Dale Vandermeer

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**Dale Vandermeer** est un détective d'homicide. Il s'agit d'un des protagonistes principaux de Cube Escape, et a fait de nombreuses apparitions à travers la série.

## Cube Escape: Case 23

Pendant l'Automne 1971, Dale dirige l'investigation sur le meurtre d'une Femme. Il trouve le corps de la Femme trainant sur le sol, avec une trace de sang menant à la Chambre. Quand il essaye d'entrer, la porte disparaît. En regardant autour, il remarque un journal sur la table basse, faisant la publicité pour un voyage à Rusty Lake. Il appelle le numéro sur la papier, et Mr. Crow lui répond, qui ne donne aucune réponse. Après la conversation téléphonique, Dale découvrir le corps de la Femme suspendu à l'envers. Des mites noires sortent de sa bouche pendant que son corps s'élève à l'abris des regards. Les mites volent en formation pour épeler le code de son coffre, qui contient la clé pour les archives de Rusty Lake.

Pendant des mois, Dale ne peut pas se concentrer sur autre chose que les évènements s'étant produits après qu'il ait trouvé le corps de la Femme. Pendant l'Été 1972, il décide de collecter toutes les informations qu'il peut à propos de Rusty Lake, et s'enferme dans son bureau dans le but d'essayer et d'apprendre plus à propos du Lac. Dans son bureau, il a une mystérieuse télévision, avec un appareil connecté pour changer de chaîne. Quand il tape le numéro 247 dans la télévision, Bob menotté apparaît sur l'écran, ce qui révèle qu'il est une Âme Corrompue. Après avoir tué le Policier l'accompagnant, Bob long la fenêtre. Il casse la vitre et disparaît, laissant un cube noir. Après avoir tapé le code 746 dans la télévision, la Femme apparaît sur l'écran. Elle traverse le haut de la télévision et donne à Dale un cube blanc. Avec les deux codes collectés, il tape 392 dans la télévision et place les cubes dans deux socles dans l'écran. Une lumière s'élève de l'étrange machine à côté de la télévision, tirant un faisceau lumineux vers le ventilateur de plafond. Lentement, le plafond s'estompe alors que le ventilateur tourne de plus en plus vite, et Dale tombe dans un sommeil profond.

Quand Dale se réveille, il se retrouve sur le sol de la Chapelle. À l'extérieur de la porte de la Chapelle se trouve un batelier à distance, que Dale appelle avec des signaux de torches. En coupant la bouche cousue du batelier avec des ciseaux, la bouche du batelier s'élarge pour révéler Mr. Crow. Il amène Dale à une petite île au milieu du Lac, et le dépose à la Cabine. Mr. Crow le laisse sans un mot de plus, et Dale ne comprends pas quoi faire. Cependant, si au début tout semble serein, le plus longtemps il passe à la Cabine, le plus dérangeant les choses deviennent. Le cerf se tenant dehors va être décapité, et remplacé par une Âme Corrompue avec des antennes. Dale se dépêche d'activer l'ascenseur caché dans la Cabine, et se dirige dans le Lac tandis que l'Âme le regarde avec silence.

## Cube Escape: The Mill

Mr. Owl a laissé une note à Mr. Crow au dernier étage du Moulin en 1972, révélant qu'il pense que Dale peut être celui capable de stopper les Âmes Corrompues rôdant autour du Lac. La lettre dit que si Dale peut trouver deux cubes, Mr. Owl ramènera la tempête et Mr. Crow devra amener Dale à la Cabine.

Dale est visible à travers l'écran de télévision au dernier étage du Moulin, quand il prend le téléphone pour appeler "*Rusty Lake Mental Health and Fishing"* dans Case 23, et parle à Mr. Crow. Après que la conversation soit terminée, Dale place les cubes blanc et noir dans l'écran de télévision, d'où il disparaît dans un flash lumineux. À l'extérieur de la fenêtre du Moulin, il y a un faisceau lumineux illuminant la Chapelle, dans laquelle tombe le corps inconscient de Dale. Mr. Owl marche vers lui, le faisant mystérieusement s'élever pendant qu'une tempête commence.

