Captured, an iSoap

[Quantumsurfer]

I guess I could do that.

[lawmaster]

You could also try using an alternative site like strawpoll to tally votes

[Quantumsurfer]

Like this?

[lawmaster]

Yup.

[Quantumsurfer]

Previous: Escape the Cell!


With dangerous gas flowing freely into his newly escaped cell, the Prisoner was pressed for time as he considered his options.

Option 1: Head through the P3 Portal

62.5%

Option 2: Head through the Unnamed Portal

25%

Option 3: Investigate the area further in hopes of finding an alternate exit or something of use. And pray he doesn’t choke to death doing it.

12.5%




The Prisoner screws up his courage and bounds through the Portal labeled “P3.” Ready and raring for a fight, he barrels into a hallway very similar to the one he just left but the place is just as deadly silent as before, only the sluggish sound of the energy liquid coursing though the place and his own rough breathing providing any noise whatsoever.




He sets off down the softly lit, violet hued hallway and comes abruptly to a T-intersection.

Another cell? More prisoners, like me? Maybe I can recruit whomever that is…or kill them slowly if they refuse.

The Prisoner grins, starting to feel better already, even if it does feel like his body parts are grinding together painfully. He squares off and heads down the hall toward the door.




Arriving, he once again braces for battle. Every part of him aches with the lust for bloodshed.




He reaches out and quickly depresses the door release. With a whoosh, the door slides open easily. His battle call begins to rumble in his body, demanding to be let loose. Unfortunately, as his eyes adjust past the door’s lighting rig, he is disappointed to find no frenemy…indeed, no real cell at all…just beyond the entrance. The warcry dies in his throat.




The Prisoner steps inside and slowly pans the room. To the right, he discovers a somewhat aged scene of violence. The stench of the rotting body on the floor punches him in the nose as his gaze finds a console with a smashed viewscreen. Many of the buttons and screens on the console itself are still alive with color, however.




To the left, he finds nothing of any real interest. Just an empty table. He does take notice of the piping and wiring beneath the floor grates, however, as well as the piping overhead.

The wiring might have some use but I probably shouldn’t mess with the piping again. What the hell kind of place is this?




The Prisoner wanders slowly over to check the body. The scent is proof enough of death but a glimmer of hope resides in the Prisoner as he hunches over to check for signs of some kind of life.

Maybe it’s a zombie. That’d be so great.

But the corpse is just a corpse. The blood on the floor is dry and old, making it somewhat difficult to discern time of death. It wasn’t recent, though, and that much seems certain. The Prisoner checks the clothing and helmet over but finds it similarly useless. The helmet is caved in on one side. Glancing up at the viewscreen, the Prisoner can guess how that happened.




Deciding to take a closer look at the console, the Prisoner discovers that it has taken minor damage (though the viewscreen is a lost cause). He can still access file directories and quickly determines that this room is some kind of security station.

He curses as he pulls up the video and image files showing the full blueprints of this facility. Some of the files are corrupt but he wouldn’t be able to see the good ones anyway with a lack of a monitor.

What an archaic piece of crap. I could probably fix it with the materials in here but it would take so long. I mean, getting swarmed is a risk I’m willing to take but I’m not sure sitting here up to my eyeballs in wires, letting my blood cool is a good idea. Still, it would be useful to have a map out of here, even if it is incomplete. Or I could yank the drive and slot it at another station if I find one…hmm…

It does not occur to the Prisoner as to how, exactly, he knows his way around the inside of ancient security terminals or any kind of computerized equipment, really.




He glances back at the door, weighing his choices.

Stay or go?




He paces back down the hallway, trying to put things together.

I could probably find my way through this place on my own. There’s got to be a way to navigate these damn portals.




Can’t go that way. Whole place is probably filled with gas by now.

He stands again at the intersection, trying to decide if he wants to continue portal hopping or if he wants to go back and muck about with what may be the only terminal in this joint. A hard choice.




An overview of Level P3.




The path that the Prisoner has taken during this segment. Just something new I thought I’d try to add clarity. Let me know if it does or doesn’t add anything useful.



