Stories with Dice
Stories with Dice is an actual-play podcast where a fellowship of everyday gamers explores fantastical worlds, distant futures, and parallel realities through tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) from Free League Publishing, Chaosium, Modiphius Entertainment, and more.
Over the years, we’ve told stories around our virtual table in the worlds of Tales from the Loop, Pendragon, Mutant Year Zero, Star Trek Adventures, The One Ring, The Electric State, Forbidden Lands, Legend of the Five Rings, and Symbaroum. Going forward, we’re focusing on a smaller lineup of games, giving us more opportunities to return to each story sooner. As campaigns reach their natural conclusions, we’ll add new stories from the worlds of Twilight: 2000, Vampire: The Masquerade, The Walking Dead, and more.
We’re not voice actors, professional entertainers, or trained performers—just friends from around the globe sharing virtual dice, stories, and a laugh or two as the game unfolds.
Stories with Dice
The Time That Shouldn't Be S2 E10: A Tales from the Loop Actual Play
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Mr. Russo drives to the Loop, unaware that the kids are hiding under a tarp in the back of his pickup.
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This is the time that shouldn't be a Tales from the Loop. Actual play. From Stories with Dice. If you're enjoying our actual plays, please subscribe to Stories with Dice so you'll never miss an episode. Don't forget to rate and review us. It really helps others discover the podcast. Follow us on social media to stay updated. You'll find the relevant links in the description of each episode.
SPEAKER_04As always, in this wonderful episode 10, I am joined by Marco, Douglas, Pete, Sol, and Tony. Right, throw them all together in one go this time. Everyone say hi at the same time.
SPEAKER_01One, two, three, go hi! Hi at the same time. Hello. Oh, he's a funny one, that one.
SPEAKER_00Sorry, I'm a slow. Wait, I didn't do it.
SPEAKER_04What? Huh? Who? Episode 10. You've all managed to. Well, you you you've you've you've introduced Joe back to your family, which was very kind of traumatic, I'm sure, for all of them. Family counselling in episode 12. Yeah, so you've kind of all managed to sort of sneak into the pickup truck of Anthony's dad as he makes his way towards the loop. You hope, above all hope, that no one bothers to look in the back of the pickup truck as they go through security. And that's where we left it last session. So this session, the the truck continues on. It makes a serious number of turns. Before you know it, you are stopping. You can see from underneath the um the canvas that's covering you the flashing lights of the towers. Just sort of like flashing ever so slightly in shadow form, red and blue. You must be at the gate to the cooling towers. You hear your dad, Anthony, get out of the truck and then push some buttons, then get back in the truck, and a chain link gate creaks across the road that you're on.
SPEAKER_03Is that the same gate that we were at before? It would make sense. That was probably the same gate. The south gate?
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Okay. Did you want a chance looking out under it from underneath the canvas? Remembering that there was a camera above the gate?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, no, no, no, no, I'm not gonna do that.
SPEAKER_04Okay. Your dad then drives a very short distance and stops, and you hear the same gate closing. He then drives on. As you kind of get closer into the the main area where the loop is, you hear and you can feel the static coming from the cooling towers and the bono reactor. Everything has kind of got like a bit of a the best way to describe it to you is a bit of a static yzz to everything. And the heat can remains, it's a very warm, warm evening. And your dad then stops at another gate, and then you hear the sound of a motor going, and then a toys, and then your dad drives into what sounds like a tunnel, and yes, you get you're gonna feel the a pressure change as your dad drives until he stops. He turns off the engine and he gets out, and then he walks away from the pickup truck.
SPEAKER_03What do you want to do? I'm gonna peek out from underneath the the tarp to kind of see where he's going and kind of where we are.
SPEAKER_04Okay. You peek out from underneath the tarp, you realize there are some heavy-duty lighting above you hanging from large thick cords, these sort of like large parabolic kind of like light lampshades, which kind of shed a lot of like powerful light in circles down around you. Are we like in an underground parking garage? You are indeed in some kind of underground parking garage. You can see your dad walking towards metal door, and you can see there's probably about 20 or so cars and vans parked here, some of which are white vans. Raise that fist to them. You can see there are it's exactly what you say, it's an underground car park.
SPEAKER_03Okay, so he's probably going. It looks like he's going into an elevator, so I'll wait for him to you know, for him to for those doors to open for him to go in. Yep. Before I'll I'll tell the rest of the the rest of the kids that the coast is clear. Do I see any do I see any cameras, security cameras, anything like that? Let's see.
SPEAKER_04You're gonna have to actually be quite thinking about that. So why don't you make for me a investigate role?
SPEAKER_03Good at investigate. I would love to make an investigate role. I have one success.
SPEAKER_04There is a camera looking down at the the lift of the elevator's doors, and you can't see any other cameras in this parking lot.
SPEAKER_03Is there anything besides the elevator, like a staircase and a second elevator?
