Published: April 4th 2022, 12:00:06 pm
Serena kicked her feet on the floor, the pink Mary Janes not making much of a satisfying sound, either, which only made her want to continue to thrash and whine, uselessly pounding her mittened hands on the ground beside her as she sniffled. This was not how today was supposed to go!
And now... Well, now she was throwing a fit, right in the middle of this place, while Julianne watched from above. Serena blushed, realizing how absurd and childish she was being - even if she felt like it was justified - thanks especially to the stupid outfit she was wearing, and the state of her diaper. She looked very much like she belonged in this place... And maybe that was true.
No! No, it wasn't! She was a college student now! Not even a freshman anymore, she was a sophomore! She was old enough that she should be able to figure out this place, and all its puzzles, and to not act like a baby if Alecia did her part... Or even if she did more than her fair share. All that mattered was getting all of them out of here.
She took a deep breath, trying her best to wipe her eyes with the mittens locked around her wrists. If she gave up now, they had no chance... Alecia might be on a roll now, but that might not be the case forever, and this place was designed for three people... Surely there was no way Alecia would be able to solve everything in time!
She looked around the room, mentally making a checklist of everything that seemed important, marking off what she or Alecia had done already. Honestly, if she stayed calm and thought about it for a few moments, there wasn't that much left to investigate... And one of those places had to contain the combination to free Julianne. Once she was out, they'd be unstoppable!
The idea of moving the stool wore her out, even without the mittens on her hands, so she knew she wasn't going to bother with the fridge, or the sink itself, which was tall enough that she wouldn't able to look in on her own. Besides, after falling for the trap under the sink, she was not in the mood to go near that thing again anytime soon if she didn't have to.
That really only left one option, which were the pots and pans strewn over the floor. Thankfully, unlike the books, they weren't strewn about quite as much, mostly confined to one area. She toddled her way over to see them more closely, pondering what she could possibly need to do with them.
They were all upside-down, which was suspicious in and of itself. All sorts of things could be hiding under there, good... or bad. With her luck, probably the latter, but she had to try it anyway.
She carefully knelt down beside them, reaching out for the nearest pan, wrapping her mittened hands around it and attempting to lift... And failing. She whimpered, scrambling to her feet to give herself more leverage, to no avail. Either they were very heavy, or the mittens were making her very weak... Or both. Whatever the case, that wasn't going to work, and neither would her attempts to knock them over.
She stomped her foot again in frustration, feeling another tantrum welling up. She stopped, closing her eyes, sucking in another gulp of air. Everything else in this place seemed to be here for a reason, even if that reason was to trick her and her friends... There had to be a way to see what was going on with these things, too. What could that be?
The answer came to her a second later, making her feel silly for how upset she'd almost gotten. Of course! This whole escape room was meant to cause the players to feel like babies... And what did babies do with pots and pans?
She leaned over, giving the top of one of the pots a whack, the mitten coming in handy for once. It didn't make much of a sound, but it did allow her to hit the bottom of the pot as hard as she wanted without it hurting, giving it a couple whacks before it flipped open, falling onto its side and revealing a large brownie on a colorful plate underneath.
She frowned, tilted her head in confusion, bending down to look at it a little more closely, only for the brownie to leap off the plate, flying through the air at her. She squealed in surprise, stumbling away, only to trip on her own feet, falling once more onto her mushy bottom, gasping in surprise and disgust, her mouth falling open... And allowing the brownie to shove itself inside.
It didn't taste bad... If anything, it was too good, too rich and chocolatey as it smeared against her face, forcing its way into her mouth. Considering everything else that had happened in this room, she doubted eating it was a good idea, yet, thanks to the gloves, there wasn't much she could do to push it away, get it out of her mouth.
Her tummy already feeling fuller, she pushed herself back up onto her knees, wrinkling her nose at the sight of all the other pots and pans. There were fewer of those than there were books, but if they all had little surprises like the first one... She wiggled her bottom worriedly. Still... She couldn't give up after just one, could she?
She banged on the top of another one, bracing herself, mittens moving up in front of her face when she saw it begin to move on its own. When it turned over, however, it wasn't more food hidden underneath... It was a small flashlight. Her eyes widened as she saw it, and she reached for it instinctively, though, of course, thanks to the mittens, she had no hope of picking up, much less using, the tiny thing. Yet that was almost definitely something useful, and she turned, ready to shout to Alecia to bring her over so she could grab it for her, before remembering she couldn't speak... And before realizing that Alecia was already there.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Alecia was not about to let herself get trapped in this place. She might not feel like she knew much anymore, after spending so much time looking at those books, but she knew that, and she knew that the shapes were important.
