The Haunted House.P2 Conclusion

Monday, Nov 1, 1986: Ein nearly fainted when the porcelain dolls slowly turned in unison towards him and then all spoke at once “Play with Alice in the Cellar.” Ace chased after Ein who bolted from Alice’s upstairs bedroom, “Ein, calm down. It’s just mental suggestions to go to the basement. If Eric and Evan are right about animatronics, maybe Randy and his goons tampered with the recordings to get us to follow them. Don’t forget, we need to find and rescue our friend Josh (Tuttle).”

Solving the Mystery

And that’s when Ace [fear of being rejected] saw Gene Simmons (KISS) at the top of the stairs mocking him, “What kind of outfit is that you’re wearing? Garbage. Loser; get lost kid.” Ein [fear of falling] wasn’t interested as he had his own problem: the floor gave way, and he was free-falling again. He reached for the D-ring of his parachute and pulled. Failure. He frantically reached for the pack on his back to pull as he tumbled through the sky.

Those at the bottom of the stairs only saw the ghostly form of Alice descending the stairs as she beckoned, “Play with me in the cellar.” Evan rushed past (through) her to aid Ace distraught on his knees. Lukas stepped aside as she passed. Thankfully, they all recovered from their momentary illusions. Eric led them to the kitchen where he’d found stairs to the basement, “She said play with her in the cellar.” Eric was the last to descend as he took time to search the kitchen for supplies they might need downstairs.

As he scrounged through a drawer, Eric [fear of his heritage being forgotten] suddenly saw and felt the ruler rap his knuckles. He looked up to see the stern teacher berating him in his Genoa classroom full of other Indian students being ‘programmed’ to disavow their native language and heritage. Eric fought the scene, “It’s not real. You’re not there. Stay focused.” The teacher and students faded away. He looked at the back of his hand and realized there was not welt or marking from the ruler hit… it was all in his mind.

[Genoa schools: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genoa_Indian_Industrial_School#:~:text=The%20Indian%20Industrial%20School%20at,Indian%20School%20Museum.]

Tunnel: Ein led the others into the 8x8 foot cellar, “Look, muddy prints stop at that wall.” [Investigate 3] Evan found the pull-cord on the overhead light also opened the secret door. Fearing a trap, Eric placed a kitchen chair to hold the door open as they entered an underground tunnel system. “This must be part of the city’s sewage system.”

[Comprehend] Lukas and Eric were the first to notice, “GAS! I thought the musty odor in the house was mildew, but this has a pungent metallic ozone smell like a burning wire.” But Lukas [fear of losing his family] was too busy recoiling from the scene ahead: the occultist Obed himself held a knife to the throat of Lukas’ father. “NO! Don’t hurt him!” The others were too stunned by the suddenness as Lukas ran toward Obed but lost his footing on the damp ledge and fell into the murky drainage. Ace grabbed Lukas’s pant cuff and dragged him back to the ledge. And that’s when Ace saw the tennis shoe float past.

Eric repeated his discovery, “I said there’s a gas leak causing our headaches and hallucinations. Find something to use as a mask. We need to hurry to find the others before the gas incapacitates us.” Evan used his batman cape to cover his nose, Eric sprinkled salt (as a filter) on his dampened handkerchief tried over his nose, Lukas tore off the bottom of his shirt to make his mask, Ace stuffed his Walkman earbuds up his nostrils, while Ein used the inside of his shirt sleeve elbow. [Eric’s failed Lead roll caused him the Upset Condition] Eric’s attempt to get the others to follow him fell on deaf ears. At least Lukas remembered the gas and followed Eric who forged ahead. As for the others: Evan and Ein helped Ace retrieve the shoe… At least it wasn’t a hallucination, “It’s Josh’s shoe!” He’s down here too.”

Their masks staunched any further intake of the gas, but that didn’t stop the effects from the gas they already inhaled. Evan [fear his sister WAS perfect and he a loser] paused at the scene of his father standing before him, scolding, “Look at you, a muddy mess. Disobeying me to stay home. Failing in school. Why can’t you be more like your sister, Sarah.” Evan’s shoulders dropped in defeat. [Lead 1] Ace realized something was wrong and comforted his friend with a hug. But where Evan saw his illusionary parents, Lukas and Eric encountered a real threat…

Climax

Stepping forward from a side passage was a crazed woman in a lab coat (Loop emblem) wielding a fire-axe, screaming, “Stay away from me you 8-legged spider freaks!” Eric blocked her swing with his lacrosse-stick; Lukas swung his skateboard knocking her into the murky water. She dropped her axe as she flailed, still screaming.

Ace broke away from Evan’s return hug. At least Evan was no longer upset as he watched the Loop scientist float by, “You’re lucky us spiders don’t swim. Then again…” She screamed even louder. The trio quickly joined Eric and Lukas as they continued forward toward light flickering further ahead.

They came upon a side room with light bleeding through a cracked plexiglass bay window. The cracked opaque glass distorted the interior scene that looked like some kind of lab. Cuts and gouges around the exterior keypad suggested the Loop woman they encountered must have escaped from this room and broke the keypad with her axe. Evan stepped forward to inspect the glass and felt the slow escape of air. He raised his mask to smell before quickly replacing the mask, “GAS! We need to get inside to shut it down and seal the leak.”

[Program 1 plus Pride 1 (do stuff alone)] Ein knelt before the keypad and began testing the exposed wires to figure a way to override the lock. “Click!” And that’s when the face appeared before them, on the other side of the glass door. 

To the others it was a Loop scientist with the nametag of Dr. Johan Kraft. To Ein, it was Obed himself! All heard the man’s gleeful taunt, “Ah, the final sacrifices for the ritual to bring back my wife and daughter.”

