CYOA: Stars Beyond

First aid room stems from CORE hall. You can't get there without going through a chest, and he has no helmet.

Having little else to do at this point, you shake Ace and yell at him. He doesn't awaken. In response, Foursight climbs up one of the ladders with the Autospade, and comes down carefully balancing a spadeful of water, and dumps it on him. You assume at some point she's checked that it actually is just water.

At this point, Limelight sighs, and takes out her makeup kit. She uses the brush to brush just a little bit of powder on his nose.

The result is something wonderful. The section of his nose starts sizzling, and he starts waking up, batting at it and groaning. He jumps up with his eyes drooping to the left, and starts jogging and tripping all over the floor.

Eventually, he comes to his senses. When he sees you, you briefly see a flash of pure suspicion, before his face turns blank. He refuses to answer any of your questions, and calmly asks to talk to Limelight and Foursight alone.

What do you do?

If you're planning to accuse the guy who came running to save you of something, you can do it to his face.

"If you're not going to answer, you don't get to ask." you tell him with vigour. "If you're going to accuse me, even though I ran to your aid, you can do it to my face! You're acting weird, Ace, even for you."

"Yeah! Why are you singling him out?" Foursight says, coming to your aid with hands on hips.

"What are we? Chopped liver?" May asks, drily, gesturing to herself and Twomato. "What don't you want to tell us three?"

"I heard you talking. I've had some... experience with somnopiates." Ace says, gradually getting into a defensive stance. "He was tortured for information, who says it wasn't Moose? How would we know if it was? Then when he was healed, who says they didn't force Yellow over there to say her identity?

"You." (here Ace turns to you.) "Who says you running to my aid? Maybe you just wanted to get me alone?"
.
"He gave you his sword!" Foursight yells. "Why the blueberryflowers would he arm you if he wanted to get you alone?"

"Ah yes. The sword." Ace says, turning once more to you. "It's not just a katana. There's a button on the bottom. When I pressed it, a number appeared on the bottom saying '1', before fading away, and it turned into a cutlass."

"Ah. Defence by pirate." Limelight says, butting in. "You're wearing a murderer's outfit, after missing your deadline. At that point, everyone had an alibi, so what stopped you from coming back? You knew it didn't heal, because you knew it was a 'somiate'... or whatever."

"Urgh..." Ace says, putting his face in his hands. "Fine, I'll tell you what happened. I finished my Challenge room fairly quickly, and a metal ball thing appeared, and found out it had 1200CP in it. Then I noticed the three other rooms, and decided to complete Greylord's room while they were presumably still with you guys. I bought his skill, and went down the chest into his Challenge room. Test of Face. This was much harder, and took a very long time. I'd nearly finished, before someone came out of the '-1' door. Before I could see who it was, they darted into the Test of Reflection maze... all I saw was a grey and black figure wearing some kind of device with blue orbs and tubes around their neck. The reflections were distorted, but I'm pretty sure they were bigger than Bubs and smaller than Mu—"

"How did you end up unconscious in the grey suit?" Twomato interjects.

"Right, that. Anyway, I was carefully navigating the maze, and I heard a clatter, I turned towards it, and he hit me across the head with something, and held the sword to my neck. I tried to inject him, but he swiped down with the sword, and in doing so hit the button. A '-1' appeared, and he injected me with the syringe. I lost consciousness, and was vaguely aware of him taking off my helmet and top layer of my suit, replacing it with his own suit. I went through liquid, and was dumped with my helmet removed."

"...So?" May prompts.

"Ah yes, did I forget to mention? What do you think it turned into when he pressed it? A katana."

What is your reaction?






 

Whoever took it, it must have become a scalpel. Wait, no, that wouldn't make sense. There were multiple scalpels in Twomato's hands.

Hmm. Did Ace take the truth skill? He's been answering all our questions. Ask him if he's trying to deceive us. Ask if he was able to see anything important about the guy. As what he was carrying with him.

