49.09-My personal puppet

Last time, the contestants had to decide who were lying in a Mexican standoff. They walked away mostly covered in paint and with 20/140 points to show for it. The pot is now at 475/590 points. Nicholas, Phoebe and Steven all received a -1 penalty in the quiz but none of them were executed. Instead, it was Isaac, another bodyguard, who bit the dust. What does this mean for the remaining two bodyguards? Will they follow after Isaac? Or is one of them the Mole?

***

Phoebe: "I hope Isaac's execution isn't my fault...it couldn't have been, right? Since I received the punishment too, so if I scored the lowest I should have left and not him. Which means that we weren't right. Although I wasn't very close to him, I do feel a little guilty. Had I overcome my reservations and worked more closely, perhaps this would not be the outcome today. I am now extremely vulnerable. I hope...I hope Nicholas is looking for an alliance."

***

Nicholas: "I told Kyle this from the beginning: The Mole is a celebrity. And with the number of bodyguards leaving this just further proves it. Yes, I know I myself am a celebrity, but I don't trust anyone still in this house. I only trust the dead. The odds are in my favour."

***

Roxanne: "I have to get rid of it."

Roxanne: "A few years ago, I was burning out. I panicked, and it led to poor decisions."

Roxanne: "I won't let myself the repeat the same mistake."

Roxanne: "I hope nobody finds out."

Roxanne: "Sigh..."

Evelyn: "Hmm?"

Evelyn: "Was that Roxy? Wasn't she in bed?"

Evelyn: "I wonder what she was doing downstairs. Maybe she was feeling thirsty too."

Evelyn: "Wait, I swore I closed the door before I went to bed. Did Roxy head outside? I do remember seeing her with a trash bag earlier tonight. Said she was cleaning up some trash. Maybe she was taking out the trash."

Evelyn: "But in the middle of the night though?"

Evelyn: "Roxy is clearly hiding something from me. And i have to know what."

Evelyn: "Eugh!"

Evelyn: "It was a green bag. Where is it?"

Evelyn: "Gross. I'm taking a shower after this."

Evelyn: "Found it."

Evelyn: "Time to find out what she didn't want anyone finding out."

Evelyn: "These...these are pills."

Evelyn: "5 whole bottles of it? This is madness."

Evelyn: "She's got some serious explaining to do."

Evelyn: "Wake up."

Roxanne: "Nngh..."

Evelyn: "Wake up!"

Roxanne: "What is it?"

Roxanne: "Why did you turn on the lights, Evy?"

Evelyn: "So that I can beat the living daylights out of you."

Evelyn: "Roxy, I know."

Roxanne: "...Know what?"

Evelyn: "I know why you've been out of sorts and so sluggish."

Evelyn: "I know why you're become anxious and paranoid."

Evelyn: "I know why your hands tremble."

Roxanne: "What? They don't..."

Evelyn: "Then why did you instinctively retract your hands? Why do you look so guilty?"

Evelyn: "And most importantly: what's this?"

Roxanne: "I thought I threw them away!"

Evelyn: "5 whole bottles, Roxy. What the hell is wrong with you?"

Roxanne: "I messed up."

Roxanne: "I know I shouldn't have done it."

Evelyn: "Then why did you still do it?"

Evelyn: "These aren't even prescription drugs. They don't have your name on it."

Roxanne: "I...I bought it. From the black market."

Roxanne: "I didn't want to disappoint everyone. Especially not my Papa. We were poor and he single-handedly raised me. He wanted me to study medicine to get a better life. I agreed. But after one term I couldn't take it. It was so different from high school. I told him of my intention to drop out and I could tell he was disappointed. So I switched to pharmacy instead. But I still struggled. One day, I learned that there was a black market for study drugs. I had to keep it together for everyone's sake. I was involved in so many extracurriculars and had leadership roles in a huge number of them. I couldn't just drop everything and drop out. So I secretly bought them. I told myself to only use them when necessary, like during exams."

Evelyn: "So you got through university by cheating?"

Roxanne: "I know I shouldn't have done it, but I was scared. Everyone expected so much out of me. I had to be perfect for all their sake."

