Part 51: Day Three- Page 50

Another use for the Towel.

>put towel over valve
(first taking the towel)
You drape the towel over the valve wheel.

>turn valve
You grip the sides of the wheel -- even through the towel, you can feel the heat radiating from it -- and haul it clockwise with all your strength. It squeaks reluctantly at first, then gives all at once. From down the corridor you hear an enormous hissing rush as steam is vented from the pipes, and the needle in the gauge drops abruptly down to zero.


Your score has just gone up by one point.

No matter where you go or what you do, you gotta have your towel.

>take towel
Taken.

>put towel in coat
You slip the towel into the pocket of your trenchcoat.

That seems to have quelled the machinery, and now Miranda can proceed without peril.

>north
The air grows hotter the farther in you go, and it is becoming difficult to breathe.

Maintenance Access Tunnel
You are roughly at the center of the access crawlway, which stretches north and south from here.

>north

Maintenance Access Tunnel
The north end of the access crawlway ends at a sturdy metal hatch. A thick haze of steam hangs in the air, and the heat is like an oven -- the walls and floor are almost blistering to the touch.

The hatch is closed.

>open hatch
You shove the handle down, and it remains in the lowered position when you let go. Behind the metal walls you can hear mechanisms clanking into gear, and a faint, rapid ticking sound.

That sign said 15 seconds. I'm not sure how long each of these turns are in the game.

>wait
Time passes.

I figured, like, a minute each?

>z
Time passes.

You hear a heavy clunking sound from within the hatch.

>open hatch
With a sharp tug, the heavy metal door swings open.

>north

Mill Floor
Waves of heat and noise assault you from every corner. Towering above you on all sides are the enormous vats, presses and sundry machinery, the ever-churning inner workings of the paper mill. An opening in the base of the south wall leads back to the maintenance crawlway, and narrow aisles lead in several other directions through the chugging machinery. A grilled catwalk high over your head provides a more direct route across the factory; however, you see no way to get up there from here.

A long chain dangles from overhead, its last few feet pooled on the floor next to a bank of controls.

Well, THAT'S conspicuous.

>look at chain
It runs all the way up past the catwalk to the ceiling. Its links look somewhat greasy.

>look at controls
The waist-high bank has all number of arcane lights, dials and gauges on it; however, the only two controls that bear mentioning are a lever and a large red button.

Oh boy! A big red button!

>push button
The control panel emits a nasty buzzing sound.

Oh. A light lit up saying "Please do not press this button again."

Of course, we will.

>pull lever
You feel something click as the lever activates a hidden releasing mechanism; then, suddenly, the chain snaps up into the air with a loud metallic rattle. You quickly step back as a large block of heavy equipment -- attached to the other end of the chain -- comes plummeting down from the ceiling. At the last instant, a system of reducing pulleys slows the block's descent and prevents it from crashing into the floor.

GAH!

>look at block
A dense conglomeration of tubes and compressors packed into a sturdy metal frame; a bit like a cooling unit from the back of a refrigerator, only larger and even more technical looking. It's securely attached to the end of a chain, which in turn must be attached to some kind of pulley system up near the ceiling.

What is this thing?
Why would you need this thing?

>pull lever
The lever pulls down and then snaps back up -- ka-chunk!

>push button
You hear the sound of something large and mechanical powering up, a low whirring sound, and the block of heavy equipment is lifted gently from the floor and carried up into the air. The other end of the chain snakes down from above, its last few feet coming to rest in a small pile of links next to the control bank.

At least Miranda has the chain back.

I'll be honest here. This is one of those puzzles with two or more answers.
Originally, you were supposed to tie the chain to the broom, but who keeps a broom on themselves?
Let's try other items, first.

>tie chain to umbrella
There's no good spot on the umbrella to tie the chain to.

This seems like bull.
Miranda's Umbrella has a hook on one end.

