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The abandoned house is location east of Sigourney, Iowa, that the crew makes an emergency stop at during their trip across the American Republic. Although they manage to enter the house, the crew finds themselves embroiled in a dispute that tests their unity.
History[]
Bus down[]
On October 21, 2030, Pax, Ziggy, Eli, and Ophelia play a game of Crypts and Cultists, where Eli uses his illusions to depict the game's combat. If the crew incurred too much suspicion from Justice due to past choices, two officers will pull the tour bus over and warn the crew of damage to bus. They will question Theo due to their suspicion of the bus, and Pax has to choose either Noam or Ophelia to use their Vox to gaslight or knock out the officers, respectively. If the crew managed to resolve past encounters with Justice discreetly, the bus continues driving and the Crypts and Cultist game continues, and some members attempt to cheat with Vox. Either way, the bus is forced to stop near a boarded-up house due to the bus acting up. Ziggy diagnoses the problem and states that the terrain in the Great Plains Exclusion Zone damaged the heat shield, and she and Caretaker venture to the nearest station while everyone else investigates the house.
Entering the house[]
On the other side of the house, Pax finds a door to the basement, which is also locked. Girl lures an Echo to the door so that Pax can record it with the ME-EM, causing a sonic explosion that destroys the door. In order to get through the basement, Pax has to restore the electricity and find the key to the house's hallway. When Pax opens the door, Ophelia loses control of her Vox due to an Echo, causing damage to everyone except Girl. Pax uses the ME-EM to remove Ophelia's Echo and Sol uses his healing Vox to ease Ophelia's pain.
Tense discussion[]
After Pax explains that Girl and Ophelia attract Echoes, the crew becomes split on what to do with Ophelia. Sai advocates for having Ophelia leave, while Eli insists that Ophelia stays, threatening to leave himself otherwise. Theo states that Ophelia needs to be cured, which angers Sol because a cure could be used to persecute Anomals. Pax can choose to side with either Eli or Sai, use Block to force the argument to end, or have Noam use their Vox, but tensions remain no matter what choice is made.
Voting[]
In the kitchen, Theo asks Pax to check in with everyone and gather their opinions about Ophelia's place in the crew. Theo gives his reasoning for wanting to cure Ophelia, stating that his sister also suffers from uncontrollable Vox and that he worked for the Weave in order to save her. He also fears that his Coda path interferes with his ability to mediate the situation. Eli is upset that this debate is happening at all and reiterates his desire to save Ophelia, while also talking about how his current Coda path could help. Noam thinks Ophelia should leave and believes that she can survive on her own. They mention that they have sensed negative emotions from Sai ever since the final conversation in Camp Oakwood and suggest that Pax can use her Vocals to improve Sai's mood. Sol maintains his stance of helping Ophelia, since he believes a soldier should never abandon a comrade and he has the ability to heal anyone in case Ophelia loses control again. He still disagrees with Theo's idea of a cure and thinks Ophelia could use her power as a useful weapon. Ophelia worries that the crew wants to abandon her, and thinks she should leave for the good of the crew.
Pax talks to Sai, who is not yet ready to reveal what she wanted to talk about last night. Sai has mixed feelings about Ophelia leaving and is jealous that her friends can reunite with their loved ones while she cannot. Pax tries to use Vocals to make Sai feel better, but none of them work. Sai wonders if there is a Vocal that could invoke the word of God to solve all these problems, which causes Pax to remember her Protolanguage discussions with Jacob.
Hide and Seek[]
Girl and Ophelia go upstairs and suggest playing a game to ease everyone's tensions, which Pax can agree to. Most participants surrender after being found once, but Girl changes her location after each loss, with her fifth and final location being on the roof.
Ultimate wordcraft[]
Girl makes several Echoes descend to the ground so that Pax can record them. Afterwards, Pax goes to the barn to craft a powerful Vox, but does not know how to activate it. After trying several phrases, she says "Control" to activate the Vox, which causes her to rise into the air while surrounded in light, with Noam witnessing the event and Axiom beckoning Pax to give him this power. Pax worries that this Vox usage might have hurt her unborn child, only for Noam to use their emotion sensing to confirm that the child is fine.
