Lights Out in the Laboratory
Much as you would expect, the laboratory in Spookyraven Manor is filled with interesting and dangerous-looking things: chemistry gear, surgical equipment, weird machines with panels of knobs and switches and blinky lights and fizzing jacob's ladders poking out the top... It is basically a playground for someone who's into messing with dangerous things they don't understand.
You know, like an adventurer.
Unfortunately, before you can touch anything, all the lights in the house suddenly go out. Totally not your fault! You didn't even push a single random button yet!
From somewhere in the house, you hear a grandfather clock chime out thirteen gongs.
| Search for a light |
You look around, and discover that a single blinking red light is still on, in the corner of the room. Is one of the machines battery-powered? (Or, possibly, it's one of those monsters with glowing red eyes, repeatedly winking at you. That seems less likely, though.)
| Check it out |
It turns out that the little red light is connected to a backup generator, with a battery-powered starter. You push the button, and it chugs to life, powering up several worklights hanging from the ceiling, as well as the flashy lights on the control panels of the machines.
Yessss. Time for some dangerous and ill-advised tampering!
| Examine the chemistry gear |
There are beakers and test tubes filled with all different colors of liquids, none of which are labelled. There's also a chalkboard covered with various chemical equations, but you haven't got any idea what they might signify.
So, you spend a few minutes mixing things together at random. You think you discover the formula for the perfect artificial grape flavor, but aren't willing to actually taste it because the bright purple liquid tried to escape by climbing out of the test tube, and you had to put a cork in it. It smelled really grape, though.
After nearly burning your eyebrows off when two other chemicals unexpectedly combine to produce fire, you decide to stop messing around. You kind of like your eyebrows the way they are.
You head out of the lab, but not before writing "BUTT" on the chalkboard and surrounding it with a square border and the note "do not erase".
On your way downstairs, the lights in the house slowly flicker back on.
| Examine the surgical equipment |
The surgical equipment is all really old -- a lot of it is things you're pretty sure aren't even used any more, like the trepanning drill, or the thing with little spring-loaded blades that shoot out and make a hole in the skin for bloodletting.
You poke around for a while, marvelling at the wicked-looking curved knives, oddly-shaped clamps, things with ratchets that you're pretty sure are for inserting somewhere but you don't want to guess where, and other tools that would look perfectly at home next to an Iron Maiden.
Here's one with a little round clamp and an attached blade that you're pretty sure would be used for eyeball surgery. You're also pretty sure you're going to have nightmares about it.
Eventually, the house lights come back on, so you turn off the backup generator and head back downstairs.
| Examine the weird machines |
The main machine is fronted by a large control panel, which is covered with blinky lights, knobs, dials, gauges, and even several of those excellent knife-switches that throw sparks everywhere when you switch them. The prospect is so enthralling, you hardly even notice the rubber hoses connected to a huge cylindrical glass tank, which is covered with a white sheet and leather straps to tie it down.
Unfortunately, on closer inspection, disappointment sets in: the biggest knife switch, labelled "POWER", is set to 'off', and locked with a six-digit combination lock. Phooey!
You half-heartedly push a couple buttons and enjoy the clicky noises, but it's just not the same.
Eventually, the lights in the house come back on, and you head back downstairs.
Only appears if you search the barrel in Lights Out in the Boiler Room:
The main machine is fronted by a large control panel, which is covered with blinky lights, knobs, dials, gauges, and even several of those excellent knife-switches that throw sparks everywhere when you switch them. It also has rubber hoses connected to a huge cylindrical glass tank, which is covered with a white sheet and leather straps to tie it down.
Considering what you've seen of Stephen's experiments so far, the prospect of what might be in that tank is a little unnerving.
The main power switch to the machine is locked down, with a six-digit combination lock.
| Enter 23-47-99 and turn on the machine. |
You unlock the lock, and force the huge knife-switch up to the 'on' position with both hands. Blue sparks fly as the connection is made, and the machine hums to life.
Lightning arcs up a huge jacob's ladder atop the device, and the humming gets louder. Lights and gauges flicker to life, and needles swing to the right.
The humming gets even louder, and now there's a bubbling sound. The hoses running from the machine to the covered glass tank start to pulse.
And then there's a whisper. It grows in volume to a moan. And then a roar.
Not an animal sound. But also not a human sound.
Something in the tank is pounding at the glass. Roaring, shouting wordlessly.
The glass cracks, splinters, shatters. The covering cloth is torn away.
The roar resolves into words:
"TOGETHER! TOGETHER FOREVER!"
| Oh god |
Stephen Spookyraven  -- (edit metadata)
| |
|
|
| Leave the machine alone. |
Your fingers are itching, but you just don't feel ready for what you might see. You back away from the machine, and head back downstairs.
As you do, the lights in the house flicker back to life.
| Back away slowly |
With a sigh, you decide to come back later, when you can see the things you don't understand before playing with them.
As you head back downstairs and out of the Manor, the lights gradually flicker back to life.
| Leave well enough alone |
With a sigh, you decide to come back later, when you can see the things you don't understand before playing with them.
As you head back downstairs and out of the Manor, the lights gradually flicker back to life.
Occurs at The Haunted Laboratory.
