Do you see the path before these stalwart puppets?
Do you feel the thread pricking the back of your
neck, needle digging deeper and deeper? Do you
know how it ends? Do you know who I am? Do you
know who you were? Do you know who you are? We
are blameless, at the very least. We are all
innocent in this suite. So, Michael Trent Reznor
was born in Newcastle, Pennsylvania on May 17th,
1965. By the way. Welcome back. Hey guys, welcome
back to All That You Know. And our City of Glass
campaign. My name is Colin. I'm the Game Master.
Joining me today are Brian. Hello, I'm Brian.
I'm playing Booker, the Incarnadine. Zach. I'm
Zach, and I am playing Ledger Gray, the Deathwalker.
And Zadum. I am Zadum. I'm playing Bailey, the
Junk Mage. Bailey Cormac. Bailey the Junk Mage,
Bailey Cormac. That's what it says on my Junk
Mage license. Today, we're going to be playing
a game called The Digested, which is a hack of
Blades in the Dark by me. When last we left you,
you had emerged out of a well in the center of
the town of Calamity. The town was quite different
than you last remembered it. Everything pushes
you outwards back into the City of Glass. You
stopped at Albright Manor, where Ledger discovered
that he had a connection to Virgil Albright,
that some part of him is Virgil Albright. Virgil
had left you a nice little letter telling you
to find him beyond the end of your stories, whatever
that means. You spoke with Downfall. He pointed
you in the slimy direction Virgil had fled back
deeper into the city. You have a big chunk of
downfall that you convinced him to give you.
You really wanted him. So you have a sack full
of him. Right? Yeah. It's conscious. It's a conscious
sack of downfall. What is he in there? What is
that? He's beetles. He's bugs. Okay, beetles.
That's what it was. Yeah. It's bugs. It's bugs.
You've gone back into the city of glass. into
the dead wood, though now it is markedly different.
Instead of thickening tangles of trees, there
are vast wooden buildings growing around you,
and you have just arrived at the largest of these
buildings, a vast, blocky construction of wood,
complete with a front door as well as countless
glass windows which rise into the sky, lit from
within by its many inhabitants. And behind you,
there is the sound of hungry howls, and the ribbon
around your neck ledger seems to pulse ever so
slightly. Who has the beetles again? I guess
me. Yeah, it would have to be Bailey. He wanted
them. Yeah, he wanted them for the Beatles. Why
did I even take these? I don't want this at all.
As this distant hungry howl kind of resonates
through your being, the sack of Beatles starts
to writhe around like a muffled buzzing vaguely
reminiscent of alarmed speech comes from the
sack. Not really intelligible, but the vibe is
pretty clear. Doesn't like that. Uh, danger ahead.
I think the beetles are rumbling. I show my sack.
Nice. Oh, there you go. And is that what they're
for, do you think? Some kind of danger detector?
Well, they don't seem very happy. They could
just be hungry. What do they eat? Well, I don't
know if I give a damn. Meat. Neat. Okay. Yeah,
we can put it on a fork if we find one. Yeah,
exactly. I guess we just... Sorry, so there's
this big tree building thing. Yes, sir. Do we
feel any particular compulsion to enter it as
if we believe it to be the way forward, or can
we just keep stepping through the woods? I believe
last time we ended, I specifically said that
the... building whispered to you to climb it
and ascend closer to the chandelier, not chandelier,
the cathedral above. Well, that seems right.
Yeah, and there's a hungry howl behind you. Sir,
you are being hunted. My favorite survival game
that I don't actually like. I'm going to walk
up to the door. I think I'm just going to try
and open it and I'm going to knock. It opens.
It's a revolving door. It's very nice. Oh. And
you're in the lobby of the high -rise, polished
wooden floors, a knotted wooden chandelier glowing
from the cracks between its grain. And immediately
on your left is the front desk, staffed by a
greasy, pale man who pulls himself up from behind
the counter. He is completely nude, with the
exception of his bellhop's cap, though the desk
obscures the bottom half of his body. Oh, it's
this guy. I don't think Ledger's surprised or
fazed by anything anymore. I think he just looks
at him and says, we gotta go up. Which way is
the stairs? Are you visiting or looking to lease?
I think we're just visiting. I have no intention
to stay. That's good. Well, the stairs are over
there, and he points you down the hall. Elevators
are out, unfortunately. On this floor. Sorry
to say. Ain't a shock. You got a brother? Maybe
someone who works with the railway? I don't really
believe in the family. Okay. Anyway, so I can't
really let you in unless you're visiting someone.
