Zero Escape: Chambers of Nightmares

"One two three four five six seven eight... We're missing someone."

Bramble's face goes pale. "Really?"

I scratch my head. "Yeah. One two three-"

"Did you count yourself?"

... "Nevermind. We're all here."

The others laugh. I can't believe I missed that.

Gallus rubs his head. "Alright, Smolder. What do you want to do?"

"I'm taking Rain and Yona through door 1."

A chill runs down my spine. "Are you sure about that?"

"Don't worry." Rain starts moving towards the door. "We'll be fine."

"What about the rest of us?"

Smolder shrugs. "I don't care. Just try not to die."

We watch the three of them go through the door.

"Um, if you guys don't mind, I'd like to go with Sandbar."

We all look at Ocellus.

"Well, it's either him and Silver or Bramble and Cozy. Those two pairs make 8, which each of us needs to get through. You go through door 3, and I go through door 5."

I'm going with Sandbar! If I go with Gallus, I can just ask him! If I go with Ocellus though-

"I'd like to go with Sandbar."

"Alright. That fine with you youngsters?"

"That's fine."

"We aren't that much younger than you!"

... Crap. At least Sandbar looks happy.

I helplessly watch Gallus go with our youngest members, leaving me with a... well, minor problem. I need to get Ocellus separate from us so I can talk to Sandbar.

"Silver! You coming?"

Ah! I rush over to the door and scan my bracelet into the RED.

"Don't do anything stupid, you two."

The door opens up and we step through. We quickly find the DEAD and scan it. We're in a geology lab... Wait. Didn't Ocellus die here in another timeline? I think it's because-

*CLANG!*

"Guys! Help!"

Yup. That's why. She's in a metal capsule in the middle of the room.

Sandbar's hoof connects with his face. "What was that about us not doing anything stupid?"

Ocellus is blushing from inside of the large metal capsule. "Just get me out of here!"

"We'll get you out. Don't worry." I grab Sandbar and pull him off to the side. This is the exact opportunity I needed. "Sandbar, can I trust you?"

He raises his eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I just want to know if I can trust you."

"Silver? Are you okay?"

"No. I'm not okay. I'm trapped in this weird world with eight of my friends, and I have a sinking feeling one of them put the rest of us in here. I don't care who that is at this point. I just want to know who I can trust. If I can trust anyone."

He's looking around. "Yeah. You can trust me."

I nod. "Then let's get Ocellus out of there." Successfully this time. I hope.

TIME TO SEARCH!

Hmm... Neptite, Mixitol, and Valital. I don't think I learned the names of the other two.

"A silver stone of the sea."

I look at Sandbar. "I think that's Neptite. It's a silver stone that generates water." The five stones the panels want are what make this trap work, but we can't get Ocellus out until we put them all in.

"I'll see if I can find it." He walks off.

I check the two panels I never saw.

A grey powder of silence.

A knocking stone.

... I don't know what either of those are. I'll just grab the Mixitol and Valital and let Sandbar handle those two. Huh. This stone is pretty. Oops! I dropped-

*Zzttt*

"OW!" I drop the pain stone. It sparks upon hitting the ground.

"Careful now." Sandbar approaches with a rubber square and picks up the pain stone. "This is Shock Quartz. It's designed to create electricity upon knocking or hitting something. This one, in particular, looks like it's designed to be powerful."

I watch him set it on the table. "One of the panels said we need a knocking stone."

"That probably is it, in that case. Just don't try to catch it if you drop it again."

He didn't need to say that. I know better than to hurt myself the same way twice. Oops, I dropped-

*Zzttt*

"FOR THE LOVE OF MINERVA!"

...

Sandbar has his head on the desk. I don't blame him.

I put the Mixitol and Shock Quartz in their respective holes. I wait for Sandbar to get over the stupidity surrounding him and put the Valital and whatever the last thing is in their holes. The five holes close and two more holes open up, as two trays come out of the machine.

*Ding* "These holes lead to mixing devices. Anything in the mixing devices will be injected into the subject. Lytherium on the left, Magnite on the right. You can only insert three stones before the seals close. Please keep the amounts as balanced as possible."

... Oh. Oh, I feel stupid.

"So we need to figure out-"

"No. I know what we need to do." I press the button on the front of the capsule.

She winces in pain from the needles, I think. Not long after, the capsule opens up and she steps out.

"Well, I'm out."

Sandbar is scratching his head. "How did that work? We didn't put anything in."

"It never said we had to. It said we had to balance the amount of Magnite and Lytherium, and 0 is balanced with 0." This also means Sandbar's earlier solution would have worked.

Sandbar stares at me, then at the capsule. "Wording things so that we assume something that could cause someone else to die. That's sadistic."

"The devil's in the details, you know. Or lack of details, in this case." Was that key in the capsule she was in? "Let's get going. We won't get anywhere just standing here."

I watch the two of them head to the exit. I guess I shouldn't blame myself for her earlier death, knowing Zero set it up that way. Once they have the door open, I start to follow.

Hello? Is someone there?

!?!?!? I look around. There's no one visible. "Hello?"

...

"Silver?"

I look at Ocellus. "Did you hear someone just now?"

