Quotes / Ruby Quest

Quotes to and from Ruby Quest

Beware of spoilers!!

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The Metal Glen

My mother told me once of when

A young hare ventured from her den

And as she danced in field and glen

The world sang joy about her.

But wicked hateful things abound

And that young hare these evils found

Then whisked her up from off the ground

And glen was left without her.

The wicked power tore asunder

And with this cruel and fateful blunder

Cast her to a world of wonder

Would she e'er see home again?

And so hare flew that mournful day'

Over the sky and far away

And down and down, beneath the sea

To a place unlike the glen.

A world of men and man's design

A place where God's light would not shine

A Hell of steel beneath the brine

Where misery's echoes boomed.

And all around her there were others

Beasts like her, all sisters, brothers,

Locked up, all, with one another,

In deep sea-dark, entombed.

And in this crypt far from the shore

The hare lay down upon the floor

Imprisoned there forever more

And left to all her sorrow.

Her tender world was lost and gone

So joy and happiness foregone

She slept and cried and prayed for dawn

To wait the coming morrow.

The hound was still, the birds said naught,

The fox denied he had been caught,

The bear cried "This is just our lot",

And surrendered to his pain.

But the cat stood up and shook his head

And rising from his metal bed

He said "For now, I am not dead,

And I will not die in vain!"

He cried aloud with much disdain

And tore about his stark domain

And said "These walls cannot contain

A force as strong as I!"

And the fox just laughed, and the birds all cried

And the bear knotted up himself and died

But the hare looked on as the poor cat tried

To break him free and fly.

He shook his chain with all his rage

And flew in anger 'round his cage

Decrying this dark mournful stage

And the hare stood up as well.

With passion did she then respond,

She chewed her ropes and broke her bonds,

And freed the cat, they ran beyond,

They ran to flee that hell.

And what became of cat and hare?

Did they break free to purer air?

To guess their fate we shouldn't dare

Perhaps their tale closed well.

But for all the beasts trapped in the Nether

All life from out the loch and heather

The flock that could not work together

Are sure still trapped in Hell.

Incense sweet, and cradled warm
Like lovers coddled, arm in arm
Two souls, nomadic, fleeing harm:
That wicked, metal glen.
Now coming morn drives off the curse
Too startled still to dare converse
Both praying they have seen the worst
So ends their tale —

Amen.

Quotes from the Game

"It'sss... so dark... khh...iiill mmeee..."

—Jay, as Ruby and Tom find him in the water filtration unit

"With my treatment, Stitches has bested death itself. And what horrors he brings with him I do not intend to discover."
"My aggression with Ruby was in vain. Ruby is dead, but there is no permanence. Despite my best efforts, she will not have peace. It's all over now. I was too late."

—Red's Journal, November 1

^note I AM
NOT AFRAID
TO DIE

MAKE
YOUR
PEACE
with
GOD
GOD
IS NOT
PRESENT
HERE

We ARE DEAD ALREADY
Don't SLEEP they
are WATCHING
Who did this?
This is MY
HANDWRITING!

no
escape
bring your
tux[?]