SPEAKER_04As you look around, well, you're kind of it it's it's dark in a lot of the places. It appears the light came on where your dad had walked. You look around in in sort of like into the dark, you can maybe make out another couple of doors on the other side of the parking lot. There is a ramp heading up, presuming to ground level, but it gets lost in the darkness, and you could also see a large submarine type door, you know, with like proper bolts and metal kind of heavy-duty sort of ship's kind of door off to one side as well, that has a lot of yellow and red markings on it.
SPEAKER_03Well, has he gone into the elevator?
SPEAKER_05Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_03Okay. So I'll say the coast is clear, and then I'll lift up the tarp and hop off the back of the truck. And then I'll I'll tell them, you know, he went into that elevator, but there's a camera there. What do you think where do you think we guys should where where do you think we should go?
SPEAKER_04Is there an indication as to what floor the elevator is going to down here? No. There's no signs or anything on the on the on the door or on the elevator, or there's no like kind of like down or up arrows or anything like that.
SPEAKER_02Uh is there any fire exit signs, like the green light up ones?
SPEAKER_04You can't see any fire exit signs. Okay, fair enough. Any exits? Yeah, there's there's there's the main sort of like exit, presumably the the ramp that you drove up and you drove down. There are three lifts and this large, kind of like bulky sort of like door that's got red and yellow symbols and whatever.
SPEAKER_02And the camera covers all three of the elevators?
SPEAKER_04No, it it this camera that you can see only covers that elevator. You can't see the other elevators other than just like there's a a vague outline of where they might be because there's no lights on where they are.
SPEAKER_03Johannes, you think that that key card you have from the doctor lady, the scientist lady, do you think it might work on that submarine looking door?
SPEAKER_02Do I see any sort of like swathing on it?
SPEAKER_04You make your way a little bit closer to the submarine light door. There is indeed. In fact, as you get there, you can kind of vaguely see out of the corner of your eyes. There is also another, like looks like a touch point to put the card on. Yes, there is one here, and there is one at the elevator, presumably there'll be one at each of the other elevators.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_02Is there anything like the on written on this red and yellow warning tape that says like death of electricity or radiation or it it says all of the above.
SPEAKER_04So as you uh as you get there, it says tunnel complex caution. Do not bring, and it mentions a whole load of different materials into the into the tunnel loop complex, then it gives you a whole load of numbers, and then it gives you a a warning that should you do any of this, it will you will be facing dismissal, etc. etc. There's a load of like warning symbols, there's a load of like different triangular symbols that say radiation, that say various different compounds that are in there in various yellows and reds.
SPEAKER_02Any of these do I know any of these compounds or whatever?
SPEAKER_04Double radiation, that one is that one is for pathogens, this one is I don't know what that is, and there's just a whole load of them, you know. And it looks like there's these two large door handles, which is like a manual way of opening it. And you presume if you put the key card on the on the door, it might open it electronically. Can I have a look around at the other vehicles in the parking lot? Yeah. The other vehicles are mostly private vehicles, but there are three Rix Energy vehicles. Two of which are vans, and one is a sort of pickup. Do they look like the vans that were going around town? They do indeed. Right. I'll I'll just go and try the doors on them. Okay. As you make your way over to one of the vans, as soon as you step into I guess the next space along, there's a k dunk noise, and the light flickers where you're walking and it comes on. And you are highlighted by the light above your head as you get to the Rex Energy van. You try the door, it is unlocked. Right. Yeah, so look inside, look through the glove compartment. Keys are in the keys are in the vehicle, they're in the lock, they're actually in the in the keyhole of the vehicle. You look at the glove compartment, yeah, there's a user's manual and all the usual kind of stuff you get in a glove compartment. There. Nobody happens to have left their ID cards or anything in there. No. Uh it looks like there's someone's half-finished sandwich. And then if you open up the back of the van, there's a side panel van kind of thing. In fact, it's not, it's it's it's a backdoor open van. Because that's more 80s. Yeah, you can see there's loads of like gear and tech and all sorts of things you might be using to fix power lines and electrical cabling and all that kind of stuff. Again, also suitably labelled with various caution, do not touch, etc. etc. Electricity at work, various other signs and equipment that you would expect to be using for someone who is fixing things that are to do with electrical current.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you the smart ones, can't you just give me the log? I mean, in the movies it's simple, right? You take nah a screwdriver and something else and you open it. I mean, if I had the smarts, I could do it, but it's you know, it's not gonna work.
SPEAKER_04Might not be that easy. I specifically I'm gonna look around and see if there's any of the uh the overalls that they were wearing. Sure, are there some overalls in there? Yeah, there there are. Alright. I'll pull some out, hold them up. Disguised, maybe, guys.
SPEAKER_02Do they look pretty big?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I mean they're for adults, you know. There are two of them. There are two of them. One is covered in sort of like this horrible, greasy looking black nonsense. The other one is relatively teamed. I'll suggest that maybe me and Sven might be big enough to just about carry it off. Might have to uh roll the legs and sleeves up a bit. Yeah, that that will absolutely be fine. I mean for Susie and and Anthony, probably not, but yeah. For you two, 100%, not a problem. And even I even for your highness as well, you could probably get it.
SPEAKER_0214, he's just on the cusp of yeah.