The stool was heavy; not as bad as she remembered, however, perhaps thanks to the extra burst of adrenaline she'd gotten from peeing her pants, discovering how serious this had all gotten. It took her a moment to recall what shape she'd put the stool on when she'd tested it so she could avoid that, dragging it instead over to the gray circle. The stool fit in it much easier than it had within the star, though the circle still didn't look like it was being pressed in, like it did when Alecia herself stood on it.
But that wasn't going to stop her. She just wanted to test it, to see what was going to happen... And for that, she was going to need Serena, who was busy banging on the pots and pans. It wasn't as loud and annoying as it could have been, thankfully, yet Alecia felt a pang of annoyance, seeing her playing around like that when she was working so hard to get them out of here. No wonder she'd been the first one to use her diaper here... Alecia didn't love that she'd joined the club, obviously. At least it had taken her longer, and she'd only wet herself... So far.
"Come on," Alecia rolled her eyes, grabbing Serena's wrist, yanking her up. The girl's eyes went wide and she shook her head, pointing one hand, encased now, Alecia saw, in a big, pink mitten, at the floor, where Alecia saw a flashlight. "Okay, whatever," Alecia sighed, bending over to pick it up. "Now, would you come with me? I want to try something."
Serena shook her head, jabbing her hand at the flashlight. Alecia glared at her, already losing patience with the smaller, younger girl. "You can play with that later! This is only going to take a second... I want to try standing on the shapes."
Serena frowned, shaking her head again, more vehemently, pointing this time at the gate. "Yes, I know," Alecia glowered. "The shapes probably open the gate. That's why I want to..."
"But what about Julianne?!" Serena demanded, looking as shocked as Alecia that she'd actually said something again, rather than babbling, the way she had been for a few minutes now. Serena looked pleased with herself for a moment, before glaring up at Alecia again, putting her hands on her hips. "Well?!"
"We'll figure that out later," Alecia told her forcefully. "I want to get that gate open now, so we know we can get out."
"But what if..?!" Serena asked.
Alecia clamped her hand around Serena's wrist again, taking the girl by surprise as she yanked her away from her spot. "I liked it better when you were quiet," Alecia grumbled, dragging her across the floor, the other girl no match for her.
"Can you just give me another couple minutes?!" Serena whined. "I think I'm..."
It wasn't going to be easy, Alecia could tell, getting Serena to cooperate, but she was determined to make it work. She knew the locations of the shapes by heart, so she knew exactly how far apart they were, and she did her best to estimate how long it would take her to get to one from the other. If Serena was left to her own devices, she could simply step off, and Alecia would have no hope of getting to her spot... If she didn't have that option, however...
"Hey!" Serena gasped as Alecia shoved her down, making her fall right onto the pink star. "That hurt!"
Alecia would have loved to ask how she'd even felt anything through her thick diaper, but she was busy scrambling across the floor, picking her way past piles of books to jump onto the last shape, the purple diamond. She turned, seeing Alecia recognize what was happening and start trying to get to her feet before giving up, scooting away...
"What clever babies," the woman's voice boomed. Alecia flinched, turning back around to see the giant stepping through the gate as it swung open. "Or... Well, I guess neither of you is quite as clever anymore, now are you?" She smirked, bending over to tap Alecia on the forehead. "You had quite the time with those books, didn't you, my dear?"
Alecia blushed, the warmth in her cheeks increasing as the woman reached down, giving her soggy diaper a pat. "How embarrassing for you, to forget all about your potty training, at your age... No wonder you were so eager to leave your little friend behind."
"Wh-What?!" Alecia shook her head. "N-No, I wasn't..."
The woman turned towards Julianne, still trapped in the high chair, and grinned. "Poor thing... I wonder how much longer she can hold out... You other two ought to be ashamed of yourselves, using your diapers before her, when she's been getting constantly fed, and given bottles, since she arrived... And now, she's going to have to put up with it for even longer..."
"No, she doesn't!" Alecia glared. "We're going to get her out, and..!"
"We'll see about that," the woman said, taking Alecia's hand and pulling her to her feet. "For now, though, you wanted out of here so bad, so you're getting out."
"No!" Alecia struggled to break free of the woman's grip, reminded of how Serena had been struggling, not that long ago... But Alecia's situation was even more hopeless, as the woman demonstrated by picking her up, carrying Alecia on her hip, one hand on the seat of her diaper, demonstrating how tiny the girl was compared to her, how impossible it would be for Alecia to get away from her.
"You, too, stinky," the woman teased Serena, grabbing her hand as well, forcing the two of them through the gate, abandoning Julianne.
The gate swung shut behind them with a click, Alecia's stomach churning as she knew that it was locked again. They'd never been able to see anything beyond the gate, but now, as they stepped through it, they could see that the other side didn't hold freedom... It was a playroom.
