Laura Vanderboom

Laura Vanderboom, also known as The Woman, is a main character who is featured prominently in the Cube Escape games. She is the reincarnation of William and the daughter of Rose, and a member of the Vanderboom clan.

Cube Escape: The Lake[]

Laura discovers an abandoned Cabin in 1969, with very little inside except for a fishing rod and bait. With the rod she catches a fish that, when cut open, sprouts a tree. The tree can hold five objects on its branches.

If she places a blue gem on the top branch, it will shoot out a star-shaped beam. This causes a Corrupted Soul to climb out of the Lake and attack her. However, if she instead places a green gem on top, it will shoot a pentagon beam. When the Soul attempts to enter, the beam will stop it, and it disappears, leaving behind a black cube.

Cube Escape: Seasons[]

In the Spring of 1964, Laura keeps Harvey as her pet. After feeding Harvey with bird seed, he will lay a black egg. Cracking the egg open with a spoon releases a black cube, which she uses to jump forward in time. Now in the Summer of 1971, she uses her telescope to get a close-up of the moon. Upon closer inspection, her own window is seen on the moon's surface, with herself looking through it. A Corrupted Soul slits her throat from behind, coating the window with blood and revealing the code for her safe. The safe contains a shrimp, that when cooked in her oven, reveals a vision of the Lake. She is seen standing in the water, before turning into a Corrupted Soul and disappearing into another cube.

In the Fall of 1971, her walls are covered in blood. She has to switch through the channels on her TV screen by the numbers that appear on each station. After following the numbers, a black cube appears on the screen that she can use. In the Winter of 1981, her room is covered in wires connected to a strange machine. Opening her clock's case unveils with the mirror inside that she is a Corrupted Soul. The blue cube that is also in the clock now allows her to go backwards in time.

By going back to the past, she can collect items to fuel the four pumps on the machine. When it is finally activated, it causes her phone to vibrate, but it will not do anything. However, back in the Spring, picking up the phone shoots a beam of light at her corrupted reflection, dissipating the shadow.

Cube Escape: Case 23[]

Dale Vandermeer is sent to investigate her death in the Fall of 1971. Laura's dead body is lying on the ground at the Murder Scene, and there is blood on the floor trailing into the Room. However, if Dale tries to enter this room, it disappears. If Laura's dress is interacted with, it will open up to reveal a slip of paper; the same can be done to her mouth to reveal a beetle.

On her coffee table sits a newspaper advertising for the chance to win a trip to Rusty Lake. He calls the number, but the person on the other end of the line does not provide any answers, only mentioning that his place is already taken. After the phone conversation, Laura's body is now hanging upside down. Black moths fly out of her mouth as her body rises up out of sight. The moths fly in formation to spell out the code to her safe, which contains the files to the Rusty Lake archive.

Back at Dale's office in 1972, when the numbers 746 are logged into his TV, Laura appears on the screen. Her arm reaches up, and a hand comes through the top of the TV. When she is given a black egg, she turns it into a white cube and hands it back over to Dale.

Cube Escape: The Mill[]

On the top floor of the Mill in 1972, Laura's dead body from Case 23 can be seen through the TV screen. The channel switches over to her body hanging upside down, and rising out of the screen's range. Her body is transported to inside of the clock to the left of the TV, which must be moved down to the main floor.

Her head is placed into the Memory Extractor, where her memories can be used to create the cubes. At first her good memories are able to make a white cube without consequence, but then her negative memories are used to create a black cube. Once the black cube exits the Extractor, her body becomes corrupted. When the black cube is placed into the Lake, she escapes from the machine. She kills the Old Woman and the Cow, and takes Harvey captive. Mr. Crow will then try persuade her to leave, but she refuses by shaking her head. Mr. Crow will state that her memories belong to the lake, and she shakes her head again. She will shake her head once more when he tells her to leave them all behind, but when he says "All that you touch, you change", she lets go of Harvey and disappears.

