Night 18

[theyregooddogs]

[we exploring]

Comments

[truthstranger]

[I guess we're looking around the second floor]

[theyregooddogs]

[strafing his flashlight around, taking in the scenery]

[pandatreasure]

[one of the classroom doors is open, just so—wasn't this one locked before?]

[truthstranger]

Ah—!

[he goes over to check it]

This was definitely closed before...

[theyregooddogs]

[damn, he noticed . . . and coming along]

Ah, yeah, it was. Anything in there?

[truthstranger]

[he pushes the door open cautiously]

...It's just a classroom.

[theyregooddogs]

[a beat]

The blackboard.

[truthstranger]

[INDEED. In large writing on the blackboard is:

Breathe, kind friends. This puzzle will not harm you if you respect its clever orchestration.
4 1 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 2]

Ah! That's got to be important!

[theyregooddogs]

Did we ever find any horn or wind instruments here . . . ?

[truthstranger]

Were there any instruments at all other than the piano? Do you think that's relevant?

[theyregooddogs]

Not that I recall. But "breathe, kind friends," unless someone was adding something extraneous.

[which isn't unreasonable]

[truthstranger]

Well, 'orchestration' is an interesting word choice, too. I suppose we could try the piano. It did lick me before...

[pandatreasure]

[if they head up to the library, the piano is still there.

waiting. watching. dangerously close to meowing.]

[theyregooddogs]

Mm, it's chromatic scale. Play it with all sharps.

[truthstranger]

A-Ah, I don't know what that means.

[my pianist girlfriend died before she could teach me things]

[theyregooddogs]

It's a way of notating music without using the symbols we're used to.

[when they're at the piano, waving Shuichi back just a step then playing the tune]

[pandatreasure]

[The piano keys retract, slooowly.

The slobbery, sandpapery tongue comes out of the mouth.

It slowly, tenderly licks Will's hand.

It retreats back into the piano.

...

Thanks.]

[truthstranger]

...Ah... that's what it did last time, too.

[theyregooddogs]

[not amused, wiping his hand off on his pants]

Any chance something somewhere else changed?

[truthstranger]

I suppose it's possible, but... as far as I know, nothing happened before.

[theyregooddogs]

It may need a change of location.

[but is the piano bolted]

[pandatreasure]

[it sure is. it can't just be gotten rid of that easy!!!]

[truthstranger]

[apparently]

I don't think we can move it...

[theyregooddogs]

The elevator also has a sequential pattern that fits, but it doesn't relate to the breathing. There aren't any instruments in the tunnel, but we could check if anything has changed.

[could go on and on]

Do you have anything?

[truthstranger]

The aquarium is the most relevant thing to breathing that I can think of... nothing else comes to mind.