least four out of five correct, I’ll give you what you need” the man started…
”I have cities but no houses. I have mountains but no trees. I have waters but no fish. What am I?”
The man quickly went back to his slumber, his hand falling just beside the chest. That was a close call for Tori. What would happen if she’d stayed there? She wouldn’t know. And most likely, she didn’t want to know.
Tori let out a sigh of relief. She had no clue what to do, but at least she was alive. Tori crept out from under the table and noticed that the man's hand was next to the chest, not on top of it. Tiptoeing forward, she grabbed the chest, and ran as silently as she could out of the lab.
(Kun, seriously, get some sleep!)
Taran put the key in her pocket and followed the Librarian to the lockers. The smell of the dead still followed her as she walked, and she gagged. She needed to really wash off her metal arm. Scents tended to stick to it unless she washed it really well.
Amyr took a moment to think it over, he'd heard the riddle once before. He tossed his head side to side in thought, then raised his finger proposing an answer. He looked over at the man and spoke. "A map?"
As Tori would come down to the third floor, an alarm went off.
”Attention all officers. An unwanted guest has been reported. Please be alert.”
(It’s only half past midnight, I’m definitely fine :D)
The Librarian guided her to the lockers he talked about, gesturing to the one on top which couldn’t be unlocked.
”This one,” he pointed at it.
The locked was numbered 21.
The man nodded slightly, raising his index to indicate one point.
”Only one color, but not one size,
Stuck at the bottom, yet easily flies.
Present in sun, but not in rain,
Doing no harm, and feeling no pain.
What am I?” the man continued.
"Damnit." Tori's heart was beating fast as she sprinted down the stairs, taking them three at a time.
(No no no no and no again! You need your sleep, and if you don't get to sleep, I will sic Rachel on you!)
Taran moved over to the locker. She pulled the key from her pocket, fumbled with it for a moment, and finally rested the book on her hip, holding it against her side with one arm, while inserting the key into the lock and twisting it.