Gamebooks (Choose Your Own Adventure Style)

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  Space and Beyond Alternate Endings Part 41


If I think the sound is friendly in CHOICE #44, the results can be catastrophic.  The sound becomes light, and "the entire area is bathed in beautiful colors that radiate warmth and positive force".  It's leading us to an "unknown place" and CHOICE #46.  I can either follow it, or try to break free.  Continuing on my path destroys galactic civilization and the laws of thermodynamics.


"The Universe Governing Body has serious news.  There is a major energy drain throughout all galaxies.  No one has been able to identify the cause of the loss of energy, but there is a shutting down of systems in all quadrants:  transportation, communication, life support, all systems.  It's as though a giant battery were drained and growing weaker by the minute.  You are all on your own now.  The End".


Moments like this make me think I should have included another ending category.  I might do that specifically for this conclusion.


Results So Far


8 Good Endings

9 Deaths

7 Bad Non-Death Endings

2 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

14 Wait, This Isn't An Ending!

1 Intergalactic Apocalypse

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  Space and Beyond Alternate Endings Part 42


"After all the trouble, both you and they realize that sharing-even though that seems impossible-is probably the only way.  Too much is lost in the fighting.  The Universe Governing Body has always tried to promote sharing, but it seldom works.  Here is the chance.  Now is the time.  You join sides to promote the sharing of energy throughout the galaxies.  The End".


Sharing Is Caring!  But how do you implement this policy?  Hack writers never attempt to answer that question.  This ending occurs when I break free of the intergalactic apocalypse light in CHOICE #46.


Results So Far


9 Good Endings

9 Deaths

7 Bad Non-Death Endings

2 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

14 Wait, This Isn't An Ending!

1 Intergalactic Apocalypse

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  Space and Beyond Finale


Attempting to fight the ooze/robot aliens in CHOICE #33 totals the space pod and forces the player to go on the Croyd route in CHOICE #2.  The laser stun pistol destroys the slimy mass, and makes "sounds, never heard before by humans, fill the air".


In CHOICE #43, believing that the ooze/robot aliens will ignore my deactivation code threat leads to a path where that is true.  They disappear in microseconds, but "you feel a sublime satisfaction, a supreme power, and then you realize that something is happening to you".  The final CHOICE, #47, asks whether I want to kill them, or merely disable them.  Destroying them brings me to a page with an illustration with steaming puddles of slime on the floor of a spaceship.  And text saying that I've been made into "pure energy" and have to rematerialize. . .at the beginning of the Kenda route in CHOICE #12.


Disabling the aliens yields the final ending.



"So, now you are in command.  Does that feel good?  No?  Lonely perhaps?  No?  Confusing?  Being in command probably feels like all those things.  It's in your hands.  Get on with it.  First you will search their memory banks, check ships' logs for previous missions, and put all the data together for an answer.  It's confusing, but you persist.


Like a puzzle in three dimensions, the data forms an incomplete picture of a planet in the mid-stage of evolution.  They began as objects with the beginnings of consciousness and are evolving into true life forms.  Somewhere things got crossed and these half-object/half-living creatures launched themselves bodily into space, searching for thoughtfulness.  They believed this thoughtfulness would solve their problems.  The End".


Appropriately enough, the playthrough ends with an ending that goes nowhere.


Space and Beyond cannot be recommended as a gamebook.  The results of CHOICEs are as inconsistent as any other Montgomery installment, so no worldbuilding in the style of the better You Say Which Ways or Virtual Reality books can exist.  Many of the "conclusions" stop in the middle of the story, and were probably added so the publisher could brag on the cover about how many endings there were.


Structurally, Space and Beyond is unusual.  It has more loops to earlier CHOICEs than any other book I've played in this thread, a gimmick that isn't as funny in a book with time travel.  In The Lost Jewels of Nabooti, readers can laugh at the player character flying to Paris, being kidnapped by helicopter pilots, being sent back to America, and then taking another flight to Paris with identical consequences. 


Space and Beyond also has a high ending-to-page ratio, with 44 conclusions in 132 pages.  Compare this to a later Montgomery CYOA, House of Danger, with 20 conclusions in 108 pages.  The lowest ending-to-page ratio in an official Choose Your Own Adventure occurs in Jay Liebold's book Surf Monkeys, with 9 conclusions in 144 pages.  That one probably reads like a You Say Which Way.  Another quirk of Space and Beyond is that BOTH goals at the beginning are impossible.  In this playthrough, I have proven that the player cannot visit either Kenda or Croyd.