Oh. You got a Virgil Albright here? Do not have
a Virgil Albright here on the list. What about
Downfall? Downfall? No, no Downfall. Don't have
a Downfall here. Shit, what's his name? You can
just keep guessing. It'll be fine. Checker Graham?
I do have a Checker Graham. Oh, shit. You're
fucking with me, really? That's a third time's
a charm. Nice work. What floor is he on? A penthouse,
top floor. Really? He's here? He's just in this
giant tree? Well, his room is here. I can't say
that he is. He leased out a room in the giant
tree. He's at the top of this giant tree. Well,
this isn't a tree. This is a building, sir. It's
just made of wood. It's a construction material.
Can I see his signature? Checker Graham's signature?
Yeah, I'm a friend. He doesn't... I don't have
his signature. It's like a... He shows you it's
like a... spreadsheet and he kind of tries to
cover up some names on it. It's just like a room
manifest here. We don't sign them in. Okay, I
get it. It's not a preschool. Would you like
to roll? Yeah. Let's try it. This is just a...
Just a roll. Actually, no. Yeah. Thanks, Zach.
You're right. I should put some consequences
on this. Actually, you can't visit him. Sorry.
Standard. Really kills Booker. Risky. What's
the. What's the limit? Not limited. It's like
safe. Control. Control. Control position. Yeah.
Controlled standard for you. And I'm guessing
this would probably be a survey. I mean, let
me hear your pitch for finesse. You just trying
to like. steal the clipboard from him? No, I'm
going to do a backflip. No, I'll do survey. I'll
do survey. Control standard. Do you want to push
yourself or is anyone aiding you? Yeah, how are
you guys going to help me? Let me see how much
stress I have. Let me take a look at my good
old character sheet here. I don't know if I know
what you're doing. I'm going to look at the spreadsheet
to see if we could find out. I know that. I'm
trying to think. I feel like my character is
just arguing with the guy right now and getting
angry. I mean, that's probably helping. I guess
maybe. unintentionally helping. I don't even
have to roll for that, Colin said. No, you don't.
You take one stress, I think. If I push myself,
Colin, what does that entail again? You can get
another die. Got it. And does that cost me...
That costs you two stress. I'll do that. You
don't need to help me, guys. Okay. You do it.
Yeah, your sharp little eyes, you see a few things
on the page before he yanks it away. There is
someone here named Tick, who you may recall is
the dead walker that Ledger had been assigned
to kill. There's someone called The Broker. There's
someone called Vending Machine. There is a listing
for Empty Room. But notably, there are empty
rooms here, but only one is listed as the empty
room. There is someone called the Gambler. And
perhaps most interestingly, probably the last
one you catch is there is one called Booker Page.
Ooh, okay. Booker's gonna pull Ledger aside and
tell him about all the rooms. So he knows, too,
while Bailey's busy doing his thing. Let me write
this out for you. No, I have it written down.
Okay, epic. Epic win. But yeah, the guy says,
okay, yeah, so I got you down. I was visiting
Checker Graham, Graham Checker, and you can just
go up the stairs. Can we visit other rooms? I
mean, I'm not going to escort you. You're not
supposed to, but I can't stop you. I mean, I
have other guests I'd like to visit. Listen,
I'm not here to... I just work at the desk, man.
You're good to go. I'm not going to stop you.
We don't have any gunmen who are going to shoot
you if you go in the wrong room. Hey, I've been
to weird hotels. It's not a hotel. It's a department.
Complex. I think I'm just going to start walking
to the stairs. You walk to the stairs. Let's
go to the stairs. You pass the defunct elevators
and get to the stairs. The stairwell is dimly
lit, only illuminated by a refracted lay of sunlight
from much, much farther up. The stairs, like
the rest of the building, seem to have grown
out of the wood itself, made of these thick branches
that serve as a very uneven method of ascent.
Naturally, there is no railing on the stairs,
and there is a large gap in the middle of the
stairwell where one might fall if they were not
careful. And you begin heading up, and you quite
quickly reach the first floor, different from
the ground floor. We're using those rules here.
I hate that shit. No! Sorry. Index zero. At the
top of each set of stairs, you will find that
there's going to be a door onto the actual floor.
This is the first floor with the first door.
The door itself is seemingly non -functional.
It has been partially reabsorbed into the woodwork,
and behind it you hear a faint knocking noise,
like someone banging against the thick wood.
The stairs can continue up if you so desire to
go up more. Is the tapping rhythmic? Is it regular,
or does it seem like frantic banging? It's desperate.
I'm going to knock back, just like two quick
knocks. You hear a muffled voice. Hey! Hey. Help.