>put all in coat
keyring: You slip the keyring into the pocket of your trenchcoat.
lantern: It wouldn't be very wise to put the lantern in your pocket while it's still burning.

>tie hook to chain
That's not something you can tie to things.

Okaaaaay.

>tie animal skull to chain
That's not something you can tie to things.

Maybe there's something around here to look at.

>look at vats
The machines squat like gigantic mechanical trolls all around you, ceaselessly clanking, groaning, vibrating and spitting steam.

Strange; although you could hardly call yourself acquainted with the workings of a paper mill, you can't help but notice that none of the machines you can see seem to be involved with anything like the making of paper. At any rate, you don't see any paper -- or any wood pulp, or any dye, or anything else you might reasonably assume a paper mill would have on hand -- anywhere. The machines are definitely busy churning out something -- but what?

>look at pulley
You can just make out the system of pulleys through which the chain is threaded, way up at the ceiling.

>climb up chain
The chain is too greasy for you to get a good grip on it.

>look at aisles
You needn't worry about that.

Well, we can go exploring the aisles, I guess. Maybe there's something there.

>n
You take a deep breath, check your clothing for any loose, dangling hems that could be caught by a hungry gear shaft, and edge your way into the works.

Narrow Aisle
You are picking your way through a narrow gap between high banks of vibrating machinery. Twisting aisles branch off in numerous directions, some of them so narrow you'd have to turn sideways to make your way through.

>n

Narrow Aisle
You are picking your way through a narrow gap between high banks of vibrating machinery. Twisting aisles branch off in numerous directions, some of them so narrow you'd have to turn sideways to make your way through.

>w
Your path is blocked by a towering bank of chugging machinery.

>e
Your path is blocked by a towering bank of chugging machinery.

The Narrow Aisles is another one of those mazes that don't make sense.
I know there's a way out somewhere, because I found it my first play through.

>n

Narrow Aisle
You are picking your way through a narrow gap between high banks of vibrating machinery. Twisting aisles branch off in numerous directions, some of them so narrow you'd have to turn sideways to make your way through.

>s
Your path is blocked by a towering bank of chugging machinery.

>se
Your path is blocked by a towering bank of chugging machinery.

A red light bulb set high up on one of the machines begins blinking on and off.

>look at light
(the flashlight)
It's battery-powered, and waterproof too, by the look of it.

The flashlight is currently switched off.

>look at blinking light
You can't see any such thing.

Huh. I've played this game a while now. Never saw that light before.

>sw

Narrow Aisle
You are picking your way through a narrow gap between high banks of vibrating machinery. Twisting aisles branch off in numerous directions, some of them so narrow you'd have to turn sideways to make your way through.

You notice a light bulb set high up on one of the machines, blinking bright, angry red.

>s
Your path is blocked by a towering bank of chugging machinery.

Honestly? I've never seen the following happen and am not even sure how to draw it. Soooo...

>w

Narrow Aisle

Without warning, a shrieking steam-release valve lets loose a scalding gout of vapor right in front of you, causing you to stagger backward, strike a low railing with the back of your knees, and topple over into a stainless-steel mixing vat twenty feet deep.

Before you can recover from the fall, two dozen jet nozzles set around the inner circumference of the vat's rim squirt several hundred gallons of high-density mold-injection polymer onto you, at a temperature high enough to set cloth on fire -- although this is not a major concern for you, since you are almost instantaneously submerged and completely cut off from the air. The vat is filled to the rim in less than a second and a half -- slightly less time than it takes for the heat and lack of oxygen to kill you, and you are still to some degree conscious when the hydraulic mold-press slams down onto the seething liquid, generating a pressure that rapidly turns your body into something resembling a wet, wadded-up beach towel.



*** You have died ***


In that game you scored 50 out of a possible 100 points; you are hopelessly enmeshed in the tentacles of an ancient and sinister plot.

Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, UNDO your last move, give the FULL score for that game or QUIT?
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