Part 6: Lines in the Sand
Update 06: Lines in the SandWelcome back. Last time we fought our way down to the thirteenth floor, encountering a couple of new enemy types along the way.
With the Rabbits dead we can explore the large lobby at our leisure.
Interesting, but it appears to be purely decorative.
As the map shows there are plenty of doors leading off from this area.
Unfortunately nearly all of them are locked, though our drug-fuelled superpowers give us some hints as to where the keys are.
We have the control room key, but we won’t be using it just yet.
This door here is the only one we don’t need a key to open.
It leads us into a very short hallway with two doors.
Music: Galerians - Hospital Animal Room
Entering the door on Rion’s left brings us to a strange chamber full of Nazca-style wall carvings. These pictures will be relevant to the Hospital’s final puzzle.
Music: Galerians - Hospital Theme 1
The door at the end leads into some kind of futuristic cocktail bar.
There are three scientists in here. Spoilers - Rion Shorts and kills them all.
This place showed up in one of our psychometric readings.
Sure enough, there’s a key here.
We can also snag some other goodies before we head back to the lobby.
Music: Galerians - Hospital Theme 3
Annoyingly, three armoured troopers have moved in while we were away. You can take them on, but it’s not worth wasting Nalcon when you can run past them fairly easily.
Our next destination is up these stairs.
Music: Galerians - Hospital Theme 1
We emerge into a corridor with two Rabbits.
The narrow confines of the hall make it hard to dodge their knives. Rabbits are similar to riot guards in that they are most dangerous in confined spaces.
In the end though they both go down.
The big room here is locked, but reading it reveals a strange room with what looks like an elevator in the top left. Could it be a way out?
The southern door is open and leads into an operating room similar to the one Rion woke up in.
This gurney holds another key. Don’t worry, it won’t be long before we start unlocking things.
The back half of the room has some rather prominent computer monitors.
Turning them on gives us some more background information.
There’s not much we didn’t know before, although it’s interesting that the researchers were apparently continuing taking notes even after he broke free. It also reveals that Rion has been experimented on for more than a week.
Now that we’ve collected everything we need it’s time to start opening some doors.
We’ll start with the Control Room since it’s got some important stuff in it.
There are two security guards inside, but they’re nothing we can’t handle at this point.
Dispatching the guards gives us access to these monitors, through which we can unlock two more doors.
The Clinic Chief’s Room and Armoury sound exciting, but we aren’t done here quite yet.
What do you know, we just found the key to here! Let’s head in and check it out.
The Research Lab contains three scientists, two in the open with a third lurking in an alcove to Rion’s right.
There are some nice items in here, but the real reason for coming here is in the alcove where the third scientist was hiding.
Inside is a stone tablet with a two-headed monkey on it.
I take the Skip we picked up before leaving. More attack power is never a bad thing.
Evading the armoured troopers, our next stop is the Armoury.
It’s a shame, but the Armoury does not contain a flamethrower, grenade launcher or other heavy weapon.
Examining the armour confirms that they aren’t robots, but exoskeletons worn by the guards.
The room itself is kind of tight but there’s still enough room to evade the armoured troopers inside.
Another tablet, this time with a two-headed wolf. Viewers familiar with Resident Evil should be starting to twitch right about now.
There’s also some Skip in here. Using it now would boost Rion’s attack power up to its maximum of Lv. 3, but I choose to hold back for the time being.
Another quick dash outside brings us to the Test Lab door.
Music: Galerians - Hospital Theme 6
The Test Lab is a tiny room with three scientists and another creepy chair.
Here’s another one of the cool things you can do after levelling up. If you charge the wheel up beyond the red bar but stop before it’s full, then tap ‘X’ repeatedly, Rion will unleash a rapid barrage of lesser strikes. This is very helpful if you’re fighting Rabbits or other fast enemies.
A two-headed snake. There’s just one more left, and getting it means checking out the one place we haven’t been to yet - the Clinic Chief’s Office.
Backtracking to the now open office is fairly simple, aside from one new obstacle that requires careful tactics to overcome.
What you want to do is edge along the wall until you’re about here, then switch to Red and charge up a full blast.
From there you can just about hit the riot guard lying in wait around the corner. A full charge of Lv. 2 Red will kill the obnoxious fucker stone dead in one hit.
The Clinic Chief’s office is about as gaudy as you’d expect.
Examining the incredibly overdesigned clock tells us the time, although it doesn’t really relate to anything.
Also - windows to the world outside! We’re almost out of this horrible place.
Anyway, let’s snag the last tablet before doing anything else.
Great. There are just a few more things we need to do here, then we can put these four blocks to use.
Being a mad scientist in a survival horror game means Lem has penned some insane ramblings for us to read.
Master of Creation? Wasn’t the statue in the lobby called that? Hmm…
We can also examine Lem’s protrait.
What a handsome gentleman.
Lastly, we can go out onto the balcony. There’s a Recovery Capsule on the small table to the north, and a small in-game scene triggers when you try to go south.
: Rion…! Rion…!
: Argh! That voice again!:…:…Lilia? Is it…Lilia?
: They’re coming to get me!: Lilia, where are you?: Help me, Rion. Please hurry!
So, Rion recognises the voice as belonging to a girl named Lilia. Lilia has been mentioned before, in a newspaper we found in a previous update. According to that article she was the daughter of Dr. Pascalle, a friend and work colleague of Rion’s father, and is implied to have vanished shortly before Rion did.
All very intriguing, but more explanations will have to wait. Join me next time when we complete the animal puzzle and finally, finally escape from this godforsaken hospital.