Help me. What's wrong? There's something in here
with me. Who are you? I work for the matchstick
company. The matchstick company? I got stuck
here. I can't get through the wood. It closed
behind. There's something here. It's trying to
tie me up. Tie you up? It's trying to fucking
tie me up. Open the door. There is no handle
on this side, man. I don't know how to get in.
He smacks the door again, very desperately, and
continues to scream. Does anyone want to knock
down the door? I don't know. Ledger shrugs. I
think he says, I'm not sure if there's anything
I can do to help this man. I do not exactly.
have an implement capable of breaching it, and
I do not... Do you want to see Checker? This
is not Checker Grant. This is just the first
door. He's not in here. No, I mean, should we
get moving? Oh, yes. Let's go. Hey, we'll tell
the front desk. Okay? You're gonna be okay. You
hear a scream. He's probably okay. A merciful
silence. Keep going up. I fixed it. Great. You
go up to floor two, which is two floors above
the ground floor. The stairway ends. Just a big
block of wood. Doesn't go any farther up. A letter
has been pinned to the wooden wall that says,
stairs temporarily out of order. Use east stairwell,
please. Signed, management. How convenient. There's
no door here, but there is like an archway leading
into a carpeted hallway in front of you. Onto
the second floor. I think... Oh, so we can just
go on to the second floor. Yeah, we can just
walk in. Ledger, he's got kind of a weird demeanor
about him. He draws his pistol, but he kind of
just looks tired and like he's not taking anything
very seriously anymore. And he draws his pistol
and he kind of swaggers into the hallway and
starts looking at the door plates, or if there
are any. I'm assuming there are doors here. There
are not door plates on the second floor. They're
numbered. You know, you have like a... 201 -2102
-211. There are a number of them, a number of
doors. Some of them are completely grown over
by tangled roots, but a handful of them seem
to be normal doors, quote -unquote. One of them
is even ajar, and from inside you hear the slurred
singing of a man's voice. Bucker, did you get
room numbers off of that list where you saw them
names? Did we? Um... Yes? All of the ones I listed
to you except Booker Page were on floor two.
Interestingly enough. Booker conveys this, but
nothing with the room numbers, unfortunately.
I want to see... Sorry, is the room with the
singing, would that happen to be Tick's room?
Because that's the one I'm interested in. You'd
have to approach it to find out, I would say.
Sure, I'm going to approach it to find out. Don't
you want to know his song? Yes. Thank you. His
song goes as such. Lost my love far from here,
beyond a sea quite unclear. She was the end of
all my grief, a friendly shadow and my heart's
thief. Why did she leave? How did she know that
we lost our time to the undertow? I've lost my
feet. I cannot stay. I'll march my stumps into
the gray. Oh, yeah, that's him. Yep. You approach
Tick's room. You see inside it is a trashed room
covered in alcohol bottles, even some drinking
mold, perhaps. He is laying on a basic looking
hay bed and gestures at you with a bottle of
booze quite drunkly. He says, what do you want?
And you look like. Yeah, and I suppose things
did not go well after we last parted ways. Do
I know you from somewhere? Oh, wait, are you
the guy who killed me? Ah, I almost killed you.
I elected not to at the eleventh hour for reasons
that are not clear even to myself. Yeah, well,
I ended up dead, so I guess you did kill me,
huh? That's not how that works. Here you are.
Who's the fucking guy with the hat? He looks
like a fucking asshole. I'm the guy who's right
all the time. Alright, dickhead? Whatever. These
are my drinks. I don't want to share them with
you. I don't want your booze, you fucking wreck.
I want to know what happened to you. How did
you die? And if you died, how are you here? Is
this hell? Would it be a cliche if I said, if
you died, how are you here? And he kind of takes
a swig of his drink, throws the empty bottle
at the wall. Doesn't make any fucking sense.
Are you alive? All three of you? I don't know.
Where's your death? Gone. Gone, gone, gone. Gone,
gone, gone. Lost her when I died, I think. When
you die, you don't have your death. That's how
it goes. You got yours, though. That's good.
That's a good sign. Yeah. I think so. I mean,
unless it's not her anymore. You know what I'm
saying? I think Ledger looks at his death for
a second and then looks back. And if she's not
your death, then are you you still? Kind of a
problem, isn't it? Kind of a problem. I don't
think that I am who I am, nor have I ever been.
Oh, now you get it. Bailey, you getting this?
No, you do remember my name. That's good. You
remember something. No, I remember everything.
I just pretend not to remember because of the
pain. Yeah, of course. Yeah. Booker, you're looking
the same. It's working for you. Don't bring me
into this. You're already in it, buddy. You see,
the thing is you can't say, don't bring me into
this, and then you keep following. Along with
the whole this, you know? You're with the this.