The only point in reading Montgomery's CYOAs is for the strange plots.  Do any other authors include holographic chimpanzees used as guards for a counterfeiting operation, or examining the player's past life as a Velociraptor?  No Me Llames Tami and La Isla de los Dodos are the most faithful successors to Montgomery's style.  The original CYOA series was translated into Spanish, and readers in Argentina and Spain must have had some nostalgia for books like Space and Beyond.


Are there any books my readers want to see next in particular?  Another You Say Which Way?  An Ultimate Ending installment?  Something else?  I need to take a break from Montgomery for a while.  Anything positive I said about Space and Beyond is probably the result of Stockholm Syndrome.


Final Results


9 Good Endings

9 Deaths

7 Bad Non-Death Endings

2 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

15 Wait, This Isn't An Ending!

1 Intergalactic Apocalypse

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Ultimate Ending:  The Secret of the Aurora Hotel Part 1


Since I've received no responses whatsoever regarding the latest CYOA fiascos or what book I should take on next, I decided to review The Secret of the Aurora Hotel.  According to the cover, this book features "7 Perils" and "23 Conclusions".  The official Conclusion count has never been accurate for any Ultimate Ending installment, and I still have no idea what legally qualifies as a Peril.


The daredevil NPC companion Finnegan from UE #7 The Tower of Never There has a "small brass plate with four tiny screws" with the number 113 3/4.  He says "Got it off the door of a hotel room I once stayed at.  Real weird place, even for me!"  The Secret of the Aurora Hotel is UE #5, so it's possible Finnegan could have stayed there.  We'll find out in this playthrough whether the two books are in the same continuity.


Like in all Ultimate Ending books, I play as an established character rather than a genderless cipher.  This time I'm SCOTT REINHART, the nephew of the Aurora Hotel's owner Gus.  Avuncular relationships in gamebooks are a cliche dating from the time of the original CYOAs.  It's a "snowy, blustery Saturday night".  The authors didn't go with the Bulwer-Lytton "It was a dark and stormy night", but it's pretty close. 


My excitable cousin Jenna almost tackles me in the lobby, though I trip anyway.  Her calmer brother Evan tells me to come upstairs where we can talk in our rooms.  Gus bought the hotel recently, but it "has a long history, and none of it good.  You've read reports of freak accidents, of guests disappearing, even tales that the place is haunted!"  Probably a few The Shining references too, if the reviews are any indication.  My readers will have to keep count of those on their own, because I'm more familiar with the Simpsons "The Shinning" parody.  (Though if the authors have the audacity to have "Redrum" written somewhere, I can tell that at least. . .)


Evan and I stay in the same room, with Jenna's attached with an adjoining door.  My cousins have stayed here for a few days already, and they got to have a few days off from school due to snow.  My twin cousins give me a letter written on yellowed paper which I will quote here:


"My preparations have been meticulous.  The ceremony is arranged.  Alone I have gathered all four artifacts that are somehow still bound to this place.  With them I can close the nether-gate-on this night of all nights-and restore peace to the Aurora Hotel.  I can only pray that all goes well.  That he does not show himself, or interfere in any way.  By tomorrow it will all be over.  One way or another.


-Alastair Roakes, All Hallows Eve, 1909".


Evan found this letter in a "hidden compartment of some antique desk that's bounced its way around the hotel".  Jenna mentions there's a photo too, which doesn't look at all like one in the illustration.  It shows a man looking down at a crystal ball on a round table.  He has a curly mustache, a beard, and dark hair curled into a hook in the middle.  His two bookshelves have eyes painted at the top.  Jenna believes the man in the photo is Alastair.  The narration tells me to remember the page number (9) because I'll need to look at the picture later.  Hopefully it's not a Stereogram like in The Tower of Never There. . .


Evan tells me Gus bought the hotel at a suspiciously cheap price, but he thought it would only require some new paint and repairs.  Instead, everyone's seen ghosts, and the customers are spooked.  (But wouldn't "paranormal investigator" and "ghost hunter" types be attracted to the Aurora Hotel?  Their money would still be good. . .)


Jenna and Evan want me to help them find the bell, book, candle, and crystal ball to use in Alastair's ritual.  I ask why this is relevant because the ritual happened in 1909, since SCOTT REINHART must have no familiarity with horror fiction.  Jenna's "eyes sparkle with a contagious excitement", and she says Alastair must have failed to put the hotel's ghosts to rest.  Evan speculates that Alastair was interrupted by the unknown "he" from the letter.


We eat cheeseburgers and I stay in my room.  I can't sleep for a few hours because I'm excited, and when I finally start to rest. . .


"Happy Halloween!' Jenna bursts through your suite door like a kid on Christmas morning.  It's not even two seconds after midnight.  'You guys ready?"


