"Access Denied" is the seventh episode of Minecraft: Story Mode, Season 1 and the second episode of the Adventure Pass.
Plot
Chapter 1
- "We're stuck in a rut -- go through a portal, avoid dying long enough to get back to this stupid hallway..."
- —Petra's frustration. src
The episode kicks off with Jesse, Petra, Lukas, and Ivor navigating multiple portals in the Portal Network, their attempts to find the one leading home remaining unsuccessful. After returning from a world engulfed in fire and netherrack, they regroup. Lukas has been documenting their adventures in his journal, naming the fiery world "Fire World."
Petra becomes frustrated with their search for the correct portal. She suggests going through a Redstone portal, believing it might lead them to intelligent people who can help them find their way home. Annoyed with how Jesse's been leading them everywhere, Petra wants to go in the portal alone. Depending on Jesse's responses, Petra may stay or leave. In any case, Jesse, Lukas, and Ivor venture through the portal and arrive in a mesa biome with no apparent trace of Redstone.
Chapter 2
- "They don't look happy."
- "They don't look anything."
- —Petra and Lukas about the citizens of Crown Mesa. src
Lukas continues to write in his journal, claiming it to be a book he found in the White Pumpkin's mansion. The group comes across a zombie that strangely does not burn in the sunlight. If Petra went through the portal by herself, the group finds her studying the zombie alone. As they fight the zombie, they notice it is unusually strong and fast, and also find a strange Redstone device on the back of its head, giving its eyes a red glow. The zombie overpowers Petra, and Jesse can choose whether to help her or not.
Should Jesse choose to help, he/she and Petra defeat the zombie but encounter a horde of more red-eyed enhanced zombies. Surprisingly, the zombies don't attack and instead lead them to a town named Crown Mesa. A sign shows the town's population of over a thousand people, though it appears oddly deserted. Ivor unsuccessfully tries to remove the device on the zombie. They notice that chickens also have the same Redstone device on the back of their heads.
Exploring the town, the group meets a lone woman who warns them against harming the townspeople of Crown Mesa. She flees as townspeople approach the group, all sporting a Redstone device on the back of their heads. The group is then caught and captured by the townspeople.
Chapter 3
- "I am making everything useful. Efficient. Effective. I am what you may call 'a computer' -- a thinking-machine. Designed to make things useful."
- —PAMA about itself. src
The townspeople take the group to the hyper-intelligent computer named Prototype: Autonomous Management Agent (PAMA). PAMA has been controlling this world by brainwashing every living being through the Redstone devices seen earlier. It recognizes that Jesse's group is not from its world and expresses its interest in controlling other worlds. Jesse can choose whether or not to reveal how they got there. Regardless, PAMA reveals its plans to infiltrate other worlds and make them "useful."
PAMA demands information about other worlds from Jesse, threatening to implant Redstone chips into Petra and Lukas for control. Jesse can either claim ignorance or refuse cooperation. Regardless, PAMA chips Petra and Lukas. It tries to chip Jesse and Ivor too, but Jesse confuses it with a paradox, causing it to glitch. Jesse and Ivor use this opportunity to flee. While fleeing, they run into the woman again, who reveals herself as PAMA's creator. With her help, the two escape from PAMA's horde of mind-controlled zombies.
The woman instructs them to go to her secret laboratory as she runs off to distract the zombies. Entering a cave, Jesse and Ivor discover that PAMA's mind-control chips can be deactivated by water on contact.
Chapter 4
- "Jesse -- you and your friends -- you're our only hope!"
- —Harper to Jesse before her capture. src
As Jesse and Ivor venture deeper into the cave, the woman returns. She introduces herself as Harper and explains that she created PAMA to automate simple tasks like mining and farming using monsters. However, her creation backfired - PAMA spun out of control and began chipping Crown Mesa's citizens, "making them useful," as it claimed. Harper also reveals herself as one of the Old Builders, having helped build the Portal Network. She destroyed this world's exit portal to stop PAMA from entering other worlds. Due to this, she is constantly hunted down by PAMA.
