Lost Souls (2), Day 2

[First published June 12, 2010]
Frustration.

Back to the combo lock. Thinking about things, I decide to look at an earlier saved game to see if that ghost who stopped me in the station room (the ghost obviously was the Station Master, as he came out of the Station's Master's office) might have been wearing a badge with a number on it.

Nope.

(Of course, that would be ghastly game design. But still, I wanted to take a look.)

So, back to the clues. Reading the letter from the Station Master again, I see that it says to enter the three-digit station code first. Good. That cuts the number of required attempts in half.

Also, upon closer inspection I find that more than half of the possible numbers are eliminated, because they are tasks not done by senior staff. That leaves the mail. We have the time written on the Station Master's goodbye letter. That should lead us straight to the correct number, and I think it does.

But it still doesn't work, no matter which direction I start twirling.

So, not to be daunted, I write down every number (being sure I've got them right), and an "L" and "R" on either side of each number. That's eight numbers, with 16 attempts. I check off each attempt. All fail.

OK. Perhaps the correct three-digit number really is the one I saw on the side of the building.

I try that. All 16 times. All fail.

Continue searching. No, I can't get into the hotel the way I got in last time, in the original game. That means, according to the map, I have to find the key to the dining room, or some way to break through the chain on the door.

I look around everywhere I can go. Now that the lights are on, I'm able to see more areas. I wind up back in the Ladies Room, where I find a disgusting object (yes, I touched it and got a clue to something), and a voice seemingly coming from one of the stalls. I talk to the lady. Is it Amy's mother? Is she dead too, or is this Amy or some other nasty ghost trying to trick me?

I also find another hot spot, with a toolbox that needs a key. I'm guessing that I'll find the key to the toolbox in the Station Master's office (if I ever get in) and in the toolbox I'll find some heavy cutters that will get me in the dining room door.

Maybe.

Almost certainly, that means I have to get into the Station Master's office.

But I can't.

I'm actually fairly sure I've figured out the clues, and I have the correct eight-digit number. I'm just not working the thing properly.

This situation is known in adventure gaming as "a stuckness."

I will let it stew in my tiny brain, and try again tomorrow. If I can't make any progress, I'll have to go to a walkthrough, and I really, really don't want to do that.

I must think of something new to try.

Hmmmm.


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