That's... a good idea, but we are on a pretty strict time limit. It would be good to start getting together a backup plan. Maybe find someone who can take him through the least-dangerous chest back up to the other floor, maybe find something to cover his face... Oh, would he even be able to get in his own room except through the chest with the scanner thing? In which case we'd need to find 12 to escort him and just hope, that or leave him out and figure out what happens if someone isn't in their room when time's up...

Which do you want to do more?

You agree to go to Shade's room, and Foursight, Ace (obviously), and May decide to go with you. Before you go, you glance at Bubbles, who seems to have bought the 'Claws and Ordinances' skill. He shuts his eyes and claws appear over the top of his gloves and just underneath his hsoes. He goes right to the edge, climbs over, and starts climbing down the wall.

You look down the grid flooring. It hadn't occurred to you until now how high up you actually are, and how little there is to support you. You grasp the railing and try to take your mind off it by asking Bubbles what he's doing

"I bet there's some kind of secret down here." he explains.

"Hmm..." Redemption says, considering it. "Come to think of it, that'd be an ideal place to hide a body... maybe Shade hid the person they killed down there..."

Bubbles is visibly freaked out by this. You yourself feel quite queasy. But that's probably more to do with the height than anything else.

For some reason you feel compelled to go back to your room. Not to get injected again, of course. Maybe you'll just catch a drop on your ginger...

No. What are you thinking? Why this sudden fear of heights? Why this craving?

"Moose?" Foursight says, trying to get your attention. "Aren't you coming? What's that weird look on your—?"

"Coming!" you say. perhaps in a rather high-pitched tone.

Ashamedly, you grasp the railing as you traverse the gap.

You go through the lengthy corridor to Ace's room. This time, nobody tries to make smalltalk. He presses  a hand to the scanner by the -1 door, and it opens.

This corridor is darker than the others. Considering you're not the first ones to go down one of these, you wonder why it didn't appear on the map.

You reach a mysterious room, covered in facial imagery like masks, skulls, pictures of Janus, even emojis.

There is indeed a maze of mirrors, there's also a big opaque grey cylinder with a handle, a screen, a pond, and a poster with progress bars.

Test of Perception: Complete (100%)

Test of Deceit: Complete (100%)

Test of Fear: Complete (100%)

Test of Recognition: Complete (100%)

Your group hurriedly searches every inch of the room. Instead of bothering to look around the mirror maze, May just clenches her fist, and a glowing yellow beamsword extends from it, and she smashes it to bits. It doesn't melt through it or anything, like Star Wars, it just seems to be like some sort of force-field typed sword hologram. 

"None of the suits or helmets are here." Ace sighs, with a worried look appearing in his eyes. You think he probably still suspects you, but wisely isn't being too vocal about it anymore. "None of you have the right skill to go in the chest, and I won't be able to do it without a helmet."

Foursight pulls and unused skill out of her metallic ball, and waves it around. "But we do have a Skillswitch skill. It allows you to take a skill from one person."

"Thank you, Miss 'Deus-ex-machina'. you say derisively.

"Alternatively," May says, "One of us with a helmet could press this small lever, and give it to—"

"You knew how to do that all this time?" Ace snarls. "Why didn't you tell us before?"

"You never asked, and I felt it wise to keep some information secret."

Who do you suggest goes?

A: You
B: Foursight
C: Ace
D: May
E: I have no preference
F: Nobody should go

"How about Foursight goes?" you suggest.

"Me?" she says, questioningly.

"You're probably the least suspicious person here."

May coughs.

"You really think you're think you're not suspicious," Ace says "Miss Secretive?"

"Point taken." she says.

Foursight sighs, pressing her finger to the skill, and then pokes Ace in the shoulder. "It's the second skillslot, right?"

"Yes, b—"

"Got it."

Without wasting any time, she dives into the chest.

Now what? Should you do something while waiting for her?