Evelyn: "Then why do it again now?"

Roxanne: "I told my Papa I would win...I couldn't let him down. I figured the consequences wouldn't be so dire here compared to school. And I'd already done it before, so it wouldn't make a difference."

Evelyn: "When did you start?"

Roxanne: "Before the first quiz. I let all of you down in the first mission. I had to do something about it. And I told myself I would only use it for the quizzes. And it worked. I was so energised and focused. I finished that quiz really fast. But then I started noticing the side effects, so I...I upped the dose."

Roxanne: "I understand if you despise me now. Once broken, considered sold."

Evelyn: "Roxy, you're not broken. I just wish you had told me. I thought we were friends."

Roxanne: "I didn't want anyone to know I'm a fraud. I'm not as perfect as I seem."

Evelyn: "Nobody expected you to be perfect. And you still did the right thing in the end."

Roxanne: "Only because of our argument. I realised I didn't have any right to get mad at you. And I felt really guilty about hiding it from you."

Evelyn: "Roxy, I need you to know that you are my friend. I don't care if you can ace every mission and quiz you got. But you better have thrown every single pill out. The last thing I want is to see you get addicted."

Roxanne: "Of course. Evy, could you promise not to tell anyone?"

Evelyn: "I promise as long as you promise not to touch these ever again."

*

*

*

Phoebe: "Oh no. It's stuck."

Phoebe: "Back at my old place the dresser would never get stuck."

Nicholas: "Need help?"

Phoebe: "Yes pl--aaah!"

Nicholas: "Let me help you get up."

Phoebe: "Thank you. You're ahead of time though. Could you...er...leave the room? Just for 5 minutes?"

Nicholas: "Of course."

Nicholas: "The 5 minutes are up. So, what did you call me here for, Phoebe?"

Phoebe: "I was...er...hoping.....er...that you want...a coalition? With me?"

Nicholas: "Was that it? I suppose it wouldn't hurt to have a trusted ally by my side."

Phoebe: "Thank you, Nicholas. I appreciate it."

Nicholas: "Hang on a minute. We're going to have to address this glaring issue."

Phoebe: "What issue?"

Nicholas: "You calling me Nicholas."

Phoebe: "Is that not your name?"

Nicholas: "It is, but we know each other. You can just call me Nic. Saying the whole name is for pretentious fools."

Phoebe: "Oh. Okay then, Nicho...Nic. But wait! You called me Phoebe!"

Nicholas: "Then I must be a pretentious fool."

Phoebe: "You are not the pretentious fool. Those are my parents, for forcing me into a marriage I do not want."

Nicholas: "Your parents don't control you."

Phoebe: "Oh, I appreciate the thought, Nic. But telling myself that I control myself doesn't magically make the engagement go away."

Phoebe: "Sometimes I just want to scream."

Nicholas: "I can help with that."

Phoebe: "How?"

Nicholas: "It's just the two of us. I am in control of you. I can make you scream. Let me dominate you."

Phoebe: "Oh! Er...back at my old place, it is frowned upon to...ahem...before marriage."

Nicholas: "Then let's stick it to them. We don't have to be under the thumb of others. We can live by our own rules."

Steven: "Hey Phoebe, I made breakf..."

Steven: "What are you doing in here?"

Nicholas: "I believe that's none of your concern. But if you must know, Phoebe invited me."

Phoebe: "That's true."

Steven: "Stop staring at his chest! What's so great about them?"

Phoebe: "They give me a sense of security."

Steven: "Pfft! Do they give you money or food or life insurance? Don't be bewitched."

Phoebe: "Steven..."

Steven: "You better not mess around, Nicholas. I'm watching you."

Nicholas: "As is Phoebe."

Steven: "Gragh!"

*

*

*

Evelyn: "Are you okay to drive?"

Roxanne: "Yeah, I can do it."

Phoebe: "Thank you for driving me."

Nicholas: "The pleasure is mine."

Steven: "You know, there are plenty of cars to go around now. Don't need to keep carpooling."

Jade: "But everyone else is doing it."

