Ruby Quest

Chapter 1

Time to begin.

It is very dark here. Hardly anything can be seen.

Please recommend an action.

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Turn on the damn lights.

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>Turn on the damn lights

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

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In that case, search my pockets. Walk over to the red thing.

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>search pockets

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

>Walk over to the red thing.

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

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Reach out and grasp for the red light.

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>Reach out and grasp for the red light.

Ah, there we go. Ruby can see now.

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examine that thing we found in her pockets Grab the handle near the ceiling of the cell.

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>examine that thing we found in her pockets

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

>Grab the handle near the ceiling of the cell.

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

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Yell, "Is anyone there?" Attempt to tap into her latent vampiric powers to

see if she has a high enough level in Protean to turn into mist and escape the cell through the mesh wiring.

press every button she can find

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>Yell, "Is anyone there?"

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

And Sadly, Ruby has no vampiric powers.

>press every button she can find

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?

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For the hell of it, purple.

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>For the hell of it, purple.

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

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get out, look around

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>get out, look around 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.

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search that trashcan in the back

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>search that trashcan in the back

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

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Look for a way to open that other cell.

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>Look for a way to open that other cell.

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.

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use can opener on can thing in the back.

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>use can opener on can thing in the back.

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.

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get a loadout of all of Ruby's abilities, general knowledges, and physical capabilities?

chew on wire

Chapter 1 Ruby stows a piece of wire in her inventory.

>get a loadout of all of Ruby's abilities, general knowledges, and physical capabilities?

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

>chew on 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!

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shlick furiously check the terminal next the door

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>shlick furiously

Ruby has slightly bigger concerns at the moment. Slightly.

But besides, there could be hidden cameras around!

>check the terminal next the door

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.

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knock on the other cell

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>knock on the other cell

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

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can we open the trap a tthe back left corner, but not go down yet in case there's no ladder?

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>can we open the trap a tthe back left corner, but not go down yet in case there's no ladder?

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!

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Move the remains of the barrel to one side, see if anything lies under it.

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>Move the remains of the barrel to one side, see if anything lies under it.

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

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Create a saw using the barrel pieces, wrapping the handle with the BARE ELECTRICAL WIRE. Attempt to saw through the bars.

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>Create a saw using the barrel pieces, wrapping the handle with the BARE ELECTRICAL WIRE. Attempt to saw through the bars.

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.

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Attempt to fashion a crude screwdriver using the barrel shards and either the handle of the can-opener (if it slides off easily) or, by shredding off part of the currently worn clothing.

Check the terminal situated on the wall behind the barrel

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>by shredding off part of the currently worn clothing

Ruby sees where you're going with this.

>Check the terminal situated on the wall behind the barrel

The digital console appears to be waiting for a command.

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Enter command, "open locker"

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>Enter command, "open locker"

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

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enter "open door"

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>enter "open door". That got a response,

but unfortunately the results weren't what Ruby had hoped for.

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open the locker

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>open the locker

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.

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Enter "open access shaft"

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>Enter "open access shaft"

It's asking for a code.

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Don the gloves, fix the terminal with the wire, and screw it together using one of the coins?

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>Don the gloves, fix the terminal with the wire, and screw it together using one of the coins?

A brilliant idea, especially since it negates the possibility of electrocution.

Ruby sets to work splicing the door panel's wires back together.

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inspect the coins

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>inspect the coins

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.

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Press the green button

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>Press the green button

Here goes nothing. Ruby presses the

button.

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The metal shutters start to lift...

...oh.

[ANIMATED! Close slide show to see animation]

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...it would appear that Ruby is underwater.

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push down arrow Take off gloves, reach out, touch the water

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>push down arrow

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

>Take off gloves, reach out, touch the water

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

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enter "open access shaft 017"

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>enter "open access shaft 017"

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.

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Look outside, see how far it is to the surface. Also, see if any predatory fish are visible.

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>Look outside, see how far it is to the surface. Also, see if any predatory fish are visible.

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!

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go down

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>go down Ruby descends down

the access shaft's ladder.

Congratulations! You've escaped the first room!

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Ruby descends the access hatch and comes upon a new room.

There's lots to see here.

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say hello.

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>say hello. Ruby introduces

herself and says hi. The prisoner

introduces himself as "Tom", and says hi back.

He doesn't seem particularly chatty.

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Ask tom how long he's been here and what he knows about this place

Walk into the grid. Carve pumpkin into the shape of a keycard and

insert into slot.

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>Ask tom how long he's been here and what he knows about this place

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.

>Walk into the grid.

It's just a metal grating.

>Carve pumpkin into the shape of a keycard and insert into slot.

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

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What be that in the fish tank?

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>What be that in the fish tank?

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

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Ask about statue.

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>Ask about statue. 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.

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Any of the fish look dangerous? And what is that grate below the tank?

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>Any of the fish look dangerous?

The fish are all quite tiny.

And as far as Ruby can tell, none of them are sharks.

>And what is that grate below the tank?

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.

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ask about those round things in the wall next to him.

Examine that upside-down flower/light/water sprinkler thing above Tom

use can opener to cut through fence

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>ask about those round things in the wall next to him.

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

>Examine that upside-down flower/light/water sprinkler thing above Tom

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

>use can opener to cut through fence

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.

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Grab treasure, then dump aquarium on Tom

Chapter 1 >Open treasure chest.

It refuses to open. It must be locked.

>Get plate, screw in plate, tell Tom to press buttons

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.

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Remind us, what is Ruby's current inventory? tell tom that "you dont believe him unless he

presses another button." examine z hatch

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>Remind us, what is Ruby's current inventory?

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

>tell tom that "you dont believe him unless he presses another button."

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

>examine z hatch

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.

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Hand over gloves Try prying opening the chest with the coins Ask him what funny numbers is on that metal

plate.

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>Hand over gloves

The gloves won't fit through the grate.

>Try prying opening the chest with the coins

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

>Ask him what funny numbers is on that metal plate.

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.

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Offer sexual favors for his cooperation.

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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.

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>How about Ruby just flashes him her tits?

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>How about Ruby just flashes him her tits?

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

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give the cat the fish

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>give the cat the fish Ruby slips Tom some

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

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Apologize to Tom, and mention nonchalantly that you were jealous of his epic Opus

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>Apologize to Tom, and mention nonchalantly that you were jealous of his epic Opus

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

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Go upstairs and enter "open z-hatch 211" into the terminal.

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>Go upstairs and enter "open z-hatch 211" into the terminal.

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

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climb back down tell Tom you'll see where the hatch goes and crawl through it and try to come back to him

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>climb back down tell Tom you'll see where the hatch goes and crawl through it and try to come back to him

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.

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Crawl through the hatch.

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>Crawl through the hatch.

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.

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Explain what each button seems to do Take diagram of buttons and give it to Tom

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>Explain what each button seems to do

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

>Take diagram of buttons and give it to Tom

It looks like there was something behind the diagram.

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Inspect what looks like a safe on the wall in this room.

Look through what looks like a grate in the door to the left of the room.

Take down picture of fish...

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>Inspect what looks like a safe on the wall in this room.

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

>Look through what looks like a grate in the door to the left of the room.

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

>Take down picture of fish...

It looks like an eye, actually.

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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?