## Rusty Lake Hotel

En 1893, une fois que le joueur a livré les cinq cubes noirs à Mr. Owl, ce dernier explique les souvenirs stockés dans ces cubes ne sont pas seulement les clés du passé, mais également du futur. Sous le plateau de couverts se trouve un cube blanc, menant à une Forêt brumeuse avec des Âme Corrompues errant sans but autour. Plus loin dans la forêt, un ascenseur est visible s'élevant à distance. Dale se tient à l'intérieur, observant en silence tandis que l'ascenseur continue de s'élever dans l'Hôtel de Rusty Lake.

## Cube Escape: Birthday

Dale s'élève dans l'ascenseur en 1972, et il révèle qu'il est en train de revivre ses souvenirs, qui ont été capturés dans les cubes. Un des cubes apparaît en face de lui, et le ramène dans sa maison en 1939, quand il était un enfant célébrant son neuvième anniversaire. Il reçoit une lettre de Mr. Owl, qui l'avertit que ce jour sera le plus sombre de sa vie, mais que le présent pourrait l'aider à "transformer cette journée". Dans une tournure surprenante des évènements, Mr. Rabbit détruit leur porte et tire de la famille de Dale. Il laisse une lettre sur la table expliquant qu'une substance d'une de ses anciennes vies est sa seule chance de changer son état. Dale trouve également une carte postale de Harvey dans la poche de son père, avec une photo de l'Hôtel de Rusty Lake sur le recto.

Après avoir assemblé le cadeau de Mr. Owl, il reçoit un cube bleu, qui quand placé dans l'horloge, renverse le temps et ressucite sa famille. Son grand-père lui demande de lui donner le pistolet de son coffre, qu'il utilise pour tirer sur Mr. Rabbit quand il rentre par effraction dans la maison. La famille de Dale survit, et Dale suit une traînée de sang depuis la porte pour trouver Mr. Rabbit, et le regarde être absorbé par l'arbre sous lequel il repose. Un cube noir est situé en haut de l'arbre, et est changé en blanc. Il continue son chemin dans l'ascenseur.

## Cube Escape: Theatre

Dale is still on the elevator. He claims that the Lake is changing his memories, and that is past is not what it seems to be. He decides to let the cubes guide him, as a cube stops in front of him and takes him to the year of 1971 at the Rusty Lake Theatre. Dale looks into a mirror, and his reflection is split up. When it is reassembled, he briefly becomes a Corrupted Soul and says, "*What is happening to me?*" Behind the curtains, a man dressed as Mr. Owl steps forward, explaining that there are six plays that Dale must watch to continue his journey. By finishing five of the plays, the man returns, now wearing a mask of Dale's face. The man explains to him that Bob's memories now belong to the Lake, and that extracting the memories caused the Corrupted Soul, one of the six stages of the wheel. Upon completing the sixth play, the man congratulates Dale because his mind is "reaching a higher state of consciousness", and that he is learning about his past and future, on what he may become.

A lone man, Bob, sits at the bar. He has a letter from the Woman in his pocket. After Dale serves him a Bloody Mary, Bob shoots himself in the head, allowing Dale to travel into his mind to retrieve cubes to finish the fifth play. With the fifth play done, Bob leaves the bar to go sit in the bathroom. He leaves a coaster on the bar counter with the following: "*I feel dead inside, why did you take my memory?*". When trying to approach him, he lifts his head up revealing that he is corrupted, and shuts the door. The Corrupted Soul reemerges to watch Dale as he enters the elevator to continue his ride.

## Cube Escape: The Cave

In 1972, he appears in the white cube in the depths of the Forest. He is strapped into a chair, and a contraption is lowered onto his head. Flipping the switch to the contraption briefly corrupts him. After a golden cube is created by the larger machine his chair is connected to, he stands up and walks over to the elevator. However, his eyes remain closed, and he continues to temporarily become corrupt. After the player gives him the golden cube he goes into the elevator, holding the cube as he continues his journey upwards.

Dale also has cameo appearances in the Cave itself. He in is mentioned in the Book found in a cupboard within it, and features heavily in one of the chapters. The second chapter is titled "*The Detective*", and Dale is labelled as *"The Traveler*". This chapter explains that Dale's blue cube is used in combination with the Woman's black and white cubes to create the golden cube. A second appearance comes from one of the wall murals; Dale comes down on the elevator to the Forest. With Mr. Owl in his diving suit hovering over the black cubes, he walks through the Corrupted Souls to the white cube he is found in at the end of the game.