Contestants are travelling to an abandoned building for the next mission. Each of them has been given one of the following photos:

These photos also appear in the building, in 6 of the rooms. Every time contestants enter a room with a photo, they must replace it with their photo in hand if they have one. They have 2 hours to ensure every room has a distinct photo to earn 120 points, all or nothing. Additionally, a -10 penalty will be incurred for every photo in a contestant's hand.

To avoid this, contestants must go to the furnace room and burn their photo.

Evelyn: "Jade, what is that in your hand?"

Jade: "I decided to wrap my photo into a cone around my hand so that I don't accidentally lose it."

Evelyn: "Okay then..."

Roxanne: "We should split up. I'll go with Nicholas."

Nicholas: "Hm, okay. Let's see where this leads. We'll take the left."

Evelyn: "I'm going with Steven."

Jade: "That means we're together, Phoebe."

Nicholas: "Fan out."

Steven: "Why the hell are you running?"

Evelyn: "Try to keep up."

Roxanne: "There are two doors."

Nicholas: "I'll take the right. You take the left."

Roxanne: "Okay."

Roxanne: "That's art?"

Nicholas: "What the...'get at least a bullseye in order to continue'."

***

Nicholas: "Apparently we weren't told that some rooms had tasks to slow us down. We could only move on if we completed the task. Funny. I don't remember anyone telling me that. I don't like surprises."

***

Nicholas: "Good thing I've been training."

Jade: "Let's stick together."

Phoebe: "Oh thank goodness. I was worried you wanted to split up in this creepy castle."

Jade: "Hmm, we're both in here, so we have to swap the photos twice. I'll go first."

Phoebe: "What's that?"

Jade: "It's a pokeball."

Phoebe: "A what?"

Evelyn: "Get your face painted. Well, we should get this over and done with."

Steven: "What's this?"

***

Steven: "I stumbled across a control room. I could watch what was going on in the other rooms for a minute. I made sure to revisit as often as possible."

***

Steven: "Hey! Why did it switch off?"

Steven: "I guess my time is up."

Nicholas: "Come on, don't fail me."

Nicholas: "Hyah!"

Nicholas: "...Stupid game."

Steven: "I have to knock down all these gnomes...what even is this?"

Evelyn: "That took long enough."

Evelyn: "I bet I'm rocking the pirate look."

Steven: "Go and die, Nicholas. Your bodyguard Kyle fell first. You're next."

Evelyn: "I wonder what all the photos mean. Does this photo represent me?"

Evelyn: "What are you doing?"

Steven: "I have to kick all these gnomes down before I can leave."

Evelyn: "Do I have to do it?"

Steven: "I'm currently in the middle of it so I think you escaped this. Run along now. I'll finish up. DIE!"

Phoebe: "AAH!"

Jade: "It's just a fake skeleton, Phoebe."

Phoebe: "I wouldn't go near it if I were you. It could be evil. Or an actual Sim in the past."

Jade: "Cool. It's like my personal puppet."

Phoebe: "Are you a witch?"

Roxanne: "It has a nice view."

Roxanne: "And it leads me out. This is just a set of pointless empty hallways."

Nicholas: "At long last. I need to start training my aim. It's gone rusty after so many years."

Evelyn: "Come on...just 3 pullups..."

Phoebe: "This must be where we burn the photos."

Jade: "Should we do it since we're here?"

Phoebe: "No. I don't think we should. At least not yet."

Nicholas: "I feel like the only one with a sense of urgency. Where the hell are the rest anyway? They better not be slacking."

Roxanne: "What is this room?"

Nicholas: "Which door should I go through first?"

Nicholas: "What a vintage photo of the class divide. Because the photographer definitely had a social agenda for taking the photo and not because he just wanted to take a photo of two damn yachts."

Nicholas: "What a disgusting head. Must have been retrieved from the dumps. No worries. I'll fix this with my image of the yachts."

Jade: "I don't think we should enter those doors. I think they've been covered already."

Phoebe: "I agree. I wouldn't want any more jump scares."

Evelyn: "This room is empty? That can't be right."

