In Progress [LP CYOA] Tower

[treave]

Spoiler

Gustav Müller

That's interesting. A coincidence, but perhaps it may be some subliminal force guided me to that name.

 

[ItsChon]

A. If we quietly observe him, who knows whether or not we'll even be able to understand what he's doing? He could do something irreversible to Liz right under our noses and we'd be none the wiser. Best to call him out now, and deal with any consequences as they come. They'll be directed at us instead of Liz.

 

[Kz3r0]

A

 

[Kz3r0]

Welcome back treave

 

[treave]

I think A has it. Will prep the update.

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

What an unguarded man. You could do it, you know. Creep up behind him, and twist his head off. It would be exceedingly simple.

Based.

C. You wait and watch to see what he does. What he's doing is not technically against any of the hospital rules, being a medical student at this place.

I think A has it. Will prep the update.

I'd vote C, but it looks like you guys have already voted.

He'll probably run or make excuses and you'll never know what he planned to do here. gg

 

[treave]

Just a bit longer, have had lots of meetings to attend this week.

 

[treave]

Saint Joan Hospital (II)

"What are you doing?" You call out to the young man, holding your lantern up.

With a sigh, he swivels around stiffly, his dull, black eyes boring into you.

"I am about to perform an examination on the patient in here," explains the man drily, adjusting his large spectacles as he speaks. "Now, pray do not disturb me further-"

"Visiting hours are over, and if you do not leave I shall report you to Dr. Müller," you insist, moving closer to him. The swinging lantern casts dancing shadows across the hallway, light flickering across the young man's gaunt face. You see him frown, clearly frustrated.

"I will not be bound by such trifles, least of all that put in my way by that senile old fool. The girl residing in this ward is a prime sample teetering on that precarious balance between life and death. Preventing me from perusing her brain could be said to be an offense against the advancement of humanity, if I do say so myself."

"Perusing?" Your eyes narrow. Whatever he has planned, it does not seem to be anything good.

"Indeed, the rare disease that ails her lays its mark upon the very spark of life that resides within the brain, that which some call the soul. Your primitive intellect would be unable to grasp the intricacies, however, so I shall spare you the details. It should suffice to say that allowing me to explore her brain with a scalpel could be the breakthrough for humanity to finally conquer death! Now, leave me be! You are interrupting some very important work."

"You sound like nothing more than a madman. Exploring brains with scalpels, that is murder if done on the living."

"Murder? Why, but she is already both alive and dead at the same time. She would not die from something as meager as a blade digging within her cranium. Oh... could it be that you do not know the true nature of the disease that afflicts her?"

"None of the learned physicians here know that," you reply flatly. "Why should you or I know it?"

"These learned physicians you speak of," spits the young man with an air of superiority, "would not understand true science if it hit them between the eyes with a bat. They prefer to stay in their rooms and conduct their practice in their hollow minds instead instead of doing whatever it takes to learn everything they can. See, if I can just capture the secret of life within my hands, I could certainly cure the girl's disease... shake her from the balance she currently perches on and ensure she falls on the side of the living rather than the dead."

You are yet unconvinced; he seems more mad than any of the doctors in this hospital.

"Still... you are an orderly here, are you not? I might have need of a comrade-in-arms in this place, and it would not be a bad idea to act with more prudence and perform more tests on the dead before I progress to the next stage of my experiments, yes..." Muttering to himself, the young man stares at you. "Why don't we make a deal? Keep this quiet from Müller, and help me gain access to the corpses necessary for my research. In return, I will cure the girl as part of my experiments. You are protective of her, even I can see that. She is no mere stranger in a ward, is she?"

You look back at him silently.

"You do not have to take my word for it, but I can assure you that she will waste away and eventually end up in a state worse than death... and that it is something none of the supposed doctors here can prevent. I will not perform any experiments on her until we have ninety-five percent confidence in our protocols."

"Ninety five?"

"Nothing is ever guaranteed," he shrugs. "Well, in good faith I shall take my leave for now. I have a room down the street, on the corner of Altgasse and Wienziele. Feel free to drop by and give me your answer."

