Part 36: Laboratory

[Music: Quaternary Game]

Finding a way out of here is important as hell, but we kinda need to grab Clover too. If we leave her behind now, things might get more than a little awkward!



Breaking this glass should be the easiest way to manage that.



Apparently not, though. If this is also tempered glass, there's not much we can do to help Clover.



On the other hand, we can be worthwhile as an extra pair of eyes. I think there's something back there I can spot from here.



Wait right there! I'll take a look!
(...)



Damn, locked huh? There's only one thing for it:



Let's just try moving the gate by hand, again.



Quick! Figure out how I'm gonna get out of here!

Sorry, Clover, but there's nothing we can do over here. So as a result of this, let's start to look around a bit. As always, we'll spin to the right and go clockwise. More or less.



There's not much here, but there are some cardboard boxes. They could have something useful in them.



There are some papers and stuff in it.
What's in the box? It looks like it's quite full.



But it's all really technical and...stuff. I don't really get it.

This makes some degree of sense, considering we're in a lab and all.



It's still not useful to us, though, so let's poke around the lockers.



Let's see if there's anything useful in here.
...And no. Nothing.





(The 9 on the right all have little red lights on them.)
Red lights, huh...
(Well, can't hurt to give these babies a try...)



I wonder if there's anything important in there.

I'm beginning to think there might be a bit of a pattern to things in this ship, y'know?



So, in that regard, let's just look in the ones that are green instead.



...What is that? It's a rather tiny bottle, I can see that much.





Anhydrous? Is that different from the regular ethanol?
Come on, that's common knowledge. Anhydrous ethanol is a powerful cleaner--it can even erase marks left by a permanent marker.

Ethanol, huh? Sadly, we can't go stand by the bars and have Clover tell us about it too.

But, we can ask Lotus for other info so let's do that!



So does that mean you can use booze to clean up marker graffiti?
Well, I don't know about that. I'd rather drink it than use it to clean.
Uh...don't drink that...



Given what she's gone through already, I'm not all that surprised that Lotus' talking about booze right now.



Unfortunately, we're still kinda trapped so we've gotta prod around here a bit more. This computer should help us with at least Clover's predicament.



The power isn't on. Well, there is a power button...
This is a waste of time.
...What?
I don't see a power cable.
Oops yeah, you're right. No power cable.



It's got a monitor, keyboard, mouse... But that's it. Just sticking the power cable in isn't going to do anything.
Oh, I don't know about that.
?

Whether it's going to work or not is kind of a minor inconvenience right now. We know it needs a power cable, so we should try and find one at least.



...Well, I already found a cable. That was fast.



Okay, one side of this thing is in the room with us. The other side extends into the laboratory where Clover is.
In other words, the console in front of us is connected to the device in the laboratory.

Huh, so this larger computer is more likely to help with rescuing Clover? Well in that case, there's only one thing for it:



We should check the time, so we know exactly how long we have left. Maybe even take the clock with us.



The clock may stop, but time goes on. No time to screw around. We need to figure out a way out of here.

Man, and I was so sure I had a good idea for once!



In that case, I suppose we should try and do something that may help Clover.



Do you think they...activate something?
Well, why don't you move one?
All right, I'll give it a try.



There's not even a graphical change, so we know that this was a complete waste. Sounds about right, really.



There's a lot of junk over here; there's something sticking out of that box that might be useful though?



I don't know how we could use any of these...
Hmm... Well, I can say for sure that I do know how to use at least one of these things.
Which one?



The power cable, huh...
(I'll take that!)



Do you remember if we ran into anything that didn't have power?

Hmm... nope. I'm just drawing blanks. Can't think of anything that would fit that description; maybe we'll find something later though.



Nothing left to the, uh, left so let's head on over to these two doors.



The red light is on--
Then it's gotta be locked.
There's a green light just below it... Although that one isn't lit.
I bet it'll turn on if we can unlock it, right?
Yes, but...how are we going to unlock it?



Hmmm...
I have no idea.

Well, we did just make one minor assumption there:



Maybe it's not actually locked!



(...Nope, this door isn't going anywhere.)
No dice. It won't open. I mean, that's about as much as I expected.
I don't think Zero would let us out of the room quite that easily.



Like...what?

I don't know about that, but I do know one thing about this:



There's a second door here, which leads to the area where Clover is. It's probably locked on our side, but we don't know for sure if it is on hers.



Wait! I'll be right there!
(I can hear her over there.)
(Is this door gonna...)



Clover! What about your side?





