The staff party had started out with an exuberant band of Denobulan jazz musicians, highlighted by a spectacular light show, with drinks and hors d’oeuvres so everyone could mingle before the main event.

The escape room was set in an abandoned 23rd century hospital where every creak of old tritanium and every rustle of tattered fabric bespoke of the sinister mystery of how the doctors and patients had disappeared from this venue. It was probably a good thing that the bartenders had limited the pre-escape drink limit to two. Nobody wanted an impaired partner while trying to escape from devious holographic riddles.

As the second of two participants entered one large, empty surgery bay, the doors behind them locked and there was an aggressive digital clicking sound to indicate they were locked in. Multicolored lights flashed on a panel to the north, tools lay strewn about, there was a locked contained on the west wall, and to the south there was an ominously large, sealed cryogenic vault that promised something important was inside. The lighting was dim, the atmosphere was spooky and the puzzle timer flashed up on the exit door.

Theran Jos, a fashionable young Andorian with a sociable smile looked to his companion. “Well, I guess it’s time to figure out some puzzles.  Hi, I’m Theran.”

“Hi I am Minh,” she offered her hand to the young man.

“Excellent.  Good to meet you!” He settled in, not drawing into the spooky atmosphere – at least not yet – looking over the room with a critical gaze. “Where do you think we should start?”

Looking around the room, she wasn’t exactly sure. She hadn’t done an Escape Room before, let alone been in a situation like this. Drawing on her experience would be redundant. “I am not too sure Theran. Any ideas?”

Antennae twitching he started to look around the room. “I think there’s probably something to get us started. Like a note or computer screen or…” both antennae hiked upwards in an ah-hah expression. “Or a PADD!”

Theran seized a PADD that was sitting somewhat obviously on the edge of the desk. As soon as he touched it, it lit up with the face of a weathered old man in a surgical gown and a pre-recorded message.

To those who come long after I am gone, I am Barnabus Meade, chief medical officer of this outpost. We have been besieged by an unknown force and we have taken all measures to hide our most valuable asset. If you can rescue the asset you will find the key. Please, protect the asset at all costs. 

For security reasons I cannot tell you the code, but I can tell you that the code is the number of letters in Survek’s full name, the day Lora was born, Ashton’s favorite color, My middle initial, and the number of members of our surgical team.  Good luck.

And the message started to repeat itself.

She looked at her Andorian colleague, it was hard to not read his thoughts, but out of respect she didn’t. She felt the need to run out of the room screaming. She never liked the notion of escape rooms. “Right so I am not well versed in these situations. I am a Bureaucrat if you will, a woman of the mind. Tell me what to do.”

“I’m guessing each name was someone connected to protecting this asset… and if I had to guess the big highly visible cryostasis unit at the back of the room contains the asset… and that’s how far I got.” Theran gave a melodramatic shrug.

There were lockers around each with a faded nameplate, and two desks. Maybe there were clues in any or all of them.

“Fist fighting it is?” She smirked attempting to make light of the situation, she might have had a little bit too much to drink at the dinner. “Perhaps the best thing to do is to check the desks?”

“Let’s check the desks!” Theran was excited to figure puzzles out and pointed to the desk on the left. “You grab that one, I’ll take this one.”

She nodded, she opened the first drawer, nothing, she slammed it, but heard something shake. She opened it again, but this time with extra vigor, you know sort of like adding extra salt to your fries, loud enough to give someone a surprise. She managed to pull out the drawer on the back there was a bottle of sorts. She left the drawer on the desk and continued to rumage.

He started rummaging around, opening all the drawers he could open and picking everything up until he found something that looked like a clue.  A small sealed sample container with a very non-standard lock that requested a three letter code. “Check this out!  It wants a code… find anything with three letters?”

“Not with three letters, but I did find this bottle.” She said handing it over.

“Anything in it?” Both Theran’s antennae curled downwards in curiosity. “I head a saying about a message in a bottle…”

“A snake imprinted Key?” Minh questioned.

His blue eyes lit up excitedly as both antennae flexed upwards. “That’s it!  It has to be!” And with a momentary pause he punched the highlighted name ABE into the contained lock.  It lit up with a satisfying glow and produced an isolinear chip key. Theran held the chip up in the air. “Ah ha!  our first key!”

“OH! Yay!” She said excitedly.

Emboldened, the surgeon strode across the room. “Well, let’s plug it in to that PADD that gave us the starting message.”

Doing so, a holopicture flashed upwards showing a group of doctors, it was labeled the Shrenta Outpost Surgical Team 2248.

A quick count revealed that there was seventeen of them.

“That was the fourth key… seventeen…” Theran looked towards Minh. “wanna try it in the cryostasis unit?

She tried to leave it in… it fell out. She tried it again… nothing but the soleless clank on the floor. Her eyebrows raised like she had an idea…

“Hold please…” Minh picked up the failed keys and made her way to the exit, one by one… finally pop, the door opened. “I could go for more wine.”

Theran grinned.  “Maybe it wasn’t the escape they planned, but I love a clever solution!  And yes!  Always more wine!  We need to toast our Victory!”