***

A. You decide to take up his offer for now and work with the man.

B. You reject his offer - you will just have to keep a more careful eye out for him from now on. You do not report him to Dr. Müller.

C. You reject his offer and report him to Dr. Müller. This man is dangerous and should be expelled from the hospital immediately.

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

This man's real name wouldn't happen to be Frankenstein, would it, treave?

The man is clearly psychotic. Even if he were to achieve something approaching a success, it would likely leave our friend a zombie at best.

C. You reject his offer and report him to Dr. Müller. This man is dangerous and should be expelled from the hospital immediately.

 

[CappenVarra]

ah mister Herbert West, that's a fine offer you make with your interests firmly at the front

but, what do you care of Lizzy and her mortal soul? she is nothing to you but a specimen for your "experiments"

but to Lad Wrinkly, esq. she is a friend to be protected, not a corpse to be raised

it's true that the pompous doctors here are not making any progress, but are we that desperate to throw her to mere necromancers yipping at our heels? we have bigger dogs around, yes we do (snicker)

shame we don't have an option to kick his ass now

in the meantime, B will suffice - so we get a chance to snap his neck when he returns

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

so we get a chance to snap his neck when he returns

Let me remind you all that based doggo was correct yet again.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

B

 

[hello friend]

B

 

[Nevill]

For all of his mad scientist impression, the young man at least volunteered a diagnosis... and he boasts a better grasp on medical practices than Dr. Muller, or anyone around here.

No one else has come forward with a suggestion on how to fix Liz. No one even knows where to start. The man offers an experimental solution, but perhaps it is time for us to consider one now that most conventional ones have failed.

But realistically, what are we hoping for? Unless we want to become a full-fledged doctor and pioneer a new area of medicine all by ourselves, our best chance at finding the cure is encountering some kind of genius passing by. And we don't even know how much sand is left in the clock.

You do not have to take my word for it, but I can assure you that she will waste away and eventually end up in a state worse than death... and that it is something none of the supposed doctors here can prevent.

I wonder what he is referring to. It might mean that Liz may not be in immediate danger of dying, though it might not be a good thing.

The only thing restraining me from jumping on the offer is our doggo's reaction to the man.

 

[Baltika9]

"You do not have to take my word for it, but I can assure you that she will waste away and eventually end up in a state worse than death... and that it is something none of the supposed doctors here can prevent. I will not perform any experiments on her until we have ninety-five percent confidence in our protocols."

"Ninety five?"

"Nothing is ever guaranteed,"

I see that the good aspirant is working on a d20 system. How quaint.

C>B
This man is clearly a danger to himself and others, and yet I think it's best to keep him in this environment where his passions may be controlled and observed by us. Who knows, we may even become a beneficiary of his esoteric studies when the moron gets caught.

Although, the right thing to do would be to report his dumb ass.

Edit: and that's what I'm leaning towards now; this is all way too suspicious for us to look the other way.

 

[CappenVarra]

For all of his mad scientist impression, the young man at least volunteered a diagnosis... and he boasts a better grasp on medical practices than Dr. Muller, or anyone around here.

No one else has come forward with a suggestion on how to fix Liz. No one even knows where to start. The man offers an experimental solution, but perhaps it is time for us to consider one now that most conventional ones have failed.

But realistically, what are we hoping for? Unless we want to become a full-fledged doctor and pioneer a new area of medicine all by ourselves, our best chance at finding the cure is encountering some kind of genius passing by. And we don't even know how much sand is left in the clock.

You do not have to take my word for it, but I can assure you that she will waste away and eventually end up in a state worse than death... and that it is something none of the supposed doctors here can prevent.

I wonder what he is referring to. It might mean that Liz may not be in immediate danger of dying, though it might not be a good thing.

