Yellow Brick Road Motel

Yellow Brick Road Motel
Type	Library
Location	Boulder, Colorado, American Republic
Inhabitants	Sol
First visited	Issue 5

Yellow Brick Road Motel is a largely abandoned motel in Boulder, Colorado, that serves as a front for the Weave, functioning as a library that is run by Sol. Although there are seven rooms, they mainly serve as Sol's storage space rather than as places that can be rented out. There are some traces of its original purpose remaining, like the key and towel machines and the massage bed.

History

Spoilers ahead. Are we okay with that, kid?

It is unknown when the Yellow Brick Road was established, but its Mr. Keys and Mrs. Towels machines were known to be discontinued in the 1980s and 1990s. However, the machines were never replaced and Mr. Keys fell into disrepair. After acquiring the motel, Sol reinforced the door of room 3, where he would conduct his library operations. At one point, Sol bought various trinkets and furniture for the non-library rooms in the hopes of renting them out and making the business look legitimate, but never got around to it, leaving the motel rooms mostly unused.

On October 19, unbeknownst to Sol, Justice caught on to the motel's true purpose and planned a raid. At a nearby Standard Energy Service Station, Pax and her crew catch wind of Praetor Walker and Prefect Kim's plan to attack the library, so they rush over there first. The tour bus drops Pax, Sai, Ziggy, and Caretaker off in the parking lot to look for Sol. Caretaker scans the rooms and cannot find anyone, while Pax, Ziggy, and Sai break into the office. Caretaker joins the rest in the office and examines the old computer, which indicates that the motel has no vacancies for the next six months, despite being empty. The group then breaks into each room one-by-one, only to realize the windows on room 3 are fake and that the door is too dense for Sai to break or Ziggy to phase through. Caretaker takes the processing core from Mrs. Towel and puts it into Mr. Keys to get the latter machine to work again, but due to Mrs. Towel's programming, Mr. Keys requires a towel in exchange for a key. After performing the exchange, the group obtains the room 3 key and unlocks the door, but find that it is still stuck. Sai rams into the door to force it open, but this startles Sol, who shoots her. After realizing his mistake, Sol uses his Vocals to heal Sai. Theo discusses the Weave's situation with Sol and learns that libraries all over the American Republic and even the one in Pacifica's La Torre have gone silent. Sol decides to abandon the motel and join the crew, but not before having his important items moved to the bus. Pax is tasked with picking up Sol's emotional support philodendron, Mr. Planty, but Justice surrounds the motel just as Pax leaves the room. Walker and Kim question Pax, but Sol detonates room 3 in order to distract the officers, giving Pax a chance to escape.

Physical description

The pole at the parking lot entrance has a spiral yellow brick road, a black sign that says "YELLOW BRICK ROAD" in yellow lights, a red sign that says "MOTEL" in white lights, a dark purple sign that says "100% REFRIGERATED AIR" in green lights, and a black sign that says "NO VACANCY" in red and blue lights. The buildings are all built with yellow brick walls and gable roofs with black shingles. There is a single L-shaped building containing seven rooms for rent and a single rectangular building for the motel office. There is a cart with a towel next to the motel office building.

Motel office

The door to the motel office building has a window with both glass and metal bars, with the text "Motel Office" printed in red on the glass. Next to the door is a sign that says "VACANCY", but the light is dim. Inside the office and next to the door, there is an orange towel-dispensing machine, which has a sign on top saying "Mrs Towels" in lime green text, a hole that is labeled "INSERT USED TOWEL HERE", a green screen, and a Universal Robotic Port on the left side. There is another machine labeled "Mr Keys" that has a green screen, two claw arms, a giant key on top of his label, a URP on the back, a red flap label "RETURN KEYS HERE", and a big rectangular red button labeled "PUSH". Other objects in the room include a shelf full of books and files, a stand containing brochures for the city, a call bell, a red desk lamp, an old computer with an orange-tinted screen, a cup containing pens, a painting of a forest lake, flower vases, and a large yellow neon sign with the establishment's logo.

Regular rooms

The first motel room contains a bed with a yellow blanket, two small tables surrounding the bed, a painting identical to the one in the motel office, two yellow table lamps, and drawers. The second room is filled with books, documents, cardboard boxes, and cabinets. The fourth room contains similar content to the first room, but with the addition of a coin-operated massage machine connected to the bed. The fifth room contains books and documents, though not as many as the second room. The sixth room is empty and devoid of both texts and bedding. The seventh room contains a bed, two small tables, and a massage machine, but has no drawers.

Special room

The third room has fake window curtains and a reinforced door, indicating that it is meant to be the most secure and secretive of the rooms. The inside of the room shows that the windows actually have metal shutters to prevent prying eyes from seeing Sol's librarian activities. The first half of the room has the standard bed and two surrounding tables like most rooms, and the bathroom bathtub contains an aloe vera, two unknown plants, a basil plant, a philodendron, and a fallen label stick for "Mr. Planty". There are several cardboard boxes in this half, with one of them containing a keyboard. The second half of the room is larger and contains books and cardboard boxes, a laptop, two old Weave-connected computers, a metal ladder, metal shelves, metal cabinets, a pizza box, a Dekogon Soundmaster machine, a stove, a kitchen full of unwashed dishes, a table with a dirty plate, a small brown office chair, and a larger red office chair with a yellow cushion. Near the old computers is a bulletin board with photos of Sol, Lottie, and a city near a lake. Near the Dekogon Soundmaster machine is a framed plant guide poster showing nine different plants and their names, including the spider plant, the basil, the rubber plant, the snake plant, the philodendron, the cactus, the monstera, the aloe vera, and the peace lily.

Items

Main article: Items

• Ritz weekly
• Gloves
• Dice
• Rubber duck
• Towel
• Room 3 key

Trivia

• The motel's name and spiral-shaped logo are references to the yellow brick road from The Wizard of Oz.
• The key and towel machines were manufactured by Atlan Tek, the same company that made the ME-EM.

Gallery

Parking lot

Front office

Massage bed

Room 3 bed area

Room 3 library

Room 3 bathtub

Plant guide

Explosion