Dinner[]
Pax takes a nap and wakes up to Girl putting her ear to her stomach. Meanwhile, Theo and Eli prepare pozole with canned foods. The newer crew members are curious about the original crew members' adventures in Purity, so the original members give a recap of that event. This stresses out Sai, who is sick of the constant danger and everyone's seeming lack of care about it. No matter how Pax tries to resolve the situation, Sai maintains her anger and leaves the crew, busting through the door in the process. Ziggy and Caretaker arrive just afterwards and try to help the rest look for Sai, but to no avail.
Physical description[]
Outside[]
The property consists of a house, a smaller red brick building to the left of the house, and a red barn to the right of the house. The property is surrounded by a wood log fence, has a chicken coop next to the barn, several metal cans, dumpsters, trash cans, tires, wheels, a tractor, various farming tools, planters, shipping pallets, scrap pieces of wood and metal, a bench, and a tire swing attached to a tree with orange leaves.
The barn contains several bundles of hay and a ladder that leads to an upper level. The red paint is fading due to a lack of maintenance. The brick building has a metal roof with rusty spots, and unlike the house and barn, it can never be opened.
The house has faded and chipped white paint, dislodged shutters, dislodged wall planks, and boarded-up windows. The front and back porch are built from unpainted wood, with the former having a bench. The basement door in the backyard is made of green-painted wood and has a padlock, but is thinner than the front door.
Basement[]
The basement's entry room has a shelf with several plastic boxes and a flashlight. The next room has a gas generator, metal and pressed wood shelves, a laundry machine, a dryer, a clothes iron, an ironing table, a dilapidated blue cabinet, a wooden workshop table, a trash can, a white unhinged door, an unpainted wooden cabinet, a small fan embedded into the wall, and a light bulb hanging from the ceiling. The stairs lead to a door to the house's hallway, and next to the door is a post-it with the text "You always forget Sam" and a drawing of a key and a fan.
Ground floor[]
The interior wall has a pink rose pattern on a pink-tinted background. Next to the stairs is a small room with a red couch, a red chair, and a radiator. The living room has a fireplace, a radiator, a red couch, a red chair, a coffee table, a stand for holding firewood, a rug, an unpainted wooden cabinet, and a drawer table with a lamp. The bathroom has a floor with white and reddish brown hexagonal tiles, a wall with white and reddish brown square tiles, a toilet, a white cabinet, a sink, a mirror, a small trash can, a radiator, and a bathtub with a flower-patterned curtain. The kitchen has a walk-in closet, a refrigerator, a stove, a sink with a lower compartment, tomato cans, cabinets, and a box of cereal. The dining room has a plastic plant, a table, eight chairs, a shelf with a teacup and dish, and a white cabinet.
Upper floor[]
The hallway walls are yellow, a wooden plank floor, and a single unused picture frame on the floor. The bedroom closest to the stairs has a starry sky wallpaper, a tan carpet, a dartboard, several darts, scrap wood, a yellow beanbag, a white cabinet, a yellow desk with colored pencils and a notebook, a yellow chair, a bed with a blue blanket, and a white wardrobe. The other bedroom has a diamond-patterned wallpaper, a wooden plank floor, a radiator, a lamp, a large bed with a blue blanket, a footboard bench with a polka dot pattern, a white drawer table, two nightstands, a white wardrobe, and a wooden wall-mounted shelf. That bedroom is connected to a bathroom, which contains a floor with reddish brown hexagonal tiles, a wall with white and reddish brown hexagonal tiles, a bathtub with a wood board in it, a white and brown bathtub curtain, a sink, a mirror, a toilet, a white drawer, and a radiator.
Items[]
- Main article: Items
- Oak sapling
- Fuel can
- Basement key
- Hamlet
Gallery[]
House exploration[]
Hiding spots[]
Ultimate word[]
| Dustborn locations |
|---|
| Divided States of America |
| American Republic • Pacifica |
| Issues 0-1 |
| Noam's apartment • Purity • La Torre • Rock Rabbit Campground |
| Issues 2-3 |
| Liberty • Knapper Campground • Trailer park • Signal Hill Campground |
| Issues 4-5 |
| Abandoned mall • Texas Beach Campground • Alpine Visitor Center • Yellow Brick Road Motel • Peaceful Valley Campground |
| Issues 6-9 |
| Great Plains Exclusion Zone • Camp Oakwood • Abandoned house • Chicago • Rotown |
| Issue 10 |
| New York City • Owl's Head Campground • Schoodic Point • Nova Scotia |
| Recurring locations |
| Standard Energy Service Station • Betty's Diner |