Jenna's spinning a bronze key in her finger, and SCOTT REINHART is surprised that this hotel still uses keys.  (Keycards aren't mentioned here, but out-of-character I don't remember a time before hotels or motels used them.)  Evan tries to justify the keys by saying "it's part of the charm", but Jenna laughs at him and says Evan sounds like Gus trying to save money.  According to her, the hotel has 42 rooms on 3 floors, and to search them all in time we'll have to split up for a while.  Both Jenna and Evan have "manifests" of the building.  Do hotels have those?  I thought "manifests" were just for ships.


CHOICE #1 is to look in the lobby with Jenna and eventually go downstairs, or examine the first floor with Evan.  If this is anything like The Tower of Never There, the book might have multiple paths to the ULTIMATE ENDING.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Ultimate Ending:  The Secret of the Aurora Hotel Part 2


"Alright', you tell Jenna.  'I'm with you.'  Your cousin sticks her tongue out at her brother before beaming back to you.  'Evan, we'll meet up with you afterward.  Just be careful".  Jenna has more personality than Evan, so I went with her.


Jenna points toward the Grand Staircase, chews some gum, and then suggests another CHOICE #2 option:  jump in the "rickety" glass elevator.  Those who've read The Tower of Never There playthrough will know that I'm ready for a suicide jump in a Choose Your Own Adventure.  And elevators crashing into the ground are always fun.  Besides, you have to take some risks in an Ultimate Ending book, or you'll never win.


"Stepping into the old elevator is like stepping through time.  Ten long panes of glass are arranged in a circular pattern, chased by gold leaf accents and polished wood paneling.  The elevator dips significantly as you step into it.  As Jenna jumps in after you, your stomach lurches".


I ask where the buttons are, and Jenna says there aren't any.  Instead, she pulls on some handles and gets one of them stuck.  Until the rapid descent, where she barely manages to pull the handle back in time to save our lives. 


"One second, you're enjoying the view, the next your stomach is somewhere up your Adam's apple.  As the elevator crashes toward the floor of the lobby, Jenna pulls back on the other stick with all her might.  Screeeeech!  The car shudders to a stop only a few inches above the floor.  You hear a musical clink clink clink as one of the long glass panes becomes spider-webbed with jagged cracks".


Jenna's only response to this is a nonchalant "Oh man, Dad's not gonna like that one".  She'll probably be the Finnegan of the Aurora Hotel.  The lobby is empty except for Agnes the receptionist, who's either "half deaf and partially blind" or "mostly deaf and half blind" according to Jenna.  The hotel lobby has long columns, an arches ceiling, and an active fireplace. 


Jenna puts her hand to her lips to ensure that I'm quiet, then yells "AGNES!" and tells her Gus needs her help urgently in the kitchen.  I tell her that's mean, but Jenna says it was a way to get Agnes out of the lobby while we investigate one of the following areas in CHOICE #3:  the taxidermy display, the manager's office, or the fireplace.  Chances are the manager's office most closely resembles the Alastair photo.


Gus's office behind Agnes's desk is tidy without anything interesting, except for a narrow door to the back room.  The back room is so old there's no light switch, and it smells musty like old books.  Jenna is smart enough to use her cell phone as a flashlight, unlike some other CYOA protagonists.  She digs out some black and white photographs, all of a "Victorian-style house" featuring a man with blurred features.  It's probably the "he" Alastair was afraid of.  The Aurora Hotel must have been built on this man's house, and part of one of the stone walls remains in the current building.


In the 3rd photo, "the blurred man is miraculously sharp now, totally crisp.  He's hunched over slightly, staring back at you with unmistakable anger.  No, something much more powerful than anger.  Hate".  I'm sent back to the beginning of CHOICE #3 with nothing more than the information I've just learned.  Next is either the fireplace or the taxidermy room.  If my knowledge of cheap adventure stories isn't deceiving me, there might be a secret passage behind the fireplace.  Then again, the taxidermy room may have items. . .


The taxidermy room contains the busts of a wide variety of animals:  elk, an elephant missing a tusk, hawks, owls, sparrows, "and some of the ugliest fish you've ever laid eyes on".  Gus wanted to throw them away, but he's probably afraid of them.  I suspect one of the mounted heads is a gryphon, but Jenna laughs at me and says "C'mon cuz.  Don't get all mythological on me now!"  If this is in the same continuity as The Tower of Never There, it would be plausible if someone brought the gryphon head to Earth from another planet via the teleporting tower.


One deer head seems to be snarling at us.  Jenna is as unnerved as SCOTT REINHART, and since we can't see any of the ritual items, we leave the taxidermy room quickly.  CHOICE #4 is whether to check out the main hall or the dining room next.