Steven: "Fuck."

Nicholas: "What is that supposed to mean?"

Steven: "Just get out of my face."

Nicholas: "Word of advice: don't enter that room. It's a trap."

Steven: "I have to replace this...and then I have to replace the one outside. Nicholas was right."

Roxanne: "I have to shout until the speaker registers 90dB. Time to get all that pent up angst out."

Roxanne: "AAAAAAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHH!"

Nicholas: "What lies in here?"

Evelyn: "Something tells me that the photos we should end up having at the end are the ones that represent us. That guy definitely doesn't represent me unlike the Pokeball. I'll come back and get you."

Steven: "Oh fuck this. I have to zig-zag around the cones and back in 20 seconds? Why did I have to come in here?"

Roxanne: "Oh Nicholas. There you are. I was just about to leave."

Nicholas: "What do I need to do here?"

Roxanne: "Just shout until you hit 90 decibels."

Nicholas: "90? Child's play."

Evelyn: "Is there something hidden here? There must be. Why else would this be here?"

Phoebe: "We have to keep exchanging photos twice."

Jade: "Wait for me here. I'll go back down and burn my photo. I'm back with this photo and I don't think I need it."

Steven: "Huff..."

Steven: "What? Not under time? Fuck this shit."

Roxanne: "These are just a bunch of boxes."

***

Nicholas: "I bumped into Evelyn. Now was a good time to test her, and see if she passed the test."

***

Evelyn: "What's in there?"

Nicholas: "Steven. He's struggling with a simple shuttle run."

Evelyn: "I should drag him into the gym one day."

Nicholas: "What do you say about shaking things up a bit?"

Evelyn: "Like what?"

Nicholas: "That's up to you. It will only do good for you."

Evelyn: "Sabotaging the pot doesn't do me any good."

Nicholas: "It increases your chances of getting it. Everyone here is working hard for the pot. So as long as someone sings a different tune...all eyes will be on you."

Evelyn: "That's not me."

Nicholas: "Is it? Don't forget I am the best judge of character in this house. I know you want to. You don't have to pretend to be upright, especially not in front of me, and not in a game like this."

Evelyn: "Let's not talk about that right now. Let's just try to remember all the location of the photos."

Nicholas: "That won't help. We need to gather everybody. When we're down to half an hour, we should all meet downstairs so that we know who has which photo. If there are duplicates..."

Evelyn: "...then there must be a duplicate in one of the rooms as well."

Nicholas: "Spread the word."

Jane: "Found it. Time to burn, pokeball."

Evelyn: "Face paint again? Oh, I'm  back here."

Evelyn: "Oh hey Roxy."

Roxanne: "You look scary."

Evelyn: "And you look like a fairy."

Evelyn: "Hey, we're gonna discuss things downstairs in a while. To ensure we have all the photos in order."

Roxanne: "That is a good plan. I'll be there."

Nicholas: "Phoebe, what are you doing here?"

Phoebe: "I'm waiting for Jade. She went to burn her photo."

Nicholas: "Of?"

Phoebe: "I think it was a ball."

Nicholas: "By the way, Phoebe, we're meeting downstairs half an hour before the end of the mission. Please inform Jade."

Phoebe: "Will do."

Nicholas: "And with business over...it's just the two of us now."

Phoebe: "Nich...Nic, that is improper. We are in the middle of a mission."

Nicholas: "It's just a small dance, to ease the tensions. Surely you won't deny me a dance?"

Phoebe: "Back at my old place it was considered rude to deny a dance."

Phoebe: "Oh!"

Nicholas: "Like I said, I'm in control. You only fall when I want you to."

Nicholas: "I trust you won't deny me a kiss either, considering I decide whether or not you fall to the floor."

Phoebe: "Oh!"

Nicholas: "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

Phoebe: "I had never been kissed before."

Nicholas: "We can do it again."

Jade: "Oh, was I interrupting something?"

Phoebe: "Er..."

Nicholas: "Not at all. I was just about to switch the photo. Jade, be downstairs in 40 minutes."

Jade: "Damn Phoebe, I never knew you were so naughty!"