SPEAKER_04Okay. Anything the rest of you want to do? Sol? What's Susie wanna do?
SPEAKER_01I to be honest, I'm I'm just I'm following along with these lot at the minute. Okay. Trying to work out yeah. I'm trying to keep an eye out, basically, I think. Susie is doing more of a less the project for our making sure that our backs are covered.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, okay. What about Sven after putting on overalls?
SPEAKER_00I don't know. I mean we're still gonna look like kids, right?
SPEAKER_04Now that I understand these orbitals, I mean It's just if they catch us on the uh video camera. We've got our back to it. We might get away with it. Anders is probably the one who is probably the closest that would get you'd get away with being an adult. That's because you smoke and it stunted your growth.
SPEAKER_05Well, that was.
SPEAKER_00Anyhow, so the issue is that we cannot open this door, right? Well no one's we can eat we can open the door. Well, I mean it's easy. Nobody's opening the door.
SPEAKER_02Just without well, which door? There's many of them. Well, this one I wouldn't recommend opening. It has a lot of like death symbols.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I think we should I think we should go through that submarine-looking door.
SPEAKER_02The one I'm standing in front that has all the death symbols on it. Yes, yeah, that's the one I think we should use. Come here, Anthony. Read everything that is here out loud, please.
SPEAKER_03And who wants to go through that door?
SPEAKER_02Not me.
SPEAKER_03It says not to bring those things in, right? It doesn't say those things are there, right? It says don't bring pathogens, don't bring radioactive material. Is that what it says?
SPEAKER_04That's what it says. Do not bring anything new in. It also says caution, there is radiation, caution, there is pathogens. It's both.
SPEAKER_02So it says, please don't bring these things in because we've already got enough of them already.
SPEAKER_03We don't need any more. Well, it's either that or we take one of the elevators. So take your pick, yeah. Johannes. There's also like there's another random door, isn't it right next to this one?
SPEAKER_02There's a there's a lift. Oh, it's a lift.
SPEAKER_04There's three lifts, it looks like, and one of these. And the summary door back up to the ramp. Then it's back up the ramp. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Okay. I'll look up. I'll go to the closest elevator, then that's right next to the door. Okay. The one that we hadn't seen if there was a camera entering it on, yeah.
SPEAKER_04Okay. Do you want to make a investigator? Alright. Okay, yep. The light comes on, and you're like above your head. And the lift is there, there is a button, and there is a camera above your head.
SPEAKER_02I will just kind of freeze. Be like. My brain will be like, what do I do? What do I do? Don't move, they won't see me. Yeah, it's that logic where it's just like and then I'll uh uh after like three seconds of pause, I'll just go like flat against the door. Be like, maybe they didn't spot me.
SPEAKER_04Okay, yeah. Okay. Do I notice this? Yeah, yeah. The light comes on, you all see that like you know. So now that Johannes is now highlighted in a light underneath the door with the camera facing him.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so I'm like, guys, guys, I chances are we've been spotted, so we need to get either in the elevator or in the submarine door. So let's just, I guess, take the elevator. In the elevator, let's go.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_03As I pass through, I just give the middle finger to the camera. Just in case someone's watching. Why? Why would you keep that?
SPEAKER_04Yeah. When there's a lot of people. Does everyone else walk into the camera? No, I'm I'm gonna walk to the other elevator. Okay. The one that first one. The dad went dad went in. Okay, yeah. Right. Do my best to pull the collar up, head down, walk up and just open that one up. Okay, um, you push the button, nothing happens, Anders. Who is opening the door to the the elevator that Johannes is at? Well Johannes has the key card, right? Yeah. Okay. Does it need a key card this one? And there is a key card fob thing. Okay. I guess we'll keep it. Which push the button and then use the key card and the elevator door starts to open.
SPEAKER_01Come on, let's go.
SPEAKER_02Okay. I guess I'll have a look at the the level of buttons.
SPEAKER_04Anders, what are you gonna do? Give it a big one. Run back across from one side to the other. Okay. Uh yeah, you you do that. There is no buttons apart from one. That's helpful. Does it say something on it?
SPEAKER_03It doesn't say anything on it, it just is a button. Push it, because Anthony likes pushing buttons.
SPEAKER_04You push you push the button and the elevator doors close once it enters us in, and you start to go down.
SPEAKER_03Down is good, right?
SPEAKER_02That's where all the evil sort of we have no idea where this lab is, so it could be down.
SPEAKER_00Does you have the usual elevator music?
SPEAKER_04There's no elevator music, I'm afraid. It's just very kind of dull and boring and it goes very slowly.
SPEAKER_03Not even like Majel R Majel Ridenberry's voice.
SPEAKER_04No, sorry. As much as you'd like it to be, it is not. They can't afford that. Yeah, we sorry, we don't have that much money. There's a very light thing as the as you as you hit and stop, and the door's open.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_04Door what? Doors open to a fluorescent-looking corridor. It's made of that horrible lino flooring and an off-white and grey sort of walls and an orange line that goes, it's probably about two foot from the ceiling. This plain orange straight line that just goes left and right down the corridor. And then there's a bunch of like tubes and wires and pipes and stuff above your heads. There's no sort of like fake ceiler, it's just basically the pipes and stuff. And then about a foot above that, there's no painting, and so it's just like concrete-looking ceiling above that. That's what you have. No signs on the wall, it just goes left and right.
