This was my first trial using Prime Asset Roulette.

I didn’t choose who I was facing next — I was assigned a Prime Asset,
and the trial choice had to follow from that.

This time, the assignment was Franco Barbi.
I’d heard his name, but I hadn’t properly met him yet.
And if I’m about to be introduced to someone new in this game, I’d rather not do it on a difficulty setting that punishes curiosity.

So I kept this one on Standard and went for Poison the Medicine.

The trial started off almost suspiciously calmly.
It was quiet enough that I actually had to double check I was on the right difficulty.

Then I met Franco.

And by “met”, I mean I didn’t even realise he was there until I pushed a button —
and the second I did, it felt like I’d just punched a clock.
As if that interaction was my way of politely informing Franco that his shift had begun.

A big part of The Outlast Trials is being reminded you’re never really alone.
Franco just has a more direct way of making the point.

Once I reached the laboratory, the job was straightforward:
move the drugs from point A to point B.

Done.

Except it wasn’t done, because I was then told to go collect more.
Which tells me whoever delivered the first two batches has already been fired —
or “reassigned” — for incompetence.

Either way, it looks like I’m the delivery driver now.

I had to push a trolley to collect the remaining drugs,
and I was given a decoder to help with the task.

It took me a moment to figure out what it was actually doing,
but I noticed the numbers would spin faster the closer I got to the correct symbols.

That helped me find the second one quickly enough.

The third one, on the other hand, felt like the game had moved it
purely to ensure I stayed humble.

Eventually though: drugs collected, drugs delivered, objectives moving.

And then the trial remembered what it was.

Next objective: poison the medicine.

The first bottle was easy enough to locate.
The remaining two?
Not so much.

I spent a lot of time wandering with the sort of confidence that only comes from having no idea what you’re doing.
I’m fairly sure the game started helping me because it realised I was going to spend the rest of the evening circling the same corridor.

The bottles also did a nice little extra thing where they poisoned me while I carried them.
Which, again, feels fair.
Murkoff wouldn’t want me getting ideas about comfort.

And just to keep it lively, I managed to set off traps left, right and centre.
I’m not sure if the traps were genuinely everywhere, or if I was simply magnetised to them.

Once the medicine was poisoned, it was time to transport it to the cargo hold.

Franco made another appearance around this point,
just in case I’d started thinking the trial was back under control.

That’s the thing about this game — you can do everything correctly,
but if someone decides they’re interested in you, you’re suddenly making very different decisions.

I got the drugs into the hold.
I started stashing them.
I felt like I was getting on top of it.

And then I realised I had absolutely no idea how to get out.

For a moment, I thought I’d managed to trap myself in the cargo hold.
Which would be a very “me” way to end the trial.

Then it clicked:
if Franco found his way in, there must be another entrance.

Sure enough, there was.
Not only was there another way in — it was obvious enough that I felt personally judged by the architecture.

Drugs stashed.
Exit located.
Sprint away before anything else happens.

In the end, I escaped with a C+.

Honestly?
Fair.

I survived, I completed the objectives, and I didn’t get permanently adopted by Franco.
That feels like success.

I probably could have done better if I wasn’t personally responsible for most of the trap activations in the facility,
but we’re learning.

Video