In one corner of the room, there was something that almost looked like a pleasant, plastic prison, a playpen made up of brightly colored panels, stretching up nearly as high as the baby gate had, with bars. It had a gate as well, one that was standing open, invitingly, letting them see the plastic balls filling the floor inside, obscuring their view of anything else that might be inside.
There was much more to keep them entertained outside of the playpen, however. There were coloring books, what seemed to be a large jack in the box, several ring stacking toys, a whole host of blocks, a large dollhouse, and a closed toy box that no doubt held even more surprises. There was a plastic slide set up as well, along with several long, cloth tunnels, shaped like friendly caterpillars, smiling and inviting the girls to climb inside.
A high shelf, far out of reach, held a TV, showing some kids' show neither of the girls recognized, though, in it, they could see what seemed to be a doll version of Julianne being forced to join in a song and dance teaching her her alphabet. The room also, unsurprisingly, had a changing table set up, the shelves underneath stocked with diapers and changing supplies, with a diaper pail sitting beside it. And right on the other side of the diaper pail was the best part of all.
A door. A door leading outside, a big window in it showing the sun shining out there, beckoning them to step out and enjoy it. Of course, there was no way it would be that simple... The doorknob was far too high for them to reach on their own, and it was, no doubt, locked, though, from what Alecia could tell, there didn't appear to be a keyhole, or any visible way to unlock it.
"There you go," the woman told them, setting Alecia down and letting go of Serena. "All you have to do is step out that door, and you're free."
"B-But we already solved it!" Alecia whined. "We got out!"
"You got out of the first room," the woman said. "But most escape rooms aren't just one room, are they, Serena?"
Serena shook her head, peering around the new room anxiously, "Wh-what about Julianne?"
"If you can figure out how to open the gate from this side, you can go get her," the woman said. "Otherwise... Well, I suppose it's up to you if you think you'll have time to go back and do that, and get out of here. If she isn't able to walk out of the door on her own, however... She's mine."
She smiled in a way that sent a chill up Alecia's spine. "Just like you two will be, if you aren't able to escape. You've already used up twenty minutes... Maybe you should just spend the rest of your hour playing, and enjoying yourselves."
"I-It's already been twenty?" Alecia frowned. "W-Wasn't it just...?"
"That's right," the woman said. "It was just fifteen... And how many minutes ago was that?" She smirked, watching Alecia squirm. "This is an easy one, Alecia... What is twenty minus fifteen?"
Alecia was truly stumped, her cheeks burning as she felt Serena watching her, seeing her confusion, seeing her unaware of where to even begin. "Poor, dumb baby," the woman chuckled. "You don't have a chance..." She spun around, marching back towards the baby gate, easily stepping over the thing that had given the girls so much grief, leaving them to ponder the very important choices they had in front of them.
What should Serena do?
Ask for a change?
Check out the playpen?
Look at the ring toys?
Investigate the toy box?
Look at the doll house?
Check out the coloring books?
Investigate the jack in the box?
Check out the blocks?
Try to get a closer look at the TV?
Go down the slide?
Climb into the tunnels?
Look at the changing table?
Check out the diaper pail?
Or ask for a hint?
What should Alecia do?
Ask for a change?
Check out the playpen?
Look at the ring toys?
Investigate the toy box?
Look at the doll house?
Check out the coloring books?
Investigate the jack in the box?
Check out the blocks?
Try to get a closer look at the TV?
Go down the slide?
Climb into the tunnels?
Look at the changing table?
Check out the diaper pail?
Or ask for a hint?
The Roll Report:
This is a bit mixed up, since there was a little more of Serena in Alecia's part, but Serena failed at her attempts to move the pots and pans normally, then had a big success on figuring out how to actually use them. She failed her first attempt to find the right one to bang on, then barely failed her roll to avoid the brownie. Her next roll was another pretty big success in helping her find the right pot. Unfortunately, thanks to the penalty from her mittens, she wasn't able to pick it up, but she rolled very well again in her attempt, so I decided to let her convince Alecia to grab it. She also just barely (by one!) failed to break her baby-talk curse initially, but thanks to a roll that Alecia got, I decided that gave Serena enough of a bonus, since it was the first time she actually tried to talk, that she was able to finally break through that curse and speak again. Then she failed at escaping from the woman's grasp.
As for Alecia, she rolled well enough to move the stool, but then had a critical failure when she attempted to talk Serena into helping her, which was what I decided gave Serena the last point she needed to break her curse. In deciding whether or not Alecia was able to drag Serena over to the shapes to make her do it, I had them do opposing Strength rolls, and Alecia won, and then Alecia rolled again to see if she could manage to get both of them onto the shapes at the same time, and she barely managed to squeak out a success. For her attempt to resist the woman, she failed pretty badly, which was why I decided she got picked up and carried.