Chapter 17

## Synopsis

Aether claims that she has a sort of clairvoyance that lets her know things that she doesn't remember learning. In addition, she notes that she's more susceptible to hypnosis and that, the older she gets, the more it occurs, despite never having it occur as often as it has in the hotel. She also notes that it's the reason she has an interest in psychology. To provide an example, she mentions a scar on Ink's chest, to which Ink gets insecure. Ink considers that it's such an outlandish explanation that, if it were a lie, it wouldn't be believed, but remains unsure of what it truly is.

They proceed to the next puzzle room, which they note is a Corner. Remembering the last one, they attempt to search it for traps, but find that it's barren and only has a machine in it. The room simply has a computer sealed behind glass, with a metallic hole to allow for one arm to reach through and operate the keyboard, in addition to a monitor above the machine. Rae notes that it's a puzzle for him, as, on the computer, there is only some code and some instructions in an old programming language, but it's incomplete. Ink suggest that, since it's the first computer terminal, Rae should see if he can hack Sent, but Rae says that it would be all to easy to keep him from doing so and that hacking doesn't work like how Ink imagines it, so it would probably be impossible.

Rae begins the puzzle before the monitor starts a timer for 12 minutes. Rae finishes with plenty of time to spare and, after compiling, notes that it looked like a snippet from a much larger, more complicated program.

Sent appears on the monitor and abruptly informs them that he's an AI that has passed the Turing Test, claiming that it's name is short for "Sentient", being the first sentient AI. Everyone responds with skepticism, but Sent responds to their counterarguments by simply insisting that it's special. It claims that the much larger, more complicated program that Rae mentioned earlier is, in reality, it's own source code. Rae notes that they "were just some out-of-bounds prevention checks" before once again accusing Sent of lying. Sent responds by saying that it's such an outlandish lie that he would be a fool to tell it, unless it were actually the truth.

In response to more questioning, Sent simply taunts Rae and shows them the timer; it didn't stop when Rae had finished the puzzle. They all attempt to flee the room, but the arm hole tightened its grip on Rae's arm, keeping him from leaving. The contestants unsuccessfully try to free him, during which they hear a snap and a clash of metal against metal from within the machine. Rae desperately begs Sent to let him go, to which Sent simply mocks him by playing a recording of an earlier threat Rae made to Sent. The timer hits zero, and Rae screams in agony. It takes a while for him to respond to the others and when he does, his voice is weak. Rae says that his arm feels like it's on fire, and he vomits blood and mucus.

Sent draws their attention to three things: the red keycard, a bottle of potassium cyanide pills, and the timer, which has restarted to 12 minutes. He explains that, every 12 minutes, he will subject Rae to the same pain, but refuse to kill him. The contestants all beg him to stop, but he states that, for the pain to stop, Rae will have to ingest the pills and kill himself. Beth takes Aether and leaves the room to retrieve something, while telling Liza and Ink to keep Rae alive.

Liza states that not even someone like Rae deserves this. Rae replies that he's done a lot of things he's not proud of, and sorrowfully reflects on his past failures. Liza quickly whispers something in his ear, and while he's distracted, removes the bottle of suicide pills from his reach. He responds by saying that he suspected as much and that "You're a smart kid. You're just proud." Rae gives up hope and reaches for the pills before noticing that they are gone, and begs Ink to give them to him.

Regardless of whether Ink gives him a pill or not, Beth returns before Rae can take it, with the sword from earlier and a broken chair leg. She sets up a splint and tells Rae that she intends to amputate, but he violently resists. She reminds him of the alternatives and asks him to choose.

If the player fills the requirements for the secret ending, Ink doubts if the dull blade could cut through, but mentally claims that he finally understands the hotel's curse, saying, "She knows that it'll work. And in this place, that's good enough? Isn't it, Sent?"

The complete transcript is here.

## Puzzle

Rae solves the puzzle by himself simply by speaking to him three times. The player can speak to the other Contestants, but it's not required.

04 · 05 · 06 ·
07 · 08 · 09 ·
10 · 11 · 12 ·
13 · 14 · 15 ·
16 · **17** · 18 ·
19 · 20 · 21 ·
22 · 23 · 24 ·
25 ·
26 ·
27 ·
28 ·
29