The control panel glows steadily, its purpose fulfilled.

The control panel glows steadily, its purpose fulfilled.

Outside, the murmur of water is all but gone.

You return to find the control panel has become somewhat more legible.

Lower the water level.

In line with your observations, you close both lock doors and then release the water through the internal sluice gate.

A violent, pressurized hiss is heard as the lock drains through the immense pipe to your right.

Let's go see what that did.

You leave the control panel, its language now mastered.

I can't believe I can just mess with city machinery like this.

[Leave.]

The control panel awaits further manipulation.

The control panel remains as inscrutable as before.

Examine the controls.

The controls before you are unlabelled. There are two glowing buttons, a switch, and a single large lever.

Sequential logic applies. Operating the controls in a specific order will lower the water outside.

Study the panel.

First, press the red button. Pretty standard for a hydraulic pump.

And after that?

The switch and lever suggest a mechanical interlock. Hard to gauge which one comes first without trying.

For now, the red button. Work out the rest after.

Push the buttons. No, wait, the lever! Whichever goes click-clack the loudest.

The sound of water outside. Use it as your guide.

Pull the lever.

Again, through the walls you hear machinery grinding.

A gate opened -- it shouldn't have. Pull it again!

A hum of machinery runs through the walls.

No warning lights, no worrisome noise. Keep going.

And the cling of metal on stone. You're on the right track.

It doesn't budge.

Press the red button.

A short, powerful hiss of water resounds in the plumbing, then stops as soon as you let go of the button.

Next: switch, then lever.

Steps confirmed so far: 1. Press red button. 2. Switch. 3. Lever. 4. ? 5. Tentative: red button, long press.

Next: the switch.

First step confirmed. Sluice cycle initiated. Next: either switch or lever.

The switch feels right.

A high-pitched whine from a motor.

A hydraulic pump. But the water's not draining, is it?

No, something's in the way. At least you know the last step: pressing the red button. The last step is holding it down.

Something's stopping the water from draining. Still, this is undeniably the first step.

Hold down the red button.

Again, a hiss of water erupts somewhere inside the plumbing.

You hear it running through the water-lock, splashing through on the other side.

That worked. It's draining.

I'm going to go see what that did.

You leave behind the control panel, its arcane language now mastered.

I can't believe I can just mess with city machinery like this.

The hiss turns into a trickle, and then stops entirely.

The water won't drain unless it has somewhere to go.

As you suspected, the button releases a stream of water somewhere when it is held down.

Press the green button.

Nothing appears to happen.

Best guess: toggle for a humidity sensor, or pressure relief for a bypass pipe. Ignore it -- it's irrelevant.

Poor little button. Sorry for bothering you.

The button remains nestled in its place, oblivious to your thoughts.

I bet it did something. It's just trying to hide it from me.

Fuck you and your pointless existence.

(Stare at the button's glowing shade of green.)

The colour of affirmation, healing, for some even hope.

No haptic feedback, no audible change. Best ignore this one going forward.

You could keep trying, but the smartest move is to rule out unknown variables.

Flip the switch.

Thunk, and the switch flips to OFF.

This is it. Now hold down the red button.

The groan of shifting iron, muffled by masonry. Now, let the water flow.

Despite a noticeable thud, the switch remains ON.

Safety pins, refusing to yield yet.

There's a step missing. The lever, perhaps?

The metal switch flips to ON with a heavy thunk.

The mechanism's already in place. It's the water you should worry about now.

The metal switch flips to ON with a heavy, satisfying thunk.

That's the sound of being technically correct. Next: the lever.

Main drive engaged.

[Leave.]

You leave the control panel, as inscrutable as ever.

The large pipe outside the window catches your eye again as you turn away from the console.

As you're about to turn away, you notice a large pipe out the window. Might be worth taking a closer look.

Sprawled in front of you is a huge control panel. Written lopsidedly on a strip of tape: 'WATER LOCK CNTRLS - DONT TOUCH'.

It looks exactly how you imagine the cockpit of a flying machine would.

With this you can drain the water in the canal outside and see if that mysterious door really exists.

Work this out and you should be able to drain the water outside.