Tabula Rasa: Randall Library Escape Room

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You blink. The room swims into focus as you open your eyes. You're alone--at least as far as you can tell. A computer sits on a desk up against the wall, its fans running quietly, screen black. Papers and books are scattered all over the desk, some fallen to the floor and trampled on. The room has one very solid-looking door and no windows. Your head hurts, a lot. Something somewhere is beeping. [[Look around to get your bearings->Home]] <<set $holdings to { doorkey: false, cupsOfCoffee: 4 } >>

The computer seems to be locked. It has a field waiting for a password. [[Try to login]]

The main things on the desk are two sets of blueprints, halfway covering the computer's keyboard. The desk also has a drawer, which is locked with a 4-digit combination lock. [[Pick up the blueprints]] [[Try to open the drawer]] [[Look around the room->Home]]

A dialog box appears when you move the mouse to wake up the computer. Beside the password entry text box are the words "SPECIAL COLLECTIONS ACCESS CODE:" <<set $answer to ''>>\ <<textbox '$answer' '' autofocus>> <span id='textbox-reply'></span> <span id='textbox-submit'>\ <<button 'Submit Access Code'>> <<if $answer is '2042'>> <<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\ ACCESS GRANTED\ <</replace>> <<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\ [[You did it! Log in.->CONTINUE]]\ <</replace>> <<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>> /% prevent the textbox from being edited any further %/ <<else>> <<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\ Incorrect. Please try again.\ <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>>\ </span> There are some blueprints on the desk, scattered over the keyboard. Something on them catches your eye. [[Look at the desk]]

It looks like Dr. Mesmer left a few different windows open. You can see his "Live, Laugh, Love!" desktop background behind them, because of course that's his background. Always a big believer in bringing out the good in humanity, Dr. Mesmer. The open tabs are: <a href="https://libcat.uncw.edu/" target='_blank'>The Randall Library catalog</a> [[Something about Films on Demand]] [[Go back to looking around the room->Home]]

<<set $holdings['doorkey'] = true>> You snatch up the unassuming key and shove it in your pocket. [[Keep investigating the box->The Final Key]] [[Go back to looking around the room->Home]] [[GET OUT OF HERE->ESCAPE]]

You start patting at your pockets, trying to see if there's anything there that could help you, or give you more information on your current situation. You check your first pocket: <<if $holdings.doorkey === true>> You have the door key. <<else>> It's empty, except for a bit of lint and a gross, sticky penny. <</if>> You check your second pocket: <<if $holdings.cabinetkey === true>> You have the cabinet key. <<else>> It's empty. Wow. Like, not even any lint. That's super empty. <</if>> [[Go back to looking at the room->Home]]

You look around, methodically cataloging everything in the room. There's a computer on the desk, whirring quietly. There are papers on the desk, and on the floor, too, along with some scattered books. There's a bookcase up against one wall with a lock on it and some books visible behind the glass doors. There's a large, ominously matte black metal box pushed up against the other wall. That's where the beeping is coming from. There is only one door. [[Try to open the door]] [[Look at the computer]] [[Look at the desk]] [[Look at the stuff on the floor]] [[Look at the bookcase]] [[Check what's in your pockets]] [[Look at the beeping box]]

<<if $holdings.doorkey === true>> The key you got out of that box looks like it'll fit. [[ESCAPE]] <<else>> The door is locked. Nothing you do seems to budge it. <</if>> [[Look at the rest of the room->Home]]

The floor is a mess of papers, photos, files, and other small items, seemingly thrown to the floor in a hurry, or a fit of pique--or maybe a struggle. Several library books are on the floor, too, tossed down with a carelessness that you don't think is normal for Dr. Mesmer. You have a brief flash of something striking you in the head from behind before the world went dark--the last thing you remember before waking up on the floor, just a few moments ago. Half-buried among the papers, oddly enough, are a number of what look like jigsaw puzzle pieces. [[Look at the puzzle pieces]] [[Look at the books]] [[Look around the room->Home]]

