Rata Mall - The Cinemas 2 - Phase 8

[ambic]

The Curse of Rata Mall - Cinemas

A once thriving place once depicting a good mix of family friendly, and not so family friendly content

The current layout of the Cinemas

Present

CaptainMeme

is Jia Xing: Female, Early 30s Asian, Short, Athletic, carrying a wok and a Pitchfork

Groza529

is Johannes Berger: Male, Mid-Late 40s Tall, Skinny, South African accent, Dark Hair - Dressed in a suit and tie. Carrying Briefcase

Primate

 is Harry Carrouthers: Male, 60s Medium Build, using a cane, white haired, wearing thick glasses. Jacket and shirt with a slash down each arm, exposing skin (Formerly Jesternl)

RubberDuck

is Dr.Lacey Higgs: Female, Early 30s Very Tall, Skinny, Stunningly beautiful - One blue eye, one green, bloody lip. Wearing a black jacket

(Formerly MNOWAX)

Talitha

is Yvonne Skeggs: Female, Teenager Lanky, medium height, tattooed arms. Wearing Chainmail and a hardhat


As you'd expect in here, there are popcorn machines, candy, colas, a lot of seats but no movies currently screening - the rooms are lit up. The popcorn is all over the floor, as is the candy.

There is a wheelchair sitting out near the toilets.
The emergency exit to the north appears to have collapsed.

[ambic]

Lacey and Yvonne step out of the lift.

[RubberDuck]

So where do we start Yvonne? Jia is here, so that means Xavier was in the lab alone.

[RubberDuck]

We got play back on some CCTV cameras in the office.

We saw a monster inside the fashion store having a fight with Cindy(Nexus), who then vanished (Nexus, not the monster).
We watched the monster trashing the now empty fashion store. Seriously, that thing is 8ft tall, at least.

I recognize the monster. It looks like Terry, and has been combined with a Frankenstein Monster.

We think Xavier made it in the lab and there's going to be another one made from Casey.

Yvonne, do you want to cover off the Carl X Hinevy contract?

[Talitha]

We thought it was super urgent that we warn everyone about the monster, and likelihood of another Frankenmonster, so we attempted to take the lift up here and it worked!

[Talitha]

Also, in the filing cabinet in the office I found a contract

shows everyone copy of the contract

It says that someone called Carl Hinvey rented some rooms here in the mall. It was signed with an X. We believe this is probably the Mad Scientist from Carla's photograph, due to the history that we know about. We worked out that X Carl Hinvey is an anagram of Xavier Lynch.

[Talitha]

We also had to put out a big fire in the elevator shaft and nearly died.

Oh and Hi everyone!

Yvonne collapses

[RubberDuck]

Are you alright?

[RubberDuck]

It also seems like we can freely use the elevator to move between the cinema, the office and the eatery.

Also it was possible to climb the elevator shaft from the phone store to the office as long as the lift carriage was on the cinema level, that is with enough light and something to climb with.

Point to now dead head flashlight

[Talitha]

Yes.. it's just been a stressful few hours.

(Not as stressful as being alone with Sir Leo in the fashion store.
And obviously not as stressful as fighting a Frankenmonster, poor Cindy)

By the way, if Cindy does manage to return to the Eatery in one piece, please don't tell her we saw her fight the monster and vanish. I want to hear what she says about what happened first, and how she explains the vanishing trick.

[RubberDuck]

We're going to need a plan, the priority is dealing with the Monster, this is irrespective of whether we think Xavier made it or not.

Terry and Casey were both identified as "Missing" instead of "Dead"

Missing:
Battle Mage

is Terry Young: Early 20s Unkempt, poorly shaved, Strong looking but bloodshot eyes. Carrying a stick and a wok

PookyTheMagicalBear

is Casey Ballentyne: Male,Early 30s Tall, Muscular, Scar across his face, slightly balding, tidy Beard, Dressed in Denim. A Bow across his shoulder, with two arrows. Carrying a very hefty 2ft cast iron crowbar.

Dead:
Green Crayons

is Sir Leo Mustelid: Modern Slimming Suit and Tie, Very Dapper, Overweight, Wrinkly. Carrying a pitchfork.

Zag

is Mark Knorp: Male, Mid-Late 60s Short, to the point of dwarven, Hunchbacked, Two large lumps on face, one under and around the eye. Muscular.

We know that Terry's cooked remains were found in the Lab, Jia and Yvonne can both confirm this. We - Yvonne and I, have since seen on the office cctv wall that there was an 8 ft monster that resembles Terry. - Therefore, if Casey died the same was as Terry in the freezer, his remains will likely have ended up inside the Lab. I'd guess that means we can expect an 8 foot Frankenstein Casey soon.

