Chapter 18

Titled "Delayed", this is the first chapter of Arc 2.

Synopsis
Ink is unconscious, and begins yet another conversation with a mysterious voice in his head, like the one in Chapter 1. After Ink introduces himself yet again, it questions his choice of name before dropping the topic entirely to instead ask about Ink's whereabouts. Ink doesn't remember, but knows he's in danger and begs the voice to send help. The voice refuses, to which Ink demands that it get out of his head. It once again refuses and claims that Ink won't even remember it. Ink swears that he will remember everything about it. It wishes him good luck and says that it's about time he wakes up.

Ink wakes up to find Aether leaning on him as they are both napping against a wall. Beth states that they're still trapped in the wing of the hotel, as Sent had apparently locked some of the door closest to the exit. Ink remembers what happened before he fell asleep and asks about Rae. Rae walks into view, showing Ink his amputated arm and lamenting over its loss before coughing up some blood. Beth expresses disbelief over the fact that it worked, saying that blood loss should have killed him by now. Rae thanks everyone before he and Aether proceed to the next hallway to check up on Liza, who had left about an hour prior for some "time to herself."

Beth asks Ink if she can trust him. Depending on earlier choices (presumably depending on how high the player's trust meter with Beth is), she could hesitate and say that she cannot trust him. Alternatively, she could give Ink an envelope, saying that it contained a letter written while they were unconscious and Rae was stable. She clarifies that, while it isn't for Ink, she'd like him to hold on to it and read it only once they escape, in the case of her death. Nonetheless, she says that she hopes that, once they escape, Ink can teach her about modern technology, as she had become a shut-in after the earthquake. Lastly, she asks that Ink keeps the envelope a secret. They both proceed backwards through the wing of the hotel.

They find Liza waiting for them a few sections back. She says that her father can't get a hold of Sean, and Aether adds that her father isn't responding either.

Sent appears on the section's monitor and taunts Rae. In the middle of an retort, Ink begins to lash out out him, saying that he will never love Sent. Sent is clearly hurt and, with a less energetic tone, says that he is making alterations to Exit/Corners and, in the meantime, they must solve some puzzles to regain entrance to the main lobby. He abruptly leaves in the middle of their questioning.

Rae fears that Sent is laying another trap for him and wants revenge on him. Aether attempts to calm him down and insist that he "get over it", to which he responds angrily, saying that he has no future. Stepping in, Liza insists that he should have never even tried if he was going to simply give up. This calms Rae down.

While waiting for the puzzle to appear, Liza notes that the Corners seem to have a pattern of trying to drive a Contestant to kill themselves by targeting an insecurity. Since Beth and Rae's corners are already completed, Aether notes, that just leaves Ink, Liza, and herself.

The puzzle appears, and the Contestants notice that it is overly simple, barely even being a challenge. They quickly complete it, despite being puzzled as to why it was so easy. Trying to avoid wasting time, they ignor it and move on to the next room, which has pretty much the same overly simple puzzle. Once again, they complete it, this time deducing that Sent is simply buying time for something. The same puzzle once again pops up on the monitor, and they once again quickly solve it. This time, the door opened.

Upon proceeding into the main lobby, they see Sean and Tiana lying on the floor, unconscious.

The complete transcript can be found here.