There's a big, glass-fronted bookcase here, the kind of shelf someone's grandparents would store a full china set in. Instead of china, though, there's a bunch of books in it, which makes sense, or why would you have even called it a bookcase? What's weird is that they all look like they're part of the same set--they all match, but each one has a slightly different title. <<if $holdings.cabinetkey === true>> The bookcase is locked, but it looks like that little silver key you got earlier might fit. [[Try to open the bookcase]] <<else>> The bookcase is locked. The glass looks pretty strong, and you're pretty sure you shouldn't go around bashing in university property--if you could even break into it without hurting yourself. <</if>> [[Go back to looking around the room->Home]]

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/dsmNq0C.jpg" width="500" height="350" alt="A graphic that says SUCCESS"> Like in a bad horror movie--which, hey, maybe this is--it takes you a panicked minute to fit the key in the lock, but finally it's in, and the door unlocks, and you're rushing out. You do take a minute to slam it shut and lock it behind you, in case someone else gets the bright idea to go in once you're gone. You'll be gone a while. You have a supervillain to stop. -------------------------------------------------------- [[What even was that?]] [[Credits]] [[Completion certificate]]

You realize the blueprints are floor plans of Randall Library, and as you do, bits of your memory start to come back. That's where you went to do your research. Your research for Dr. Mesmer. You wonder where they went, and why you're in the lab alone--and as you think that word, you remember that's where this is, too. The lab. That you're locked into. Weird. You look at the blueprints. <img src="https://i.imgur.com/Qg5oaVT.png" width="500" height="729" alt="The first floor of Randall Library"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/8ZIB5Af.png" width="500" height="729" alt="The second floor of Randall Library"> Huh. Wasn't there something on the computer that these sort of remind you of? [[Look at the computer]] [[{Accessible version of this page available here}->Desk accessible]]

These are handmade, and not very professionally. Looks like some weird side-project of Dr. Mesmer's. You start to gather them together, and though you can't read the full message yet, you start seeing parts of what look like some sort of source citation. Apparently even this guy's hobbies were boring. <a href="https://puzzel.org/en/jigsaw/play?p=-MFbVZqInBg9BDoUJCgY" target='_blank'>Try to put the pieces together</a> [[Toss them down in a huff and go back to looking at the stuff on the floor->Look at the stuff on the floor]] [[Stand back up and look around at the room again->Home]] [[{Accessible version of this page}->Jigsaw accessible]]

You dig through the pile on the floor and find four books, lining them up in front of yourself. They're all about superhero stuff. That was always one of Dr. Mesmer's endearing quirks--or at least it was endearing at the time. The more you remember and the more you start to wonder where he is, and why you're locked in this room alone, the more things start to feel a little...supervillainish. You realize the books each have a numbered bookmark in them, 1-4. You rearrange the books so they're in order by bookmark: 1: <img src="https://i.imgur.com/Xnj00ew.jpg" width="350" height="499" alt="A book titled War, Politics and Supheroes"> 2: <img src="https://i.imgur.com/6efpZAH.jpg" width="350" height="499" alt="A book titled The Amazing Transforming Superhero!"> 3: <img src="https://i.imgur.com/Olp6JiM.jpg" width="350" height="499" alt="A book titled Superwomen: Gender, Power, and Representation"> 4: <img src="https://i.imgur.com/HoJk1QO.jpg" width="350" height="499" alt="A book titled Killing Monsters: Why Children Need Fantasy, Superheroes, and Make-Believe Violence"> As you pick up the last book, you see a folded piece of paper sticking out at an odd angle. When you unfold it, you see there's a numbered grid on it. <a href="https://library.uncw.edu/transcripts/callup.pdf" target='_blank'>Take a look at this grid.</a> [[Go back to looking around the room->Home]] [[{Accessible version of this page}->Books accessible]]

<<set $holdings['cabinetkey'] = true>> You pick up the little key and put it in your pocket. [[Go look at the room again, see if there's something you can unlock with this->Home]] [[Look at the desk]]