Phoebe: "Let's just go..."

Jade: "What do we have to do here?"

Phoebe: "Brew a potion and spill it on the tapestry. If brewed correctly, there should be no stain. I think you should do this, Jade."

Jade: "Okie-dokie. Now which concoction leaves no stain?"

Steven: "Huff...huff..."

Steven: "At long last...how long was I in here?"

Evelyn: "Nobody came in here after I left. That's good to know."

Jade: "Were you waiting outside the whole time?"

Phoebe: "Yes. Did you succeed?"

Jade: "Yep. Wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Let's try going that way."

Phoebe: "Oh dear, I see an ominous sign."

Jade: "I'm down here first...guess I'll have to do it."

Phoebe: "I wonder what's in this room...oh, a photo of a statue bust."

Steven: "What are Nicholas, Evelyn and Roxanne gathering down there for? That's suspicious."

Jade: "Awesome."

Phoebe: "Jade, let us go. It's almost time for the meeting."

Steven: "What are all of you doing here?"

Steven: "Oh my god, what the hell is up with all your faces?"

Evelyn: "Rude."

Steven: "Sorry. Couldn't help myself."

Nicholas: "We're trying to make sure nobody plays any dirty tricks. We're comparing the photos we have. You're late, by the way."

Steven: "You gonna punish me? I'm not under you, in case you forgot."

Jade: "Is this a good time to tell you guys that I burned my photo already?"

Steven: "Then what's that in your hand?"

Jade: "This? It's a bowl. I used it to make a potion earlier but I made the wrong one at first and made a sticky potion. Now it's glued to my hand."

Phoebe: "...It's a task we had to complete before leaving the room."

Roxanne: "I have this photo of text speak."

Steven: "I have a yacht."

Evelyn: "Shit, me too."

Roxanne: "This means that none of the rooms have the photo."

Nicholas: "The pokeball is with me."

Phoebe: "I have this photo of a statue."

Steven: "We just have to go into the rooms and swap the photo out."

Nicholas: "Do you remember which room?"

Phoebe: "Jade does not have a photo. She can check."

Jade: "Yeah, I can do that."

Evelyn: "I think someone should go with her."

Roxanne: "I agree."

Nicholas: "Just take a backseat, ladies. Let someone else work for you for a change."

Steven: "Maybe for someone lazy and incompetent like you, you need others to clean your backside and can only bark orders."

Nicholas: "Says the one who can't be bothered to use the gym. In our very own living spaces. If you had used it you wouldn't have spent so long in one room."

Roxanne: "Okay, let's not fight. The rest of us can burn our photos since they're not needed."

Phoebe: "Are you sure we don't want to hold on to them? Just in case?"

Evelyn: "Roxy is right. One by one we'll burn it. And we won't go anywhere until we see that our hands are all empty. Except for me."

Jade: "The furnace is in that room at the end."

Steven: "Hang on a moment. Why you? Why shouldn't I be the one to hold it?"

Evelyn: "Because you're slower. There's more than one room that requires physical activity. If you stumble across one then you become our bottleneck."

Steven: "Fine. But if anything goes wrong, it's your fault."

Roxanne: "I'll start the ball rolling."

Nicholas: "Anyone remembers what was in the last room they went?"

Phoebe: "I saw a statue bust on the second floor and I swapped it with my photo of the Sky Tower."

Roxanne: "And it burns."

Roxanne: "Here's hoping we didn't make the wrong decision."

Phoebe: "Eek!"

Nicholas: "At least I won't be responsible for any penalty incurred."

Steven: "In you go."

Steven: "I'm not afraid of fire."

Steven: "Okay, it's burnt."

Nicholas: "As I was saying, we need to enter the middle room because Phoebe had swapped her photo of the Sky Tower there."

Jade: "I still don't know how you managed it when I was right with you."

Nicholas: "Ahem! As I was saying again, we need to get there but the rooms are flanked with roadblocks. One of them is getting your face painted. We don't know what's in the other room so we have to send some of us to try it out."

Evelyn: "What are we waiting for? Let's go."