Now, there's only about 15 hours left before we return to the Eatery, so if anyone wants proof of the monster, we can show you on the camera wall in the office.

Also, we do not know what caused the big explosion earlier, nothing visible exploded in the eatery that we could see on camera. But it was enough to send me flying in the phone store. We believe Carla is safe in the bathrooms.

[Talitha]

We think the explosion was likely in the lab... and I wonder if the explosion was associated with the creation of the monster

[RubberDuck]

I doubt it, there was no explosion preceding the first 8ft being that Jia, Harry, and Johannes encountered in the bank. That also implies that any dead body could be used and we left Mark and Leo out in the eatery, not to mention the bodies in the bank alley and carpark.

Cindy was in the fashion store, could she have tried to destroy the lab?

[CaptainMeme]

"We met Xavier at the end of the escape route down here, looking very surprised that we were able to reach him. Unfortunately we only saw him for a second before the route collapsed and blocked us off from him again."

"It seems likely due to the position of that exit that he was in the basement. As far as I am aware, the only entrances to the lab are from the fashion store and the cafe, although the basement is close enough that there could be a secret method of entry there too. There was a drainage route that I did not follow in the lab."

[RubberDuck]

There was a drainage route that I did not follow in the lab."

Interesting.. Xavier indicated to Yvonne that he was going to the Lab, but saying something and doing it are two different things. Any chance the drain is a one way exit from the Lab? Perhaps it was the lab that indeed blew up and he traversed the drain route. Or maybe he went direct to the basement. Did you see anything that could result in a big explosion in the lab?

Johannes, you've been to the basement? Is there any drainage that flows into the basement that a person could fit through? Did you see a way from the basement that would lead to end of the escape route where you encountered Xavier?

Yvonne, do you think you could rewind the cctv far back enough to see what rooms we all went to?

[CaptainMeme]

(I assume I can't just post the lab floormap here @ambic?)

"There were a few things that could have caused an explosion in the lab; there was a generator adjacent to the cloning vats that would be the most likely culprit in my view, but there was also a portal/teleporter system, a time machine, and an laser attached to said time machine. All of them were unpowered when I was in there."

[ambic]

No, you cannot post other room maps

[Primate]

"Welcome!"

"mmhm"

*Harry goes to sit down in a nearby wheelchair, *

"It looks like my speculation regarding teleporting security might not be as wild as I thought."

"The bank security wasn't inhumanly tall, just very tall, around 6 and half feet."

"And a *Time Machine*. With a *Laser* I thought, but..."

[groza529]

Hey Amb,
Since I have been to the basement twice and Jia has supposedly been to the lab, are you able to confirm with us (privately) whether the room we saw Xavier in was recognizable?

[groza529]

No time right now but I will *try* to post a proper response in the next few horus

[Primate]

"Does anyone have any really solid memories before arriving here? Maybe not a laser. Maybe some kind of mind ray. Corpses appearing, infused with radiation, a mad professor that can change their appearance."

"mmhm."

"we need to.... We need to interrogate Xavier, we need to get down into the lab and destroy those clones. If they've made an undead frankenstein of Terry, then... then he wasn't 8 feet tall, they're getting those body parts from somewhere and the clones seems the most likely solution. Maybe it was the lab that exploded.. but I don't know. The lab and Xavier has suddenly become the talk of the day but lets not get tunnel vision. There are aliens, and there is possibly the AL still out there."

"Do you have any evidence that the footage of the monster attacking cindy was live footage or is it just the most plausible event?"

[Primate]

(One final action before we call it a day here.)

Walk into the south cinema and see if there is a projection room

[groza529]