Cube Escape: Theatre[]

A lone man, Bob, sits at the bar in 1971. In his jacket pocket he keeps a letter to him from Laura. It explains that she has not been feeling well for a while, and will be staying at the Lake. The letter ends with her stating that she is sorry "this" didn't work out, and that perhaps they will meet in another life.

She is featured in the fifth play, "Remember the Seasons". The player must first arrange the window frame, moon and tree that surround her to match the photograph on Bob's letter. Once that is done, five small frames will fall from above. The player will have to venture into Bob's mind to collect four white cubes to place into the frames. She also shows up in Bob's mind. By using the clues found by placing the white cubes into the frames and putting them in their proper positions, the player finds the code to the safe in Bob's mind, and retrieves the final black cube from it. When the black cube's frame is directly over her face, touching it slits Laura's throat and she dies, ending the play.

Cube Escape: The Cave[]

In 1972, the player is instructed by Mr. Owl to gather her memories by descending into the Lake with the Submarine. In order to obtain the cubes, her memories are played out on a screen which must be fixed. The white cube features Laura looking out over the Lake with Harvey on her shoulder, but the black cube features her in a more sinister setting. Holding onto a knife, she commits suicide by slitting her throat, and a Corrupted Soul steps out into view.

Later, she appears as a Corrupted Soul in the white cube in the depths of the Forest. She is strapped into a chair along with Dale, and a contraption is lowered onto her head. Flipping the switch to the contraption briefly uncorrupts her. A larger machine is connected to her chair, and creates a golden cube from the black, white, and blue cubes. Although Dale is able to get out of the chair and leave via the elevator, the Woman remains strapped in her seat.

Also, she is mentioned in the book found in the Cave. In the first chapter, the player must arrange the Vanderboom family tree, where it is revealed that Laura is the reincarnation of William. The second chapter explains that her white and black cubes are used in combination with Dale's blue cube to create the golden cube. Finally, in the fourth chapter, which is titled "A Higher Consciousness", she is labelled as the "Reborn Mind". This chapter details the doctrines of Rusty Lake Mental Health and Fishing: let the cubes guide you, balance the substance of your past lives, create the Elixir of Life and Death, and find enlightenment.

Cube Escape: Paradox[]

Dale finds himself in the Paradox Room in 1972, and watches himself on the television, telling him to look behind. He finds Laura behind a screen, where a Corrupted Soul appears behind her and she suddenly disappears in a flash of light. She leaves behind a piece of her dress needed to complete the file on Case 23. Eventually, Dale manages to find the key to the door and escapes into the Forest. At the edge of Rusty Lake, he finds Laura standing in the water and witnesses her be killed by a Corrupted Soul. She drops into the water and leaves behind a black cube. He looks into it and sees himself inside, lying in the room as before.

Reawakening in the room, he puts the "mind of the future" into his head. Laura, who now appears older, sits by the chess board. She tells Dale to make the right move as one of them will die, and the other will be enlightened. After Dale plays Harvey's song backwards, the bird flies into the room and is perched on the Woman's shoulder. When Harvey is given bird food, he lays a black egg. Laura comments that they are back to where it all began, with Harvey's egg. The egg is given to Mr. Owl who gives Dale the cubes to get the red vial, which turns him into a Corrupted Soul when drank from. Escaping into the Forest again, he walks into the Lake behind Laura, and slits her throat to kill her. With the black cube she left behind, he looks inside and sees himself inside the real-life room.

The White Door[]

During Bob's stay at The White Door in 1972, he relives his memories each night in his dreams, particularly about his relationship with Laura. In the first dream, they meet at their usual spot, the Owl Nest café. She arrives looking tired, breaking up with him and mentioning that she is going away for a while. In the third dream, Bob sees on the news that Laura had been found dead with no signs of the killer. In the fourth dream, Bob drinks at the bar in the Rusty Lake Theatre. When the barman asks what is on his mind, he shows him a picture of Laura, with the letter from Cube Escape: Theatre written on the back. The barman remarks, "Women, can't live with them, can't live without them", before giving Bob a pistol to shoot himself in the head.

