"No other paths. Just those two."
"What now?"
Stuck in the guest house's first room. Seriously, what do we do?
"…Main house have a fireplace?"
"There is, but no fire."
"Find a burner."
"Never saw one anywhere."
"Grab the hall's fan and smash it?"
"That won't break the nest!"
"Run through it…?"
"Retreat, your mind dies. Stay, you lose the future. So seize it!"
"I'm the one diving in. Go naked with guts?"
"No! My heart'll die!"
"Yeah, I'd hate that too."
You know Xenoblade, huh? Lucas must be a real hobbyist. Weird convo, but it's just escapism.
"Let's go."
"Ethan's never been this unmotivated!"
"If you don't follow, you'll phase through bugs and nests. Gross, right?"
"No way!!!"
Stop yelling in my ear. My head hurts. I ease open the left door, shotgun ready. The nest's side has a small gap. That's the only way. Dead end means death. The swarm retreats into the nest… Now!
"Go, boar!"
"How long you dragging that joke!?"
I charge, yelling. Bugs swarm to intercept, but I blast them with the shotgun, slip past the nest, kick open a door, and slam it shut. Thud-thud-thud! Bugs hit the door. Close call…
"They grazed me! Gross, gross, gross!"
"Can't help you. Deal with it."
Evelyn, pale, scratches herself. Does that even help?
"Corridor… from Mia's video. Oh, a map. Nice."
"Know where to go?"
"Not a clue."
"Yup."
Entrance is where we started. Passed room's the guest room. Right room's the living room—total wreck. Corridor leads to dining room; other door to gallery.
"Gallery first?"
"No bug nests, I hope."
"Don't jinx it…"
I open the door to a room with a creepy black cat painting, portraits, and more.
"There!"
"Shadow puzzle gimmick, huh?"
Evelyn points to a spider-like silhouette painting—a butterfly caught in a web, lit by a lamp. Mia used something here to open it, but it's gone. Margaret hid it?
"Title's Predator's Venom."
"Spider, huh? Completes its web, world ends?"
"That's Atlaq-Naqua, a Cthulhu Mythos deity."
"You're nerdy."
"Guys like cool stuff. How do you know?"
"Heard it from… a friend."
"Some friend."
"Totally."
Mia's video said this room leads outside. I open the door. Swampy air stinks.
"Ethan! Found it! Burner!"
"Nice—wait."
Evelyn gleefully grabs it from a trash can. Just the grip. No flame.
"Could only see part of it…"
"Got my hopes up for nothing."
"I'll check other cans. No smell, at least."
"Handy."
Evelyn sticks her head in a lidded trash can. Her… everything's visible. That okay?
"Pervert, Ethan."
"Don't read my mind. I'm not into that."
I snap as she blushes. Ghosts read minds too, huh?
"Says the guy dragging a cute kid around?"
"Cute kid? Where? But shotgun shells? Nice find."
"Hey! We've had this convo before!!"
"Have we? I'd remember."
"Oh, right. My bad."
"You say weird stuff, Evelyn."
I grab the shells and a liquid from the can while Evelyn nods to herself. Kid's backpack's getting tight.
"Evelyn, scout for Margaret."
"Roger! Oh, Ethan, good stuff!"
"What's—!"
Following her floating lead, I enter a small room. An adult backpack on the desk. Lifesaver!
"More carrying space!"
"Keep the kid's backpack?"
"Stuff it with books, make a blackjack."
"Twenty-one? Or the rogue surgeon Kuroo Hazama?"
"Neither. A weapon. Sap. Leather bag with sand or metal, heavy, smacks heads, low sound. Easy to make."
Evelyn squints suspiciously.
"You really a system engineer…?"
"Knowing self-defense weapons is fine."
"If someone taught you…"
"Who?"
"Well, Ku—oops. That's future stuff for you."
"Who!?"
"Oh, not aired yet. I'm like a prophet."
"???"
Bugs making her weirder? Let's leave it.
"What's 'weird'!? Rude!"
"Oh, right, mind-reader. Rant all you want."
"My slip-up, but don't! Oh, look!"
She points to a lit candle illuminating the room.
"Just a candle… Candle!?"
"Now you notice?"
"Burn that nest!"
"Normally I'd stop you, but yes!"
I grab the candle, head back. Evelyn's pumped. We're both pissed.
"Gah!? They're here!?"
"Don't interfere…!"
Back in the corridor from the gallery, bugs crash through the window. I swing the candle, torching them. It's working…!
"Like moths to a flame!"
"Ethan, solid fuel here!"
"Nice! Burn it!"
In the dining room, Evelyn finds solid fuel—methanol-based, burns hot. I grab it, rush to the living room's nest from the entrance's right.
"Meet your end, bugs!"
"Yay, Ethan's cursing! Peak form!"
I hurl the candle and fuel. The nest erupts in flames. Bugs burn, writhe, collapse. Evelyn and I fist-pump.
"…Ethan."
"What?"
"We threw our only weapon. Now what?"
"Oh."
Cold sweat pours. I tossed our defense. Crap.
"Idiot! Meathead!"
"Can't deny it…"
We sulk for five minutes.