So far the production values seem to be much higher than The Strange Physics of the Heidelberg Laboratory.  I haven't spotted any noticeable typo problems so far, and the CHOICEs seem to be genuine CHOICEs.  In the Heidelberg Laboratory book, the prologue took up too much space, and several of the CHOICEs at the beginning didn't affect the outcome.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Ultimate Ending:  The Secret of the Aurora Hotel Part 3


Jenna and SCOTT REINHART haven't found any of the ritual items so far in either the manager's office, the back room, or the taxidermy room.  CHOICE #4 asks me to pick the main hall of the Aurora Hotel, or the dining area.  Maybe the dining area will have the candle at least. . .


A table with ornate chairs floats an inch above the ground and glows a "ghastly blue".  The giant mirror on the wall glows that way too.  Ghost hunters must appreciate the convenient color-coding for haunted objects. 


We hear voices saying ". . .was good that I wore it. . ." and ". . .had a hand in my own salvation" coming from nowhere.  A "procession of ghosts" enters the dining area, all wearing turn of the 20th century clothes.  Other ghosts are serving plates with glowing blue food, and Jenna shouts "YES!" and says we're probably supposed to be here.  SCOTT REINHART is suspicious of the banquet, and tries to whisper "What are you doing?".


"It occurs to you that keeping your voice intentionally low so that 'ghosts' don't hear you is simultaneously hilarious and stupid".  I don't know whether ghosts can hear any better than the living, so who knows?  SCOTT REINHART may have had the right idea when he whispered.


CHOICE #5 is presented as "Okay, here's your bravery test!"  Or maybe it's a trap.  SCOTT REINHART can try the "cream-of-something soup", the "freaky-looking salad", the roast beef, the "amber liquid", or nothing.  No hints are given about any of the food, so the whole menu may mean Death.  The closest thing to a clue is that one of the spoons feels "like one of those chilled salad forks you might get at a fancy restaurant", but it's implied that's because it's a ghostly cold.  Jenna picks up a fork, but doesn't try anything before the CHOICE.  So I can't use her as a taste tester.


Ghost food may heal you on the Phantom Train in Final Fantasy 6, but this is Ultimate Ending, and I'm not going to fall for this trap! Jenna's not happy about it.  "She looks like a kid who opened her biggest birthday present to find nothing inside".  Does SCOTT REINHART know another kid whose parents have done this to them?  Birthday trolling may be more common than I thought.


(If you have to go in an Ultimate Ending book, it's more fun to do it by jumping from a great height.)


CHOICE #6 is to move to the Aurora's lounge, or the kitchen.  The "lounge" is really the library, "back when people, you know, read a lot of books."  Whenever you read Jenna's dialogue, give her your best Valley Girl voice.  When I protest that I still read books, Jenna says "Not real books, cuz.  Paper ones, anyway".  Maybe SCOTT REINHART reads ebooks as much as the real me.  Jenna believes Alastair's book is probably here.  Unfortunately, Gus screwed the ladder onto the wall because kids were playing with it.


Alastair's book has corner guards, so we'll have to turn over every book we can find on its side to find it in time.  CHOICE #7 is whether I should search the top bookshelves, or let Jenna do it because she's lighter.  Maybe this is a Morality Test, and I should risk the fall instead of Jenna.  SCOTT REINHART follows this logic too.  "I'll do the upper shelves.  It looks a little dicey and I don't want you getting hurt". 


Unfortunately, Jenna was right in this case, because CHOICE #8 is a 2d6 roll after a shelf breaks!  I don't know why it's presented as a 2d6 roll, because the options are based on getting an EVEN or an ODD number.  Random.org gave me a 3, so let's find out if SCOTT REINHART breaks his back.


It's worse than that.


"Scotty!'  Jenna's cry comes too late, and from too far away to help.  Your right foot plunges through one of the old shelves, causing a cascade of books to tumble down in your direction.  You lose your grip on the bookcase, land on your back, and glance up just in time to see the entire six-foot section coming down on you!


As you're buried beneath a few hundred heavy books (not to mention the bookcase itself!) your last thought is to realize this must be THE END".


In his dying thoughts, CANONICAL ENDING SCOTT REINHART must envy CANONICAL ENDING MIKE THOMPSON being dragged away from the haunted house by the town busybody.  This wasn't a Morality Test, unlike many other decisions in CYOAs.


Results So Far

0 Good Endings

1 Death

0 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

0 Inconclusive Endings

0 ULTIMATE ENDING

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Ultimate Ending:  The Secret of the Aurora Hotel Alternate Endings Part 1 Setup


In the previous episode, SCOTT REINHART was crushed under a bookshelf, preventing me from getting the highest "score" for this book.  But can I find the ULTIMATE ENDING before the Finale post?