SPEAKER_02Joe, does this look like your corridor that you saw last time? Yes.
SPEAKER_03Okay, we're on the right chart, guys. Joe. Which way do we go? Left or left or right? Joe shrugs his shoulders. I don't know. Anthony takes out a takes out a four-sided die. And he says, on a roll of one or two we go left, three or four we go right. And then he rolls the die on the floor of the corridor. Go on then, Marco. Make a D4 roll. That's a four. Ooh. So right? Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_01Uh uh Anthony, what's what's the marching order? That's what you asked for, right?
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Yeah. Well, how wide is this corridor? Uh it's about ten foot wide. So two people can walk side by side.
SPEAKER_01Easily. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So maybe we should have the fighter up front. Looking at Anders. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Let's have Anders and Sven up front. And then maybe me and Joe. And then you and Johannes can take up the rear.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_03And we're just total.
SPEAKER_00I guess.
SPEAKER_03Your phone is a little bit more. Don't worry, we're going to the back. If we get into any trouble, we'll just. I'm really good at rolling initiative. I don't know what that means.
SPEAKER_01You better be, Anthony. Let's go. You start making your way down the corridor.
SPEAKER_04You can he you feel this low hum kind of is is making its way through the various tubings and wiring above your head. You as you make your way down the corridor, the corridor splits into multiple corridors. You're like, oh my god, what? You realize that there is now numbers on the corners of the corridors. Like A-03 and A-02 and C-O four, C-O six.
SPEAKER_03What corridor are we on? You were on A1. A1. What do you what do you think, Joe? Which which way should we go now?
SPEAKER_04It's around wanna roll another dice. How many corridors are there? Uh there was one, two, three, four, five.
SPEAKER_02So any anything interesting down any of these corridors that we From C, or is it just more of the same?
SPEAKER_04It's more of the same. You're like, well, I mean, they kind of like go off at different angles as well, so it doesn't help that they're not straight corridors, they're sort of like bent, and so you they kind of disappear around corners and any doors?
SPEAKER_01Not that you can see. Well, when when you get lost in mazes, what is it? Always keep to the left wall or something? I never heard that expression.
SPEAKER_02But that sounds smart. Let's do that. Does the orange line go down like all the corridors? Yes. Okay.
SPEAKER_04You realize that it's the same colour as the Rick's energy logo.
SPEAKER_02What about like um is the cabling? Does that go down any specific on the roof?
SPEAKER_04So as you kind of like look around the cabling, there are multiple different color cables. There's loads of like pipes and tubes and stuff. Some of them go down some of the the the corridors, others don't. And sometimes the cable will go, so the electricity cables or whatever they do will go in one direction and the tubes will go in a different direction. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Well, I say we pick the one that has the most cables because the gate sounds like it reduces a lot of power.
SPEAKER_03That's really smart too. Let's do that. Sorry, Susie. No, no, no, it's fine.
SPEAKER_01It's accessible.
SPEAKER_04Cool. Well, could I mean someone, just one person, want to make a investigate role? Anthony will do it.
SPEAKER_03He's leading the party. If no one else minds. Oh, I failed by last one, so.
SPEAKER_04And you can add you can get an extra plus three dice because everybody else is looking out for these cabling.
SPEAKER_03Now, do I put a plus in front of the three or is it just a the number of three?
SPEAKER_04You just put in three. Now this isn't an extended trouble task. So if you succeed, then obviously you will find the place you need to get to.
SPEAKER_02If you do not find something else.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, then then then you'll end up with a different outcome. You might end up walking into someone that you don't want to be walking into, or some kind of else that's happening in the loop that you might go into. Do I need multiple successes or you do? I am going to say going to need from all well, from you five successes. Holy smokes.
SPEAKER_03We should have just rolled the dice. Oh well. Anthony dice no successes. Anthony's gonna use another one of his luck points. Cool then. I forget that lets you re-roll it, right? Just get to re-roll them, yeah. I have two successes.
SPEAKER_04Of course. I'm just trying to so the number of successes is how long you'd be wandering around the corridors for, essentially. Okay. So yes, you sort of like wander around. I'm gonna just make it Is that like two minutes or two hours? Or it's probably more like sort of 30 minutes per roll. Okay. Let's see if anything's gonna Okay. Yeah, you kind of wander around, you can hear the sound of like talking at so at one point, and you realize it's it's sort of like an electrical kind of sound, maybe it's walkie-talkie or something coming through an intercom or something like that. It's really kind of like distorted and you can't quite tell where it is. You can't pinpoint where that sounds coming from. But you continue to sort of like make your way around looking for it. Make another roll for me, please. Okay.
SPEAKER_03Does anybody else want to roll as well?
SPEAKER_04So we can try to I mean we can do it this way, or you can all roll.
