Zero Escape: Chambers of Nightmares

We're all looking up. The bell had caught us all off guard, but we all know what it means.

"Uh, Gallus?" I look over at Cozy Glow. "Why would my number be a reason for her to be suspicious of me?"

"Because it can be very powerful in this situation."

Sandbar is scratching his head. "But that note said that 9 doesn't change the Digital Root of a number."

"That's why it's powerful." Gallus points his thumb over his shoulder. "Take those doors for example."

I didn't look at the doors much before now, but it's very clear how they work. One door has a 2 painted on it, and the other door has a 7, and there's a device next to each with a round pad, display, and lever. It looks like the displays say "vacant".

"Let's say Sandbar wants to go through door 2. He'd need to add up numbers to make the digital root 2."

Ocellus looks at Bramble. "The easiest way is to add 8 since 8 plus 3 is 11, which is 1 plus 1, which is 2."

"Exactly. Now, let's say Cozy Glow wants to jump in with them."

Cozy's eyes lit up. "Oh! 2 plus 9 is 11, meaning I can just go with them!"

"Precisely."

Everyone seems to get it. Except for Yona. "When griffon get good with numbers?" Oh, she was confused by something else.

"Well, Grandpa Gruff didn't want me sitting around all the time, so he had me-"

*Bzzt*

... What was that?

*Beep*

*Bzzt*

*Beep*

*Bzzt*

We all look at the doors. "Smolder, what are you doing?"

She just cringed and is slowly turning her head. Slowly... there's her eye! And there's the panic as she puts her back on the device. "Hahaha! Nothing! I wasn't trying to leave without you!"

"You can't go through door alone."

... What? I look at Rain Kiss. Apparently, so did everyone else.

"I got note. Apparently from... disadvantage." The ribbon-like parts of her horn lit up, and she lifted a note out of her mane. I reach to the note, grab it, and start reading it out.

"Dear Rain Kiss.

"For reasons I will not disclose, you will be at a disadvantage. Therefore, it feels fair to give you an advantage. That advantage will be the rules of the Nonary Game.

"The first rule is that every door must be entered by a group of 3-5 players. Everyone that enters must activate the RED and the DEAD within 81 seconds. If a player fails to activate the DEAD, everyone in the room will die. If a player that didn't activate the RED enters a room, they will die.

"The second rule is that you can only enter a room that says "vacant" or "assist" on the RED. "Vacant" means that no one is alive in the room. "Assist" means that someone is alive in the room, but is unable to proceed on their own, for one reason or another. If someone is inside a room and can complete the room's objective, the display will say "busy" and no one else can enter the room.

"The third rule is that once a room is cleared, anyone may enter it. This may be vital at times for reasons I will not disclose. This is why you should go through as many rooms as possible.

"The fourth and final rule is that the bracelets can only be removed under one of two conditions: either the wearer escapes, or the wearer dies. If the wearer dies, however, their bracelet can still be used to open doors. In this situation, the bracelets must still be scanned in the DEAD. Otherwise, none of the bracelets on the living players will deactivate.

"Good luck. ~Zero"

A number of things caught my eye, but the biggest one... "Disadvantage?"

"You no know me. Bramble unbelievable to be bad guy. So, I most suspicious. That likely disadvantage."

... It's funny. She's the only one I didn't have any reason to trust, but giving me this note also gave me a reason to trust her. Wait, where did the note go? Oh, Gallus took it, and he's handing it to Ocellus.

Thinking about it, Cozy Glow is the opposite. I have no reason to distrust her, but for some reason, I do. Did she do something I forgot about? No, it's because she's lying. Her emotions and actions feel fake. But she's a child. Can she do that when she's so young?

"I see. So for all of us to get through those doors, we have to split into four and five." Ocellus' voice brought me out of my thoughts.

"Actually, the easiest way is to split into two teams of four and let Cozy go into whichever one she wants to."

I look at Gallus. "Who put you in charge of the door teams?"

He's raising an eyebrow. "I don't see anyone else doing it."

"Ocellus was trying to." I look over to Sandbar, who's pointing at Ocellus.