Ocellus looks around. "I didn't hear anything."

"That was... weird." I hope I'm not going crazy.

We leave the room and make our way into a hallway.

"Woah! Hey there!"

I recognize that voice. "Gallus. You alright?"

He has a huge grin on his face. "Nope. Bramble's stomach turned inside out."

"It did not!" I'd be more worried if Bramble himself didn't look perfectly fine. "Don't make it sound like I died!"

Cozy doesn't look very amused either. "That is a proper way of saying what happened. Not that he's bothered by it."

Ocellus looks disgusted. "Did Bramble..."

"Right onto my back. I'm just glad there was a shower in there."

Gallus is snickering. "It may have kept me in the death trap a little longer, but that was freaking funny."

"No, it wasn't!" I'm not sure if that was Bramble, Cozy, or both.

The rest of us share a laugh.

"That didn't make it any less reckless."

I turn around. Smolder is walking next to Yona, who has Rain on her back.

"At least we all got out, right?"

"But you didn't know I could get you out like that!" Smolder looks at us. Staring at her. "What? I can scold my girlfriend if I need to."

Yona sighs. "Rain went into a side room that was a death trap. Smolder opened it from the outside, but Rain was already coughing a good bit."

Rain shoots us a smile. "I'll be fine. I just need a bit of rest."

I tilt my head and smile. "Well, some of us have to put our lives on the line to get us out, whether we want to or not. At least we all made it through this set of doors."

Ocellus looks at the ceiling. "That leaves doors 4, 6, and 8."

I don't know why, but... "I'd like to go through door 6."

They all look at me.

"We'll see what we can do, but let's at least wait until we find the next set of doors before we decide who goes where." Gallus pats me on the back. "Come on."

We head to the end of the hallway and head through the doors.

"The infirmary?"

We looped around. "Now where?"

Bramble turns to Gallus. "Gallus, you have that key, right?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Gallus holds out a key with a symbol on it.

"Oh, hey!" Ocellus holds out the key she got earlier. "The key I have has a similar symbol on it."

"We got one, too." Smolder holds out yet another key. "I'm guessing we need these."

The deer then looks at the yak. "Yona, you recognize those, right?"

"Yup. Those were on the door at the end of that hallway."

Smolder takes the other keys. "They're Draconic words. They literally translate to "This way next." No prizes for guessing why."

"No need to waste time here. Let's get going." Cozy leads us out through the doors.

Once we get to the door Bramble and Yona mentioned, Smolder moves to the front and puts the keys into their respective spots. After turning them all, the door opens up.

"Let's split up and find those doors." Smolder heads off in one direction. Cozy immediately goes in the other direction. We all split up.

It doesn't take long for me to find door 4. I don't want to go through there, though. Too much death in the other timelines. Not long after, I find door 6. I reach my claw towards the RED.

"What are you doing, Silver?"

Urp! Gallus is there. "Uh, hehe..."

"Why do you want to go through door 6 so badly?"

I look at the door. "I think it's because the other timelines, where I went through the other doors, all had something bad happen in them."

"Then change it. Don't let those other timelines come to pass. Go through with a different group, if you have to."

I look at Gallus. "Alright." I guess I'll have to convince the others to let me through door 6.

"Did you find all the doors yet?"

"Only this and 4."

"Did you pass by the waiting area?"

I shake my head.

"Find door 8 and come to the waiting area. That seems like the best place to meet."

"Alright."

Gallus leaves...

*Beep*

*Bzzt*

Oioioi. I head through the halls to find door 8. Once I pass by it, I start searching for the waiting area. I'm guessing it's that well-lit room over there.

"Look who's slow!"

I stop in the doorway. They're all looking at me. "I'm out of here." I turn around.

"Sorry! Sorry." Smolder rubs the back of her head.

Rain puts her hoof on her girl's shoulder. "And you say I needed scolding?"

"Well, it's not like she can go anywhere we can't find her." Gallus looks at me. "We're about to choose who goes where."

Cozy nods. "We decided to write down the door we want and decide based on that."

Ocellus looks up from the page she has. "You want door 6, right Silver? That's what Gallus put for you."

I nod. "Who wants what?"

She looks at the page and bites her lip. "Yona wants door 6. Rain wants door 4. Sandbar wants door 8."

Sandbar wants door 8? That doesn't sound good.

"You want 6... Cozy wants door 8. Gallus, Smolder, and Bramble all put "any." You guys don't make this easy."

Cozy wants door 8? Now I'm getting scared.

Gallus sighs. "Door 4 has 2, door 6 has 6, and door 8 has 3. Sorry, Ocellus, but this is all about who you don't want to upset. If you choose door 4, Silver would be forced through door 8. If you pick door 6, Silver gets what she wants, but Yona will have to change doors, and either Sandbar or Cozy will have to change doors as well. If you pick door 8, Yona, Rain, and Cozy will all have to change."

!!! There's only one choice she can make that will make me change doors! I might be able to go through door 6 after all! Just do this for me, Ocellus! Please!

Ocellus is looking me right in the eye. "Um... Uh..."

Oh, please, Ocellus!

She's looking away, sweating. "Well..."

Please!

*DING DING DING DING*

"I choose..."