Part 10: The plot thickens more
Go back to Gustav and he'll finally take you to the city. It's "night" now but because your light doesn't come from the sun everything is still illuminated so it took me awhile to figure out why the streets were empty. Which is stupid, they wouldn't call it "night" but something like, "common sleep time" or "rest time". Or just everyone be on different sleep patterns? Whatever.
While the people may be gone, you still see your good friend "closed" whenever you try to open a door.
Go to the university and complete… another bad excuse for a puzzle.
Move the stacks of reels from left to right without a heavier one being on top of a lighter one. So stupid, if this was real life we could have just laid them all out on the desk or floor or something and restack them. Finish the puzzle and get this:
It looks like a hammer, but really it's a scroll and vial. Alexander has a plan to kill all the giants using a chemical, "C2H6O" which is "25% lethal" and to giants "takes effect in 15 minutes" and "cannot be eradicated".
First of all, C2H6O is sloppy chemistry notation (or an impossible chemical) as a first year chem. student could tell you. It's C2H5OH to be correct (although EtOH is much cleaner notation IMO). Furthermore this is a chemical many people are familiar with: ethanol. That's right, it's booze. Apparently giants are incredibly susceptible to alcohol, so I guess its good they don't live on the surface or else we alcoholic humans would have killed them long ago.
The annoying thing is throughout the game they keep referring to it as a "virus" or a "bacteria". It's a simple chemical! Nobody in their right mind would call alcohol a virus or a bacteria. And to think it's transmitted by touch is so silly, I had to roll my eyes. But then I am a silly goose.
Try to leave the university and you are CAUGHT!
"What a shame that you've taken sides with them. We could have gotten on like a house on fire!" What the hell does that mean? Anyway, you confront Alexander and say you're going to inform everyone of the hoax. Very smart, Ariane. Luckily for Ariane (but unlucky for us, we have to keep playing), Alexander is too stupid/soft to kill you and merely teleports you to a "jail", actually more like a prison.
"In jail? I'm in jail? I musn't stay here a minute longer!" You're greeted by Alexander's good but geeky and rude imprisoned brother.
"You're in my home, and I want you to get out at once!" He's a little creepy too, but I like him way more than Adam.
His calculation board is seriously lacking; I kind of doubt that he's very intelligent.
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Seriously, that looks like Algebra or even Pre-Algebra. I can't quite make it out... but it looks like "Q1=cm((1/2)2 - (1/2)2)" and "Q2 - lim1" and "Q = Q1 +Q2". Basic and nonsensical.
So how do we get out of here?
Blow up a picnic basket and walk out of the resulting hole, of course.
Now you're back at the very first mine, and guess who is there to greet you at the mushroom forest!
That's right, it's Adam! "Ariane! Is it really you? Everybody was worried about you!"
I seriously think he never rests, his only joy in life is to follow you everywhere you go. Look at Ariane, she is looking around for a way to leave. Now that the sh** is about to hit the f**, Adam has to go into hiding. We can only hope that means we'll never see him again. But he has a laundry-list of things you have to get for him.
"Well, I'll need some food, a blanket, a small mattress made of ferns, a box of wood and a bit of coal." If Adam is such a great survivor, shouldn't he be able to get this stuff? And fern is EVERYWHERE. Why do I need to waste valuable time getting random stuff for him if there are more important things to do? Like, warn everybody, save the giants, free the forced labor miners. Nope, you have to get Adam his ferns and coal first. Selfish jerk.
While walking back to the city, you get this message from the surface:
I guess creepy stalkers just gravitate towards Ariane.
Flag down Gustav the balloonist with this call:
"Yoo-hoo! Gustav!" If I were piloting, I'd get as far away as quickly as possible. Gustav though has nerves of steel, and helps you instead of running. Although, he grossly chooses to land next to the rotting carcass of the dead dinosaur:
Which, I guess that's his choice but that smell is hard to get out of balloon baskets, I'm sure.
Have Gustav fly you to the giants, you have to warn them!