Showdown (Threat level needed successes = 10: 2x the number of kids)

Eric quickly devised their plan, “We need to hold our breath when we enter. Divide up: some subdue the crazed doctor while others look for the source of the leak. On the count of three… one, two,”

[Investigate 0] Only Ace entered and began searching for the source.

Ein was too concerned about a “ritual” and thus searched for such evidence. He found it in Josh’s scared face plastered against a rear door, “I found the other sacrifices Obed mentioned.”

[Evan Force 2, Lukas Force 1, Eric Force 1= 4] Dr. Kraft dodged Lukas swinging his skateboard which provided distraction for both Evan and Eric to tackle and subdue the man. Evan instructed, “I’ll hold the man while one of you finds rope to bind him and the other helps look for the leak.” Which meant Evan was left alone to pin the larger adult. [Force 0 means Kraft escaped; -4] [Investigate 3] Lukas found a power-cord in enough time to quickly lasso the escaping doctor such that Eric and Evan hog-tied the man. [# Threat Successes = 3]

With the screaming mad scientist subdued and gagged, they finally could hear the faint audible alarm, “WARNING! Gas leak in Lab. Emergency Protocol. Turn On Evac Fans.”

[Investigate 0] Eric searched high and low but couldn’t find anything as he was looking for something small.

[Tinker 0] Ein failed to open the door that trapped his friend. [This was a good thing…failing forward. Had you released Josh and the frightened bullies, they would have hindered your search efforts.]

[Investigate 1 plus Pride 1 (knows everything since a straight A student) = 2] Ace realized such a leak meant there must be a large cannister. She found it hidden behind a pile of strewn furniture caused by the rampaging mad scientists.

[Tinker/Program/Calculate] With Dr. Kraft subdued, they all focused on the cannister. [1 plus Luck 0 plus Pride 1 (ancestry background- the fearful scenes he had envisioned spurred him on)] Eric found a roll of duct-tape and began patching the hole. [1 plus Pride 1 (doesn’t back down from a challenge)] Lukas found the handle to turn off the gas bottle. [# Threat Successes = 9]

[Tinker 1 plus Luck 2 = 3] Ein found the broken Ventilation fans. At least he was able to rewire and repair the switchbox. Soon the “woosh” of the sucking fans withdrew any residual gas within the lab.

Aftermath

“Click” A wet and still crazed Dr. Karen Sparks stood outside the lab gloating, “I’ve got you trapped now you deformed spiders." It took another 30 minutes before she and everyone else recovered from the gas effects. “What, what happened?! This is a secret lab, what are you kids doing here?!”

Eric threatened blackmail, “We could call the police and let them know how you endangered us kids.”

[Charm 3] Ace added reasoning, “Accidents happen. At least no-one got injured. We are willing to tell our parents and the police how we got scared and hid in the old Marsh house. That is: assuming you tell us just what the heck was going on!”

Evan added to the blackmail, “I’m sure you have a reputation to uphold. I mean, many of our parents work at the Loop. It wouldn’t look good on your records to have such a failure recorded. And just to seal the deal, here is my walkie-talkie. Our group callsign is SNOOPS. Your call sign is Obed. You can be our confidential Loop informant if we have to deal with any other Loop projects gone wrong.”

Before leaving, Eric found a moment to request a favor of Dr. Kraft, “You have enough seniority at the Loop. Maybe you could help my mother get a better job. She currently is a nightshift janitor.”

They retraced their steps through the tunnel and back into the Marsh house. Josh didn’t care that his right shoe was soaking wet. Ace took the time to single Randy out as he put his finger to the bully’s forehead, “If you EVER try to bully us or our friends again, I’ll post this picture of you and your peed pants.”

As promised, Dr. Karen Sparks delivered the midnight picture of the moon from the upstairs window of the Marsh house. Ben Sanders was NOT happy that he had to fork out $50 in lost bets to the 5 kids.

BEHIND THE SCREEN

In 1921 the Marsh family (Obed, Elizabeth, and their nine-year-old daughter Alice) moved into the house. Their life was nice and peaceful, till poor Alice tragically passed away from tuberculosis, after which the family fell apart, leading to Elizabeth taking her own life a year later. By the end of it, Obed was living all alone. Rumors started going around that he had become a practitioner of the occult, in a desperate attempt to contact his family. On All Hallows’ Eve in 1926 he was seen walking through the woods, dressed in a mysterious black robe and carrying a torch, while at the same time chanting in a language that was not of this earth. After that he was never seen again. He had moved away. As is common with local legends, nobody ever knew exactly what was true and what was made up. Not that it ever really mattered.

When The Loop was built in the ‘60s, DARPA bought the site as an above-ground access point for their underground secret laboratory, linked by the old sewage system that ran underneath. They expanded on its history of suicide and an occult minded father and rigged the house with its own security system of ‘ghosts’ to scare people away.

But instead of scaring them, it drew them. Which created another opportunity to study subjects exposed to their experiments. The security system was updated with extremely high- and low-pitched sounds from hidden speakers that caused an immense sense of dread. Chemicals poured into the ground outside killed off plants grow near the house to add to the eerie feel. The chemicals and the high-pitched sounds caused animals and insects to avoid the place. Holograms and animatronics added to the interior illusions.

The lab has worked with different types of biological science and experimentation. Lately they have been working on a gas with the codename K.R.U.E.G.E.R. [Kinetically Regulated Unit with Extreme Gas Enhanced Response] meant for battlefield use. But after a minor leak that went undiscovered, the gas started to spread inside the lab. More and more of the scientists inside were affected by it and by the end they would all start to have very extreme hallucinations. It’s up to the kids to deal with the leak and turn on the ventilating fans! Unfortunately, the gas has been slowly progressing through the tunnels and up into the Marsh house. Thus, the kids are slowly becoming affected the longer they linger.