Steam engine room

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SPOILER WARNING
Every escape room article is spoiler-free to assist first-time players, but do not click any links on the article if you wish to avoid spoilers. Spoilers are also hidden in optional toggles.

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Steam engine room
1/5
Info
People	Junpei Ace Santa June
Items	Wheel Control panel for something Box filled with the coal Gold disc Silver Disc Bronze Disc
Minigames	Console
Links	E Deck Bottom Deck Door 6 Cargo room
Music	Quinary Game

"It was easily the largest room they'd seen, and yet it was somehow closed, and oppressive. The ceiling was at least 2 stories high, if not significantly more. It was easily several hundred feet across, and appeared to stretch the entire width of the ship."

— Junpei, his and his group's observations of the size of the room

The Steam Engine Room, also known as the Engine Room, is the escape room found by entering Door 6 on E Deck, though the room itself is on the Bottom Deck. It is a massive boiler room which spans the width of the ship and several stories, most likely used to keep the ship's engines running.

Junpei, along with Ace, Santa, and June enter this room to continue their journey to find Door 9. The cargo room is explored after the steam engine room.

Layout

1/2

The steam engine room is the largest of the 16 escape rooms in 999. Presumably, it was once used to keep the engines of the ship running. There are massive coal deposits lined up on the bottom floor, and a conveyor belt to keep the coal coming. On the top floor is a walkway going all the way around the room's perimeter. The walkway is loaded with crates, which forces the group to use several doors to navigate around the walkway. These doors went through the boilers.

Story

Upon entering the room, the four companions note how large it is. They descend the stairs and walk along the wall. Ace explains that they are in the steam engine room, and how the boiler works. Just then, June collapses and her fever returns. Junpei props her up next to a wall so that she can rest. The tension is high, as all three men realize the seriousness of June's predicament. They quickly get to work on trying to solve the puzzle as fast as they can and escape.

Handle

The rat experiment.

Triggered by lowering the control panel from the catwalk to the floor.

Ace states that June does not look good. Santa says it is because of the stress of the Nonary Game that she is feeling sick. Ace starts to think that they are abnormal, because they are not feeling stressed. Santa says that they are lab rats and goes into an explanation about an experiment done on a group of rats. In the experiment, a rat is placed in a tank with with water and needs to find the exit. One exit has an electric barrier blocking it, while the other is hidden on the other side of the tank in the dark. The tank is also filled with water. After searching the electronic gate, the rat eventually finds the exit in the dark part of the cage. After several attempts with different rats, the rats began to find the exit faster and even rats who were not in the first experiment were able to find the exit faster. He goes on to say that eventually rats placed in the tank found the dark exit without even trying the fence. Junpei asks why the tank needed water and why there was no bait placed by the electrified fence and Santa tells him that the rats needed a life and death situation to realize their true potential.

"So what's going to 'emerge' in an 'emergency'? Inspiration."

— Santa, on the topic of emergence

After speaking about this, Junpei goes back to solving the puzzle. If the player is on the Knife Ending route, Santa will compare them to lab rats, but he won't talk about the experiment.

Santa's Sister

Santa looking at his sister's picture.

Triggered by opening the exit. (Safe Ending route only)

After opening the exit door, Junpei goes to get June. When he finds her, she claims that she is okay and feeling better, and is embarrassed of the fact that she worried him. They find Santa sitting on the stairs, looking at a picture. He says that the picture is of his sister, and that she was "as cute as a button". After June jokingly asks if she was as tall as a button, Santa talks about how he always brought her presents at Christmas because their parents died when they were young and that he had to be a father figure to her. One year, Santa received a letter from his sister saying that she didn't want any Christmas gifts and instead asked to spend the rest of her life with Santa. He then tells Junpei that she died 9 years ago, and Santa also believes it is his fault his sister died. He then tells Junpei and June to hurry up and not keep Ace waiting.

The Tale of Two Santas

Triggered by opening the exit. (Knife Ending route only)

Santa talks about how at one time there were two Santas, a white and a black santa. The white one gave presents to the children who were good, and the black one would punish the bad children by playing tricks on them. According to Santa, the Black Santa's tricks kept getting worse and worse. White Santa got angry about this and killed Black Santa. While killing him, White Santa got blood all over his clothes. Santa says this is why Santa Claus's clothes are red, the red being the remains of Black Santa. Santa then asks himself if he is White or Black Santa.

After hearing one of these stories, Ace, Santa, Junpei, and June leave the steam engine room and head to the cargo room, but not before having to reopen the exit door.

Items

Wheel

A simple wheel.

The wheel is found up the first staircase as part of a winch. When Junpei turns it, it gives no resistance and comes off in his hands. Attaching the wheel to the winch on the other side of the room will allow Junpei to lower the wooden box to the ground.

Control Panel for Something

A control panel... For something...

The control panel is in the box that Junpei lowers using the winch. It goes in the hole next to the conveyor belt with the orange button next to it. Pushing the button activates the conveyor belt.

Box Filled with the Coal

Black lumps of coal sitting in a combustible, wooden box.

After activating the conveyor belt, it will bring out some coal and dump some of it in the box near the belt's end. The coal gets dumped into the furnace on the bottom floor. Examine the three circular indents, not the entire thing.

Gold Disc

This is worth its weight in gold.

