#ch210

I'm not sure if this is inside, or outside in a paved area. I'm thinking they might still be inside, perhaps still under the barn. There seems to be an open sewer here, and they might be discussing the possibility of escaping through it.

It's pretty dark there, so it could just be the low lighting, but they could be looking at something besides just water there. Maybe it's runoff from the dissections, etc., so it could be rather gross.

Perhaps Theo has the determination to go for it anyway, and then it looks like Artie maybe jumps in? Oh, I think he removes his tailcoat and gets in.

Ok, so now Oliver is trying to decide whether to get into this sewer, while Mabel and the others are getting in. Finny notices staff running towards them.

Theo tries to coax Oliver into the water, as the staff members get closer. Perhaps Oliver can't swim or is afraid of the water? Finny can't let Oliver stall anymore, so he rushes at him and grabs him to take them both into the water... just as the staff shoot.

It's hard to tell from the image above, but it does look like Finny takes a bullet to his left leg (the one that's still extended back).

Oof the Mother3 vibes I get from this scene! Because Lucas and his pals go through the sewers of New Pork City and find Leder. I had a similar feeling about our earl and company slogging through the sewers of London when they were approached by Lau and Ran-Mao. But, unlike in Mother3 and that previous Kuro sewer scene in London, this time we probably won't find allies. Not for a while, anyway.

Finny's previous escape, from the drug facility, was much simpler. His friends were likely all dead, killed in experiments, arranged fights, and then by the researchers trying to destroy all their work.

With these two pages, we have Finny referring to himself as S-012... but as the researchers called him -- Test Subject Zwölf -- confirming once and for all that the drug facility was run by Germans. Which we figured by now, anyway, but this is a nice confirmation. Would be better if "test subject" were also in German, though. 🤔

Simpler times, indeed. He only needed to survive and get out. Now he has other people in need of help, and that complicates things.

It's quite impressive that Theo has been keeping track of turns and steps this whole time they've been underground, particularly since he's found out he was supposed to be next to "fledge". This makes me wonder how accurate he is.

I still want to compare this map to a map of Norfolk....