Jenna isn't overweight like our hero, so she finds Alastair's book in the last few shelves.  "The two of you continue for several more minutes, turning the orderly bookshelves into a chaotic jumble of mismatched tomes".  I ask whether Gus will be mad, and Jenna blows a bubble with her gum and says "It's Halloween, remember?  We'll just blame the ghosts!"


Well, the ghosts are indirectly at fault, since they were the reason we were looking for the book in the first place.  I could argue mitigating circumstances in CYOA court.  Jenna and I move into the Regency Ballroom.  She spots an iron candelabra with "time-yellowed candles", which she believes to be part of the ritual.  I wonder how we'll reach it when I hear a horrible screeching sound.  Jenna's dragging a step-ladder into the ballroom.  SCOTT REINHART is furious that she didn't think of doing that in the library.  "Just remembered it".


But Jenna's ladder isn't tall enough.  To reach the candles, Jenna will have to climb on top of me.  Jenna has one alternate CHOICE #9 solution:  sling a bronze bird sculpture at the chandelier.  She happens to keep one in her pockets for some reason.  Jenna really is a female Finnegan.  Our options will probably set the hotel on fire, or send us crashing to the ground.  (Or the chandelier conks me on the head.)


"The candelabra sways back and forth as the dust of decades rains down on you".  Four tries, and Jenna succeeds in knocking down 6 candles.  Jenna shouts "That one!  The one with the triangle on it!"  CHOICE #10 is a 1d6 roll with different pages for 2/4 and 1/3/5-6.  Random.org generated a 6.  This ensures that I dive to catch the ritual candle.  SCOTT REINHART brags about having "the reflexes of a hockey goalie", but Jenna is disappointed when she learns he isn't really a goalie.


The lower floor is already done, so we have to return to Evan.  So the only items you can find with Jenna at the beginning are the book and candle.  Jenna and I go to the main elevator, and I ask why we didn't use it instead of the glass elevator or the stairs.  "Because the other ways were more fun?"  The elevator is old, but has been upgraded to include electronics like buttons.  A mysterious keyhole is beneath the panel, which we'll probably have to return to later.


Evan meets us and is relieved to learn that we found the candle and book.  He brings the crystal ball and silver bell.  Perhaps Jenna automatically finds the book and candle in the Evan route.  When Jenna hugs Evan, I have to take the crystal ball to keep it from crashing to the ground.  I ask if we're ready to begin the ritual.  "The elevator is suddenly ripped by a blast of arctic cold".  A voice says "Not exactly. . ."


This ghost is Alastair, and he speaks in a voice that sounds like it's inside my head.  He directs us to a higher floor rather than a basement.  The reason for this is "You must see. . .my kin".  He looks nervously at some unseen enemy, and says "He comes.  I cannot be here".


Jenna asks "Kin?  Kin who?  What's a kin?" and tries to touch Alastair's hand.  She passes through him instead.  Evan looks at the manifest and finds out Alastair's descendant James Roakes lives in room 217. (To add to The Shining reference count, probably. . .)  He looks like a young Alastair, except with more hair and without the mustache.  His voice is "velvety", and I imagine him with a smug upper-class British accent.  He even sips tea at some point in the conversation. 


Evan apologizes for waking James, but he says we didn't.  However, he never sleeps on Halloween.  James says he's Alastair's great-grandson, and claims to have seen his ancestor in reflections in mirrors and on windows.  He reacts "as if he just swallowed a bug" when Jenna mentions the "nethergate".  James is startled at first, then dismisses our efforts as meaningless because we couldn't get all the artifacts.  We show them to him, and then he says we need a 5th. 


"Perhaps you should leave well enough alone', James Roakes sighs.  'All of this was a long time ago.  The Aurora has never truly been at peace, but maybe it's best not to make things worse than they already are".


"You live here', Jenna continues, 'and still you do nothing.  This place is your family legacy, and you don't even look for answers?'.  James turns red with either anger or shame.  "We're leaving now', Jenna says thankfully, 'to go help your great-grandfather.  Maybe we can.  Maybe we can't.  But at least we're going to try".  Evan calls Jenna a "bulldog", and says he's never seen her that angry.


On the assumption that James is telling the truth, we can check the following rooms in CHOICE #11:  202, 205, or 212.  No hints for the player.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Ultimate Ending:  The Secret of the Aurora Hotel Alternate Endings Part 1 Setup 2


Which random hotel room seems best to me?  202, 205, or 212?  I'll try 212 and hope the authors don't taunt me with something like "You know the boiling point of water in Fahrenheit is 212 degrees, right?" before scalding SCOTT REINHART to Death.


This may have been the right decision.  The ghost of a woman wearing "dated clothing" is sitting on the bed, crying with her face in her hands.  Evan seems to be possessed, and says "She's trapped.  She lost something long ago.  She cannot leave until she is given something of beauty".  It's time for the trademark Ultimate Ending puzzle of adding up the letters in a word to find the correct page.