The key fits perfectly. You give it a twist, and the glass cabinet doors slide wide open, giving you access to...a lot of books. You scan your eyes over the titles and names on the spines, and you start to see some familiar ones from that weird jigsaw puzzle that was on the floor--the citation one. You figure whichever book Dr. Mesmer was citing is one that might have more clues in it, but the books in front of you all look really similar. They have slight differences in the title or date, but it seems like they're all parts of the same series. You think back to the citation. Ann P. Robson--who was she in relation to that book? <<set $answer to ''>>\ <<textbox '$answer' '' autofocus>> <span id='textbox-reply'></span> <span id='textbox-submit'>\ <<button 'Who was Ann?'>> <<if $answer is 'editor'>> <<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\ Yes! Yes, that was it.\ <</replace>> <<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\ [[Pick up that volume]]\ <</replace>> <<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>> /% prevent the textbox from being edited any further %/ <<else>> <<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\ Hmmm. No, no that wasn't it.\ <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>>\ </span> [[Go back to looking around the room->Home]]

You lift the lock. It's a pretty standard luggage lock, four digits left to right. <<set $answer to ''>>\ <<textbox '$answer' '' autofocus>> <span id='textbox-reply'></span> <span id='textbox-submit'>\ <<button 'Enter the code to unlock it.'>> <<if $answer is '1084'>> <<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\ The lock slips open with a satisfying "ka-CHUNK."\ <</replace>> <<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\ [[Open the desk drawer]]\ <</replace>> <<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>> /% prevent the textbox from being edited any further %/ <<else>> <<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\ The lock doesn't budge.\ <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>>\ </span> [[Look at the desk]] [[Go back to looking around the room->Home]]

The drawer slides open, a little slowly. Seems like someone hasn't been maintaining their furniture. There's just one thing in the desk--a tiny silver key. [[Pick up the tiny silver key->Pick up the cabinet key]] [[Look at the desk]]

You approach the ominously big, black, beeping box with all the nervousness appropriate to an ominously big, black, beeping box in a locked and abandoned laboratory. The outside of the box is nearly featureless, some sort of rough, matte metal that reflects nothing. It has vents on its sides. A raised control panel is embedded on the front, with a keypad beneath a faintly glowing screen. There's a folded sheet of paper loosely stuffed under one corner of the box. [[Look at the control panel]] [[Look at the note]] [[Go back to looking around the room->Home]]

There's a small screen, off-green with black numbers, like a very old cellphone screen. There's a full keyboard, letters and numbers, under it, but the screen looks like it has an entry field for a timestamp or something: --:--:-- <<set $answer to ''>>\ <<textbox '$answer' '' autofocus>> <span id='textbox-reply'></span> <span id='textbox-submit'>\ <<button 'Enter six digit code'>> <<if $answer is '012333'>> <<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\ ACCESS GRANTED\ <</replace>> <<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\ [[You hear a loud click as the whole panel starts to swivel off-- ->Black Box Two]]\ <</replace>> <<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>> /% prevent the textbox from being edited any further %/ <<else>> <<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\ Incorrect. Please try again.\ <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>>\ </span> [[Keep investigating the box->Look at the beeping box]]

It's addressed to you, in Dr. Mesmer's ridiculously illegible scrawl. "If you're reading this, my plan is probably still working, but the part where you never find out about it isn't. My apologies. You've been nothing but diligent as an assistant, that incident with the full year of deleted data aside. Diligent--but perhaps not perceptive enough. I knew there was little chance you'd discover what I was really doing before it was ready, but finally twigging that SOMEthing was wrong literally the very moment I was ready to deploy my project was annoying for both of us. If you're reading this, you're also quite securely trapped, so I suppose I can take a moment to reveal to you the breadth of my--our--accomplishments. No, we have not been exploring gentle, benign sedatives in this lab. I--with your help, for whatever that's worth--have created a fresh start. For everyone. This is a terrible time in the world. Everyone is so angry all the time, and no one can get over their differences because no one can forget the past. We needed to erase those differences. We needed to start everyone from scratch, with no knowledge of their former animosities. No memories at all, in fact. Just a blank slate, ready to be filled. I call it Clean. There's a large dose of it in this box, ready to be aerosolized into the room sixty minutes from when I set the timer. I need time to treat the rest of the population. I don't expect you to understand. Don't worry. You won't remember this afterwards." [[THE HECK]]

[[SERIOUSLY WHAT THE HECK]]