The Prisoner is faced with a difficult decision. He can follow his head and spend time trying to restore the computer terminal in the P3 Security Station or he can follow his heart and charge recklessly through the portals. Which path should the Prisoner take?

Please choose one of the following options. You may also make a post with an alternate write-in option or make a post in support of an existing write-in.

Option 1: Charge through the P2 Portal without delay.

Option 2: Take the time to fix the terminal and viewscreen in order to gather important data about the larger facility.

Option 3: Remove the drive from the terminal system, in hopes of finding a better working terminal somewhere else in the facility, before heading immediately through the P2 Portal.

Option 4: Investigate the area further.

Please Vote Here!



Next: Head or Heart?

Security Station 1a.lxf

All of Level P3, as shown in the Overview.

(50.58 KiB) Downloaded 184 times

[Quantumsurfer]

Also, can I get a moderator to delete the Poll from the OP? I tried removing all the options and resubmitting, replacing options-resubmitting-removing new options-resubmitting, and every combination of blanking out the forms. So until and if a mod can banish that shit, I just changed the name of the Poll to "Don't vote here" and added options that read, "It's Broken" and "Vote Poll per Post" or something like that.

[Zupponn]

Consume his eyes. Gain his power.

[Silverdream]

Consume his eyes. Gain his power.

Eat his heart to gain his courage.

[cleanupcrew]

Consume his eyes. Gain his power.

Eat his heart to gain his courage.

His rich, tasty courage.

[Vami IV]

Consume his eyes. Gain his power.

Eat his heart to gain his courage.

His rich, tasty courage.

Devour penis, acquire strength.

[Silent-sigfig]

i Devour penis

[Vami IV]

I cannot believe that post hasn't been edited yet. you mods are bad at your jobs

[Quantumsurfer]

My apologies for the delay. If anyone is interested in finishing this (or if you're new and you want to jump on in), I present the next decision arc. This may be the last one or there may be one more after. Either way, it's almost wrapped up. Thanks for your patience.

Previous: Escape the Gas!


Faced with the decision to be tactical or reckless, and with the desire for freedom at the forefront of his thoughts, the Prisoner tried to determine what to do about the terminal drive and how to proceed through the portal network.

Option 1: Charge through the P2 Portal without delay.

0%

Option 2: Take the time to fix the terminal and viewscreen in order to gather important data about the larger facility.

33.3%

Option 3: Remove the drive from the terminal system, in hopes of finding a better working terminal somewhere else in the facility, before heading immediately through the P2 Portal.

66.6%

Option 4: Investigate the area further.

0%




The Prisoner snatches the drive from the terminal system and gets on with the business of blindly rushing through the portals. He considers devouring the corpse for its various powers but decides against the silly old superstition. Besides, he prefers a challenge before a meal. He dives through the one marked “P2” and stumbles out into another purple cell chamber. This one appears completely sealed off, however, leaving only the hallway as a path of egress.




The Prisoner gingerly steps up to the steel blockade and peers through the small porthole. He can see the dull red flashing of the warning lights near the door. The view and the muted sound in this section is unnerving to him.

I wonder what happened here. Looks almost like some kind of dimensional rift. Ripped the door clean in half. If that’s so...it means that each of these sections is located within its own pocket dimension. An excellent way to isolate the prisoners if you have control of the system.

The Prisoner’s blood boils at the thought.




Alright, enough screwing around. Let’s get down to business. There could be a hundred of these cells and I don’t want to spend any more time in here than I have to. Hmm...this valve seems to be in every section and in the same place. I wonder if it affects the flow of the Portal Goop through the walls.

The Prisoner gives the valve wheel a spin and is mechanically able to determine that, at least from this section, there are eight other sections. Six appear to be Purple Cell Levels. In addition, there’s a Green Level and an Orange Level.




Let’s do...this one!

The Prisoner adjusts the wheel so that the green goop flows toward the portal doorway. It lights up with an eerie green glow and the holographic alphanumeric tag reads “G1.” Preparing himself again for a fight on the other side, he plunges through.




Again, his fighting adrenaline is aborted and he finds himself standing in a shockingly different white room.

A lab of some sort.