Ocellus looks a bit flustered. "Not exactly. I was just making an observation. I'm fine with Gallus handling the team layout."

"Same here."

"I don't mind."

"It's his chance to shine."

"I'm bad at math."

The others seem fine with it. "Alright. So what should-"

"Shouldn't we talk about these rules more? Why would we be unable to proceed through a room?"

Sandbar has a point. That is an odd thing to specify in the rules.

"Maybe they have prisons in them. Like rooms that can only be opened from the outside."

Smolder made a sound point, but there is a problem. "If there are three of us in a room, we just have to avoid all going into one of those prisons."

"You guys remember those bombs, right? The ones in the rooms we woke up in?"

I slowly look at Gallus. His face is dead serious and for good reason. If Zero was willing to kill us before the game properly started, who's to say the rooms before us don't have some kind of death trap in them?

"Judging by your faces, you all understand what I'm getting at."

Ocellus looks shaken, probably by the realization we could die here. "In that case, let's move on to the next rule. We should probably enter the rooms the other teams cleared, in case we can find something the first team to go through missed."

"If we do that, we will need to keep time in mind.We're already under a nine-hour time limit. If we waste too much time looking around in rooms we don't need to, we might never get out."

Ocellus is nodding. "Yeah, we should probably be careful about that. Nine hours is a while, but we could still lose track of time."

Sandbar is looking at his bracelet. "We might also have to go back for bracelets. I don't want any of us to die, but if we do, we have to be ready to handle it going forward."

"Yona remember old yak saying; If in danger, cry later."

Bramble is clearly uncomfortable, but he still nodded. "If any of us die, we can mourn them once we're out. After all, we don't have time for a funeral here."

You know what? I'm getting tired of waiting. "Are we done talking about the rules? We need to get going."

"Right. The best way to get through those doors is to get two of us to add up to one of those numbers, then add a pair that can add nine, and have the rest go through the other door."

"And I go through whichever one I want, right?"

"Yak want door 7!" We all look at Yona. She got pretty loud just now.

The one least bothered by her volume was Gallus, who just chuckled. "Alright. We'll just have to work with that."

"I want 2." Rain held up her bracelet. "Same number."

"This is going to come out wrong, but I want to go through the opposite door from Gallus."

Uh oh. Gallus is glaring at Sandbar. "What? You don't trust me or something?"

Sandbar looks nervous. "It's not that. You're acting like a leader right now, and I've been a good leader in the past. I figured each team needs a leader, so we should be on different teams."

Is Gallus still upset?... Oh! There's a smile. "Fair point. Alright, we'll go through different doors."

"Miss Silver?" Bramble is rubbing his leg. "If you don't mind, I'd like to do the same with you. I don't want to be clingy."

"Oh! That's alright. If that's what you want, go ahead." I guess he was worried about offending me? He must have been sheltered.

"I'd like to go with Sandbar and Bramble." Cozy's wings must be tired since she just landed next to Bramble. "I just feel more comfortable with them."

"Then I'm with Silver. Convenient, since our groups have digital roots of 2."

Right. 3+8+9=20=2. 5+6=11=2.

"That decides Smolder and me as well."

Now Smolder is glaring at Ocellus. "What? How? I want door 7!"

"Too late."

"Huh?"

"Yona's called door 7, and both sub-groups would add 2. If you add 7, that turns the group number into 1, and they can't go through. So you need to go with Rain to create 9 and let one of the groups through door 2, while I add my 4 to the door 7 group to make 7. Sorry."

Smolder is growling. I don't think she likes that. "Fine! But I better get to pick next time!"

"Fair enough." So I'm with Gallus. I guess we should... Wait. Where's he going? "Come on, Silver."

"Huh?"

"We're going through door 7."

He feels rather forceful about this, but I don't have any reason to go against him. "Alright."

We all go up to our respective doors. I'm going through door 7 with Gallus, Yona, and Ocellus. The rest of us are going through door 2.