## Cube Escape: Paradox

In 1972, Dale awakens in the Paradox Room, with no memory of how he got there but with the feeling that he had been there before. He is determined to find the Woman, and believes that Case 23 is the key to escaping his mind. After looking into the mirror he sees his Corrupted Soul and loses consciousness, having to rearrange his memories to wake up. Solving the room's puzzles, he takes a drink from the red vial and spits out the key to escape the room. Now in the Forest, he navigates through the trees with a map from Mr. Crow and comes to the edge of Rusty Lake, to watch Laura be killed by the Corrupted Soul and leave behind a black cube. He looks into it and sees himself inside, lying in the room as before.

He reawakens in the room, discovering that his time at Rusty Lake has been part of a psychiatric evaluation. He removes his brain and places it into a jar, learning that his "old mind" suffered severe damage from stress and anxiety causing it to become useless. Solving more puzzles he finds his "present mind" and puts it into his head, now seeing Mr. Crow sitting in the room. He tells Dale that he is there to examine his current mind, and after completing the test he is given his psychological file and his "mind of the past". After putting the past mind in his head, he is taken back to his birthday in 1939. He phones the magician, who pops out of his birthday present and kills his parents. Inside the present is a locked box, which contains his "mind of the future". With the future mind he finally meets the Woman, who informs him that one of them will die, and the other will be enlightened. He gets a black egg from Harvey, and takes out his mind again. Handing the egg to a figure behind a curtain, it is revealed to be Mr. Owl. He gives all of his minds to Mr. Owl, who then tells him that finding his Corrupted Soul is the final test, and hints that he needs a successor to rule the Lake. Dale takes a drink from the blue vial and turns into a Corrupted Soul, leaving the room into the Forest. As he walks through the Forest, he comes upon a dead Dale for a map, and takes the knife from Mr. Crow. Along the way he talks to a half-corrupted Dale, who tells him to embrace his Corrupted Soul, and a deer-headed Dale, who tells him that he knows he already made his choice. He also comes across an older Dale, who has hung himself from a tree, and the real-life Dale, who tells him that they are all trapped. At the edge of Rusty Lake, he goes behind the Woman and kills her, as another Dale watches. He looks into the black cube left by the Woman and sees himself inside the real-life room.

In an alternate ending, Dale drinks from the green vial and loses consciousness. Inside his mind, he learns that he cannot save the Woman unless he sacrifices himself to the Lake. In another alternate ending, he opens a locked cabinet to retrieve two diamond eyes and a golden cube. He places the eyes into a deer skull on the wall, which reveal the elevator behind the wall. With the golden cube in hand, Dale walks onto the elevator.

## The White Door

During Bob's stay at The White Door in 1972, he relives his memories each night in his dreams. In his fourth dream, he remembers sitting at the bar in the Rusty Lake Theatre, drinking his sorrows away after learning of the Woman's death. After taking the pistol from the barman, Dale sits down beside him and asks for some matches to light his cigar. He tells Bob not to worry because he will find the Woman.

In Bob's fifth dream, he goes to The Lost Soul club after shooting himself in the head and forgetting everything. Inside he is greeted by deer-headed Dale, who asks what he has on his face as he can almost look through him. Bob puts his finger into the bullet wound in his head and remembers meeting Dale before, at the Police Station. Dale watches from behind the window, opening the blinds as Bob suddenly becomes corrupted and kills the Policeman. He tells Bob that he needs his memory, just as Bob's Corrupted Soul touches the window glass and shatters it.

## Trivia

* In all games preceding Cube Escape: Paradox, he is voiced by Infant Tyrone. In following games and the short film he is voiced by David Bowles.
* His first name, "Dale", is also the name of the detective in Twin Peaks
* His family name, "Vandermeer", means "*from the lake*" in Dutch.
* So far, he is the player character in four games, making him the Rusty Lake character with the most games from their point of view.
* In Rusty Lake: Roots, it is revealed that Dale's birthdate is December 18th, 1930. Finding this in the Steam version of Rusty Lake: Roots will earn the player an achievement.
* In Cube Escape: Birthday, it states that it was Dale's 9th birthday. However, in Cube Escape: Paradox, the newspaper article states that it was Dale's 11th birthday.
* In Dale's psychological evaluation, it is revealed that he suffers from anxiety, depression, alcohol abuse, claustrophobia (fear of confined spaces), and ichthyophobia (fear of fish). He suffers from youth trauma, substantial fears, anxieties, and a sense of loss. He is losing sight of reality in a recent murder case, which triggered several unprocessed memories.