Let's try various ritual items and see what happens.  BOOK is 43, and isn't even acknowledged.  CANDLE is 39, and also doesn't count.  BELL is 31, another page that has nothing to do with the puzzle.  CRYSTAL BALL is 125, and that fails too.  It's not a The Tower of Never There puzzle where you get special responses for incorrect guesses.  So I'll have to move on without whatever item was needed to succeed.


Jenna begs to warm up in front of the fireplace, but I tell her we have to finish what we started now.  When she blows another bubble with her gum, I pop it.


The crying ghost makes Jenna start crying too.  Evan snaps out of his trance and tells me the ghost is trapped in here.  To proceed, we enter a room to the side.  We have to see by moonlight because the light switch is on the other side.  This is no ordinary window.  A steel checkerboard is welded onto it, casting corresponding shadows on the floor.  "Hey, just like hopscotch!"  No, Jenna, if it were like that Julio Cortázar book. . .well, we'd still be jumping around pages.  (It's considered a sort of precursor to gamebooks.)


CHOICE #13 is whether to tell Jenna to hop on only the light squares, or the shadow squares.  No apparent clue is there, unless I missed something from earlier in the story.  Something about the checkerboard on the window suggests that it's supposed to keep out harmful light or something.  Jenna moves across the shadows perfectly, and activates a secret passage on the last step.  The ceiling slides to the side, and a ramp with wooden steps go into complete darkness.  Evan uses his cell phone flashlight app once we're past the hopscotch puzzle.


This room is inside one of the gables, which Jenna thought were only for decoration.  The wood is cracked and splintered inside, and the only trunk is empty.  Soon, we feel a chill and see the ghost of a young man contemplating his next chess move.  He's trapped in a time loop, and continues to pace around the room and look at the chessboard.  This is probably because a chess piece is missing, though the text won't tell me which one that is.  Instead, it's another "add up the letters in an item" puzzle for CHOICE #14.


(Failing all these item checks is probably a result of not trying anything at the ghost banquet. . .)


We have to go to the roof because we can't help the chess ghost.  A cupola should be a good place to look, but we don't have the key for the item check.  Jenna and Evan suggest a last resort for CHOICE #15:  Flip two coins and punch the glass.  Evan at least wraps his sweatshirt around my arm for some protection.  One result is for 2 HEADS, and the other is if either coin lands on TAILS.  The first flip of a quarter turned up tails, so I don't need to flip again.  No injury, and Jenna can fit through to unlock the door from the inside.


Jenna notices the oil lamp from the Alastair picture hanging from the cupola's ceiling.  With my cousins' help, I reach the lamp and take it.  The best way to get back down is to take the fire escape to the 2nd floor, and then we go to the basement to attempt the ritual.


The basement itself is stocked with the stuff you'd expect in a hotel, like toilet paper and soap.  Not the sort of place for a magical ritual.  There is still that keyhole in the main elevator that might take us to a special place.  CHOICE #16's puzzle is to add up the letters of the character who might have the silver key.  The Aurora Hotel has a small cast, so as far as I know right now, the only options are JAMES and AGNES.  JAMES is 48, and that has nothing to do with this puzzle.  AGNES is page 46, and is also incorrect.  The only other one I can think of is ALASTAIR, and he's a helpless ghost.  Will page 81 succeed?  No, it turns out to be the page where Jenna takes out the cupola key and opens the door.  It comes from the janitor's closet, so that's a spoiler for another attempt.


Since I haven't met enough characters to guess the right name, Jenna thinks Vincent the janitor would have the key.  Evan wants to steal his keyring from the closet, while Jenna wants to talk to him because she thinks he still has it with him.  Jenna says Vincent is fond of her, but the "steal keyring" option in CHOICE #17 says "Of course, Jenna thinks everyone's cool".

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Ultimate Ending:  The Secret of the Aurora Hotel Alternate Endings Part 1


One detail I forgot to mention is a weird line from the shadow hopscotch scene.  "Whoa', your cousin [Jenna] swears".  Is this like the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy where "Belgium" is an obscenity?  Maybe in the Aurora Hotel continuity, "Whoa" is much more than a mild exclamation.


Anyway, I'll ask Jenna to talk to Vincent in CHOICE #17.  


"Look, maybe he'll listen to her', you say.  'Your sister has a certain way with people.'  'Yeah', your cousin says.  'That's what I'm afraid of".  But Jenna takes the simple approach and tells Vincent directly about needing it for the ritual.  Evan's surprised at her getting the key this way, but Jenna points out that Vincent must have seen the ghosts because he's been at the hotel for longer than our family.  She tells us to beware of Warrick, who may be the "he" Alastair's letter was referring to.