I put my claw up to the RED- *Beep* -then step back to let the other three do the same. As we did, asterisks appeared on the display, one for each that scanned. Gallus is last, so he pulls the lever. The display turns green and the door opens. We all step through, and the doors closed behind us.

*Beep beep beep*

Right. The DEAD.

"Over there!" I look where Ocellus is pointing just in time to see Gallus shoot over to it, Yona close behind him. I grab Ocellus and fly over to the DEAD. Er, I probably should have let her go on her own. Facial rugburn does not look pleasant. I put her hoof up to the DEAD followed by my own claw. Since I'm the last one, I pull the lever. The beeping stops.

"Next time you want to drag me along, warn me first." Yeah, Ocellus is upset at me.

Gallus is looking at his bracelet. "Hey, did you guys look at your bracelets during that? I thought I saw a skull on Silver's as she scanned it."

I look at my bracelet. "There isn't a skull on my bracelet."

"No, before you pulled the lever. Well, I guess it's too late to see it now."

Huh. I'll have to check at the next set of doors. First thing's first, I try the door the DEAD is next to... Nope. Won't budge.

"Did you expect it to open?"

I shake my head at Gallus. "No. I just thought it would be nice if they forgot to lock this door."

Ocellus is smirking. "That would be amusing. They went through all the trouble of kidnapping us and putting our lives on the line, and it fails because the didn't lock a door."

"How do we leave?"

Looking at the door, there doesn't seem to be too much special about it. It's reinforced, but... "It looks like we just need a key."

"Then yak use horn to pick lock!"

Gallus is pulling on Yona's tail. "Yak's horn looks bigger than the entire knob, let alone the keyhole!"

Ocellus put her hoof on Yona's chest. "I think we should find the key to the door. I don't want to know the consequences of cutting corners like that.

I just realized something. I haven't checked what room we're in. Looking around, this room is odd. There are three pinball machines, a table with some board games on it, a weightlifting bench, a billiards table, several chairs, including a few beanbag chairs... Ooo! Game consoles with a TV! That's pretty high-price stuff!

"Rec Room, huh?" I look over at Gallus.

"What's a Rec Room?"

"Recreation Room." Ocellus knows. "It's sole purpose is to help creatures relax in their free time."

Yona's hoof suddenly appears in my face. I somehow forgot she was here. "What that room?"

We look over. There's a side room with large windows on it. Inside, there are a number of chairs lined against some desks. There are cups on the desks with pens and pencils in them.

"I think it's for those who want quiet, or just want to draw or write something. Just imagine if this room was full of rowdy, loud types while you were looking for peace and quiet."

Alright. That makes sense. But who would find weightlifting-

"Hey, Silver! Check this out!"

Oh, right. Gallus. He gets on his back and puts his claws on the barbell...

"Hnnnngggggghhhhh!!!"

... and fails to move it an inch. That was a sad performance.

Yona's laughing. "Griffon need weight training!"

"..."

What did Gallus say? "Did you say you aren't as strong as you used to be?"

"Should be. I'm not as strong as I should be."

I thought he said... well, he said it under his breath, so I probably misheard him.

"Gallus." Ocellus is smiling. The same smile Bramble kept giving me earlier. "Do you need help?"

I know she has good intentions, but being asked that by a physically weak creature... ouch.

Gallus is blushing pretty hard. "L-let's find a way out of here."

TIME TO SEARCH!

First thing's first. TV TIME!... It's not turning on.

"You would go for the TV, wouldn't you?" Ehehe... Gallus looks upset.

But Ocellus is just staring at the TV. "Is something wrong, Ocellus?"

"Oh, um... Did you check if it's plugged in?"

"Plugged in?"

Gallus looks behind the TV. "It isn't. There isn't even a cord back here."

"What's a cord?" I am so confused right now.

"TVs run off of electricity. In order to get that electricity from the source to the TV, a series of wires are required. Since there are a number of things that run off of electricity, there's a standardized outlet that everything can plug into. The cord is the last wire that moves the electricity to the TV." As usual, Ocellus is explaining everything to me.

"Oh! Yak gets it!" And Yona too, apparently.

"So we need to find a cord to turn on the TV? That sucks."