You're walking with the this. You didn't? Then
why did you walk in? Then why'd you walk in?
Huh? This is a waste of time. You're right, and
guess what? Every second you talk to me, that
thing's getting closer, so good fucking luck.
If you're dead, what would happen if I shot you
in the head right now? Well, I'd die, of course.
Ledger, he's not worth the bullets. I don't know.
I think Ledger's just going to turn to leave.
I don't know what he expected to find in this
room, but it was not this. See ya. Have a good
ascent. I don't know if I want to go to the Booker
one anymore. They're all drunk like that. Something
tells me we are not going to have much of a choice.
Either we will end up in that room or we will
be unable to end up in that room. Great. Alright,
let's keep going. Take calls distantly. So true!
Is the vending machine here? It might be in one
of these rooms. I want to find the vending machine.
I'm going to go up to another one of the normal
doors and look for the right number. Roll me
a... right number check roll me a 1d6 please
cool i love that a five that's pretty good um
you knock are you knocking are you opening the
door i think i'm just opening doors i don't think
leisure gives a shit about social niceties um
I suppose you must be the gambler. No, no, no,
no, no, no. That's you. Hmm. I don't trust this
one bit. We should turn back. You could win a
lot. You could win a lot. You could totally lose.
I no longer believe in happenstance or chance
or luck or anything that is required in order
to make gambling an attractive proposition rather
than a trap. I think I'm going to leave. Okay.
That's your choice. You leave. I'm out. There
is a distant howl that is getting closer and
the ribbon around your neck tightens ever more.
We should go up. We shouldn't leave. Can I check
for the most valuable thing near us? Yes. It
is in room 212. We're going there before we go.
On the other side of the door is an empty room
saved for a vending machine, a metal box with
a glass front panel. It is full of wrapped snacks
and beverages. Off to the side is a keypad. It
glows from within. You intuitively know how to
operate this machine despite it not existing
in your universe. There's a gentle electrical
hum coming from it, not that you know what electricity
is or would recognize that there is no power
outlet to power it. Saved me all my questions.
Thank you. This thing is like a... It's like
the... thing we found underground, remember?
I put my hand into. It's buzzy. This is different,
though. Can I see what the snacks are? Yeah,
there's... Fuck, I need to open up an old document.
One sec. Sure, probably blow the dust off. Let's
see how strong Google Drive's search functionality
is. The vending machine of death. Let's see.
They do Google after all. Oh, death, you say?
Two shreds, you say. Oh, God. Yeah. Hey, Google
Drive, a really strong search functionality.
I searched for figment and it brought me right
to the right document. Wow. There are 10 items
in here. One looks like a sack of something.
There is a rubbery gray cube wrapped in paper.
There are some like. A coppery looking berries.
There's a slurry and almost a gogurt type tube.
There are things that are labeled for you as
fig mint beef bar as well as mint fig beef bar.
Two separate things. Something that looks like
aluminum foil. There is a water bottle that seems
to only have two drops of water in it. Plastic,
not that you know what plastic is. And an ink
pot. And then something that looks like a chip
bag that is labeled as roasted chisp powder.
C -H -I -S -P. Okay. And is there anything to
indicate how many credits I would have? There
is a very large input hole that you could put
into it. And I could tell you how much things
might cost. I see. That was labeled from most
to least expensive. Sorry, least to most expensive.
So sack of something is most? Least. Sorry. Sack
of something is least. Chisp powder is most expensive.
All right. Just so I understand the spectrum,
what would the chisp powder cost me and sack
of something cost me? So I'm actively converting
from a very old game system that we no longer
play. And that was 400 coin then, which is a
lot. You'd have to give a lot. But we can always,
I'm always open to hearing pitches. Wait a minute.
I mean, it's a glass panel, right? We can just
break it and take whatever we want. I think that
is probably a bad idea. You're not the first
one to have that idea, Bailey. I knock on the
glass. How does it sound? It feels like normal
glass to you. It feels like normal glass to me.
I've got these ceiling supplies. I no longer
wish to carry them. How much is the gray cube?
