The ladder beckons.

The ladder beckons.

Up we go...

You clamber up the wooden steps.

You made it.

Leave.

You let the ladder be.

A ladder reaches towards the upper floor, creaking as the boat rocks gently.

Alternative wording

You return to the forbidden ladder.

Climb.

You head on up, stepping carefully to avoid waking Dr. Hugo in the back room.

You may have his permission, but he probably didn't intend to extend his hospitality to you showing up in the middle of the night.

You head on up, careful not to alert anybody who might be on board.

You don't climb so much as glide; feet hovering over each wooden step, the chorded muscle of your biceps hauling most of your body's weight up the ladder.

The doctor shuffles slightly as you ascend.

"Just stop. Please." He pinches the skin between his brow.

"Stop. I already told you -- that's a private area." He shakes his head.

"Excuse me! The upstairs room is private."

A TRUE MAN OF THE PEOPLE WOULD OPEN HIS HOME AND HIS PROPERTY TO HIS COMRADE.

"Privacy is bourgeois."

"That's not the insult you think it is." The frown line around his mouth deepen. "Now, please..." He gestures for you to move away.

"What's up there?"

"Telling you would undermine the point of it being private. Now, please..." He gestures for you to move away.

"Sounds like you're trying to hide something."

"I live here." The frown lines around his mouth deepen. "Please just stop?"

"Maybe put up a 'No Entry' sign then."

"Thank you for the advice. Now, please..." He gestures for you to move away.

"Cool, cool, cool." [Leave.]

The doctor raises an eyebrow. He does not think it is that cool.

Leave.