Welcome to Episode 6.
This is a free, story-driven online escape game where every puzzle unlocks the next chapter of the adventure.
Good luck!
Slowly, you open your eyes. It's dark. Your head is pounding, and for a moment, you can't remember what happened. Then it comes back. The shop. The chase. The creature.
You sit up and look around. Metal bars surround you. You're in some kind of cell.
"Oh good. You're awake." Doug is sitting against the wall beside you. "So... good news and bad news." You stare at him. "Bad news: I think we're in jail."
He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small ring with four strange-looking keys. "Good news: I grabbed these while they were bringing us in."
You look at the cell door. The actual release controls are nowhere near you, but there is a small keyhole built into the wall beside the cell. "If that lock uses the same kind of key as the control panel out there, we just need to figure out which one of these fits."
You look at the keyhole. Then at Doug. "And how exactly are we supposed to do that?"
Doug smiles. "Oh. I haven't shown you this yet." Before you can ask what he means, Doug starts shrinking. Smaller. And smaller. And smaller. Within seconds, he's barely bigger than your hand.
You just stare at him. "What?" Doug shrugs. "I can do that." Apparently, this is something he could have mentioned at literally any point before now.
Doug walks over to the keyhole. "I'm going to climb inside and feel the shape of the lock. Then we should be able to figure out which key matches it." He squeezes through the opening.
A few seconds pass. Then Doug crawls back out and returns to his normal size. "Okay. I think I've got it." He closes his eyes, trying to remember.
"It starts with a wide tooth, then another wide tooth right after it. After that, there's one sharp point. And near the end, there's one more wide tooth.
What key?
You point to the third key.
"That's the one," Doug says.
He grabs the key and looks down the hallway toward the cell's release panel.
Unfortunately, it's far enough away that neither of you can reach it from inside the cell.
"Guess I'm staying small."
Doug shrinks down again, grabs the key, and squeezes through a narrow opening beneath the bars.
At his size, everything in the hallway towers over him.
"Uh... slight problem. I can't really tell where I'm going from down here."
You try to look down the hallway, but the corner blocks your view.
Then you notice a large mirror mounted on the opposite wall.
Through the reflection, you can see Doug, the obstacles in the hallway, and the electrical panel at the far end.
"Doug! I can see you, but only through the mirror."
"Good enough. Just tell me where to go."
You take another look at the reflection.
Guide Doug to the electrical panel using L, R, U, and D.
You guide Doug around the last obstacle and toward the electrical panel.
"I'm here!"
Doug pushes the key into the panel.
CLICK.
The cell door unlocks.
A few moments later, Doug is back beside you and returns to his normal size.
"See? Easy."
You decide not to argue.
The two of you make your way through the jail and eventually manage to slip outside.
Now there's only one place to go.
Back to the mechanic.
After making your way through the city, you finally reach the shop.
Your ship is still sitting exactly where you left it.
Unfortunately, so is its broken hyperdrive.
Doug looks at your ship.
Then at the mechanic's lot.
Several other ships are parked nearby in numbered bays.
"Well..."
You already know that look.
"We're not stealing another thing."
"I'm not saying we steal one."
Doug pauses.
"I'm saying we borrow one."
You stare at him.
"Very quickly."
At this point, getting off the planet sounds more important than arguing.
You find the mechanic's ship inventory log.
First, you need a ship with a hyperdrive. According to the log, ships with hyperdrives have IDs beginning with H.
Doug also refuses to take anything older than 2024.
You'll need more than 40% fuel if you're going to get off the planet.
And after everything that's already gone wrong, neither of you is willing to take a ship unless its condition is listed as Good or Excellent.
"If we're borrowing a ship, we're at least borrowing a good one."
What ship do you want to "borrow"?