SPEAKER_02And then we have that way. People might have different ideas about where we're going.
SPEAKER_04Exactly. So if you're gonna stick into one thing, then that's fine.
SPEAKER_02That's cool. I just muddy the water. If we continue to not find anything, maybe I will dispute Anthony's ability to actually guide us. Two more successes.
SPEAKER_04Okay. Again, you sort of like you you go down a corridor, realize that that corridor sort of like splits, you have to then go down a separate corridor. You're kind of on sort of like E13 by the time just sort of like trying to orientate yourself as to where you are, and you come across as you go down the separate spindle of a of a of a of a corridor, a set of doors, like a set of double doors, and they they're glass doors, and there's a whole bank of glass windows all the way down the same corridor. Outside in the corridor, there is a load of trolleys. Um on the trolleys, there's a whole load of electrical equipment and recording equipment. There's those, I can never remember what they're called. The the boxes that have the line that goes through it, the electricians use. I can never remember the name of it. Celloscopes. That's the one. That's the one. There's a bunch of those. Yeah, and you kind of can see sort of like through this door. Inside the door, there is a set of labs. You can see there's a whole bunch of labs set up with loads of what looks like computers and computer banks, and a lot of material just sort of laying around. And as you sort of like cast your eye over it, you can see there's a lot of robotic material. And inside you can see a number of people working diligently taking apart the uh robotic materials.
SPEAKER_03Well, we can't let them see us, so let's uh go a different way. Or is this the is this the way that the all those.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, this is the way that the the way the cables are going.
SPEAKER_03Is there a way to go through these doors and not be seen by those people?
SPEAKER_04Well, the the you go past the doors and the cables continuing down the corridor.
SPEAKER_03You just have to get past the the glass window frontage and okay, so I'll yeah, so guys, guys, we have to get by these glass doors and not let those workers see us. And then in the trolleys.
SPEAKER_02In the trolleys that are in the corridor.
SPEAKER_04They are, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Is there any like spare electronic bits and bulbs? Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's there's some of that. I'll point to the stuff and be like, Anders. Do you think we could use any of that for our robot? Like we were needing a few extra parts.
SPEAKER_04Alright, so uh yeah, I'll pull the collar up again on the the thing, put my head down, just tentatively walk through the door and then do my best to look make it look as if I'm supposed to be there. Just grab one of the trolleys with the interesting bits on it, turn around and back out of the doors. I love it. Don't quote me that, but okay. And as could you um make a heart roll for me, please? Uh just straight heart. Straight heart. I don't think you've got any way of sort of like blagging it with any of those kind of skills. So just a straight heart roll for me, please. Yeah, I I I trip as I go through the door. You trip and grab hold of the trolley and it pulls out in front of me. Yeah, the trolley goes one of the people that are working on one of the one one of the robotic things kind of looks at you from he's probably about 20, 30 feet away, or 20, 30 metres away, sorry. He kind of like puts his hands up and goes, shh. Oh no, he comes up to the window. Sheepishly get up and brush myself down and uh kind of like make my way back to the corridor. And you come back out into the corridor. The guy looks over at you as you kind of like leave, he shakes his head and then carries on what he was doing. You don't have a cor you don't have a uh a trolley, you don't have any equipment. Just you just lost the pride. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Maybe best if we try again on our way back out. Gotta make this trip worthwhile, some one way or the other.
SPEAKER_04We're on the plus side. They now think that there's a very clotsy looking person outside. Well, they're not wrong.
SPEAKER_05They're not wrong.
SPEAKER_03It is it is gonna be worthwhile, Johannes. We're either gonna be all dead or the world or we're gonna save the world.
SPEAKER_04Okay. You want to make your way past, I think. Yeah. You very quickly kind of make your way past, and you kind of stay as low as you can. You figure they were kind of looking at add as in his cock up so that by the time you get past all the windows, you're continuing on as you go. One more role for me, please.
SPEAKER_03Let's see. Four successes.
SPEAKER_02What can I what can I do with those three extras? So it'd be like find something interesting that you weren't expecting, I suppose.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Uh let's see. You get to ask two of these questions. Let's see, what is hidden here and where is it? What does it mean? What has happened here? How can I get into and out of or past something? What threats can I perceive?
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Uh see you get two, you can ask two extra questions.
SPEAKER_03Okay, so first just sort of tell me where we are, like where where this is.
SPEAKER_04You've kind of made your way down again, following all the kind of like electrical cabling, and it's come to a restricted zone. The restricted zone doesn't have anything other than says that you've restricted on. There's no kind of like weird warnings or signs or anything like that. There is, though, you kind of cast your mind back a number of sessions ago, that there was indeed a memo that says, do not go down a certain set of corridors with a bunch of numbers on. This is those corridors.
SPEAKER_03Wait, was that really a couple of sessions ago?
SPEAKER_02It was quite a few sessions ago. Was that the stuff they found in the diner? Yes. Oh, right. We had a bunch of stuff which Johannes does not know about because it's never been brought up since the right, Susie and I totally forgot about that. I know you get it.