STOP
WATCHING
ME!!
FACE
ME
Click note to see the messages in the Holding Cell

^note Filbert: Ruby?... Oh, thank God!
Ruby: Who... Who are you?
Filbert: My name is Filbert, I am the head doctor here.
Ruby: How do you know me?
Filbert: You were a patient of mine.
Ruby: What happened to your hand?
Filbert: I severed my hand by slamming it shut in the security transfer chute down in Level 3. I had to, in order to stop the spread of infection.
Ruby: WHAT infection?!
[Filbert nods]
Filbert: I was attacked and my hand was injured. The infection is like any other localized spread — in order to stop it from contaminating my entire body, I had to perform an emergency amputation.
Ruby: What happened here? What is this place? ...And why can't I remember anything?
Filbert: Why can't you remember anything? Isn't it obvious? You're dead.
Ruby: Did I kill Tom?
Filbert: I'm afraid you did. He bled out after the attack you must have seen on the video.
Ruby: Then how am I MOVING?
Filbert: You're infected. Most everyone here has succumbed to the infection. Except for me.
Ruby: Then why did you stumble over to me and say 'Thank God'?
Filbert: It's not important now.
Ruby: Do you know anything about Ace? ...Do you know that Red had killed himself?
Filbert: Ace is tasked with duties as an orderly and a security guard. I was his commanding superior. And yes, I know of Red's death. He finally did it.
Ruby: Was I sane?
Filbert: Oh, I doubt it.
[Ruby begins to tear up at this point]
Ruby: Is there a cure?
Filbert: My dear, you ARE the cure!... Have you found the passcode yet? I need to get to the top level. The only option now is to escape. I plan on escaping the entire facility. I need to get out.
Ruby: What do you mean by that?
[Filbert turns, suddenly angry, and lays it all out]
Filbert: You already HAVE the cure: So does everyone in this facility! It has brought you SIGHT! It has made you WELL! You didn't even need to EAT or DRINK! But when you died, you fucked it up! The cure was strong: It brought you BACK! And when you came back you brought something with you. I am the only one left untouched. I have to escape. I want the PASSCODE!!
[She is now all but in shambles]
Ruby: You're wrong about me! You're wrong about everything! I have no idea what the code to the surface is!!
Filbert: You have to stay here now. You can't go to the surface. You can't escape: you are infected, you are BAD! Stay here while I get my tools from the medicine cabinet. I am going to cut your badness OUT!
[She assaults him with her "spiny fist", sending him backwards and bolts out to the other room]
Filbert: ...Wait! ...I said WAIT!!
Click note to see Filbert and Ruby's confrontation, paraphrased

^note Bella: I am Bella. I am very sorry, but I can't let you leave. I have top priority control of every security system in the facility, and I have instituted a lockdown.
Ruby: How can the situation be resolved? We've kind of had it with this place and want to leave.
Bella: I am not in charge here. I am merely acting on orders my superiors issued before they abandoned the facility. I simply cannot open the surface hatch for you. Those are my orders.
* Tom menaces for a moment*
Bella: I will not fight you.
Ruby: Did you see what happened to Ace?
Bella: I've been focused on watching you two, but if he isn't wandering the halls looking for patients, he might be in Cold Storage. It's where he keeps the things he's been collecting.
Ruby: What happened to lead to the lockdown?
Bella: My superiors ordered it after the facility was abandoned following an outbreak of violence by both patients and staff in the wake of the events on November 1st, namely the suicide of Chief Diagnostician Red.
Ruby: What is Ace?
Bella: Ace is a very loyal orderly. But lately he seems to be ignoring me.
Ruby: If things continue as they are there isn't going to be a facility left to salvage even IF your superiors return.
Bella: I know. But these are my orders.
Ruby: What are you doing plugged up to the wall?
Bella: I am kept on life support. Those things don't attack me. My mind must be intact for me to continue operating. I suspect they don't want to taint it with me running the facility's systems.
Subject 6 (downstairs): ＬＵＣＹ? ＬＵＣＹ?! ＬＵＣＩＬＬＥ!
Ruby: Why have you been helping us if you're not allowed to let us out of the facility?
Bella: I was ordered to stop you from leaving. I was never ordered to avoid keeping you alive.
Ruby: Are there circumstances under which the lockdown can be lifted and the door to the surface opened?
Bella As long as I am holding manual lockdown in place, surface access cannot be obtained.
Ruby: The date! What is today's date?
Bella: Today is October 31st.
Ruby: How many times has this situation played out before?
Bella: Dozens of times. But you've only made it so far as to see me three times before. This is as far as you've ever gotten. As long as I'm alive, I will maintain the lockdown.
Ruby: Can you lend me scissors, or at least tell me where I can find a pair?
Bella: All scissors have been confiscated and hidden after the last time the patient in Upper Lab B got ahold of a pair.
Ruby: Are you trying to say that if you were killed, the lockdown would lift and we would be able to escape?
Bella: I want to show you something. *Opens window* Every day for over a year now, I have had to watch the sun rise and set, from just barely below the surface. Strapped to this wall, right next to the exit, able to watch the outside world, but never touch it. Yes. If you kill me, the lockdown will end.
Ruby: Do you wish to die?
Bella: Yes.
Ruby: But if we kill you... Wouldn't you get back to life again?
Bella: I am the only one who the infection has passed over, because to taint my mind would be to compromise the integrity of the facility, and thus everyone and everything inside it.
Ruby: Would disconnecting you from the station kill you?
Bella: Yes.
Ruby: If we just open the doors and leave, everything else gets out too.
Bella: You could close it behind you.
Ruby: Can this facility self-destruct, and would that eliminate the infection?
Bella: There is no infection. The only disease here is the one the doctors made.
* Ruby hesitates*
Bella: You left yourself something. It's in the water cooler.
Ruby: To the water cooler, then.
Bella: NO. This isn't fair. I helped you, now you have to help me. This time you have to kill me. You have to let me wake up from this bad dream. This time you have to make the right choice.
* Tom injects tranquilizer*
Bella: The systems I'm hooked up to have replaced most of my bodily functions and will easily keep me conscious against the tranquilizer. You do not want the person in charge of security to be against you. I have asked nicely, I have helped you come this far, but now I am putting my foot down. I will lock doors, activate traps, and seal rooms if you persist. This time, I'm not going to give you a choice. You have to end my life now. There is no other option.
* Tom kills Bella by injecting air into her bloodstream*
Tom: I'm sorry I wasn't able to save you.
Click note to see Ruby and Bella's conversation, paraphrased.