"Cry me a river. We've got more pressing issues right now." Gallus is scolding me.

"Maybe not." Huh? I look at Ocellus. "The console is on, so there might be something we need on the TV. I'm not sure what, but why else would they leave the console on, but not the TV?"

She has a point. I can't imagine what would be on the TV, but it has to be important in some way.

"What's that?" We look where Yona's pointing.

"That's... the side room. We were-"

Yona shoved her hoof on Ocellus' mouth. "Not that! Thing next to door!"

I take another look. "Oh, that's a keypad. You put in the numbers and it unlocks the door."

"So that means..." Gallus tries the door. "It's locked." He's staring at the door. I didn't really notice earlier, but the door is made of glass. "I'm really tempted to break this."

Ocellus grabs him by the claw and leads him away. "I'd rather not learn of any consequences for trying to cut corners like that. We should just find the number to unlock the door."

... I feel like we're going nowhere fast. Maybe there's something at the weightlifting bench?

"I didn't take you for the weightlifting type."

"I'm looking for clues."

Why is his claw on my shoulder? "Well, if you need some help-"

"After that display earlier, I question how much help you can be."

Good. That got him to back off. "Harsh."

Maybe there's something under the bench.

"Are you sure you don't need help?"

"No, because I found a clue. Come look at this." There's a string of numbers printed on the side of the bench.

7kg 2kg 5kg 9kg - 5kg 2kg 9kg 7kg

"And what does that mean?" I can't get on Gallus for that. I don't know either.

"Kg mean Kilogram, so numbers are weight."

Wait, what? "Yona, how do you know this?"

"Yak lift weights plenty!"

"So does Gallus."

"I just put them on the bar and lift."

... Put them on the bar? "Wait, what if we need to put weights on the bar in this order?"

"Sounds like a good guess to me." He could have done more than shrug and talk like it was obvious!

"Right. Let's see." Oof! This weight is heavy... huh? "Uh, there's a problem here."

There's a soft buzzing right next to me. "What is it?"

"This says 15lbs."

"Yeah, that problem."

"Maybe not."

"Ocellus?" How can she not think it's a problem?

"Just pull all the weights off and pair them by weight."

That doesn't sound like it will help, but it won't hurt to try. Gallus and I pull all the weights off and pair them up.

"Ah. I get it."

I don't. "Care to explain?"

"Well, look at the weights." They're labeled 5lbs., 10lbs., 15lbs., and 20lbs.. "Now think about the numbers on the side of the bench."

"They were different."

"Of course. They're in a different unit than this. But what matters is the numbers."

"2, 5, 7, and 9. Is it a digital root thing?" That would be 5.

"No, it's the order of things. Even without converting kilograms into pounds, it's easy enough to determine which one is which."

"Why are we talking about pounds now?" ... They're all staring at me like I said something stupid.

"Lbs. is the acronym for pounds. You don't pay attention to this stuff, do you?"

"Ehehe." Wow. I look like a fool.

"Anyway, we have 2, 5, 7, and 9 kilograms, and 5, 10, 15, and 20 pounds. Are you getting it yet?"

Hmm... "2 kilograms is 5 pounds, 5 kilograms is 10 pounds, 7 kilograms is 15 pounds, and 9 kilograms is 20 pounds."

Ow! "There you go! Took you a bit!"

"You didn't have to slap my back so hard, Gallus!"

"Yak still don't get it." Well, at least someone isn't as smart as me.

"It's association. The smallest weight is the smallest weight, and the largest weight is the largest weight. Thinking of it like that, you don't need to actually convert." I lift one of the 20lbs. weights up and put it on the left side, as Gallus takes one of the 10lbs. weights and puts it on the other. "Just put the smallest weight where the smallest weight goes, and the largest where the largest goes."

And that sound means Yona figured it out. Gallus and I both grab the last of the weights, the 15lbs. ones, and put them on both sides. I step back. The weights are aligned as 15lbs. 5lbs.10lbs. 20lbs. - 10lbs. 5lbs. 20lbs. 15lbs. I think that's right.