Nicholas: "Rushing in blind will kill us all."

Phoebe: "What is this room?"

Roxanne: "I can't remember."

Nicholas: "It doesn't matter. Let's just go forward."

Evelyn: "This way."

Evelyn: "I think it's the first door on the left. Someone go in and check."

Steven: "Oh, it's this room."

Roxanne: "You've been here before? And you didn't tell us?"

Steven: "I forgot, okay? I'll settle things here."

Steven: "DIE!"

Phoebe: "Eep!"

Roxanne: "Yes, this is the room."

Phoebe: "We just need to get Evelyn in, right?"

Jade: "I'll do it."

Jade: "You again?"

Evelyn: "I got a bad feeling about this, considering how they're taking so long."

Nicholas: "I think they're sabotaging. They're all doing it, Evelyn."

Evelyn: "I can't believe them. At this juncture?"

Roxanne: "What's taking Evy so long?"

Phoebe: "I'm not sure. Do you think Jade got lost?"

"10 minutes left!"

Roxanne: "We're running out of time."

Roxanne: "Someone is screwing around here."

Steven: "I'm done. What's the hold up?"

Phoebe: "We're waiting for Evelyn and Jade."

Roxanne: "Phoebe, you stay here. I'll go and fetch Evy."

Steven: "I'll go with you."

Steven: "I have to kick them all over again? Sheesh."

Roxanne: "Thanks Steven! Really appreciate your effort."

Roxanne: "Where's Evelyn?"

Nicholas: "She left. You were taking too long. She thought there was a last-minute trap in there."

Roxanne: "Which way did she go?"

Nicholas: "That way."

Roxanne: "I'll go find her."

Jade: "Where's she going?"

Nicholas: "Why did you come out from there?"

Jade: "I went the wrong way."

Roxanne: "Yachts? That means Evy must have been here. But then what photo did she swap away?"

Nicholas: "Steven, search the rooms downstairs for Evelyn."

Steven: "Who the hell do you think you are? Why should I listen to you?"

Steven: "Do as I say, Stevenson."

Steven: "Or what?"

Nicholas: "You don't want to know. But for starters, I could influence some of the other contestants to turn against you. I could have both bodyguards constantly give you the penalty."

Steven: "You're horrible. But have fun, Penn. You're going to have to do this all over again. And you'll have to wait till it's all set up first too."

Steven: "Perfect time to observe."

Roxanne: "She's not in here."

Jade: "Pull-ups?"

Jade: "This will be hard to do with a bowl in my hand."

Nicholas: "You're weak."

Nicholas: "Go to hell, you piece of shit."

Roxanne: "Evy, what are you doing?"

Roxanne: "I've been searching all over for you. Why did you leave?"

Evelyn: "Help me out here, Roxy! I can't find the recipe."

Roxanne: "You know I can't help."

Evelyn: "Damn it. I'm panicking a little here."

Roxanne: "Just breathe. You can do it."

Evelyn: "You're right. There's still time. Once I'm done I'll head back down."

Roxanne: "Why the hell did you even leave in the first place?"

Evelyn: "I thought something bad had happened inside. That's why none of you came out. I thought there was a sudden lockdown or something. I needed to find the other room. But then I ended up here."

Evelyn: "I screwed up, Roxy."

Roxanne: "You're not as big of a screw-up as I am."

Evelyn: "Now's not the time to argue about who's worse."

Jade: "Eugh!"

"Time is up!"

Jade: "AAH!"

Jade: "A warning would have been nice."

The mission is over. Evelyn still has a photo in her possession, so there is a -10 penalty. Can that be offset by any gains from the mission?

The leftmost room on the first floor has a picture of text.

The other photo on the first floor is of a 3D image.

The only photo on the second floor depicts the Sky Tower.

The room on the third floor leading to the roof has a picture of two yachts.

Unfortunately, there is another picture of the Sky Tower on the third floor.

And of the 3D image as well. No points have been earned. In fact, 10 points have been taken from the pot, causing it to be reduced to 465/710 points. Is the Mole finally taking over the game? Or will the group prevail in the end?