Did he just INSULT you while preparing to wipe your mind? Oh you'll show him how PERCEPTIVE you are. And you're NOT sorry for deleting that data even if it WAS an accident. [[Go back to looking at the box->Look at the beeping box]]

--and reveals a SECOND PANEL underneath it. Okay. Sure. Fine. Another screen, but this time the keypad is only letters. <<set $answer to ''>>\ <<textbox '$answer' '' autofocus>> <span id='textbox-reply'></span> <span id='textbox-submit'>\ <<button 'Submit Access Code'>> <<if $answer is 'logos'>> <<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\ ACCESS GRANTED\ <</replace>> <<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\ [[YES! This time you see the lid pop open. Lift it up.->The Final Key]]\ <</replace>> <<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>> /% prevent the textbox from being edited any further %/ <<else>> <<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\ Incorrect. Please try again.\ <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>>\ </span> [[Go back to investigating the box->Look at the beeping box]]

Scrambling and starting to sweat now, you heave the box lid open, only to feel it fly out of your control and clang against the back of the box. Turns out it wasn't as heavy as it looked. Inside you see an incredibly sinister-looking canister. It's built into the structure of the box, forged in, it looks like, with strong steel pipes leading out to the vents in the sides and a countdown clock on its top. The time on the clock is more than zero, but uncomfortably close. Oh look, it's less time now. You also see what can only be the door key. [[Pick up the door key]] [[Try to deactivate the canister]]

Are you serious? Did you not read the part about how sinister-looking it is? Like, REALLY REALLY sinister. If this thing could grease its mustache while slowly walking backwards into a dark alley, it would. Also, you know nothing about the bomb defusing techniques you'd need to shut this down without promptly dosing yourself up with a nice mind-wipe of "Clean." Just...take the door key and go. [[Okay, fine, just had to try out my free will, so sue me->The Final Key]]

You open the tab that said something about Films on Demand. The first thing you notice on it is what looks like a phone keypad. <img src="https://i.imgur.com/IlOsd4n.png" width="350" height="480" alt="A standard telephone keypad with letters on the number keys"> There's also a link to <a href="http://fod.infobase.com.liblink.uncw.edu/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wid=101080" target='_blank'>Films on Demand</a>, which when you click on it looks like a big database of streaming movies and videos. You might check out what's on there later, when you're literally locked in a mysterious lab; seems like it's free through Randall, and free is always better than not. As you're looking at the database, a Notepad window suddenly pops up. All it has in it is a series of numbers: 2/1 6/1 3/2 7/3 4/3 2/3 2/1 6/2 7/3 3/2 2/2 3/2 5/3 7/4 [[Click back to the desktop->CONTINUE]] [[Go back to looking around the room->Home]]

<a href="https://libcat.uncw.edu/record=b3304986~S4" target='_blank'>You grab the book Dr. Mesmer cited in his puzzle.</a> It looks like his general sense of entitlement extends to library books, since he's scribbled some sort of code on the inside cover. The librarians would be SO PISSED. "400/5/3 483/6/1 731/3/8 740/10/2 534/2/5" [[Almost throw the book down in annoyance, control yourself, gently put it back on the shelf instead, and go back to looking around the room->Home]]