The only thing restraining me from jumping on the offer is our doggo's reaction to the man.

yes, the "if i only could get my scalpel into enough brains of people close to death, i'm sure to figure it out eventually" method is famous for restoring people to their true healthy selves



sentences fail me, so suffer an alternate form:

she almost bought the farm
but: first, do no harm
he thought
and wisely sought
the end of Ariadne's yarn

 

[Baltika9]

But realistically, what are we hoping for? Unless we want to become a full-fledged doctor and pioneer a new area of medicine all by ourselves, our best chance at finding the cure is encountering some kind of genius passing by. And we don't even know how much sand is left in the clock.

If we want to make a Faustian bargain for Liz's life, we can always accept the Hound's offer. I see no reason to accept the help of this wannabe-Frankenstein.

On another note, I wouldn't be opposed to becoming a doctor, actually. Maybe we should snitch on this dude for brownie points with Doctor Muller?

 

[Nevill]

yes, the "if i only could get my scalpel into enough brains of people close to death, i'm sure to figure it out eventually" method is famous for restoring people to their true healthy selves

...yes?

Getting a scalpel into enough brains leads to figuring it out, and figuring it out potentially leads to a solution and a cure.

Just not for the people who had the scalpel shoved in their brains, but that's why we would be experimenting on corpses, first.

 

[Kalarion]

C > B. He clearly has a maniacal belief in the (a)moral and practical supremacy of his personal quest. His offer wasn't made in good faith, it was made as a maneuver to deal with an unexpected situation. In short, he can't be trusted.

No one else has come forward with a suggestion on how to fix Liz. No one even knows where to start. The man offers an experimental solution, but perhaps it is time for us to consider one now that most conventional ones have failed.

the irony is dripping here. Someone did offer a non-conventional solution, and of course the majority of my esteemed colleagues turned their prissy noses up at it. But now it's time to go gung ho with a psychopathic egotist over whom we have no control?!

If we want non-conventional we should just go back to doggo's earlier offer. At least in that case he's stuck inside our head, so we have some measure of influence over the situation.

In other news the lunatic's diagnosis of Lizz's condition at least gives us an avenue for personal research. treave would it be possible for us to research her condition with this new context (the whole undeath thing he mentioned), either personally or using Rain?

 

[Azira]

A. You decide to take up his offer for now and work with the man.

 

[Kipeci]

A > C

The man seems to have some ideas on what may be ailing Elizabeth and the course of the illness, which (if true) is better than what we have currently and would be great to pick up through a partnership (we aren’t getting married to him, we can bettay him later if it seems prudent to do so). Becoming partners would also substantially bump down Elizabeth in the experiment priority list out of our consideration for liking her alive. This comes at the cost of some dead people getting mutilated, but they aren’t using their brains for much.

C rejects the partnership and the potential knowledge from it, but also protects Elizabeth by kicking out this creep and I guess also preserves those corpses on the benefit list. Missed opportunity in my opinion, but protects the status quo by kicking out a threat and perhaps earns some brownie points that way.

B is the worst of the options. It rejects the chance to gain info and the chance to modulate his priorities out of consideration for an ally, yet we do nothing about the creep. So she’s still at the top of his list to cut up as an intriguing specimen without having first honed the art on lesser specimens, we are not poised to learn anything from it, and he has a more or less free hand whenever outside of our sight.

 

[Grimgravy]

A

 

[Tigranes]

This is very simple.

What is the most important priority for young Wrinkly? To cure Elizabeth. We gave up on a golden ticket to adventurer education and many other things besides so we can waste away our youth in a dreary hospital. What is the point of all that if we can't help her?

And it should be very, very, very clear at this point that conventional medicine has no clue how to help Elizabeth. It's unlikely they'll ever manage to do anything for her except keep her in a nice bed for the next twenty years.

A. We can also stop him, by force if necessary, from him doing anything idiotic to Elizabeth, should it come to that.

 

[Kz3r0]

A

Because we can keep an eye on him, something that the two other options don’t allow for.

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

Because we can keep an eye on him, something that the two other options don’t allow.

No, A implies that you believe him and will trust him. Which is such an extraordinary level of fuckup, I can't even begin to explain it.

This guy was just about to murder your friend and you now want to "work with him for now".