Found on the gold gear that is turns after activating the furnace. It is placed on the console next to the closed door.

Silver Disc

The red really stands out.

Found on the silver gear that turns after activating the furnace. It is placed on the console next to the closed door.

Bronze Disc

The least valuable of the three but still worth a look.

Found on the bronze gear that turns after activating the furnace. It is placed on the console next to the closed door.

Minigames

Console

Turn until red lines are lined up.

Requirements: Gold Disc, Silver Disc, Bronze Disc

When the gold, silver, and bronze discs are placed on the console, Ace and Santa will comment on the different colored lines on the disks. Junpei will then try to solve the puzzle. The discs can be rotated and switched with each other, and whenever a disc is switched the rotation goes back to how it started. The puzzle is solved by connecting the red lines to create a star polygon. This will cause the closed door to open. The silver disc goes at the top, the gold disc goes at the left, the bronze disc goes at the right.

Trivia

• Examining a barrel yields a joke referencing the original Donkey Kong.

SPOILER WARNING - DON'T READ UNTIL THE ENTIRE GAME IS COMPLETED

Santa's story about the two Santas foreshadows both Junpei's and Lotus's fate, as they get stabbed by Ace in the Knife Ending. Interestingly, Santa's story about his dead sister is not required for the Zero Lost ending in Zero Escape: The Nonary Games, while the scene where he talks about the rat experiment is mandatory.

Humorous Quotes

• Examine the fuel doors after turning on the furnace:
  1. Junpei: Hot!
     Santa: What kind of an idiot are you?
     Santa: It's a hellish inferno in there. Of course it's going to be hot.
     Junpei: ...
  2. The coal behind that door is burning hotter than the fires of hell. I probably shouldn't open it.

• Examine barrel when facing the boiler gears and staircase:
  1. Junpei: There's a barrel under the stairs. Sweet.
     Ace: Unfortunately, it's empty.
  2. There is a barrel under the stairs.
  3. A barrel...
  4. Santa: We should get Seven to throw the barrel from the top of the stairs.
     Santa: It'd be just like that old game, remember?
     Ace: Ah, yes, with the gorilla who threw barrels...
     Ace: And you tried to jump over the barrels, and make your way to the top...
  5. There's a barrel under the stairs. It's empty.

• Examine sandbags, in the screen facing the sandbags and staircase:
  1. Santa: Look, Ace!
     Santa: It's some kind of snowman secret meeting!
     Ace: Those are just bags full of sand.
     Ace: You use them as a counterweight when you're lifting something with a pully system.
     Santa: Man, you're too serious...
  2. There are a number of cloth bags over here. There's nothing but sand in them.

• Examine the catwalk when standing on the catwalk, on the north side and while facing doors A and B:
  1. There are several catwalks spidering across the walls of the room.
  2. Junpei: The catwalk.
  3. Junpei: The catwalk.
     Santa: Hey Junpei, I think that catwalk there is like the ones you see up in the tops of theaters, you know?
     Santa: Like, for adjusting the lighting and stuff.
     Junpei: Yeah, I know.
     Junpei: But...what do you call it?
     Santa: Uh, well, how about a tigerwalk?
     Santa: It's...uh...wider than a catwalk...
     Junpei: ...
  4. A catwalk even a cat might fall off of... Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little.
     Anyway, I think I'll still call it a catwalk, for now.
  5. There are several catwalks spidering across the walls of the room.

• Examine opposing stairs when facing the exit door from a distance:
  1. Santa: Oh man, Junpei, I can't believe I missed something so important!
     Junpei: What's so important?
     Santa: Look at those stairs... Look at them carefully!
     Santa: That gap! That height! That angle! It's perfect!
     Junpei: Perfect? Perfect for what...?
     Santa: Whatever, just bring Clover here, right now!
     Santa: Tell her she needs to walk up and down these stairs!
     Junpei: Huh?
     Clover's not here... What the hell is he talking about?
  2. I don't really get it, but apparently these stairs are perfect for...something.

• Examine the catwalk when standing on the catwalk, on the south side and facing door B:
  1. Junpei: The catwalk.
  2. Junpei: The catwalk.
  3. Junpei: It's the catwalk, meow.
     Santa: You want me to push you off her, Junpei?
     Junpei: No way, meow.
     Santa: You jackass...
  4. The catwalk.

• Examine supports when standing on the catwalk, on the northwest side and facing pulley:
  1. This supports and braces the side of the ship. It's not a ladder.
  2. This supports and braces the side of the ship. It's not the rail for the train.
  3. This supports and braces the side of the ship. It's not a centipede.
     No, it couldn't possibly be a centipede. That's just too ridiculous.
  4. It's an iron beam the runs along the hull of the ship, supporting it.
  5. This supports and braces the side of the ship. It's not a ladder.

• When leaving the item screen after picking up the wheel:
  1. Santa: Good job, genius. You broke it.
     Junpei: I didn't break it! It broke all by itself!

• When Junpei goes to pick up June:
  1. She was feeling far less warm than she had earlier, but still wasn't down to what seemed normal to him.
     Junpei: Are you sure you're all right?
     He had to be sure.
     June gave him a look.
     June: Oh, you're such a warrior, Jumpy.
     June: Oops! I-I mean...worrier...
     June giggled.