Part 6: Moving Up In The World
So, last time we finished off the first floor and completed the code for the elevator, so let's check out the second floor!
First, we head back to the stairwell, and take a closer look at the elevator's keypad:
So, does Crabb and Sons produce keypads, too? This is the exact same model as the one we had at the entrance. Anyway, we punch in 1-8-1-2, and...
...the elevator opens! Expected, but nonetheless exciting.
Seems we have two choices. Originally, I wanted to go to the second floor, but the basement sounds intriguing. We hit the "B" button, the elevator drops, and...
...hrm. Party pooper. Oh well, at least we still have the second floor.
Alright, welcome to the cannon annex. It has cannons, and that's about the extent of this room. Let's take a closer look at one of these cannons:
Interesting - it has a built-in lighter! Can I fiddle with this?
OH CRAP I DIDN'T THINK THIS THROUGH
Oh. It just opens. And it reveals a thermos, soft cheese, and crackers. Either this is some sort of emergency stash in case somebody gets locked in the office, or Crabb set this up beforehand so I'd have something to munch as I progress through the mansion. How considerate of him! Too bad I can't use this stuff, but I guess we can just assume our character makes use of the food in his inventory.
Anyway, after grabbing some snacks, we move on to the first actual room of the second floor...
Room #32: Dept. Chief Marketing
Is that somebody laughing?
That table in the corner looks like it contains something useful:
Bingo. The note with flags gets added to our inventory. Moving on, there's what I can only assume is a safe in this room...
...but I'll be damned if I want to mess with it right now. Plus, it takes coins, and coins are finite in this game, so I better explore first. Not to mention I'd prefer to fully scan over the second floor before taking on any puzzles. For now, next room:
Room #31: Dept. Chief Export
This room re-uses the Big Showroom BGM.
Fancy looking room with a fancy looking safe in the corner:
Ah, I can already see where this one is going, but we'll leave it for now.
Otherwise, nothing much interesting. Moving on...
Room #37: The Library
This room re-uses the Coffee Room BGM.
Ah, yes, the library! One of the most interesting rooms in the game, not because of the puzzles (because it doesn't have any), but because of the books. There are four readable books in this room, and I'll show them off without any real commentary in no particular order.
#1: Chess Cozenage Or 50 Ways To Cheat And Win by Arnold Spittle
#2: MacBreath by Will Shapesphere (subtle)
#3: The Napalm Neglige by Asia Langtongue (I think, that font's pretty tricky)
#4: Really Smutty Places I Have Been: A Collection Of Poetry by Trent Rampant [looks like Mr. Rampant is possibly a personal friend of old Crabb, especially considering his employees don't like him too well (see the clue for the safe of liberty)]
Terribly bizarre, most of that. I'll just leave it at that and let you make your own conclusions from that stuff. For now,
let's move on. Surprisingly enough, the next room is...
Room #52: Crabb's Office
Spooky music.
Crabb's inner sanctum? You'd think he'd lock the door or something. And is that a TV?
It is! Now where are we going to find a cassette?
Here's the second part of Crabb's office, and I think I see a lock.
Fiddlesticks. Looks like we're not going to come in so easily.
Just look at that huge-ass contraption. I'd bet that's the T-1001, considering it's the biggest thing we've seen so far and it's securely locked in Crabb's office.
But for now, we must move on, because we're not getting anywhere in that room. Next up is...
Room #49: The Egyptian Room
God damn, this tune is funky.
I have a theory behind this room. You remember the pyramid safe from the "Safer Than Houses" catalogue we saw in the small showroom? I presume that after Augustus Crabb designed this safe, old Jerry Crabb thought "what the hell am I going to do with this thing, it doesn't fit into any room we have at our offices" and made this room just so the pyramid safe would have a decent place to stay. And speaking of the pyramid safe, let's check it out:
OK, looks like one of the ciphers we have goes in here. This shouldn't be too hard, although the fact that I have two of these things makes me believe that there's probably more to this.
Moving on...
Room #48: The Secretary's Office
Neat beats going on here.
Interesting place, it's even got its own little kitchen for the occasional midnight snack during longer meetings and such, but there's actually nothing to do here. We make our way down a winding hallway and end up in...
Room #44: The Conference Room
Pretty nice tune going for this room.
Swanky. So is the kitchen in the room next door to make food for the people meeting in this room? Anyway, I see a boat model down the room.
Flags! I bet this is where the note and that book from the coffee room come in handy.
Yep, this is just like the braille safe. Decode the flags and figure out the combination. Neat. However, once again, we leave this room behind for now and move on to...
Room #46: The Music Chamber
This room re-uses the Chief Engineer BGM.
Any reason this room is a "chamber" in particular? It doesn't look particularly "chamberly" to me. Oh well, there's two points of interest here:
First off, an old tape player. It plays a simple piano version of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", and that's it.
And here's a piano we can play around with. I'm sure all you Sherlocks out there have already put two and two together, but this will also have to wait. For now, there's two more rooms we have to check out, starting with...
Room #36: Company Psychologist
This level sure has a lot of phat beats. First the Secretary's Office, now this.
These guys have a psychologist at their workplace? Damn. This job is looking better by the minute. Nothing interesting in here with the exception of this radio:
I bet the note from the voice safe comes in handy here. And now, the last room:
Room #34: Purchasing Dept.
This room re-uses the Customer Support BGM.
Wow, an old grandfather clock! Let's take a closer look:
And this is where the cryptic clue from the security office's lockbox comes into play. Alright, so that's all the rooms on this level, but before we start getting to work on the puzzles, there's something that has been bothering me. Let's backtrack to the library for a second...
This thing. "Please do not pull" it says. It's clearly just taunting me, isn't it? I bet if I pull this, a bookcase turns, revealing the back door to Crabb's true inner sanctum! Let's pull this thing!
OH CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-
OUCH. On the bright side, we found a way into the cellar! On the not so bright side, I think my hip is broken. Join me next time as we soldier on, broken joints be damned.
As an aside: Who the fuck is that trap for? Unsuspecting thieves? Unsuspecting visitors? Is it a prank people play on the new office temp? Is it just some fucked-up British sense of humor? It seems rather harsh.