Quotes about Ruby Quest/ By Players

"SHIT JUST GOT TRIPLE LOVECRAFTIAN"

Anonymous upon seeing Ruby's Third Eye

"I love how this whole story has turned /tg/'s nominally ruthless crowd into one that gives intense consideration to the consequences of their actions."

—Amazing^note (a recurring RQ player), during Bella's scene

"'>It's not bad storytelling, sure, it's just so damn depressing. I'd've loved it to end in a bit sweeter note on that point.'
I get what you're saying. It's really depressing to think that this could happen and not be considered a bad end.
But for all the shit that happened to them, lost memories included, I think the ending is really a happy one.
For one, Tom and Ruby (and Jay?) are happy just to be alive and be together. Ruby and Tom have obviously grown closer and if Ruby didn't care about Tom to begin with — which she may have anyway — she certainly does now. They've put their past behind them and though that may be a high price for their freedom, they're fine with it, because they have so much hope for the future. Their lives together are what matter now. I for one think that's an incredibly happy note, especially contrasted to the aura of gloom and utter hopelessness suffocating most of the story.
And secondly, Ruby and Tom may yet regain their memory. It's implied subtly and through inference, which is how most of the story is conveyed since, short of Bella, we never had anyone just sit us down and tell us the facts. But it's still implied, and perhaps the longer they're away from the influence of that dark place, the longer they're clean of the infection, the more they'll return to normal. So there may be hope of that yet.

Considering they rode off into the sunset with a third survivor in tow and shared a bottle of champagne, I'd say it was a damned cheerful ending.
Especially since Weaver admitted that if only one of them had survived, the last panel was them going to be sadly pouring themselves some champagne, alone."

—Anonymous

"You know, Weaver said a lot of times that there isn't going to be any sequel/prequel, and you know how Weaver is adamant about these things (not that this is actually bad). Maybe one day he'll surprise us all with something related to Ruby Quest, but I find that highly unlikely.

The truth is, he can't do a sequel with Maddie since we already have all that knowledge about the facility and its inhabitants, and there wouldn't be so much suspense about the unknown, just the fear of being caught/mutilated. And a prequel wouldn't make much sense since it would be about the regular Metal Glen.

Also, while I believe this formula would be fun again, he doesn't seem to enjoy the idea of using it in a similar quest.

IIRC one member of his family died and the poor guy cared about doing other session in the same week. He's probably just as overwhelmed as we are at all that has come out off a simple, but interesting CYOA he conducted in his spare time.

The only thing that actually bothers me is that we won't be able to know all the answers about some actions/intentions/events, and some of the explanations were pretty vague. Perhaps this is all part of the charm, so it's understandable. Still, it's kind of disappointing.

Well, we had a good run. Cheers, Weaver, you magnificent bastard."

Anonymous

"I really like the symbols for the Barbed Wheel/Cjopaze
Also, I get the feeling that the reason why it wanted to have everything mutate was to find a suitable host. The Dummy could very well be the barely living, bound remains of the last host. The weird part is that I get the feeling that it was looking for a specific mutatuin, and I'm guessing it's an eye, and that Nook was incompatible due to NO LIMBS syndrome, and that's why he was just locked up. That could be what Ruby was feeling when she overused her eye.


But what if it managed to take hold in her? What if Ace was attacking at the end because he couldn't here the orders because the Barbed Wheel didn't care about him or the facility anymore?

What if we- the voices in her head- are the Barbed Wheel?"

—Anonymous

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