"Is something supposed to happen now?" Gallus is reaching towards the bar. I mean, I'm pretty sure-

*Snap!*

What the- The bar snapped in half!

"NOT MY FAULT!" And Gallus felt like blowing out my eardrums.

Ocellus pushed past Gallus and is looking at the bar. "Actually, it looks like it was supposed to come apart like that." She's pulling off the weights. What is she... What?

"Why are there coins in the bar?" Good. I'm not the only one confused by that.

"Coins!" Oof! Yona shoved me aside! What is she- Huh? She has a coin in her mouth and is headed for the pinball tables.

"Yona! Wait!" Ocellus is hot on her heels. "We need to-"

Too late. The coin is in the machine and Yona is smashing those buttons like mad.

Gallus is shaking his head. "Well, we only lost one coin at least." He's gathering the rest of the coins. "Let's see what we need these for."

... I have to watch. I know Yona loves pinball tables for some reason, but I haven't seen... Wow. This is entrancing... How is she doing so well?... Go go go.

"Silver!" Ow! My ear! "Stop watching her!"

"But it's so cool!"

*Thud!*

"Huh?" That came from under the table.

Gallus is headed back to the table. He's bending down to look under- HIS ASS IS IN MY FACE! I REPEAT! HIS ASS IS IN MY FACE!

"What the heck?" Before I got too entranced by the ass, he laid flat on the ground. What is he doing?

He's come back out with... a black, plastic rope?

"A cord?" Of course, Ocellus knows. "Why was there a cord under the table?"

"Are you telling me we were supposed to play the pinball machines?"

Who made these puzzles? "We need a cord for the TV, right?"

"Yeah." Ocellus is taking the cord to the TV. "I can handle it."

"Yay!" I plop myself onto a beanbag and grab a controller!

"Well, someone's excited."

Ocellus is a small creature (a rat, I think) behind the TV with that cord thing. Oh! I can't wait! What game is it? Puzzle? Action? Shooter? Gallus is about to press the power button!

1285

... That's not a game.

"What's on the TV?"

Gallus is smiling at me. "Numbers." He's mocking me silently.

"Aww." Now Ocellus is doing it too. "Are you sad, birdy?"

"Be quiet."

"Yak miss something?" Yona's not mocking me, but I'm too jealous of her to care. She got to have fun. "Is that code to door?"

I drag my body over to the keypad. "Well, it's worth a shot." I wonder if I made my disappointment apparent enough.

*Beep beep beep beep*

*Click*

"Hey! It worked!"

I let out a sigh, my heart ruined by the lack of gaming. Guess I'll see what's through the door.

The walls have a long desk attached to them, the only gap being at the door. There is also a large table in the center that has dividers in the middle, making it about six desks in one. There are white rectangles on four of the desks with a colored square on each of them.

"Tangrams?" No prizes for guessing who said that.

"What's a Tangram?"

"It's a puzzle where-"

"I found a key!" I look at Gallus. He has a key in his claw... with a string connecting it to a pin.

*Grrrrrrrr*

What's growling? What is growling? That's not my stomach, so what is it?

"The ceiling!"

The ceiling? "Ahh! It's coming down!"

*Bang bang!* "The door won't open!" Gallus is tugging at the door with all his might!

"The Tangrams! If we-"

"YAK SMASH!" *CRASH!*

I have to get out of here!

...

What just happened?

I turn around. The room is completely crushed by the ceiling. The door is still closed, but the glass is shattered. Ow! I... stepped on a piece of glass.

"Thanks for the save, Yona."

"Yak good at smashing!"

I look at my friends. Ocellus is still catching her breath, Yona is smiling widely, and Gallus is patting her on the back.

"You got the key, right?"

"Yeah." Gallus is holding out his claw with the key in it. "I've still got it."

I think that's enough excitement for one room. "Let's get out of here."

We walk over to the exit. Gallus puts the key into the keyhole and turns it. That click... was so relieving to hear.

*DING DING*

With everything that happened, I forgot we have a time limit. We only have eight hours left before we become prisoners here.

Forever.