7 DAYS A SKEPTIC WALKTHROUGH LISTEN UP KIDS: 7 Days A Skeptic wasn't written so you could cheat all the way through it, it was designed to give players a genuine sense of confusion and fear, left to wander a hostile environment with only a vague idea of what to do next. If, however, you're completely stuck somewhere and feel you have been cheated out of the atrociously extortionate amount of money you paid to play it, then by all means seek a hint below. THE LAYOUT OF THE MEPHISTOPHELES Level 1: Observation deck Level 2: Operations deck - Bridge - Conference room - Captain's quarters - Escape pod bay Level 3: Communal deck - Games room - Sickbay - Counsellor's office Level 4: Residential deck - Crew quarters - Canteen Level 5: Engineering deck - Brig - Reactor core - Cargo bay - Airlock FROM THE START: When the conversation with William is over, exit left and watch the cutscene. When that's over, feel free to explore the ship, meet all the cast, and get to know the layout. When you're ready, go to the bridge and use hands on the panel next to the door to the captain's quarters. After talking to Barry, go back to your office on the Communal deck and use hands on your desk. Then go to the cargo bay on the engineering deck and watch the cutscene. MONDAY Take the wrench set from the desk, and exit left. Try to use the elevator, then exit right. Talk to Adam about everything, then use the wrenches on the vent. Enter the shaft, and go left. Examine the mysterious object in the elevator shaft. Go back to the canteen and use the food dispenser to order a Continental breakfast, then sit down at one of the counters to eat it. Go back to the lift shaft and use the butter on the object, then use your hands on it. The elevator should now work. Go to the bridge and talk to Angela and Serena, then go all the way back to the canteen and tell Adam about the communicators - he'll give you an airlock pass. Go to the cargo bay and use the airlock pass on the circular airlock door. Once inside, use the left-hand lever, open the closet, get the EVA suit, use the right-hand lever and walk out. Be very careful out here, because one wrong step will make you fall off and drift away into space forever. So, use the clip (you acquired it with the spacesuit) on the horizontal safety rail, and walk along to the other end. Use hands on the safety rail to unclip yourself, then move carefully to the vertical safety rail, and clip yourself onto that. Use hands on the upward-leading steps, and watch the cutscene. TUESDAY Go back to the airlock and repeat the process above to get to the top of the ship. Something appears to be missing. Go back down the steps and down the other steps. Walk to the far right, as close as possible to the mysterious object, then use hands on the safety rail. Use the clip on the object to pick it up, then quickly clip yourself back to the rail. Go back up and follow the usual procedure in reverse to get back inside the ship. When you're back in uniform, go to the bridge and talk to Angela about everything, then use the captain's room card to get into the captain's quarters. Take the red book on his bed, then exit right and give it to Angela. WEDNESDAY Go to the canteen and try to order food. Everything you try to get will come covered in blood, so use the wrenches on the dispenser to acquire a hand. You can try showing it to Adam and Angela, but they won't help you much. Show it to William in the sickbay and he'll give you a UV ray emitter. Go to the canteen and use it on the food dispenser. Enter the maintenance shaft and use the emitter on the wall. The stains seem to lead to the vent. Where else have you seen a vent? Go up to the communal deck and use the emitter on the floor vent. Finally, use the wrenches on the panel. THURSDAY Take the towel rail, then talk to Angela about everything. When you tell her you think there's someone else on board, a hostile entity will arrive, kill Angela, then go after you. Quickly grab Angela's gun and use it on the monster, then run out. The monster will now appear seemingly randomly all over the ship, and the gun can only take it out temporarily, so go to the reactor core and stand behind the large pipe, in shadow. When the monster arrives, club it to death with the towel rail. This done, visit William in his quarters and Adam in the maintenance shaft to tell them the coast is clear, then meet them on the bridge. FRIDAY Go to the residential deck to see what's keeping William, then back to the escape pod bay to explain the situation to Adam. Go to the captain's quarters and use the computer. There's a new email. From the email and the date given by the computer when you enter 'date', work out Barry's date of birth; this is the code for the override functions. If you really can't work it out, see the bottom of this document. Type 'captain', then the code, then '2' to deactivate security. Go back to William's quarters and open the door. The keycard is inside, on top of the lockers. Go back to Adam, and watch the cutscene. When it's over, quickly operate the lever for the rightmost escape pod. SATURDAY You must work quickly. Operate yourself three times to free your hand. When William puts a scalpel down next to you, take it then use it on yourself. When William stands next to you again, use the scalpel on him. SUNDAY Take William's gun. Now, it's similar to Thursday in that the Welder roams the ship, but he occurs more often and your gun has fewer shots. Get to the captain's quarters, use his computer, access the override functions again and withdraw the radio masts. Now go all the way down to the airlock, fighting off the Welder as you go. Get inside, close the inner door and put on your EVA suit. Wait next to the rightmost lever for a second and the Welder will appear. Pull on the lever to suck you both out into space. Once outside, use the steps leading up. Walk onto the radio mast bed and wait for the Welder to walk onto them too, then quickly walk off. The Welder will be impaled, and you will take the idol. Take it down to the nacelle and use it on the exhaust. The EFS Charisma arrives to rescue you, so go back inside the ship to greet them. You're safe now, right? Right? SOME LITTLE BITS I ADDED JUST SO I COULD POINT THEM OUT TO PEOPLE - There's an easter egg in 7 Days, in the form of a lost scene. To see it, play through the game to the end on a date close to my heart (or at least with your Windows clock changed to that day). - Dr. William's last name is Taylor, and he has very blonde hair. He is a descendant of Simone Taylor from the first game. - The imagery wherein the Welder's hands appear on the side of the box, ready to haul him out, is a reference to the classic Japanese horror film The Ring, as is the way the camera cuts away before anything else happens. - At the end of day 4, William says "Don't you think we can refer to 'it' as 'him'?". This is a line from Halloween. - The bit where William has lost his eyes is a reference to Event Horizon, a film in which a spaceship is taken over by an evil force, possesses a doctor and influences him into pulling his own eyes out. Yes, it's a REFERENCE, not a rip off. - While on EVA, the only sound you hear is your own breathing. The same thing occurs during EVA scenes in 2001: A Space Odyssey. - Parallels with 5 Days A Stranger: the first (full) day ends with the discovery of a corpse, and the hero is at one point accused of the murders and imprisoned. THE CAPTAIN'S BIRTHDATE On Friday, the captain's console will tell you that the Captain's birthday was on Monday, that he is 55, and that today's date is the 1st of August 2385. Monday was four days ago, so his birthday is the 28th of July. Fifty-five years ago would be 2330. So, the captain's birthdate is 28-07-30.