With the silver key, the elevator descends to a level below the basement.  All three of us turn on the flashlight feature on our cell phones.  The floor and walls are made of a mix of dirt and cobblestone.  One blackened chamber ahead looks like a room, and appears to be the place for the ritual.  We set up the artifacts like in Alastair's photo, and I sit in the chair and wait for a while.  Nothing happens at first.  Then "On cue a loud noise rumbles into the room, rolling along the broken corridor.  It grows more and more familiar as it grinds away".  Someone else is using the elevator, and we're trapped here.  Unfortunately, I remembered to take out the key before entering the sub-basement.


James Roakes appears and gives us the mirror.  Of course, he has a copy of the silver key.  He apologizes to Jenna for his previous inaction.  James Roakes has to take my place in the chair, since it's probably a family curse in the Aurora Hotel.  The ceremony will happen at 1:08 AM, just like the stopped clock in the lobby.  This whole adventure has only lasted a little over an hour in book time.


One minute before the ritual begins, a nethergate leading into a purple void appears.  The bell moves, the candle flickers gray, and the book's pages turn on their own.  An "unseen force" tries to knock me down, and Jenna and Evan are already pinned to the wall.  James Roakes mumbles the ritual words.


CHOICE #18 begins a sequence that will probably be mechanically similar to the nuclear reactor shutdown in The Strange Physics of the Heidelberg Laboratory.  Do things in the right order, or receive a bad ending.  The difference here is that I may be able to fumble my way through it, because the sequence is loosely based on the "bell, book, and candle" method of medieval excommunication.  To Wikipedia!


If it's anything like the Catholic rite, I should ring the bell first.  It appears to be the correct step.  The book slams shut, and the candle is snuffed out.  But the crystal ball is moving and spinning with an "inner darkness".  A "figure" stand behind James.  A voice says ". . .must not all be here.  Something else. . ."


James is convulsing, and I need to do something fast.  CHOICE #19 is a check for a word with "four letters".  No, not a swear word like "Whoa".  Supposedly priests said "Fiat" before ringing the bell, so I'll guess page 36.  It's not even considered as a possibility.


Failing this check causes the crystal ball to explode and everything to return to normal.  Or so it seems.  James is relieved that I rang the bell, but he appears to be "searching your soul".  Here, we get our first consolation prize Good Ending.


"So uh', Evan starts warily, 'what exactly just happened?'  Mr. Roakes clears his throat.  'Long ago', he begins, 'this hotel was plagued by restless spirits.  My great-grandfather considered himself a medium of sorts.  He traveled to the Aurora in order to help put those souls at rest.'  He gestures to the objects still on the table.  'The ceremony Alastair was performing was designed to open a gateway.  One that would allow these spirits to travel to their next place in the universe.'


'But he failed, right?' Jenna jumps in.  'He never got the chance to finish?'  James shakes his head.  'I wouldn't say he failed, but you're exactly right.  The ceremony was never finished.  The gateway was left open, but only partially.  This allowed even more spirits to enter the Aurora and become stuck here.'  'Why did he fail?' you ask.  'What happened?'  'And who's Warrick?' Evan adds.


'Ah, Warrick.'  You can't help but notice Mr. Roakes shudder visibly at the name.  'Most of the spirits were harmless, but not him.  Of his life we know little, but his was an angry demise.  For reasons unknown, he was bound to this place from the very beginning.  Since even before the hotel was built.' 


Jenna gulps.  'And now?'  'And now', James sighs, 'He's gone too.  Passed through the portal along with all the others.  Even Alastair.'  The man turns to face you and smiles.  'The Aurora is safe now, thanks to you.  It is no longer a place of sorrow.'  'You mean it's no longer haunted?' Evan asks.  'Yes', Mr. Roakes chuckles.  'That's one way to put it.'


Your cousins look at each other and smile.  For a split-second you think they might even hug, but then Jenna blows another bubble.  'Well', she says.  'Dad's going to love that.  It'll be good for business.'  A thought suddenly crosses your mind.  'Know what's even better for business?' you ask.  Your two cousins stare back at you, not sure what to expect.  'Ghost tours!'


Evan opens his mouth, presumably to say something sarcastic.  You cut him off.  'No, really!  Think about it.  This place has the most haunted history of any hotel ever.  Lots of people love that!'  'They do?' Evan asks.  'Yeah', Jenna confirms.  'They actually do.'  'Now you can have all the spooky appeal of a haunted hotel', you continue, 'without the actual danger of some nethergate still being open.  Uncle Gus-I mean your dad can use the Aurora's past to his advantage.'