Upon reaching Harper's lab, they face more of PAMA's mind-controlled forces, including Petra and Lukas. Jesse must choose to free either one of them from PAMA's control by pushing them into water. Before Jesse can free the other, however, they capture Harper and leave. Harper urgently tells the group to find and use her Mind-Control Headset.
After defeating the mind-controlled mobs, the group explore Harper's lab and find her Mind-Control Headset as well as some TNT in a chest. Jesse uses the headset to control the mobs chipped by PAMA, navigating them toward Harper's location. Attempting to rescue her through the controlled mob, Jesse's efforts are thwarted as Harper is captured again, this time by the townspeople. Just before her capture, Harper reveals PAMA's power source, the Redstone Heart, which the group must remove to shut down PAMA. She stresses that they are the world's last hope.
PAMA's forces discover the headset; Jesse removes it just before it detonates. The group then arm themselves with buckets of water, setting off to stop PAMA before it seizes control of other worlds.
Chapter 5
- "Let's go wreck the heck out of PAMA."
- —Jesse src
Returning to Crown Mesa, the group locate the entrance to PAMA's Control Core, housing the Redstone Heart. However, numerous mind-controlled mobs are on patrol nearby, prompting Jesse to use the TNT found earlier in Harper's lab to pave a way forward. He/she uses one of Ivor's last remaining potions - Swiftness, Leaping, or Invisibility - to quickly place and detonate the TNT. Upon doing so, they notice that PAMA's forces have already begun building an exit portal. Realizing they must stop PAMA immediately, Jesse charges into its core.
PAMA detects Jesse's presence inside its Control Core and tells him/her that their plan to deactivate it will be futile. Jesse finds three Redstone spires powering the Redstone Heart and aims to disable them by washing away the Redstone with water. PAMA retaliates by sending mind-controlled mobs to stop Jesse. Despite their enhanced strength from the Redstone chips, Jesse manages to repel them by knocking them off the platform's edge.
After Jesse disables the first two spires, PAMA commands a mind-controlled Harper to confront Jesse, aiming to trick him/her into using the final water bucket on her. With just one water bucket remaining, Jesse refrains from using it on Harper. After disabling the last spire, Jesse pushes Harper into the water, thus freeing her.
With the Redstone Heart now exposed, PAMA attempts to shield it while commanding mind-controlled Petra or Lukas (whoever Jesse didn't free) to fight Jesse. They try to weaken Jesse's resolve by evoking memories of Reuben and his/her failure to lead the group home. Despite the psychological pressure, Jesse perseveres and reaches the Heart.
After Jesse attempts to pull out the Heart, it causes Petra/Lukas to gain control for a short time before PAMA regains control, starting a battle for control between Petra/Lukas and PAMA. It uses Petra/Lukas to push Jesse away from its Heart, causing them both to dangle off the platform. Petra/Lukas manages to resist PAMA's control, allowing Jesse to recover and reach the Heart.
In a final desperate attempt, PAMA tries to persuade Jesse with sweet talk, urging him/her to spare it. Unyielding, Jesse removes the Heart, finally deactivating PAMA.
Chapter 6
- "Now when we built this place, we also made something that sorta acts like a compass/map/navigator. We called it 'The Atlas'... In order to find the Atlas, we need to track down the rest of the Old Builders (Still don't like that name.)"
- —Harper to Jesse's gang. src
With PAMA defeated and the townspeople now freed from its control, Harper and the group return to Crown Mesa. The townspeople criticize Harper for creating PAMA. Jesse must choose whether to defend Harper, telling the townspeople that she will help in cleaning up the aftermath, or let her be remembered negatively as a "mad scientist."
The group light PAMA's exit portal and return to the Portal Network. Harper reveals the existence of a Portal Atlas, written by the Old Builders to help navigate the Portal Network. Although she doesn't have it, she knows where to find the other Old Builders to ask for it. Using the Redstone Heart, they power a portal in the Network, which leads them to an extensive stairway down.
- "Adventure?"
- —Ivor's end quote. src