SPEAKER_04The security alert poster, and there is indeed a copy of that, a phase three temporal breach has been detected in the lower service chambers and tunnels until further notice. Avoid all unshielded corridors, report visual distortions immediately, do not engage with forno emerging from breach zones, maintain distance from subject fourteen if encountered. Gate chamber access restricted to level four personnel only, and that's exactly what it says here.
SPEAKER_03That is an excellent question. Okay, so my first question: what has happened here?
SPEAKER_04Well, it looks like as you sort of like get towards it, but that sort of static that you kind of experienced when Joe was jumping is kind of quite visible just as you get to the door. The big restricted door. Um it looks like something has happened in regards to the way Joe jumped from one one timeline to another, and it feels like a a crossing of timelines and or a timeline has merged into another timeline. And that's just what you think has happened, or at least feels like behind this door.
SPEAKER_03So how can I get how can how can we get past it? You have to go through it. Have to go through it, okay. Alright, I just open the door and I'm like, guys, it's this way, and I don't tell them anything about the danger. Okay.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, you you say that and you go through the door. You use the key card to to get through Johannes. Door opens, and this corridor continues on. You can see though that the corridor no longer has the orange sign down the side, and the corridor itself is slick with condensation. It's really humid in here. You can see that there is like a moss clinging to certain like bits of piping and and metal, kind of like just growing off to the sides, and this corridor just continues on straight through. As you kind of go in, it makes the the lights come on, but the lights are all sort of like quite dim because it looks like there's condensation over the dipes, and so it it gives everything in some of the lights, there's like water inside the bowls, so it kind of gives off the sort of like shimmering look to the to the corridors. And there are no doors? There are no doors, but this seems to be going a short way down a corridor.
SPEAKER_03Okay, so that's the way we go. This place looks different.
SPEAKER_04You notice there's a metallic smell mixed with ozone as you kind of like make your way in, and you can hear the sound of distant alarms going off.
SPEAKER_03I whisper to Susie. Hey, hey Susie, do you do you remember those papers we found in the pizza place? Yeah. Do you have them or did you leave them at the house? I've got my backpack.
SPEAKER_01I've got my backpack with me. I take out the uh the library book on dinosaurs. Yeah. And they are just sort of tucked in like the the inner leaf. Got them right here. Sort of get them out, sort of lay them on the floor for us to all look at, as it were. Okay. Maybe they'll help us figure out where to go next.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, so there's uh a field log, and then there is the security poster alert, and then there was a map of the Mularan Islands with circles ringed on them. And there were the three things that were there. What other locations, my So they were all outside, they're not inside. And there was the place near you where the the guy on the pier saw Joe and something appear. There is one not far from your hideout. There is one not far from the cooling towers, there is another one in it on the island of Adelso, next to the the Luntkullah, which is I'll show you on the map. And there's one more next to the South Gate. Okay.
SPEAKER_01But yeah, the the loop doesn't stretch out that far, so there's there's not really anything to relate. Was there anything mentioned on the field logs?
SPEAKER_04Uh the field logs had the following. It seems to be an anomaly cluster 7B from Operator Garlson talking about various things.
SPEAKER_01Oh yes, this is uh the phase spikes.
SPEAKER_04And then again, the security alert poster, which you already had.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we're just still looking for the gate chamber, that's all it mentions. Yep.
SPEAKER_04You suddenly realize when you're looking at the security alert poster, there's some symptoms that you vaguely recall. If you experience any of the following symptoms, please report to a medical bay. Time loss, echoed speech, memory overlap, or seeing shadows that do not match your movement. You suddenly realize that all of those you've kind of experienced at some point over the last two days in one. Yes, this um this corridor continues on to a short exit, and there is another set of double doors. These look like medical double doors. There's sort of frosted glass on the uh on the actual doors themselves, and there is what looks like a map on the side of the doors. Ah, that'll be more useful. See, on the map it's basically arranged in sort of like almost like a grid shaped. There appears to be a a set of service tunnels around this this this this like map, and then there's a smaller map next to it, and what looks like a spindle shape, so essentially the A1 that you were following is this almost ring shape that you go around, and then all of the smaller other labs kind of come off of it. You realize you could have like been going for ages. It doesn't go into any great detail, but you can just see this massive spiderwave of of corridors, and each of the corridors lead off to labs of themselves, and they've all got sort of designations. But your map that you're right in front of, it looks like it's really sort of the service tunnels, and then there are a number of others. Let me get that, and it says that the facility interior itself, you have an observation lab, a stasis chamber, a security hub, a gate control room. They're your four sort of like main areas, and then there's a sort of like cross line, cross beams, almost like a cross that links all of them together. And there's one other section that just says holding.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Is there a helpful you are here dot?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, there's a helpful you are here as the as the the spindle cut the the corridor comes off the spindle and then heads towards the actual map.
SPEAKER_02So this so there's some sort of medical bay, is it on the other side of this process? It looks like it looks that way, potentially. But that's not on the spindle map, is it?
SPEAKER_04It's not on the spindle map, no.
SPEAKER_02I'm just gonna uh keep an eye out. I'm just gonna stick my head through this door and see what's in.