In the fifth dream, Bob goes to The Lost Soul nightclub, having lost his memory after shooting himself in the head. His Soul becomes corrupted, but he suddenly has a glimpse of recognition when he comes across Laura dancing. Opening her eyes, she turns upside down as two black moths fly into her eyes, turning them black. She remarks that she wishes they could go back to where it all started before rising up in the air, leaving Bob. In his seventh dream, he remembers the first time he met Laura. While walking through the park, he comes across her as she sits on a bench. She is drawing a robin, but stops and closes the sketchbook when the bird flies away. Bob says that he is sorry that the bird is gone now, but she simply says that it is not, as it is all in his head.

Samsara Room[]

In 1935, William is trapped in the Samsara Room where he learns of the circle of life. He makes various transformations to his Soul using a fish, a worm, a gecko, a heart, and finally a bird's egg. While in the Bird Room, he feeds these items to a stork which then vomits up a newborn baby. Using the baby on the window portal leads to a white cube, which breaks apart to reveal the baby in the Samsara Room. The baby, Laura, then floats upwards through the Forest until she reaches the Lake, being held by Rose's silhouette.

In an alternate ending, William goes to the Shrimp Room and uses the Elixir of Life on the window portal. Inside, he sees a white wall with a large window. Laura, appearing as a young girl, approaches the window and puts her hand on the pane. She stares at William as he questions if the girl is himself.

Underground Blossom[]

Laura appears as a baby during Chapter 1: Crib Station, inside a carriage alongside her mother. The player character is told to take care of her and interacts with her, giving her a bottle with milk and a diaper, in which she poops.

A young Laura also appears in Chapter 2: Child Lane. The player character again is told to protect her, also in the years to come. Laura says she wants candy, and chews on an old gum they give her. After that, Laura plays hide and seek at the station. When the player character leaves the station, Laura can be seen with Albert's corrupted soul behind her.

Trivia[]

She is voiced by Bob Rafferty in Cube Escape: Paradox, and Iris Muller in The White Door. She is played by Elena Kejvalová in the short film.
She shares a first name with Laura Palmer, the woman who was murdered in the series Twin Peaks.
In Cube Escape: Seasons, her bulletin board reveals certain clues about her:
- Spring - A flier for Rusty Lake Mental Health and Fishing, a prescription for Prozac, a note saying: "Can I eat Harvey's egg?", and a note revealing that Harvey's eggs can create black cubes.
- Summer - A note saying: "Remember that song?".
- Fall - A note saying: "I am afraid I will do something horrible".
- Winter - A file explaining: "cube + fire = escape memory", a file explaining: "phone + fuel = change past", a file explaining: "blue cube + fire = escape memory", a file explaining how to turn on the machine, and a note saying: "Change the past".
Her favorite music is an excerpt from the overture of Egmont Op. 84, by Ludwig van Beethoven, and it can be heard from the radio and a cassette, labelled "MY FAVORITE SONG", and when the Forest shows up on her television set in the Fall in Seasons. It can also be heard in Cube Escape: Theatre, after playing "BADEGG" on the piano.
- In Cube Escape: The Mill, the cassette shows up in her positive memories.
In Rusty Lake: Roots, Laura's dress appears in 1933, worn by her mother, Rose, for her dance with Frank. The dress appears again in 1935, swaddling her as a baby held in Rose's arms.
In one of the puzzles in Cube Escape: The Cave, William drinks the Elixir and dies, becoming a Corrupted Soul. His Soul is enveloped by the Vanderboom family tree, and he is reincarnated as the Woman. She then also becomes a Corrupted Soul, and produces a black cube.
In Cube Escape: Paradox, it is revealed that she was born in the Spring of 1935. Her funeral was held on October 12th, 1971. This means that she was 36 years old when she died.