Gray cube was 33 coin in the past. So let's say
how much is it? Ceiling supplies were a D4 or
D6. The ceiling supplies, I think they started
as a D8, but I think we might have split them
up. Let's say you can get the gray cube for your
ceiling supplies. Sure. I think without even
really knowing why, Ledger just sees the gray
cube and he's like, I'm gray, it's gray. I want
to eat this. Great. Great. Does he just press
the sealing supplies into the machine? As it
gets closer, they almost seem to shrink to accommodate
the sealing supplies. Okay. Maybe it even shows
you how many credits it was worth. Normal glass,
right, Bailey? Normal glass. Normal glass. You
press A4 and a little rubbery gray cube comes
out. You see that on the back of it, it actually
had a label. It's called Chewables! Is it too
big for me to fit in my mouth? No, they're very
bite -sized. Cool. Did I just get one? I'm going
to chew it. You got one Chewable. Your head blows
up. Add to your level 1 harm. because that's
just how we're going to track it. It's not actually
a harm. Okay. Strong brain. Nice. You feel...
You've been kind of in a funk, I think, Ledger.
You feel pretty good. You feel pretty good. Feeling
sharp. You feel like you could handle one mental
traumatic thing happening to you without it really
affecting you. Cool. Whoa. Just remember that.
Hey, are you okay? I snap in front of Ledger's
face. The snap actually used it up. I'm so sorry.
No! I would have flinched, but I didn't because
I had shielded my mind. I think Ledger looks
like I feel pretty good. I feel like we should
move before that whatever it is that's hunting
us catches up. Hey, I want an item too. Hold
up. I knew you guys were caught up in the fucking
vending machine. I knew it. Alright, Colin, what
is my void touch pistol? No, don't get rid of
that. We need that. Don't sell the fucking pistol.
How am I going to get the top tier item? Anyways.
Alright, how much would my tallies get me? I
have one of those. How many dice? Let me pull
up roll 20. Let's see how many I have. Yeah.
Yeah, my sealant supplies were D6. It's not going
to be a one -to -one here. I'll tell you this,
Booker. Your secondhand wedding ring? That thing's
worth a lot, as it turns out. Even though it
wasn't in our system. Halley's is D4? Yeah, not
worth a lot. And... What would that plus the
wedding ring get me? The wedding ring itself...
The wedding ring could get you whatever you want.
Okay, I want the Chiss Powder with the Wedding
Ring. The Wedding Ring very suddenly feels very
valuable to you. It's kind of weird. It wasn't
valuable before, but now it is. Interesting.
That is weird. How about my Enamel Rope, Prop
Gun, and Tally's? What would that get me? What,
are you attached to the Wedding Ring now? You're
just about to give it away. I don't know. It
wouldn't get you anything. Let's say up to number
seven for those three items. One, two, three,
four, five, six. And let's do the wedding ring
for the chest powder. Great. The wedding ring
goes in and you lose the last part of yourself.
That was authentic. You have gained roasted chest
powder. Congratulations. Hell yeah. Wow, he lost
the last part of himself? That was authentic,
yes. Does that mean he's free? Nope. Is he a
free elf? Oh, damn. Well, damn. I don't remember
even writing the wedding ring, but cool. I don't
either. Kind of weird, huh? Kind of weird how
these things happen sometimes in board games.
Well, it simply can't be helped. What does the
cheese powder do? You eat them? Yes. Just funnel
it into your mouth. You are now abnormally lucky.
Put it in a hard spot. That's fucking wicked.
Nice. Okay, I gotta try, right? I mean, I gotta
try. If everyone's doing it, I gotta try. Yeah,
you feel left out. Why don't you just shove Downfall
in there? He's supposed to be worth something,
right? No, I can't do that to him. Hey, wait
a minute. I look at the bag. Do you think you
can scurry in there and come back out? I mean,
think about it. You can get us so much stuff.
Downfall is upset. I was getting increasingly
upset as the howls get closer. I won't, I won't,
I won't. I have a blunderbuss. I have my old
blunderbuss and I have a vial of cursed ink.
And I'm wondering if either, which one's more
valuable. It's not going to get you much. You
get up to number four with both. Let's say. And
what's number four? Molasses liver slurry. Molasses
liver? Oh, yeah. I kind of wanted the slurry
goger too. So, you know what? I haven't used
this vial of cursed ink and I already have a
demon wood coach gun to use instead of my blunderbuss.
So let's get rid of the blunderbuss and the vial
of cursed ink. Okay. They go in easily into the
machine and gobbles it up. I'm going to get this
slurry. You have a tube of molasses liver slurry.
Okay, guys, stand back. I'm going to slur it
into my mouth. Ew. It's very filling. Oh, I feel
so strong right now, guys. Anyone else feel like
really lucky and powerful? Just like you guys.
We got to move. Oh, yeah. Honestly, I could take
anything now. Let's go. I will say, Bailey, this
is a machine. Oh. Ah. Ooh! Okay. No, no. You
do a... Ledger... I think Ledger pauses. He thinks
for a minute. Um... And then he licks to paliences.