The Prisoner begins to feel uneasy.

I...I know this place…




His gaze pans the room slowly only to discover a macabre scene. A scientist (by the look of him) lies dead on the floor, neck twisted at an extremely unnatural angle. It looks as if someone bashed his brains out against the computer bank near the wall. The blood is old and dried but the corpse is remarkably well preserved in this clean environment.

So who knows what happened to that poor bastard in the next room.




The Prisoner walks over to the downed scientist and quickly roots around in the pockets. The Prisoner discovers an Administrative Keycard.




This is excellent. Looks like it might give me access to the system and this drive. Should just slot into the terminal over there.




The Prisoner slots the card and discovers he does indeed have access to the system. There are a number of functions he can perform. He can kill the flow of goop to any door and instead control it remotely through its backup electrical system. He can shut down the portal system but, unfortunately, that would leave him trapped. What’s more, the portals can only be controlled by the mechanical valves. He also has access to environmental controls for each section, as well as a unique set for the observation room in here.

Observation…

The switch for the Observation Room door blinks at him from the screen. He is compelled to unlock it and the door slides open. The musk of death spills out into the main room and the smell makes the Prisoner want to retch.




As if under a spell, the Prisoner slowly makes his way down the corridor to the Obs door and gazes inside. His chest hurts and his thoughts feel fuzzy as he takes it all in.

This is where....this is...oh, Gods, this is where they did it. To all of us. Ripped us apart and put us back together again...sometimes not even with our own parts...synthetic...nightmare...over and over…




The Prisoner cannot bring himself to investigate inside the room and backs away hurriedly, trying to keep from getting sick. He stumbles back to the computer terminal and begins working on installing the drive he took from the Security Center. Focusing on the task helps him to regain his center and help his thoughts clear. When it’s installed, he is able to access the security files and blueprints.

As it turns out, his exploration of the portal network via the valve wheel was very close. There are seven Purple levels, one of which is the Security Center. The Green Room is this lab, the Orange Level is a Guard Station, and there is a Blue room (only accessible from Orange) that serves as both the entrance and exit to the entire networked facility.

Two items of interest appear on the screen as he flicks through images and live feeds. He cycles back and forth between them, considering his options. In the first image, he sees an overview of “P6.” It appears that when the current controllers of this facility took it, their Heavy died in the firefight. His headless body has been laid to rest temporarily in the main cell, which appears to have been converted into cold storage. His minigun lies near his body toward the center of the room. The second image shows the Orange Guard Station. There are four guards playing cards in the main room and one guard on patrol duty near a checkpoint desk in the hall. The delay in getting to this point appears to have worked out fortuitously for the Prisoner as the guard seems to be just standing up to begin his rounds. He’ll be heading into P1 in the next few seconds.

Do I risk a confrontation? I yearn to rip these fuckers apart but they are many. To go down fighting is a good death...the best death. But I do not want it yet. I want to see the sky. But maybe I can have both? I don’t know...




An Overview of sealed section P2 and the path taken by the Prisoner.




An Overview of Laboratory G1 and the path taken by the Prisoner.



The Prisoner, now armed with the weapon of knowledge, finally has an edge and a way out of this hellhole. Faced with a bevy of options, how should the Prisoner proceed in getting past the guards and on to freedom?

Please choose one of the following options. You may also make a post with an alternate write-in option or make a post in support of an existing write-in.

Option 1: Go back for the minigun, then proceed to O1 and light the place up. Who cares about your messed up hand? You can probably handle it. Or, you know, you might drop the damn thing and get filled full of holes yourself.

Option 2: Use the terminal here to shut and lock the O1 door as soon as the patrolman is out of sight. Then, take a stroll toward the exit.

Please Vote Here!



Next: Hard Goodbye or Sly Goodnight?

Sealed Section 1a.lxf

P2, as shown in the Overview

(27.3 KiB) Downloaded 184 times

Lab1a.lxf

G1, as shown in the Overview

(31.43 KiB) Downloaded 178 times

[Falk]

Those soldiers look like they're USA troops.

Go for the minigun, obviously.

[Quantumsurfer]

Hell of a good eye, Falk.