Congrats on completing Tabula Rasa, Randall Library's virtual escape room! We hope you had fun, but we also wanted to take a minute to point out some of the library skills and resources you got familiar with on the way. MAPS AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS: At the start of the game, when you were trying to get access to the computer, you had to look at the floor plans of Randall Library. These are a great intro to where things are in the building, and are <a href="https://library.uncw.edu/floor_maps" target='_blank'>also available on our website.</a> The room number you needed was for the Special Collections room. This is where we keep items that are rare, old, fragile, unique, or otherwise in need of an extra layer of protection. You can still use the materials in Special Collections, though! You just have to make an appointment with the <a href="https://library.uncw.edu/archives_special/special" target='blank'>head of Special Collections.</a> There's a lot of stuff in there about Wilmington and UNCW history, so it's pretty interesting. CALL NUMBERS AND THE CATALOG: When figuring out the code to unlock the desk drawer and get the bookshelf key, you had to look up the call numbers for each of the four books in the <a href="https://libcat.uncw.edu/search~b001o001c001i001" target='_blank'>library catalog.</a> The library catalog is the library's searchable database of books, videos, and other items in the library's collection. It's different from the library main search--the one on the <a href="https://library.uncw.edu" target='_blank'>main page</a>--because it doesn't search for individual articles, but it DOES search all our materials. Not everything is included in the search on the main page. The library catalog is a great place to look when you already know the title or author of what you're trying to find, and you want to locate it in our collection. Call numbers are like a street address--they tell you where on the shelf to find that item. When you're searching for items in the library, though, you'll also need to pay attention to the Location, which tells you what area of the library to go to. CITATIONS: When you put together the jigsaw puzzle, you also put together a book citation. This citation was a bit complicated, as it was for a specific volume in a multi-volume book set. You also had to be able to identify one of the parts of the citation by figuring out who one of the editors was. We have more citation and bibliography help on our <a href="https://library.uncw.edu/citations" target='_blank'>Citation and Bibliography Help Guide.</a> FILMS ON DEMAND: You searched for the film American Rebels in the database Films on Demand, one of our many streaming video databases. Randall Library provides you with access to <a href="https://library.uncw.edu/videos_dvds" target='_blank'>thousands of streaming films,</a> including both documentaries and popular movies. [[Back->ESCAPE]]

If your professor requested proof of completion--or if you just want a pdf for the great memories--you can <a href="https://lib.uncw.edu/escaperoom_completion" target='_blank'>fill out the completion form here</a> to receive a completion certicate. [[Back->Home]]

This page contains images of two pages of blueprints for Randall Library--floorplans for the first and second floor. The rooms and room numbers on each floor are: First Floor: RL 1029 TAC RL 1039 1040 1041 1043 Digital Makerspace iPrint Business RL 1023 RL 1023G RL 1023H RL 1022 Conf 1012 RL 1010 TECS RL 1045 Circulation Desk Research Help Desk Port City Java Second Floor: Auditorium 2047 RL 2048 RL 2050 Admin Suite Special Collections 2042 CFL/CTE 2038 RL 2037 RL 2052-2056 Faculty Commons RL 2014 RL 2058-2061 RL 2062 Gov Docs Archives RL 2008 Honors College 2006 Distance Learning 2005 2080 2081 CSURF 2079 IBEC [[Back->Pick up the blueprints]]

You dig through the pile on the floor and find four books, lining them up in front of yourself. They're all about superhero stuff. That was always one of Dr. Mesmer's endearing quirks--or at least it was endearing at the time. The more you remember and the more you start to wonder where he is, and why you're locked in this room alone, the more things start to feel a little...supervillainish. You realize the books each have a numbered bookmark in them, 1-4. You rearrange the books so they're in order by bookmark: 1: A book titled War, Politics and Supheroes: Ethics and Propaganda in Comics and Film, by Marc DiPaolo 2: A book titled The Amazing Transforming Superhero!: Essays on the Revision of Characters in Comic Books, Film and Television, edited by Terrence R. Wandtke 3: A book titled Superwomen: Gender, Power, and Representation, by Carolyn Cocca 4: A book titled Killing Monsters: Why Children Need Fantasy, Superheroes, and Make-Believe Violence, by Gerard Jones As you pick up the last book, you see a folded piece of paper sticking out at an odd angle. When you unfold it, you see there's a numbered grid on it. <a href="https://library.uncw.edu/transcripts/callup-ada.pdf" target='_blank'>Take a look at this grid.</a> [[Back->Look at the books]]

These are handmade, and not very professionally. Looks like some weird side-project of Dr. Mesmer's. You start to gather them together, and though you can't read the full message yet, you start seeing parts of what look like some sort of source citation. Apparently even this guy's hobbies were boring. The jigsaw pieces all seem to be out of order. On them, you see: 1986. The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill--Newspaper Writings August 1831 - October 1834, John Stuart Mill, edited by Ann P. Robson and John M. Robson, University of Toronto Press, [[Toss them down in a huff and go back to looking at the stuff on the floor->Look at the stuff on the floor]] [[Stand back up and look around at the room again->Home]] [[Back->Look at the puzzle pieces]]