Damn. There's only one area where we haven't searched, but that's more because we sort of can't. There's no way for us to get into the area where Clover is, so we should probably work on doing that.



We do have a power cable now, so...

(So, one end of this cable needs to be connected to a monitor. And the other end needs to plug in under the desk. All right, let's just slip you in--)
Huh? Well, shoot. I can't use this.
What's wrong?



It's not gonna fit, is what I'm saying.
In other words, we're gonna need a plug to change the power cable to one with 2 prongs.
That's right.



(I need a 2-prong plug. I wonder if there's one around here somewhere.)

(I need a 2-prong plug. I don't see one in here.)



So, I suppose we'd best go take a look around one last time before deciding this for real!



Back on the larger computer, there is two things we kinda forgot to bother with. This keyhole being one of them.



This looks like a keyhole for the activation key.





Well, it doesn't appear to be doing that. I wonder how we're supposed to turn it on?



(They're not working at the moment.)

Bleh, nothing in our half of the room at all! This is a bit of an issue.



We can get a bit of a look at Clover's half from here, but there's not much we can do.



We do have a rather good vantage point, though. Maybe we can direct Clover from here, since she doesn't appear to be doing much on her own!



There's a pen lying over here... I think someone probably used it to make the table black.
Hmm... Well, if they only used the pen on one part of it, there's probably something underneath all that pen. Clover, do you think you can erase it?



Junpei, do you know how to erase ink from a permanent marker?



Gimme just a minute, Clover. I'll be right back.

Erase... permanent marker? Can you even do that? Hmm... well, if so, I doubt we've found anything that can do that.

(Part of the table's been colored over in black with a permanent marker. If I could find something that could get rid of that ink, I could hand it over to Clover through the bars...)

Especially if it needs to be small enough to fit through those bars. Maybe there's something in Clover's room?



It looks like there'd be a fair bit of stuff on that little table there. Maybe there'll be a clue or something.



Somebody cut the outer stuff off the cables... I can see the wires inside.

(It's a rack. There are some cables on top with copper wire exposed.)

Copper wire? No wonder Clover's smiling when she sees that! Forget the possible antiques we found earlier; pocket a ton of that stuff, and we'll be rich in no time!

...Once we get off the ship, at least.



Speaking of which, there is this thing in the corner; it's probably useful in some capacity.



This thing here looks like a voltmeter. And is this the control for that...? Gosh, there's so many dials.
Why don't you try turning one of them?



I turned the dial a whole bunch, but even if I turn all the switches on, nothing happens.



Well...hmm... I dunno, you know? There are a bunch of cords hanging from the bottom of it. Geez, this is a lot of cords. It looks like



(So the device and the mannequin are connected...)
(What the hell were they doing in there?)
(Oh man... Back when this laboratory was active, that wasn't a mannequin in there, I bet.)



(No. I don't wanna think about that.)

Okay, so what we can assume is a power generator is connected to the mannequin? I would think, then, that we don't really want to mess with it that much.



There is this thing near it, though. This seems like it'd be safer to dick around with!



Huh? Wadda ya mean?
Does the plug have 3 prongs or 2?
Uh... I dunno what you're talking about. Lemme go look.
(Guess she does have to kinda crouch down to get a look under there.)
The cable on the monitor has...uh...



Uh... Clover just told us all about the power generator. And she doesn't know what a plug is.

...What the fuck?

That's it!
Okay, can you unplug that cable and bring it over here?
Uh...okay, but...
...But?



I can't take it over to you.
Damnit, that's no good then.
Well, how about just the plug?
...What?
The...plug? Well, maybe more like a...uh...connector? It's a sort of thing that makes the plug



Still useless?
Not useless! Not useless at all! That's just what we were looking for!
Okay. Can you hold on for a little bit?
(And back down she goes...)



Well, at least now we have two reasons to go to the bars so we should do that soon.



But first, we should look at our other friend in the lower half of the room.



There's a creepy mannequin in here, guys...
There's something sticking out of the mannequin's head, like...wires or something.
What the hell were they doing in there...
(...Huh? Why's she all quiet now?)



(Oh man, now she looks sad...)
?

(There's a mannequin lying on the exam table. I can't really see it very well from here, but it looks like there are a bunch of electrodes sticking out of its head.)



(Am I getting attached to this thing?)
(...Maybe I should give it a name.)





At least we now know that Clover's got Science Boy to keep her company. We'll need to rescue him too, since he could prove to be a worthwhile ally. Someone who won't explode when they walk through a doorway sounds like they'd be quite useful!









Laboratory official art.