"Well, let's put our heads together and see what we can noodle out before we face Xavier."
"Jia, I assume the gargantuan scale described is not part of the AL clones, or surely you'd have mentioned that sooner. This sounds different to you, yes? I was a bit curious as to why the freezer brought Terry's body to the lab when Casey didn't seem to arrive there... perhaps it was not merely the freezer at all."
"I wish I could say I was more shocked that Xavier is not who he claims, but as I told Yvonne, I had my doubts to his story. Even if everything he had told me was true, it would not have exonerated him, and he was very cagey on first encounter. We did briefly see Xavier, as Jia has said, but the collapsing wall and ceiling made everything a bit of a blur. I will try to remember what I saw, as I have been in the basement not once but twice I imagine that I would probably recognize it, if that's where he was. But perhaps not, as my fight-or-flight response kicked in pretty quickly. Wherever he was, perhaps we have inadvertently interrupted his plans by literally bringing the roof down atop him."
"Are we assuming that the elevator fire was related to the explosion? It is perhaps worth mentioning that Carla told me was in possession of dynamite. And I believe she ended up with Leo's matches, no? So that *may* be a completely different thread to follow. Do you have any thoughts about where the explosion occurred? It sounded like it was far below us, so my first instinct was to think of the basement. It seems the generators are still operating, so the next concern would be the gas lines."
"I do not recall any sizable drainage in the basement. All of the plumbing, both gas and water, was small enough that I could remove it with a pipe wrench. By the way Lacey, to answer your question from earlier, the pipe wrench is what made my briefcase so heavy... it is not lead-lined as far as I know."
"The story in here has been comparatively dull. We located Terry's brewery, though there was little of interest to the rest of us. Except the quite stunning sight from the window. Lacey, I wanted to talk to you about that -- do you still have anti-radiation medication? The brewery can be accessed through seat K9 if anyone would like to explore it."
"Also Harry found a wheelchair in the W.C. Anything else of interest in there Harry?"
"The south emergency exit is a bit rickety but would probably work in a pinch. That's all I can remember for now."

Whisper to Lacey

[RubberDuck]

So here's what I've got so far.

1) Carla's Digital photo of her Grandpa with the Psychotic looking Mad Scientist,
2) X Carl Hinvey Contract, Lease for Multiple rooms in the mall, (Carl Hinvey X = Xavier Lynch)
3) Xavier accessed the lab in from the cafe using his backstory - this was confirmed by Xavier contacting Johannes in the basement via the cctv speakers during the same phase. He claimed entering the first incorrect code to the freezer door and leaving it alone there after.
4) Xavier hinted to Terry about the door being in the Cafe, which is why Terry went looking for it and knew approximately where to find it.
5) Xavier claimed to be fixing the time machine in the lab, the lab also contains cctv cameras, a portal/teleporter system, and cloning vats. A generator adjacent to the cloning vats, and a laser attached to said time machine. There was a heavy duty power cord in the hardware store and Xavier went there in the 2nd phase, perhaps needed it to power the devices in the lab?
6) A clone appeared to have broken free of the cloning vats and escaped.
7) Mark Knorp claimed to be the failed clone that escaped the lab and was fatally stabbed while unconscious AFTER stating a goal of needing to eliminate the Mad Scientist who botched the job of creating him.
8) Xavier claimed he was being chased by someone that was trying to steal his youth - this could have been Mark - perhaps Marks goal was to correct himself using the original? If he was a clone of the mad scientist, then he too was the mad scientist and both had murderous intent.
9) Xavier in fact appears to be an old man when viewed in a reflection.

There may be a time difference, Terrys body was discovered during the next search of the lab by Yvonne and Jia sometime after he went missing, Casey might still have been alive in the Cafe with Carla at the time this discovery was made.

Are we assuming that the elevator fire was related to the explosion

No, the explosion was just after I went into the phone store. I found the access hatch to elevator not long after and climbed up to the office where Yvonne was. We figured out the anagram on the Carl contract to be meaning Xavier. The fire was sometime after the explosion, we nearly died from smoke inhalation, we smothered it by sending the elevator down with no one in it. The explosion shockwave was close enough to send me flying in the phone store and a gave me a bloody lip.

Do you still have anti-radiation medication?

Yes, and I know how to get where you are looking for. However, its irradiated beyond a certain point. I was going to try do a suicide run down there to try and neutralize the radiation, but without Casey's Geiger counter it is a risk. I have been wondering if the coin is relevant to that area, it is irradiated, so perhaps came from there and needs to be returned. That is why I was asking if your case was lead lined, so we could safely transport the coin.

We also found an unsigned template copy of a disclaimer stating the following.

To whom it may concern

We have nothing of value here in the mall. Your search should not start or finish here, we are
of no value to you.

If you search us, you will find nothing.

[Talitha]

We think Xavier could be dangerous when cornered or accused. If we are correct in our assumptions he had no qualms about killing Mark in the small period of darkness. We found handcuffs in the office and were formulating a plan to restrain him with them once we get to the Eatery...

But then we viewed the Terry monster.... please - anyone with any sort of weapon - be ready to fight for our lives...

I am shocked to hear that there was no Casey body in the lab. I don't know how to explain it - except that now I am wondering whether the body I saw down there was not Terry at all, but some other body burned beyond recognition with Terry's wok and stick to trick us.