Your cousins look contemplative.  It's certainly something to consider.  As the four of you head to the elevator, you cast one final glance backward.  Maybe it's just a trick of the light, but you swear you still see a glimmer in the mirror.  A tiny spark, somewhere deep in the glass. . .


Congratulations on saving your uncle's hotel!  You're sure to have lots more adventures with Evan and Jenna, but for now this is very happily THE END".


It wouldn't be a horror movie without a setup for the sequel.  In this case, it's a spark in the mirror.  Evan, Jenna, and SCOTT REINHART will be in for a surprise when they open the first ghost tour next year.


I'm thinking about developing an unofficial score system for these Ultimate Ending books.  They would start out as a "fraction", where the numerator is how soon I find the Ultimate Ending in relation to the denominator, which is the total number of conclusions. (e.g. the optimal score for Tower of Never There would be listed as 1/34.) A PENALTY would be written in text below the fraction score if I get a Death or Bad Non-Death Ending as the CANONICAL ENDING.




Results So Far


1 Good Endings

1 Death

0 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

0 Inconclusive Endings

0 ULTIMATE ENDING

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Ultimate Ending:  The Secret of the Aurora Hotel Alternate Endings Part 2 Setup


It's clear that I'm missing a step for the ritual somewhere, so let's look for it.  In CHOICE #2, I'll climb down the Grand Staircase with Jenna instead of taking the glass elevator.  It's "a wood-paneled masterpiece" with carpeted steps.  About halfway down, I feel like I'm being watched, but nothing's there.  Jenna says she's felt that before too, but she doesn't think it's a big deal.


At the bottom, there's a statue of a "strikingly beautiful woman with a mouthful of broken teeth".  Jenna dares me to put my finger in the statue's mouth.  CHOICE #20 is whether to do that or go to the lobby on the same page where the glass elevator ends up.


"You throw Jenna one last skeptical look.  Then, moving with deliberate slowness, you push your finger past the broken teeth and into the statue's mouth. . .'  'YAAAHH!!!!'  Jenna's shout is loud, guttural.  It scares the absolute daylights out of you!  You jerk your arm back reflexively, scraping yourself on the broken stone teeth.  A tiny droplet of blood forms on the tip of your finger".  She laughs at me, and then apologizes before I start laughing too.  If this were a Dave Morris book, I'd receive some Life Point penalty codeword for putting my finger in the statue's mouth, but there are no consequences in the Aurora Hotel.


This means the glass elevator and Grand Staircase CHOICEs are pointless apart from the extra scenes.  In CHOICE #3, the only place left to look is the fireplace.  Jenna touches a cornerstone labeled "The Aurora, 1903".  The fire flickers and cold air blows over us when a whisper says "You. . .will never. . .have. . .what's mine!"  The cornerstone is loose, and Jenna accidentally dislodges it when she stumbles.  A "small pewter figurine" that looks like a CANNON in the depression appears to be the missing chess piece from CHOICE #14.  Never doubt Jenna.  After that I move to CHOICE #4 as if I had gone to the taxidermy room.


Going to the main hall is a "flip two coins" CHOICE #21 to avoid being caught by "heavy footsteps" and "the steady whining sound of a large machine".  First was HEADS, second was TAILS, so I move to the "one of each" page.  Jenna pulls me down a corridor and we hug the wall until Gus passes by without noticing it.  Vincent appears and we tell him all about the ghosts.  He believes in them too, and tells us that we may find the book in the lounge.  However, he has no clue where to find the candle.  And he tells us that Warrick is the bad ghost.  Before leaving, Vincent turns on the "shampoo machine", whatever that does.  You also find out Vincent has the silver key.


CHOICE #22 is between the lounge and the janitor's closet.  Be sure to stop by the closet, because it has the cupola key.  That way, you don't have to punch the glass in CHOICE #15 and risk injury.  The keyword for the cupola key is SQUARE when you have to add up the letters.


The story plays out as before until I arrive at the room number CHOICE #11.  I go into 202, which has an upside-down number plate.  Jenna thinks it looks like "505", while Evan suspects it's "SOS".  The room seems to have grown after we entered, and random objects are scattered everywhere.  Nothing matches.  Searching through the objects reveals an elephant statue that's "very large and beautiful, except that it's missing a tusk".  

CHOICE #23 offers multiple "add up letters" checks, though chances are one is a red herring.  One is to turn to the room's number for the other tusk, and the other asks me to add up the letters if the room "is a word".  TAXIDERMY is page 119.  
 

I drag a "three-foot long piece of pointed ivory" behind me to room 202, and my cousins look at me like I "have three heads".  When we insert the tusk into the elephant statue, a ring drops out.  It's "a thick band of gold topped by a large, multi-faceted stone.  Deep within it you can make out a muddy, reddish glow".  Is the keyword for this RING or BAND?