SPEAKER_04As you open it, you can see that there is a small puddle of water, probably no more than like a half a foot deep in this corridor. There are there's there's two doors either side of the corridor, one on the left and one on the right. One says observation lab, and the other one says security hub, and then the corridor continues on and then it kind of splits off, and you can see another corridor continuing on straight on after that.
SPEAKER_02So this is stuff that was on that map now?
SPEAKER_04This is on the map, so it kind of aligns with what's on the map.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I'll just stick my head back through and be like, come on. Like uh, I can see the stuff from the map on the other side of this door. Cool. Okay, can we can we take that map with us? Does it come off the wall?
SPEAKER_04No, it's um it's um by a fix on the wall with screw with screws.
SPEAKER_02Does anyone have a screwdriver?
SPEAKER_04Does everybody have a screwdriver? Don't think so.
SPEAKER_03About like uh a key or a quarter or a coin or something. Yeah, you can kind of like take some time to unscrew it.
SPEAKER_04Or can we just rip it down? Is it just is it it's not paper, it's like no, no, it's a metal kind of like thin metal, sort of like Yeah, you can you could probably try and rip it off of the actual wall, but I mean you'd have to like unscrew it to basically get it.
SPEAKER_00We're really needing try and unscrew it using a key fault thing or something.
SPEAKER_04Johannes. Yes. Could you in fact no, not you. Susie. Could you please make a invest to get wrong?
SPEAKER_01Okay. Four dice no successes. Okay, thank you.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, you're sort of like trying to get this thing off, and you're sort of like trying to unscrew it with a set of keys or or something. Obviously, as Susie, you're kind of like trying to keep a keep an ear out or an eye an eye out as to what's happening. And you hear on the other side of the door that Johannes has just been through, the sound of splushing and splashing as if something is moving on the other side of the door. Do you guys hear that? No. Oh. Listen.
SPEAKER_01Something on the other side of the door.
SPEAKER_04You will stop to listen. There is no sound coming from the other side of the door, but you can still hear this hum going through the area.
SPEAKER_03So you see, I think you're imagining things. No.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02Jan has to do it. Definitely heard something through the door and just be like, is there anything there? You can open the door. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like a crack and put the head through.
SPEAKER_04You you go and push the door. It kind of pushes the water, makes a little swoosh noise. You look on the other side. You can't see anything through the crack, like directly where the crack is opening. If you want to look down the corridor, you'd have to open up the actual door.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I'm I'm I'm pushing it enough to get my head through. Rather than push it all the way to get my entire body.
SPEAKER_04Okay. You push your head through the door, and there's nothing on the other side.
SPEAKER_02I will keep looking for like a good 10 seconds to see if maybe it's just like something hidden, like, or something like that, but then it'll be like, there's definitely nothing there.
SPEAKER_04You jump into the darkness of the corridor and you're like, is there something there? Something could be in fact. The more you look, the more you're convinced there's something there, but then you think, are you is your mind just playing a trick on you?
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I stick my head back through the door and then I'm like, yeah, there's nothing there, Susie. Or at least not now.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Anders, how are you coming along with that map?
SPEAKER_01Points to the wait, points to the warning signs or whatever, and the auditory hallucinations or hearing things that aren't there. Yeah. Well, that's fine. It was that it means there's nothing there. But it means that we're getting close into something as a problem? I mean we are in the loop, I suppose. Keep an eye. Make sure none of us get any worse.
SPEAKER_02Well, you know what they say, the greater risk, the greater rewards. Don't get nothing for you don't get the prize by sitting at the side, Susie.
SPEAKER_01And uh as Anthony says, we only get XP for treasure.
SPEAKER_02Like we ever get any treasure around here. Thanks, Tim. And I glare at Anthony. I kick him in the shins.
SPEAKER_04Love the fact it's like serious, then it goes back to being kids again. Um And as you pull the um you manage to get the uh the last of the uh little uh screws off the wall, you now have a plate of the map of the the lab behind you, or in front of you, I should say. Okay.
SPEAKER_02Now no one can follow us.
SPEAKER_04I'll try and line the map up with the way the corridor actually is so I can My brain can actually interpret it. Yeah, so you you go through these you go through these these doors. On the left hand side should be the observation lab. On the right hand side should be the security hub. If you go down the corridor and you either and you turn left, you'll get to the stasis chamber, and if you turn right, you'll get to the gate control room. And if you continue down there, there's a separate section which is apparently where the holding cells are. Which is cool, it's just called holding. So we headed for the gate control room then, guys? Yeah. Uh-huh. So you open up the door again. Who's going first? Well, I'm holding the map, so I guess I'm just wandering along with that in front of me and looking up, looking down at the map. Then Sven, I take it.
SPEAKER_03I can go first, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's the marching order, and then Susie and and and Anthony and then Johannes and bring up the rear. And Joe, I guess.
SPEAKER_04Okay.