This... I might be able to get us something out
of this thing. I don't know. Just a hunch. Wait
a minute. Didn't I touch the machine when I did
all that, or no? You have to put your horn to
the machine. Oh, yeah. Remember your horn, your
horn, your machine, your machine interface. I
know about it. I just. That's how it works. Turn
around. I don't want you guys watching this,
OK? Bailey crunches down and he's going to aim
his head towards the hole. Oh, you're going to
put your horn in the hole, the eating hole. That's
what you said I had to do, right? No, I mean,
you. So, like, the way it works is you just touch
it to the machine. There's just a hole on the
machine that eats stuff, but the rest of it doesn't
eat. No, no, I'm not doing that. I'm not having
the ultimate suck. I'm going to tap my horn against
the machine. Yeah. Not in the hole. What does
your interface move say? Okay, I gotta go to...
I think it's called... Boundary? Ebony Horn?
Oh, yeah, it's called Ebony Horn. You have been
fitted with an alien machine interface device.
Whenever you physically touch a machine, you
increase your effect. for understanding or manipulating
it. Also, the unopenable box in your mind is
there and can theoretically be opened. Horn on
head. Okay, yes. You have ebony horn. You touched
the device. So you can roll. What is your goal
here? You want to tinker it? Yeah, I'm wondering,
I'm like, I wonder, can I get all the items?
Is that possible? Depends how you roll. Here's
what I'll tell you when you touch it. You are
now in contact with a boundless intelligence
beyond your comprehension and understanding.
It contains many snacks. Oh. Can I speak to this
intelligence? Sure. Does it hear my thoughts?
Sure. How are you speaking to it? I guess just
with my mind. I assume that's how it's going
to talk to me. Sure. Or maybe using the same
feelings that I had when I was in the... quote
-unquote alien spaceship thingy. Okay. It feels
distinctly different from that, just so you know.
Yeah. Hi, how are you? I say. Does it say anything?
Would you like to make a purchase? You know,
I feel like I'm in danger, and I'm wondering
which item will help me the most right now with
this thing coming at me. I'm a little worried.
There are more items than are on display, just
as there are more things you could sell me than
are on display. What are you looking for? Give
me your entire body, and I can make the problem
go away. Tempting. Yeah, for you. I'm the guy
in the body, though. Can we... Can we not do
the whole body? Maybe the horn? The body is the
whole point. I'll take the horn, but you'll get
less, of course. What do you want? What do you
seek? Well, I feel like I'm going to encounter
a lot of danger as I'm heading to this cathedral.
A lot of things attacking me. In fact, I feel
like there's one within the vicinity coming towards
us right now. I'm wondering if there is... some
sort of item here that can stop that completely.
Oh, of course. But, uh... You do know... The
whole body, huh? If you give up your horn, you
might not be able to open the door. You know,
you're very wise, vending machine. You're very
wise. Yes. Um... Is... You can sense a lot of
things, can't you, vending machine? No. I just
know. Oh. Do you know if there's anything else
you'd want beyond me? Maybe going towards my
two friends here? If you feed your friends to
me and then yourself, I can guarantee. I hope
I can do that. I mean, like, is there anything
on them that you would want? Let me look. Let
me look. Just give me a second. Let me look.
I think there's some interest in Sack of Downfall.
Void Touched Pistol. Somewhat interesting. We
should really keep that. The Mystery Box. Ledger's
Death. interested in that. The torn up script
page you have tucked away in your coat. Bailey?
Don't we all have one of those? You're the one
who tore it up and stored it in his coat. Oh,
okay. And that's all? Unless you can always pitch
the machine. The building shakes as something
enters the floor beneath you. Yeah, I kind of
pop my head off of the thing and I say, look,
it wants some things, but they're pretty big.
I mean, I'm talking about, I point at Ledger,
your death or the void pistol. I mean, these
are some big, big bargains, you know? Not a fucking
chance. Let's get out of here. Yeah, I didn't
think so. I quickly turn back. What do you give
me for the script page? Hmm. Script page. Script
page. Script page. Sounds like a name. Script
page. Script. Booker's brother. Script page.
Script. You old dog. What are you doing here?
One second. Let me open another thing. Oh, God.
Sorry. What is the script page? When did I get
this? It was the one that said... It was like...
Bailey saying some shit. Oh, and I got angry.