SPEAKER_03Or no, me and Joe, and then Susie and Johannes are in the rear. Which reminds me, Joe, is this starting to look more familiar?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, this looks like, although it looks very different to when I last saw it. He says, um, thanks for remembering I was here. He says, he says, yes, this is this is this this is pretty much what I saw. We should, if you come out of holding, that's where the it's right next to the gate control room where the gate is.
SPEAKER_02Were they observing in the observation room? I don't know. What rooms did you go to?
SPEAKER_04It'd be the gate control room and the holding. And then the corridor in between.
SPEAKER_02So you never went to this stasis room?
SPEAKER_04No. So you take a couple of steps into the corridor with your feet going into the water, and you slosh your way towards the corner. And we all get electrocuted. Yeah, no.
SPEAKER_02That'd be mean, right? We can't die, but we can be horrifically burned.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, you kind of make your way into the corridor, your feet sort of sloshing around the water. You can see there is a bunch of like flotsum and stuff sort of like floating around on the um on on the actual on the water. You can see it looks like padding of like maybe a seat. There's cartons of juice, there's just a whole bunch of bits that float that you might expect might be in a in a in a in a lab. You go past the observation lab on the left-hand side. Again, all the windows are frosted, and there is a another set of medical doors leading into the observation lab. On the right of you, there is a thing that says security hub. It's a proper door that's um got one of those maglock things. Then you make your way to the cross section or intersection of the corridor. Do you want to go and have a look at either the lab or the security hub? Or are you just making a beeline directly for the gate control room?
SPEAKER_00We're always picked in this machine or whatever this cost in this. Gate control room is where it would be.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so that's I think where we're going. Beeline.
SPEAKER_02Well, I'm quite interested by the stasis room. I don't kinda get what that's the deal of that is. Or what what what is a stasis room? Because the observation, obviously, you're looking at things. Security is pretty security. Holding is where they kept the kids, and your gate room is where your gate is. But I don't get how what a stasis thing comes into the Well, should we check it out? Might as well. Doesn't look like there's anyone here. What by the way, are all the alarms that we heard earlier still like It's getting louder as you're getting closer to the gate control room.
SPEAKER_03Uh uh. And are there cameras down here?
SPEAKER_04There does not appear to be any cameras down here.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Okay. He's complete bullshitting now. He just wants to go to the stasis room.
SPEAKER_04Okay. As you kind of get towards the cross section, you can see that there is a whole load of water droplets hanging in the air. They're about the same size as golf balls, and they are just floating where the two corridors meet. Just hanging suspended in the air. And as you get closer, you feel the sort of like static starting to cover your arm, which you felt before, at the point where it was gonna jump, where Joe jumped. So you'll kind of look over to Joe, Joe looks back at you. And he's like, yes.
SPEAKER_02I point to like the water drops.
SPEAKER_04He goes, I I don't feel like I'm gonna do anything. You prod it, your finger goes into the water bubble, and it kind of pushes the water bubble a little bit, just a tiny bit, and it sort of floats away from you down towards the other bubbles, and it kind of coalesces with another one and makes a slightly bigger bubble.
SPEAKER_02Oh, weird. I'll prod another one.
SPEAKER_04It's the same sort of thing.
SPEAKER_02And I'll prod another one.
SPEAKER_04Okay. Are the rest of you gonna do anything? You're just gonna watch like Johannes basically gather all the water drops into one big water drop, basically.
SPEAKER_03I'm gonna make the biggest bubble ever. Anthony's gonna Anthony's gonna be like, that's really cool, and he steps into the corridor with all those water droplets suspended in the air.
SPEAKER_04Okay, yeah. You as you do that, you suddenly feel yourself being suspended upwards as if gravity itself is exactly you start to float upwards during the room. Try and grab Anthony. You grab him by his leg or his pants.
SPEAKER_03It's like zero G. Oh, I'm on a space station. Whoa, look at me.
SPEAKER_04Exactly how it feels. There's like a static in the air that kind of almost feels like it's lifting you up, like a heaviness to the air, as it kind of pushes you upwards.
SPEAKER_03Guys, this is this is really fun. You should you should try it.
SPEAKER_02I push him like I push the other bubbles.
SPEAKER_04You push him and see it being mo. But Susie's basically got his leg, and so he just basically goes sideways a bit. As you go almost through the sort of like area that's in the middle of this room, your arm kind of goes out the other side of where the bubbles are sort of like floating, and your arm suddenly feels a lot heavier than the rest of you, and it kind of like drops a little bit, but the rest of you is still floating upwards, which is kind of a weird but cool feeling. I guess that's where we're gonna end the session, I think.
SPEAKER_00Oh, okay. Okay, with floating Anthony.
SPEAKER_04With a floating Anthony. I think I think that seems like a great place to end the session.
SPEAKER_00You're getting rid of him, finally. Yeah, push him, push him!
SPEAKER_04Bite your tongue. So can you put can you put Anthony into the into the gate room and send Anthony off? We'll keep Joe, it's fine.
SPEAKER_02Like Anthony used to be.
SPEAKER_04A bit of weirdness from like Tails from the Lip. Oh, who knew? Say good night to the audience.
SPEAKER_01Good night to the audience.