I tore it up. Yeah, you got angry. You tore it
up. Okay, shop catalog. Here it is. God, I really
made a lot of fantastical items. That I can do
forever. That's not something that takes any
effort for me. I just love that shit. Yeah, I
mean, I love seeing it. Yeah. I like your item
errors. I'm going to get back into it. Please,
more tables. You could get a really good booster
pack for a card game here. We're so back. You
can have a hungry dagger. Is there anything that
hurts? Possibly something that's chasing me right
now, Venomachine? Something that protects me
from danger. Oh, you want a gun. Why didn't you
just say you wanted a gun? Do you have a gun?
I have so many guns. Do you have a gun against
that thing, though? Yeah. Oh. Of course. What's
the best gun I could use against that thing?
I'll make it happen. Put the script page in,
please. All right. I shoved the script page in.
Okay. Out comes a gun that kind of looks like...
It kind of looks almost like a super soaker.
Like the one that's like a big tube. Just like
one big tube. You know, it doesn't have a water
reservoir. Oh, yeah. It looks like there is a
slot on it, kind of like a single action shotgun
where you break it open. And a couple of those
molasses liver slurry bars tubes, they actually
slot perfectly into there to be shot. Oh, we
didn't need that. Yeah, you have you get you
get one more free ammo. OK. Well, I don't really
understand it, but. Thank you, vending machine.
The vending machine says it's very filling. Oh,
I see. Make the shot count. Okay. Yeah, yeah,
definitely. Hey, listen, you've been great. You
should be going. You're almost out of time. We
have to go. I hug it and I give it a little kiss
and I run it away. Let's get out of here. Great.
I think Ledger's like waiting at the doorway
and as soon as Bailey's done, he fucking runs.
Yeah, I'm like run past you. Got a gun? We go
up. Okay. End of the hallway. There is the eastern
stairwell as promised. Let's see where it takes
you, shall we? I love that. The stairs continue
upward, but it doesn't seem to stop at any floors
anymore. It is just spiraling up and up. The
wood begins to morph into metal and concrete
as you go higher and higher. Until you reach
floor 13, where there is a door. It is a fine,
polished wooden door fitted with a brass doorknob.
Behind it, you hear murmuring voices and music
and laughter, and the stairs continue up besides
you. What do you think? You pop in real quick?
I think we have... the luxury of any more time
to burn, and I do not think that Ledger Albright
is here. Or Virgil Albright. Fuck. I guess I
should just all push the door open to the hallway
or whatever, just to see what's on the other
side. There's a deep, hungry howl from lower
down the staircase, and you feel the vibrato
of it howl through your skin. On the other side
of the door... is a smoky hallway filled with
people. The floors are a rich red carpet. The
walls are decorated with matching red and gold
wallpaper, which ends at the ceiling, where a
number of stout chandeliers illuminate the hall.
There is a smell of fine, fine cigarettes. The
people here are all dressed in finery, and all
of them are wearing these oval masks bearing
a variety of emotional expressions on them. Each
person's mask is a single color. I think Ledger
just looks back to the team. It kind of shrugs.
Maybe we keep going? Yeah. You go up. The door
to the 14th floor is a thick, heavy iron. The
iron itself seems to be almost spreading into
its surroundings, as if it's infecting the wood
of the building with some metallic virus. A large
inset sits at the center of the door with a clear
place for something lumpy to be placed into it.
It seems to be locked. A note on it says, Left
floor crest with Miss Emerald on 13F. Apologies
for inconvenience. Signed, Management. The stairway
up to the 15th floor, which would be just above
you, has been completely destroyed, as if some
massive explosion had blown a chunk out of the
building, leading at least four stories up. The
building seems to have regrown somewhat from
this damage, sealing off the floors above it
with thick, twisted branches. There's a lumpy
inset in this door? There is a lumpy inset in
this door. Does it look like a bag of downfall
might fit into that hole? You might be able to
make it work if you really smushed it. Oh, I
don't want to really smush him. I mean, there's
a lot of them, right? Maybe he could sacrifice
one of himself? Warm fit, you know? Unless you
have any ideas, I believe that the key to open
this door is on the 13th floor. Back below? Yes,
which means that we are out of time. Hold on
a second. I put my hands together and I tap my
horn against the door. See if it could tell me
anything. Okay. Is it a machine? Well, I guess
we're trying to find out. Is it a machine? One
of the greatest questions of our time. Roll me
something. Roll me a... Let's see. What am I
trying to do here? Tinker or study? Tinker. Yeah,
I think maybe this is a... Tinker, because I
have a hypothesis that this is a mechanical bean.
Sure. What is that? Risky standard? Yes. Partial
success. You do it, but there are consequences.
Here's what the door tells you. I guess in the
fact that it actually tells you anything, you
do get your answer that it is a machine of some
sort. It is looking for a sacrifice of some sort,
which... It knows there is definitely one with
Miss Emerald down below you on the floor. But
with the schematics it gives you, you do think
if you mashed up enough biological matter like
downfall that has a sentience that has life into
it, you could bypass this law quite easily. Pop
my head out. Look, it needs something living
to be sacrificed into it. We can go downstairs
and get what we need or my hold of the sack.
We just keep pressing him in. And the consequence
here is that the howling gets ever louder. Something
bounds up the stairs beneath you. What do you
think, guys? I think Litter looks at his hand,
and just for a second, the skeletal nature beneath
it kind of bleeds through. And he says, this
thing is a machine, you say? Yeah. There might
be another way. Oh? I think I want to try and
use my entropy ability. When you touch a machine,
construction, or mechanism in focus, you can
cause rust and decay where you touch. Doing this
quickly or under stress may require an attune
or a skirmish roll. I want to try and rip through
it with my rusty hands. This will be an attune
in this case. Okay. I think I'm going to look
at Bailey and be like, help me find the weak
spots. And I think Ledger's starting to push
up his sleeves of his coat. Can I assist with
this? Because I have one and a two. You don't
need to have the skill, but if you tell me how
you assist, then yes, you can do it. It'll just
take one stress. I mean, I guess I am helping
him find the spot. Is that assisting enough?
Yeah. Does that work? For sure. That was my idea,
yeah. All right. I'm taking one stress. What's
my position in effect? Desperate. Great. Oh.
Oh, here we go. Come on, dice. Partial success!
Okay, that's fine. I'll take it. I can't complain.
Excellent. You touched your hand. What does it
look like when this thing disintegrates away?
I think that, like, Ledger's hands, like, right
up to the elbows, like, the veneer of, like,
being a living person fully fades away, and it's
just, like, skeletal with strips of flesh and
rotten cloth, and I imagine he's just, like,
he presses his hands into it, and then it's,
like, around them. You said this is made of metal,
right? Mm -hmm. Of a sort. It starts to kind
of rust or like flake away and corrode and then
he digs his fingers in and then eventually he's
just like ripping handfuls of it out. Excellent.
We love that. The door doesn't like this. You
get the impression. But nevertheless, you do
tear it apart. And as you tear it apart, it kind
of starts to tear you apart a little bit as if
it thought that you were the sacrifice at first.
There's a little give and take here going on.
Yeah. And you feel some part of yourself being
sapped away, but fortunately you have a very
strong brain right now. So you will not take
a consequence from your chewables. My brain!
It's fucking epic. Always go to the vending machine.
Always go to the vending machine, boys. That
was a good fucking use of those sealer supplies.
That's huge. Yeah, as soon as I can rip... I
don't know if I necessarily... Do I rip a person
-sized hole through it or do I rip a hand -sized
hole through it and I can unlock it from the
other side or something? I almost imagine it
as you're ripping into it. At first it's like
metal and then it's almost like you're tearing
down paper. And it's just like... Ripping it
away. Floor 14 is completely empty. A dark, featureless
stone hallway that terminates in an open... functioning
elevator. The elevator is the only source of
light in this endless hallway, a soft yellow
glow which makes it seem like a pocket of light
hovering over an endless void. Behind you, you
hear screams from the floor below and a horrible
howl of something hungry pursuing its prey. It
is very close now, and it is moving fast. I think
we just gotta fuckin' sprint towards that elevator.
Yeah, let's book it. Booker. Eh? Eh? Anyone?
Got, uh... You get to the elevator. Inside is
a single button, an up arrow. What do you think,
guys? We just slam it. At the other end of the
hall, you feel something arrive. You cannot truly
see it in the darkness between the light of the
elevator. to the stairwell, but your other senses
compensate easily enough. You hear it moving
swiftly down the hallway, the sound of countless
little fleshy things propelling it forward, the
sound of enamel grinding against concrete. The
smell reaches you quickly, too. Rotten but alive,
an unwashed mouth, a sewer, rotting marrow in
an otherwise healthy bone. The elevator seems
to shake with its approach, as if it is so much
larger than it seems to be moving through this
tight corridor. It feels as if it is consuming
the very space between you and it, the hallways
slingshotting the elevator and its two slow doors.
As it is bounding forward towards you, and in
the pit of your stomach you feel its hunger,
bleeding between it and you, an all too familiar
sensation of a craving that has no chance of
ever being satisfied, the ribbon around Ledger's
neck quivers with anticipation, a deep and perverse
desire to be consumed by the avatar of hunger
which now approaches you. The doors will not
close in time. You either need to speed the elevator
up or slow that thing down. It cannot be stopped.
What do you do?